The pitter-patter of the cold water dripping from the rusty faucet consumed the haunting silence in the room.

Leuther smiled, staring at the three men. "May I pass?"

The student with the biggest triceps shrugged.

Leuther took another step to the door, but a bald teenager shoved him away. Leuther smirked, patting the dust away from his jacket and looked at them behind his glasses.

"Okay." The resignation in his voice echoed around the blue confinements of the room. "What do you need?"

"You knew what we needed," the tallest man said. "Don't play dumb."

Leuther sighed. "You're not satisfied with the amount?" He raised his right eye.

"What amount? There was no money," the bald guy responded. "Do you know how hard it is to kidnap a puppy?"

"Do you know how hard it is to set-up the trampoline?" the bulky man added.

"Do you know hard it is to find these people?" the tallest guy yelled.

It is indeed possible to satisfy one's need. Leuther took out his phone. But it is impossible to satisfy one's greed.

The tallest guy shook his head. "Don't even bother to ask help." He pouted. "It's useless. There's no signal in this area."

Leuther unlocked his phone. He checked the bank transactions he made yesterday which synced into his mobile. He was confident that he transferred three thousand yuan to each of the man's account. However, something unsettled him. The screen finished loading all of the details when his eyes narrowed. His heart skipped a beat, seeing the logs he did not bother to check last night.

System: Your account has been frozen. Please contact your bank representative for this matter.

This is impossible... As his thoughts muddled, he remembered to press the small circular button on the top of his phone and slid the mobile back into his pocket. Ahya, I'm sorry.

"Hubby, shoti is in trouble. Hubby, shoti is in trouble," Techne announced, flashing Leuther's coordinates. The watch vibrated alone in Renzo's quarters, waiting to be fully charged.

Leuther recomposed himself as he tried to find a way out of this dilemma. "I transferred all of the money into your account, Ming er. You said you'd be the one to give your friends their shares."

The bulky and the bald man gazed at their pal.

Ming sneered. "You are indeed the master of lies." He looked at his companions' eyes, now shining with doubt. His face scrunched. "Seriously?! You belie—"

"Ming er, Ming er, Ming er. The whole school knows how cunning and greedy you are when money comes to play." Leuther arched his head to the right. "Are you really here to settle the payment?" He stared at the other two men. "Or are you here to use them again for free?"

"Fucking bitch!" Ming jeered.

"If the two of you kindly allow me to go out and catch a signal," Leuther said with nonchalance. "I can show you the proof of transfer for the fifty thousand yuan I deposited to Ming's account."

"Fifty thousand yuan?" The bulky man's voice rocketed.

"Ming gong, you said that you'd equally share the profit. Why only give me three thousand yuan?" The bald man's questioning eyes pierced through Ming.

"That's a lie! We only agreed nine thousand yuan!"

"You think I'm that poor and cheap?" Leuther grinned. "I can even buy you and your friends if I like." He crossed his arms and took time to enjoy the two men's baffled faces. "I know your worth. The task I gave you was very daunting. Your service deserves a hefty price." He tapped his feet. "Who would've thought that Ming er will sell you short?"

The bulky man nodded and curled his fists. In his mind, Ming fooled him. Ming deserved to be beaten to a pulp.

The tension between the goons reeked in the air. Leuther could see the curtains closing after his another stellar performance. He smiled and walked toward the exit, leaving the two men standing, glaring at Ming. As he twisted the knob, he heard a round of applause. Unfortunately, his only audience was Ming.

"Well-played, sir. Well-played." Ming pulled out two stacks of cash from his pockets and handed one to each of his companions. "Is this more than enough?"

Leuther tried to open the door again, but he realized that the knob was broken. The three students had intended to lock him up. This is not good.

The two men softened their expressions and counted the money in their hands. They gradually smiled as they lost track of the amount.

"Our new benefactor gave us another task." Ming's voice regained its usual sharpness.

He took out the paper he had found at his doorstep beside a pouch of money and audibly recited an excerpt from the sheet.

"Mr. Ythan Hopkins ordered to catch Mr. Eleutherius Collins." He snorted. "He told us to take a picture of Mr. Collins naked and expose the ass hole he has been."

For the first time, Leuther felt his insides quiver. He whisked to turn the lights off in the room, breaking the switch, and bolted past the three men to find an empty cubicle.

There were eight cubicles in this comfort room. Four lined up in the left column, facing the other half in the right. All cubicles were built with wooden-slatted doors that hindered a person's sight but allowed slivers of light to pass through.

"Playing Hide-and-Seek now, aren't you?" Ming took out his phone and turned on its flashlight. He urged his companions to do the same.

The three men's footsteps cut through the eerie reticence.

"Leuther, where are you?" At the right column, Ming pushed the first cubicle open only for a huge rat to greet him.

The rodent ran off to a hollow crevice in the wall below a toilet bowl.

The bald man followed Ming, but instead of opening the cubicles, he would point the flashlight under the door and check for Leuther's feet. He wanted to track the target by the shoe prints on the floor, but there were too many to be helpful.

"Come out now and don't make our job harder." Ming swung the second door open but found nobody inside. "We are just here to play with that hole of yours. It must feel good with the kind of bitch Ythan described you."

The bald man directed his light under the door of the fourth cubicle. Smile creeping into his face, he saw a pair of shoes. "I think I found him."

Xander was still rock hard as he tramped along the halls. The transparent walls of the building illuminated the masculinity of his profile. While the students stayed captured inside their classrooms, listening to their teachers' discussions, Xander got trapped between anger and lust. Only the withering plants lining in the corridor served as witnesses of Xander's raging pheromones, desperately seeking their owner's mate.

The Alpha was hungry, but the Omega was nowhere to be found.

Xander's eyes fixated at the men's room of the current floor when a bark reverberated at the lower level of the building. Is that Little D? He ran downstairs and saw Little D raking against the entrance of a comfort room. He picked up the puppy and looked at the notice posted at the door.

Out of order

"Come on, Little D. Why are you here?" He petted the dog. "I told you not to leave the room. Let's go."

He was oblivious of the ruckus happening inside.

Ming kicked the door open.

In front of him were rubber shoes placed near the toilet, arranged in such a way to trick him.

He pounded the door in frustration. As he thought of the additional payment he would collect upon successfully finishing the task, he sighed and comforted himself.

The bald man went inside and inspected each corner of the cubicle. Ming had told him to ensure their captive could not pull any other surprise.

A chameleon excels in camouflage, but not in deathmatch.

Hearing a shuffle of feet, Leuther carefully opened the door behind Ming. Barefooted, he sneaked his way out the small enclosure, taking advantage of the darkness enshrouding him. He crouched toward the exit, preparing the pen, which had traced Xander's manhood, to unscrew the knob's bolts. Sweat dripped down his hair. The chilling air and the jitters to escape the room unscathed left his hands freezing cold. He focused his attention at the knob and arrived in front of the door with a repressed sigh. His hand trembled to insert the tip of the pen into the knob's tiny hole. He was unaware of the looming presence nearing him.

And in one swift motion, someone behind grabbed his neck. The bulky man seized him into a chokehold.

Little D jumped from Xander's embrace. He scampered toward the same door Xander found him and barked at it, baring his little canines.

"What's the matter, tiny?" Xander knelt down and gently caressed Little D. He stayed and looked at the close door with an ominous feeling.

"Shhh!" Using his thumb, Ming wiped the sweat on Leuther's face. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Leuther was kicking the air, frantic for it to enter his lungs. The green veins in his neck popped out. Tears welled in his eyes, pupils turning bloodshot. He tapped his captor's arm a few times to signify helplessness, but never surrender.

"Take his pants and underwear off." Ming set his phone's camera to Night and HD mode. "Make sure to give his ass some nice stretch and give Ythan the best view he's searching for."

Leuther tasted Ming's word like bitter medicine. I rather die than to fall in disgrace.

In a last attempt to save his reputation, he raised his pen and stabbed the man's wrist. The bulky man groaned. Leuther tried to impale the man's arm for the second time, but the oppressor retracted his hands. The sharp object punctured Leuther's left clavicle instead, causing Leuther to grimace slightly. Driven by a strong goal to survive, he proceeded to smash the mirror beside him. It was not the physical pain that numbed him, but it was the emotional distraught Ming's remark delivered him.

Ythan could not do this to me...

Blood spilling from his hands, he snagged a shard from the shattered mirror and dashed forward to create a safe distance. "Don't come near me!"

Just as he thought that he had temporarily escaped, the bald man pulled his leg in the small space underneath him. The broken glass cut through his palm before it dropped from his clutch. He was dragged onto the damp floor, tasting some of the rat's urine, as he landed face first. He was about to force himself up when Ming thrust a shard into his leg.

"Ahhh!" Leuther bellowed in pain.

"Game over." Ming and his friends approached the fallen chameleon.

Leuther looked up, seeing the three men tower over him. He spat on their shoes when the door suddenly flew open.

Xander entered and stood in front of the daylight.

As sunrays took over the darkness, he assessed the current scenario and understood one thing—Leuther's life was in danger.

Sensing bloodbath, Little D scooted away from the commotion to find his spirit animal—Zach.

Xander's muscles tensed. His jaw tightened. The scene became familiar. Time transported him back when Zach was sleeping comfortably behind him.

He held his ground as three men arrived to get his little brother. The first man punched his cheek. He tried to cover his dented face with his arms, but the second man booted his gut. He dropped on his knees as blood trickled down his temples. The third man kneed his chin. He limped onto the floor with arms spread like a twig. The three men battered him, kicking him mercilessly as a soccer ball stuck on a mud. As his gaze anchored at his little brother who was smiling in his sleep, the pain already dulled him. Seeing Zach in such a state, a warm sensation fuzzed his heart. However, everything turned murky as the first man stomped onto his elbow, crunching his bones.

But this time, it was not him who lied unconscious on the floor. It was Ming together with his companions, curling on the ground, grunting in agony.

A beast excels in deathmatch, but not in camouflage.

Xander turned back, not finding Zach, but Leuther who was applying pressure to his wounds with a jacket. He rushed to his classmate and picked him up bridal style. "I'm taking you to the clinic." He paused, noticing his hands soaked with blood. "Shit! I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No..." Leuther winced. The pain in his leg traveled all over his body. "Take me home."

"Our orphanage is full. We can—"

"In my home, idiot!" Leuther gritted his teeth.

Xander was not bothered by the insult. "Where's your house?"

Leuther brought out his phone which was still intact after the events. "Take a cab and tell the driver to drop us here." He pointed a subdivision at the online map.

Xander nodded.

Before leaving the area, Leuther pulled out a paper from his pocket. It contained an image of a black scorpion. Ythan, I know you wouldn't do this. Please prove to me that you're innocent. Prepared to be indebted to the young master, he dropped the sheet on the floor. He hoped for Ythan to clean up his mess and cover for him from his father, Mr. Wang.

Xander ran toward the exit of the campus.

"Wait. Go to the junkyard instead. I know a secret way out here." Leuther tightened his grip on Xander's neck. "We can't let others see my condition."

Xander nodded and felt the purse in his pocket as they hurried. "Ehr... I think I don't have enough money for a cab."

Leuther wanted to roll his eyes, but his strength was fading. "I have enough cash in my pocket." He swallowed the dryness in his throat. "If I pass out, use my fingers to enter the house." He closed his eyes and prayed that this pervert would bring him to haven. 

A/N:

[1] Er - A suffix used to address a young person in China.

[2] Gōng - A suffix used to address a respected person in China.

My goal for this chapter is to be more cinematic. I don't know if I achieved that. Haha.

Anyway, don't forget to vote and comment!

Thank you so much for reading! I am happy that we already reached more than 1k votes and that the book is being added into the reading lists of more and more people. Let's all spread the power of BL! Yohoo!

See you in the next chapter! Baibai!