That Mysterious Little Boy I met Under the Tree

Chapter 0

Present day...

“Darn it! I must escape or else I'll be dead!”Johannes ran as fast as he could to escape from some dangerous men who were chasing him. He spotted a dark and empty alley and quickly hid there, holding his breath.

After a few moments, Johannes felt relieved as the men were out of sight. He thought to himself, ‘How many times do I have to run away from those guys?’ He cautiously peeked out of the alley to make sure it was safe to leave. Thankfully, it was. He walked carefully along the sidewalk, still on high alert.

But his relief was short-lived when he accidentally bumped into some gangsters.

‘Ah, shit, here we go again,’

One of the gangsters hissed at him, “Hey, kiddo. Watch where ya' going.”

Johannes retorted, “F•ck off, I'm not a kid. Out of the way.”

The thug replied, “This kid has a terrible mouth. You need to be taught a lesson.” The gangsters dragged Johannes to a secluded place and cornered him against a nearby wall.

Johannes growled, “Hey! I said let me go!”, flailing from the man's death grip. “Be quiet, kiddo. It's your fault for defying someone like us.”

The boy angrily exclaims, “Stop treating me like a child! I'm an adult!”

"Oho? Interesting~ How about you compensate us in return? We might release you if you do." The other gangsters snicker sinisterly in agreement.

"Compensate, my ass." Johannes huffed, not realizing the trouble he just got himself into.

Hearing his reply, the thug pinned him harshly on the wall and inched the knife toward his neck. "Listen, brat. Gimme your valuables or else..." The thug teasingly glided the dull side of the knife into his neck. Making his breath hitch in fear.

" ...Or else I'll cut your delicate neck and let you bleed to death. Now, will you give it to us or not?"

Realizing his helplessness against him, Johannes sighed in defeat. " ...Tch, fine."

The thug finally released him but still prevented him from escaping. He sighed and surrendered all of his valuables, including his wallet and phone, to the gangsters. After receiving his belongings, they quickly left him alone.

Feeling frustrated and exasperated, He realized that he was now poor and wondered what to do next. Johannes frowned, kicked pebbles aimlessly, and yelled in frustration, blaming himself for being weak.

In a moment of anger, he kicked a larger stone which unfortunately hit a sleeping dog in the face, waking it up. Johannes knew he had made a mistake, and the dog started growling and chasing him.

In terror, he ran for his life until he saw a tree and realized he could climb it for safety. "Thank goodness!" he thought as he ran towards the tree. He used a boulder as a support to climb up beside the tree, and the adrenaline rush helped him move faster. The dog barked at him, trying to climb the tree but eventually gave up and walked away. Johannes exhaled in relief, finally safe. He relaxed and leaned on the branches. "Well, at least I'm still alive, right?"

But then his stomach growled, indicating his hunger. "What the hell? Even my stomach?" he glared down at his abdomen, vexed.

He seemed to be in a difficult situation with no money and no food.

He searched in his pockets for his wallet but realized it was missing. "Oh, f•ck! My little sister's photo was in there!" He cursed and punched the tree in annoyance. He was completely helpless now.