My Triumph: Chapter 11 "Mentality and Strength"

        In a crowded area it looks like a human ocean, a very packed one. Every few minutes there will be an announcement coming out from the huge speakers that can reach every corner of the building. The loud voice is not only coming from that but also from the things that come and leave the place. None other than a public place which is a train station, the place where the unknown messenger located the locker for Wuying. Of course, the well known Wuying, who always has such a girly teenage vibe on whatever she’s wearing, is now the complete opposite. Overall black outfit, from top to bottom along with the hat and mask, probably no one will recognise this version of Wuying. There is a duffle bag hanging on Wuying’s right shoulder as she goes straight to the instructed locker. She pulls out her phone to make sure if she’s going in the right direction. But then her expression changes into horror when another message shows up on her screen. Just goes straight. The locker will be on the second row. “This creep!” Wuying can feel the shiver running down her spine as she turns around to look at her surroundings, only to find people walking by and busy with themselves. Her widened eyes look trembling, unstable breath, and the grip on her bag is getting tighter. Trying to compile herself back, she continues to go forward and finally reaches the designated locker. Unlocking the locker, putting inside the duffle bag of money, and that’s it. While walking away from the locker, she takes out her phone to check the next notification message from the anonymous. Good job baby girl~ Wuying’s nose scrunches up, eyes squinting, and the corner of her mouth down, completely disgusted just by reading the message. The feeling of being watched is creeping her out as she quickening her paces to her car. Since she is speeding her footsteps, Wuying accidentally bumps her head into someone else. This makes Wuying grimaces in pain with her head down and her hand is rubbing her head that got hit. “Ugh! Watch it, nitwit!” Wuying says once she pulls her head up. Her eyes widen and there is a gap on her mouth when looking at the person who is standing in front of her. “J–Jun?” She stutters just from calling that person’s name while the other person just looks at her with that surprised innocent looking face. Basically, his face just looks like a baby. Seeing Wuying act like this, he chuckles and smiles sweetly at her. That person has such a natural and genuine expression on but Wuying shows otherwise, she looks a bit tensed up. “Hi, what a coincidence.” Jun replies casually. Wuying doesn’t say anything back and refuses to share eye contact with him. His expression doesn’t change slightly as he just stands there and waits for Wuying to reply patiently. “I– I gotta go.” Wuying says and tries to avoid him but Jun quickly grabs her hand. Gently not using any force at all as it only makes her stop her.         “Hey, I’m sorry but can we talk? Please?.” He calls her and begs softly with his puppy eyes. Even though Wuying doesn’t try to resist, she still doesn’t want to look at his eyes. None of them say anything back for a few seconds until Wuying sighs heavily.         “Okay.” She answers defeatedly and the previous worried expression on Jun, beams with relief in an instant. He lets go of Wuying’s hand and both of them now head toward the nearest cafe in the station. Jun tells Wuying to choose wherever she likes to sit so she chooses the one in the corner where it is only available for two.         “Coffee? Right?” Jun says while pulling Wuying’s seat. Wuying nods in response and takes Jun’s gentle offer to sit. Just from that small reaction from Wuying, Jun smiles sweetly at her again then goes to the counter to order, leaving the uneasy Wuying sitting alone with her thoughts battling inside her head. Not long after being busy contemplating with herself, Jun comes back with two cups of coffee.         “Hot coffee latte with less sugar, coming right up!” Jun says excitedly then puts down Wuying’s cup in front of her. Hearing such a detailed order, especially coming from someone she has been trying to avoid for quite a while, Wuying can’t help but have butterflies in her stomach. Only a few, though.         “Thanks.” Is the only word that comes out from Wuying, trying to use her casual voice, and carefully picks up her cup.         “Very welcome!” Jun answers then again, that smile, that beaming innocent looking like a sun in the morning. Not only in her stomach, but her inner soul, the iceberg that she always puts on everyone, seems to just melt a little bit.         After replying that none of them are trying to keep up the conversation. Wuying’s eyes only focus on her cup of coffee, not enough courage to have eye contact with those shining eyes of Jun’s. At the same time, it gives her more uneasiness.         “Can you stop staring at me?” At the end, Wuying is the one who breaks the awkward silence between them. Hearing that, Jun blinks his eyes repeatedly and puts that surprised look on. His hand automatically runs to the back of his neck, scratching a place that doesn’t itch at all.         “Ah, sorry… can’t help it.” Jun replies awkwardly and looks away outside, a road of people passing by.         “Weird.” Wuying whispers before taking a sip from her cup, an audible one which actually she does intentionally. Once again, Jun blinks his eyes a few times with his furrowed eyebrows, thinking if he is still that obvious with the woman in front of him. Slowly pulling away the cup from her lips, there is a tiny smile formed on Wuying’s face. Seeing that, a ton of pressure on Jun’s heart suddenly gets lifted away.         “How is it?” Jun asks and turns his focus back on her. Suddenly that tiny smile on hers disappears and it changes into a cold one.         “Then?” An unfriendly voice tone from Wuying while putting back her cup of coffee then crosses her legs.         “What is it?” She continues coldly. Somehow, it doesn’t go as Wuying wanted it to because Jun’s face stays still. The smile still there along with those shining eyes of his, a genuine picture about his passion for admiring someone.         “How unfair it is that even though you act like this, I still can’t get you out of my head even for just a tiny piece?” Jun answers with that defeated face and picks up his black coffee to take a sip from it. Leaving the stunned Wuying who is staring at him with an indescribable expression. Thanks to the dimmed light because they are sitting on the corner, Jun is unable to see the pink tint on Wuying’s ears.         “Weird.” The same word, probably the only dictionary on Wuying right now, comes out as she rolls her eyes in annoyance.         “But well… that’s not the point why we’re here.” Jun speaks up and puts back his cup then straightens up his body.         “About... last night…” Just from here, Wuying can feel the pressures crawl back into her which makes her eyebrow twitch.         “Are you alright?” Finishing that, Jun notices the terror in Wuying’s eyes even though it seems like she is trying her best now to show any of it. But what happened last night, the anonymous messages this morning, are just too overwhelming for Wuying to handle which makes her unable to keep her posture. Therefore, she chose to look down to her cup with her hand pressing each other.         “Sorry, silly question. The answer is already there.” Jun speaks once again without waiting for Wuying’s response. He looks deeply into her, watching every inch of Wuying, reading her like a code to figure out what he needs to do. According to his observation, there is only one thing he can conclude at this moment.         “Should I take serious action for it?”         “NO!” Bursting out the emotion, Wuying accidentally increases her voice and slams the table suddenly which draws everyone’s attention in the cafe.         Wuying stares at him with those widened trembling eyes, chest moves up and down, a clear picture of how she got shocked from Jun’s suggestion. Obviously, it almost makes Jun’s soul leave his body. The realization snaps Jun’s first since they are right now in the center of attention, he quickly gets up and gently holds Wuying’s hand.         “Hey… calm down first, okay?” Jun says softly, trying to calm herself down. However, when he touches her, Wuying suddenly draws her hand away and backs herself from him.         The fear in her face can clearly be seen which automatically makes their surroundings start to whisper to each other. Then Jun just realizes that what he did probably reminds Wuying of what happened last night since she reacts this way. But at the same time, he is also confused as to why Wuying reacted this way. Isn’t it too much?         “I’m sorry, ok–” Not letting Jun finish his words, Wuying quickly grabs her pouch and walks out from the cafe, leaving the whole room in dead silence with eyes still staring at them.         Jun fails to stop her this time. Not because he can’t reach her but it’s because he doesn’t want to cross their bonderlines, the unseen line between them. Therefore, he slowly brings himself down to his seat and uses one of his hands to gently pitch the bridge of his nose.         “Haahh…” another heavy sigh breaks out, ignoring those eyes as his mind is just full with the person who just left him alone. His body just feels heavy as well as his head, feeling all of the burden of guilt.         “Why is it so hard…?” He murmurs to himself with that frustrated face.

**Wuying’s Side**

Once she gets into her car, she quickly turns it on and leaves the area. Heading to somewhere that she has to when received those messages from the anonymous. None other is her drug addict brother's place, Xiao. Arriving at the destination, she uses the separate keys and goes straight in. As expected, his apartment is always messy as all of his belongings are scattered around the place. Not seeing him around with one locked door which is his bedroom, he must be in there. “GEGE XIAO!” Wuying shouts to call out to her brother when slams his bedroom.         Weirdly, he is not there either. Even the other two girls who are in the photo are also gone. No sign that they had been here before as she looks around, only to find the room is still full with Xiao’s belongings. In this moment, a look of puzzlement across her but not long after, suddenly a sound of an opened door can be heard behind her. It’s coming from the bathroom, only to reveal someone with half of his lower body wrapped with a towel.         “Ugh! What’s wrong with you?!” Xiao shouts back once he gets out with his hair completely drained from the bathroom. A fresh fragrant from his shampoo combined with the body soap as well, Xiao doesn’t look like he just knocked out from what supposed to have happened last night. Clearly none of the dots connected with each other in Wuying’s mind as she only stares at him up and down with such a weird expression.         “The fuck you looking at like that? Disgusting.” Xiao continues, snapping out Wuying from her thoughts from what he just said along with his expression.         “Where have you been last night?!” Wuying asks by raising her voice. Don’t know whether it's because she feels angry from how her brother behaves or the mixed emotions she got. In other words, someone might just use her as a pion to play in their game.         “None of your business.” He answers and rolls his eyes in annoyance then pushes Wuying away from his way to get inside his room. Getting that reaction, Wuying feels the blood rush on her face as she quickly holds Xiao’s door before he manages to close it.         “Just answer me! Where did you go?!” Still the same voice tone but this time is more intimidating as she glares deadly into Xiao’s eyes. However, that doesn’t give a slight impact to Xiao who looks down at her totally unfazed.         Instead of ignoring her like before, Xiao takes a few steps forward which automatically makes Wuying slowly walk back until her back touches the wall behind her. Xiao bends down until their eyes are on the same level and the distance between their faces is only a few inches away which makes Wuying feel his hot breath against her face. Sharp looking eyes that she never seen before, like a predator. With this short distance, Xiao can easily see Wuying’s expression like a crystal clear. How the table turns even though Wuying is the one who tries to aggressively attack him, now she is the one who feels frightened by her brother's actions.         “Heh, go home, kid.” Xiao says with a smirk on his face then walks back inside his room. Leaving the stoned Wuying from her brother's pressure and intimidation earlier.         When the sound of his door closed can be heard, that is where Wuying snaps back to reality as she takes a deep breath and turns her head in an instant toward his brother's room with those widened eyes full of fear. She can feel that her jaw is trembling and the grips on her pants are getting tighter unintentionally. At this moment, Wuying realizes that she can’t win against her older brothers in one thing. His strength is like a beast. Unless she has an ace card to turn that down.         “Fine.” Wuying’s face is painted with hatred full of anger along with those furious eyes. She stares at one point for a few seconds before finally turning around and driving away from the house.         Meanwhile, the one who just got inside the room, is actually watching her like a shadow. Inhaling the cigarette between his fingers as he patiently waits beside the window to see her car come out from the apartment exit gate. A smirk forms on his face once Wuying’s car gets out from the parking lot then he reaches his phone that is on his night stand. Dialing someone as he inhales the last bit of his cigarette then puts it out.         “Hello? Give me a hand will ya?” Xiao slowly approaches back to the bathroom where he just came out when Wuying is still here. A huge and luxurious bathroom.         “Hoho~ I had a blast last night~” Looking to his left side, his bathtub is set up near the window, and approaching it. From here, there is a blurry but clear enough vision of there are someone else in the bathtub.         “Nah~ It’s just a small thing~” He answers jokingly then stops when he is already two feet away from the bathtub. In this close distance, it draws the attention from the others. To be more precise, the other two women who are enjoying the afternoon warm bath together as they turn their heads to look at Xiao.         It is the other two women in the photos who looked like babies from what Wuying got. The bruises are still there, totally awful, even their eyes look exhausted but they still can smile toward Xiao. A sweet and naughty looking one as they slowly approach him as if he is their master. Getting such a warm welcome from these two, Xiao can’t hold it anymore so he hangs up the phone right away before giving a clear request.         “I need more.” The smirk becomes wider that it almost reaches his ear to ear as he looks toward their bodies with eyes full of lust. Ready to devour mercilessly as he takes off his towel and joins the other two.

**Niu’s Side**

The sun is starting to set and now the happy family are enjoying the sunset together. After getting enough with the scenery on their fishing spot, they decide to move to the nearest beach. Thankfully, they can find a place with not so many people to lay down their mat. As always, Heng and Jieru are playing around at the beach’s border while the other two are just watching them from afar. However, one person looks like tons of thoughts in their head and of course, Niu notices who that is. Hence, she turns her head toward her side, only to find her first child has those blank eyes. “I’m okay, my sunshine.” Niu says and grabs his hand to gently squeeze it. Shoi-ming jolts a little bit from the sudden touch then he turns his head to face his mother. He clearly hears that but his face remains unchanged with worries painted all over his face. However, Shoi-ming still tries to hide it by showing his tiny smile and breaks eye contact only to focus on the purple sky. “They still don’t know about these things, right?” Breaking the silence between them. Their eyes are focusing at one point, following them running and playing around, it’s Heng and Jieru. A simple response, Shoi-ming shakes his head. “Thank you for keeping them away.” Niu scoots closer to Shoi-ming until she can wrap her arms around his. From here, with this distance of feeling each other's closeness and warmth, Shoi-ming eyes look like forming a crystal with tears start pounding on it. “Why…” is the first word that comes out from him which automatically makes Niu draw herself back in order to stare into his eyes. There is a light red painted on his nose, he bites his lower lip, and the veins on his forehead slightly pop out. “Why do you keep protecting the others, mom?” Finally the question comes out as well as the first teardrop from Shoi-ming’s left eye. His voice is cracked and he takes a sharp breath, trying to hold all of his emotions inside. Not letting that going to happen, Niu reaches her hand out to wipe his left cheek and caress it. “All of you guys are my everything. My life, the reason why I keep surviving. If I lost you, I'd lose my life as well.” Niu answers with that sweet smile on her as she stares at Shoi-ming lovingly. Hearing that, the tears start to come out from his right eye now but his eyes refuse to look back toward his mother. “Then.. who is going to protect you, mom?” Another question that froze Niu for a moment, holding her breath for a few seconds with widened eyes staring into those reflected purple eyes from the scenery. But then suddenly a rush of memories of how some people, three people, makes her able to form back that smile. Those three who are willing to be her shield without her asking for it. “I have my own shield, my dear.” From this, the sadness and empty eyes on Shoi-ming slightly swipe away as he slowly turns his head to face his mother. He stares into her with that confusedly and curiosity on it. The smile on her face grows wider to the point that Niu laughs lightly by seeing his expression. “You always trust your mother, right?” She asks and immediately gets an agreement with a nod. “Don’t worry, my sunshine.” Moving her hand to gently stroke Shoi-ming head and move to the back of it to pull him closer so their forehead touched. “It’s just the beginning.”