"This is Nasuha's stuff that we found, Mr. Ehsan." A female teacher showed Nasuha's bag and school supplies like books and a pencil case that were soaking wet. Nasuha's father, Ehsan, merely looked at his daughter's belongings before picking up her bag.

"Why is it wet like this and why did she come home late?"

"If Nasuha told you, would you believe her?"

"Is my daughter being bullied? Why are her things like this? She always comes home wet, and her school uniform is dirty. I asked the school what happened, but they keep saying Nasuha did all this to herself for attention... I believed the school because in my mind, I thought, why would they lie?" Ehsan clenched Nasuha's bag tightly.

"But I'm stupid! Why would my daughter do all this?! Nasuha has never acted out like this before! Who? Who told Nasuha to do this to herself?" Ehsan was angry at the female teacher.

"Calm down, sir. Other students reported about Nasuha... from her class." The teacher replied.

"What? And the school didn't think to investigate?" Ehsan questioned, and the teacher fell silent. Ehsan gritted his teeth.

How angry I feel at the school. I feel just as foolish! I'm a fool! My daughter is being bullied, and I believed others. Was I too busy? Too busy with work to care about Nasuha all this time...

A father like me... doesn't deserve Nasuha.

She's a good child... Always listens, never disappointed me before. Always does her best. But this one time something strange happened, and I never even thought to listen to my own daughter?

Nasuha... Forgive me, I was wrong.

Ehsan walked toward his car with tears streaming down his face, his hands swinging as he carried Nasuha's bag.

"The viral CCTV footage recently shared on social media shows a giant beast..."

Nasuha was watching television, sitting with Khairul at a food stall. Nasuha's plate and cup were empty, but Khairul was still eating. She turned to Khairul and let out a long sigh.

I am really running away from home now. With a boy I just met. Wow, I didn't think I'd actually get this far...

Plus, I used his money, but when he opened his wallet, he had so much money...

Selling burgers must be quite profitable.

"You eat really fast," Khairul commented, surprising Nasuha when he suddenly spoke.

"I only had one roti canai, that's why I finished quickly. You're eating everything including fried rice and whatnot..." Nasuha replied.

"Are you full? You haven't eaten since noon, right?" Khairul asked, glancing outside. The sky was dark, but clouds covered it, so the stars and moon were not visible.

"I'm not very hungry. I don't know, when I think about it, I feel really guilty using your money even though I promised to pay you back," Nasuha sighed

"Just use my money. I don't know why, but I've been saving my money. Since the first time I worked with Hazim, I saved at least around 200 ringgit. I hardly use it for anything; most of my money goes to food and fuel," Khairul explained, while Nasuha lowered her gaze a bit.

"I'm older than you, but you seem more mature than I am..."

"Believe me, I'm not at all. I'm dumb as shit, not good at studying... always fighting... I only know how to make burgers," Khairul said with a bitter smile.

"Not many high school students work and save money, you know?"

"Maybe it's because most high school students' parents give them food..." Khairul replied while shoveling rice into his mouth, causing Nasuha to fall silent for a moment.

I noticed, while in Khairul's room. His room isn't messy just because he's lazy... A broken bed, a nearly collapsing wardrobe, a table with a hole in the middle.

Every time I meet him, he always has bruises and cuts on his face. I know he fights a lot but outside of school...

Who does he fight with?

"Where are we now?"

"I don't know..."

Nasuha sat on the motorcycle while Khairul leaned against a post. They were actually at a loss as to where to go. They had just been riding the motorcycle and going wherever their hearts led. Now they were at a rest stop, and Khairul checked the time—it was already 9 PM.

Suddenly, something fell onto his phone screen, a type of green particle that disappeared shortly after. Khairul was confused.

"Khairul... Look at the sky. What is that?" Nasuha pointed out. Khairul immediately turned his gaze to the sky, where millions of colorful particles were descending and illuminating the sky. Some particles even landed on Khairul and Nasuha's bodies and clothes, absorbing into their skin.

"What's happening?" Khairul asked.

"I don't know either," Nasuha replied, looking at her palm. Some colorful particles fell onto it and seeped in, but she didn't feel anything.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Meanwhile...

"Ah! Khai! What are you doing?" Hazim sighed to himself, sitting on the steps of his parents' wooden house in a village. He was typing quickly on his phone, sending a long text to Khairul.

But his fingers paused when several colorful particles fell onto his phone screen and hands. He quickly looked up.

Meanwhile...

Khairul's father walked out of his house with a cigarette in his mouth, looking annoyed.

"Where's that kid! Where did he run off to?" he shouted to himself as he walked toward his car. However, his steps halted when he saw the colorful particles falling from the sky. But he soon remembered Khairul and became angry again.

I'll kill that kid...

Ehsan was walking away from the police station, holding his police report slip, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"Where are you, Nasuha?" Ehsan sighed as the colorful particles suddenly fell from the sky. He looked up in confusion.

Colorful particles were raining down all over Malaysia.

"Has it stopped?" Nasuha asked.

"It seems so. What was that earlier? It was kind of scary. Was it a ghost?"

"Don't say that... Don't call it..."

Nasuha and Khairul were sitting under a shelter; Nasuha had already lain down while Khairul was still sitting.

"I'm sleepy... I'll sleep for a bit, okay, Khairul... Sorry... It's been tiring all day," Nasuha said.

"Call me 'Khai'... We are partner in crime here, so I think you're close enough to call me that."

"Alright... Hahaha... good night, Khai." Nasuha chuckled softly before closing her eyes and turning to her side. After a few minutes, Khairul looked back. Nasuha was already asleep.

"Is she asleep?" Khairul asked, receiving no response from Nasuha. He lay down and let out a long breath, his eyes slowly closing as well.

I guess Nasuha's dad must have reported her missing. If that old man is out there, he's probably looking for me to kill me now, if I had to guess.

We really are doing something stupid right now... I didn't even realize how far we've gone...

Nasuha, we have our similarities, but we are very different. That's how people are, huh... Same but different.

You've put your trust in me. For the first time in my life, there's someone I can protect. I promise I'll do my best; I'll try my hardest not to let you get hurt...

If the police catch us or anything... I'll take the blame.

Morning came, and shortly after waking up, Khairul and Nasuha moved back onto the highway together. There seemed to be more vehicles on the highway; Khairul weaved in and out of traffic, making Nasuha gasp as she held both her shoulders.

"Do you want to go to Ipoh? It looks like we're not far from there," Khairul asked. Nasuha glanced at the sign by the road, showing Ipoh is another 60 KM away.

"Have we entered Perak? I didn't even realize..."

"Since yesterday. We even stopped at the RnR Tapah earlier."

"I've never been to Ipoh."

"Same here. Let's just go, okay?" Khairul invited.

"Let's go!" Nasuha raised her hand in the air, but suddenly Khairul sped up his motorcycle, causing Nasuha to grab the handles at the back of his bike.

Khairul's shoulders shook, showing he was laughing after teasing Nasuha earlier. Nasuha shot him an annoyed look.

After an hour had passed...

The grand sign of Ipoh appeared on a hill near the highway. Nasuha gazed at the hilly landscape in awe.

"From Selangor to Ipoh. We really ran far," Nasuha said as she walked toward Khairul, who was opening the seat of his motorcycle to fill it with fuel. They were both at a gas station.

"I'm surprised we made it this far..." Khairul replied as he grabbed the pump and began fueling his motorcycle.

"What's good in Ipoh, I wonder, Khair-Khai?" Nasuha asked, almost slipping and calling him by his full name.

"Huh? I don't know... Lost World of Tambun? I saw a big sign for it earlier." Khairul lowered the motorcycle seat, shrugging his shoulders.

"Let's just explore together," Nasuha smiled, placing both hands behind her back. Khairul smiled back and gave a thumbs up.

The two of them went into the city center of Ipoh, dismounting from the motorcycle. They walked through the streets, looking at each shop one by one—from eateries to souvenir shops to bookstores.

"What's your favorite hero, Khai?" Nasuha asked as they were in the comic section of a bookstore, both sitting on a bench in the middle of the comic book shelves.

"I don't read comics much..."

"When I was little, I always watched this hero cartoon. Ms. Star, I didn't knew there's a comic too." Nasuha showed him the comic book she had picked up.

"Every time I got back from school, I would stick in front of the TV watching that cartoon. At that time, I was really amazed by a female superhero. Strong, beautiful, brave. I remember many people telling me that girls aren't that strong, not very brave, too emotional. Well, they're not completely wrong, because that was me..." Nasuha shared, gazing at the illustration of Ms. Star on one of the comic's pages.

Ms. Star was hugging a long-haired little girl.

"Everyone has their limits... That doesn't mean you're weak. Besides, you're not wrong; who can stand being punished when they haven't done anything wrong?" Khairul advised, looking at Nasuha.

"But I'm still a coward. I'm running away right now. There's one thing I want—I want to be brave..." Nasuha said, and Khairul gently tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, we're running away right now. All the problems, we're leaving them behind." Khairul pointed out, and Nasuha gave a bittersweet smile.

"Yeah, yeah."

They both exited the bookstore, but Khairul suddenly halted, remembering something.

"Wait a minute... I need to buy something," he said before heading back into the bookstore. Nasuha stood in front of the store, waiting for him.

"I want to give it a try. It looked interesting earlier." Khairul bought two Ms. Star comic books, surprising Nasuha.

"Seriously..."

"I've already bought them... You looked like you were having fun reading it earlier," Khairul said, causing Nasuha to chuckle softly before pulling on Khairul's shirt sleeve.

"Let's check out somewhere else," Nasuha suggested.

They entered a narrow street known as Concubine Lane, where there were many eateries and souvenir shops. Nasuha was excited as they walked through, while Khairul remained relatively indifferent.

"You... look ridiculous with that thing on. Hahaha!" Nasuha laughed at Khairul, who was wearing an ugly bear mask.

"Ha... ha... ha... Hilarious," Khairul replied coldly.

They went to a restaurant that sold toasted bread with colorful cheese. Nasuha took a bite, but the cheese stretched endlessly, causing Khairul to laugh at her antics.

After walking for a while, they entered a café where Khairul was reading the Ms. Star comic while Nasuha enjoyed her coffee. From the café's balcony, they could see people walking along Concubine Lane.

"Thank you, Khai... Seriously, I really appreciate it." Nasuha said.

"No problem," Khairul replied, lowering the Ms. Star comic to look at Nasuha.

"Is the comic fun? Which character do you like right now?" Nasuha asked, propping her head up with her hand while gazing at Khairul.

"If I had to choose, I like Mantis," Khairul answered.

"Mantis? The villain character, right?" Nasuha appeared curious.

"He's not really evil at first, but because of his terrifying power, everyone shuns him and treats him poorly, so I understand why he becomes that way. Over time, though, yeah, he becomes truly evil. Plus, I think his powers are awesome..." Khairul said, looking at the illustration of Mantis in the comic he was reading.

Mantis was a man wearing a brown leather jacket. Two swords grew from his arms, and several swords sprouted from various parts of his body.

"I see... To me, Mantis seems like a misunderstood character. He tries his best not to hurt those around him with his powers, but he gets treated terribly. It makes him feel like his efforts are pointless," Nasuha remarked, resting her hand on her chin.

"Just like the two of us," Khairul said.

"Maybe," Nasuha smiled bitterly.