"Uh... Hello?"

"I'm here to look for my friend." Calvin made sure to be as polite as possible.

The young boy didn't reply.

Calvin didn't take offense to it as he asked, "Do you know where I can see my friend, Kevin? I'm quite worried about him, so I was just wondering where he is..."

"Your friend?" The young boy finally spoke.

Calvin revealed a bright smile and even awkwardly scratched his head, making him look like a good-natured young man who was really there to visit his friend, "Yes, my friend...."

"Your friend?" The young boy repeated once more.

It seemed that he didn't know what to say other than these two words. He kept repeating these two words and with each repetition. He took a step closer to Calvin.

A thick stench of decay and rotting flesh rushed at Calvin like a tide. It was now clear to Calvin that the reason why the young boy had so many clothes around his body was that he was hiding the smell of his very own rotting flesh. Although the young boy was unable to communicate, Calvin had his own doubts so he didn't dare to do anything rash.

He held the crumpled paper in his hand and was about to activate it at a moment's notice.

The young boy walked closer and closer, but he stopped a few meters in front of Calvin.

The pair of soulless eyes scanned Calvin from top to the bottom. The young boy thought for a long time, even some times whispering the words, "Your friend?", to himself. Just as Calvin thought that the young boy was about to attack him, the latter suddenly spoke with the same voiced tinged with detached indifference.

"You're not lying..."

"You indeed consider me as your friend, but you are lying because we are not friends and I do not know you at all!"

Calvin's pupils constricted. 

"You..."

"Kevin?"

The young boy faintly nodded.

"Who are you and why did you come here to look for me? I can feel that you're not one of those bastards who only know to step onto others who are weaker than them! They don't even dare to fight those who are stronger than them! What a bunch of cowards!" The young boy coldly spat.

Calvin took quite a while to recover. He had thought for sure that the young boy, Kevin had gone mad from all the bullying that he received. But now that he was closely observing him, that seemed to be the opposite. Aside from the fact that his flesh was rotting beneath all of his clothes, he seemed to be a proper and sensible person.

But...

"There's nothing wrong with what they are doing..."

"What did you say?" The young boy immediately grew agitated. He stared daggers at Calvin, yet his eyes remained indifferent and soulless.

"I said that there is nothing wrong with purposely avoiding the strong. Their survival instincts should be telling them to stay away from the strong since they are not strong enough to fight against them." 

"What is your point?" The young boy asked with furrowed eyebrows.

He was clearly confused as to what Calvin was trying to imply.

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"Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to defend them and what they did was indeed scummy and bad. But to give an impartial judgment. We must look at both sides and pretend that we're in their shoes. You are saying that they are a bunch of cowards for picking on the weak instead of fighting against the strong, but that's clearly logical..."

"Humans evolved by adapting and deliberately courting death by fighting those that are stronger than them is just stupid..." Calvin shook his head and stared right at Kevin.

"Just what are you trying to say?! Are you saying that what they did was right? Are you saying that it's just right and correct for them to bully us who are obviously weaker than them under the guise that they are just avoiding the strong?"

Kevin grew even more agitated. 

The seams on his clothes seemed to be as if it was about to explode.

Calvin lifted a smile and shook his head.

"No..."

"As I said, what they did was wrong."

"But they should not be ostracized for they were only following their survival instincts. However, since hidden beyond their survival instincts were also their grotesque hearts that longed for the suffering of others as its sustenance. They must be punished. The reason why I am telling you all of these is that I don't want you to thoroughly hate them..."

"Just like you, they are also victims."

"What are you talking about?" Kevin's agitation had disappeared. He could understand Calvin's point, but he was confused when he heard the latter part of Calvin's sentence. Should he really not hate these bullies who pushed him to the lowest point of his life just because they were also victims like him?

That didn't sound quite right!

Kevin gnashed his teeth and glared right at Calvin.

It was obvious that if Calvin didn't properly explain himself, then he would pounce at him at any moment.

Calvin inwardly sighed. 

As he expected, the plan that he had in mind wasn't going too well.

He tried on making Kevin forgive those that bullied him, but it was obvious that there was no way for him to forgive them unless those bullies were taught a lesson. In other words, Calvin had to change his plans.

He took two chairs from the corner of the room and sat on one of them.

He gestured for Kevin to seat and strangely enough, the young boy complied.

"How do you feel?"

Kevin was stumped by the sudden question.

How should he answer?

Should he say that he was mad due to Calvin's confusing series of questions?

Kevin scrunched his eyebrows and looked to be in deep thought.

At this moment, Calvin finally realized that his approach was wrong.

His plan was right, but his approach was wrong.

He hadn't considered that Kevin was just a child.

Calvin inadvertently thought that since Kevin had already experienced this much suffering even though he was just a child, he should be treated like an adult. But Calvin forgot something crucial. How could a child become an adult without experiencing childhood?

Kevin whose childhood was robbed from him by the bullies was by no means an adult. 

He was still a child.

He was just a kid.

In other words, Calvin must adapt appropriately and change his approach.

Calvin stared right into the indifferent eyes of Calvin.

He didn't say anything, but his eyes displayed his sincerity.

It was obvious that he really wanted to help Kevin.

Kevin may just be a child, but his upbringing wasn't really that bad.

His parents were kind and if not for the suffering that he went through in this school, he would be an excellent student and a filial child.

Kevin was taught to never slap a sincere face and seeing Calvin's sincerity...

He couldn't bring himself to be angry anymore.

But it was just...

He felt sad.

Ever since he was bullied, everyone would ask, "Where is Kevin?", "When will Kevin return to class?".

But they never asked, "How is Kevin."... 

Remembering Calvin's question regarding his feelings, Kevin couldn't help but tear up a little bit.

"I'm..."

"I'm a useless waste of skin... My father... He... He told me to fight the bullies, but I can't... I can't bring myself to fight!"

"I know... I know why... I'm afraid... I'm afraid of the consequences, and that may make me a coward, but why is it that I can't seem to fight to protect myself? I could've fought back then, but now it's already too late. I'm already like this, no one would like me and I reckon that everyone would feel disgusted just by looking at me."

Before Calvin could speak, Kevin ripped off his clothes and revealed a body full of maggots riddled keloid scars. Some of the maggots had even pierced through some of his festering pus-filled wounds. Kevin's eyes never strayed from staring at Calvin the moment he took off his clothes.

A thick and disgusting stench washed over Calvin's body, but he seemed unconcerned about it. Instead, there was a deep look of worry and sadness in his eyes that came from his soul. Witnessing Kevin's situation, Calvin was moved and he wondered as to how did such a small child-like Kevin endure the torment of his bedraggled body? 

He was such a strong child!

Calvin didn't say anything, but Kevin could sense his emotional turmoil.

Kevin bit his chapped lips. 

This might be his last and final chance to save himself from this nightmare and despair.

Raising his head to stare at Calvin.

He asked, "Do you really think of me as your friend?"