Innocence

“Motherfucker, you—” The young man with the tattoo raised his head to look up at Jiang Ye. He broke off mid-sentence…

The tall, strapping youth towered over him. His face was shadowed, but the fierce glint in his dark pupils gleamed like a sharp blade.

A chill ran down the young man’s spine. His lips quivered twice before he snapped his mouth closed. The splitting pain in his skull told him to shut up now, or something even worse might befall him.

Jiang Ye stepped over the young man’s body and walked over to Gu Tuantuan’s side. He gently lifted her arm and carefully examined it. There’s a little redness—it will probably turn into a nasty bruise by tomorrow—but fortunately, nothing was broken.

His thumb stroked lightly over her skin, and the girl trembled. “Does it hurt?” he asked softly.

Gu Tuantuan shook her head, “It only hurt for a split second when I hit the wall, but it’s fine now.” Her eyes swept over the young man on the floor but avoided looking at his face. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Okay.” Jiang Ye took her hand and led her away without saying another word. He could hear the anxiety in her voice.

Gu Tuantuan walked quickly. She didn’t slow down until she was past the revolving front door of the KtV lobby.

The sky was already dark. After a few days of scorching hot weather, the temperature finally began to drop.

Her rush to get out of there on top of what had happened caused a thin film of perspiration to form on her forehead. Now exposed to the elements, her entire body felt chilled to the bone.

She shook uncontrollably as a cool breeze swept by.

Jiang Ye took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Didn’t you say that you were staying at your grandma’s house and wouldn’t be back for a few more days?”

Gu Tuantuan pulled the collar of the jacket closer, taking comfort in the residual warmth left by his body. “I came back early to celebrate the class rep’s birthday…” She told him her reasons for returning early and then asked, “What about you? What are you doing here?”

Jiang Ye smiled, “The basketball club finished summer training today. One of the upperclassmen decided to treat everyone, so we all came out to have some fun. We’re in room 338.”

Room 338?

That’s right next to the room that the class rep had booked! Thankfully too, otherwise… she shuddered to think what could have happened.

“That person… Did you know him?” Jiang Ye asked referring to the young man with the tattoo.

Gu Tuantuan shook her head but then paused, and nodded. “I don’t know him know him. He’s someone the class rep had invited to celebrate his birthday.”

Jiang Ye’s eyes dimmed, he had a feeling that this incident might not be over just yet.

“Let me take you home,” he suggested.

“Mm.”

Hand in hand, the two walked away from the KtV. However, within minutes, they heard several footsteps approach from behind. A loud voice boomed from not so far away, “You want to run? If you’ve got the guts then stop right there, you son of a bitch!”

Gu Tuantuan turned her head to see four shadowy figures running toward them in the dark. Another figure trailed behind the rest, panting and out of breath, hollering, “Guys— Stop, don’t! We’re all friends here! There’s no need to go that far!”

It was the class rep.

“Friends my ass!” The young man with the tattoo was among the four chasing them. He gnashed his teeth together and kicked the class rep to the ground.

The leader of the group was a big, mean-looking man. He took two steps forward and spat, “You! Are you that fucker, Jiang Ye?”

“Yeah? So what?” Jiang Ye replied in a calm, even tone.

“So what?! You hit my brother! You tell me ‘so what’!” The man’s eyes bulged out. “You can kneel down right now and beg me for forgiveness, and I’ll let the matter slide. Or else, I’ll break both of your legs and turn you into a cripple.”

The class rep slowly picked himself out of the dirt, “Brother Tie, there must be some kind of a misunderstanding…”

“Piss off!”

The man that the class rep had called ‘Brother Tie’ kicked him back down. The kick landed heavily on the class rep’s ribs. He crumpled to the ground with a groan, tightly clutching his side, gasping for air.

Unable to watch on, Jiang Ye leaned down and whispered in Gu Tuantuan’s ear, “Why don’t you head back. Make sure to send me a message when you get home.”

“What about you……?”

“I’ll be fine. These boys and I are going to have a nice, long chat, so you go home first, okay?”

Jiang Ye saw the concern in the girl’s face. He smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry. We won’t fight.”

Gu Tuantuan hesitated for a moment before nodding. “You be careful,” she said, then quickly walked away.

Jiang Ye watched Gu Tuantuan’s figure disappear into the night. He turned his attention back to the four people in front of him. Cracking his knuckles, he sneered, “Kneel down… to you? Dream on! You want to break my legs? You can go ahead and try. I dare you!” His voice was taunting.

“DON’T FUCK WITH ME!” The leader roared.

The young man with the tattoo couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He pulled a black, cylindrical object from his belt and snapped his wrist in a quick, downward motion.

Schwing! A crisp, metallic sound sliced through the air as the baton extended more than half a meter in length. Cold light from their surroundings glinted off the smooth, metal surface as he waved the baton around.

The other three followed suit.

The young man with the tattoo suddenly lunged. His expression was murderous as he gripped the baton and swung it down at Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye raised his arm to block the blow. The metal made contact with his forearm. The sharp, shooting pain caused him to lose focus for a second. His pupils contracted, and his veins popped from his temples.

Fury colored his eyes, and he returned the favor with a punch to his attacker’s face.

The young man’s head snapped to the side. He staggered back a few steps. Blood poured out of his nose, and he spat out a mouthful of blood along with a loose tooth.

He stared down in disbelief before exploding in anger, “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!”

Gu Tuantuan didn’t go straight home but circled back to the KtV. She pushed past the door and ran into the lobby.

“Hello Miss, how may I— Hey!”

The front desk attendant stepped forward to greet her, but she dodged around him.

Gu Tuantuan sprinted through the long corridor. She kept her eyes laser-focused on the numbers above the doors, reading them as she passed.

Three-thirty-one, three-thirty-two, three-thirty-three…

Three-thirty-eight!

This is it! This is the room!