Parallel System

Chapter 2

"Aaaaa!" Haily screams. She finally noticed Dylan's presence there.

A few minutes passed and Dylan still stayed where he was. He had no energy to leave this room. What Dylan really regretted is that Haily failed to keep the trust he gave her. Dylan and Haily had never gone further than a kiss on the cheek. 

It felt like Dylan's heart shattered into pieces like glass being deliberately slammed. 

Alan and Haily put their clothes back on. Then they approached Dylan. 

"Who are you?" asked Alan.

Dylan noticed that Haily's face had no regretful expression at all. Instead, he now saw an annoyed look on Haily's face. Dylan doubted if Haily really loved him all this time.

"How could you forget, honey? He is a 1 thousand dollar person," said Haily.

Dylan frowned as he didn't understand Haily's words.

"Ah, you don't know yet." Haily moved closer to Dylan. "Some college students made a bet. If I succeeded to make you my boyfriend, they gave me 1 thousand dollars. And yeah, I received that money a year ago."

Hearing Haily's explanation made Dylan even angrier. He clenched his fists tightly while looking at Haily. 

"Don't you love me even a little bit, Haily?" Dylan asked.

"What can be expected from a poor, useless man like you?" asked Alan. He also came closer to Dylan and poured water from the bottle on Dylan. "You should realize when Haily says she loves you. How could a pretty girl like her really like you?"

They laughed at Dylan because Dylan got into the bet they made. 

One year ago, Alan, Haily, and some other college students saw Dylan delivering a package at Haily's neighbor's house. They were gathering for a new student welcoming party. They saw Dylan with an unkempt look but with a handsome face. 

Since they knew Dylan was a lower economic status person than them, they made Dylan the object of a bet for fun. The total bet collected from everyone was 1 thousand dollars. The bet was that if Haily succeeded to approach Dylan and make him her boyfriend, then the money would belong to Haily. But if Haily was unsuccessful, then she had to pay everyone 500 dollars. 

Haily, who was challenged and did not want to lose, immediately approached Dylan until they started dating. Even Dylan, who was skeptical at first, became convinced that Haily loved him.

Dylan now believes that it's impossible for him to find someone who is truly sincere and willing to accept his condition. 

"Don't you feel guilty, Haily?" asked Dylan. Finally he spoke again. "You did all this to me without any guilt at all?"

"Of course. Why would I feel guilty if I just want to have fun?" said Haily. 

"Give me back all the money and things I gave you," Dylan said. Dylan knew this decision felt humiliating and he regretted saying it, but the heartache he felt was worth it. 

Instead of returning everything including the jewelry she was wearing, Haily laughed at Dylan as if Dylan is funny to her. 

Dylan grabbed Haily's hand but got blocked by Alan. Then Alan twisted Dylan's hand, causing him great pain. 

Dylan tried to escape but Alan tightened the hook on Dylan's hand. 

"How dare you try to touch Haily!" yelled Alan.

"I just want to give her a reservation card from the restaurant because today we officially celebrate our first anniversary."

Not only Haily, but Alan also laughed. They were laughing at Dylan's foolishness.

"Haily is pretending to be your girlfriend. Why do you take it seriously?" Alan released the twist on Dylan's hand then he kicked him.

Dylan coughed as Alan's kick hit his stomach. Especially because Alan is a football player, his kicks are harder than the common man.

This all hurt Dylan a lot. His idol turned out to be not as good as he thought. The person he thought loved him just turned out to be manipulating him.

Dylan really felt that he had plunged to the lowest limit of his self-esteem. They succeeded in trampling on Dylan's self-esteem.

The anger that Dylan held back from before finally reached its peak. He punched Alan in the cheek, making Alan take a few steps back.

Dylan and Alan got into a fight. Of course Dylan got hit a lot because he never had any training of self defense and didn't have the basics. Meanwhile, he had to fight Alan, an athlete who went to physical training at least several times a week.

Dylan's face is covered with bruises everywhere. His body also ached badly everywhere. Dylan leaned against the wall to recover his energy.

Despite being battered, the anger inside Dylan had not disappeared. Instead, Dylan wants to vent it back to Alan because he has taken away one of his happiness.

"You should apologize for interrupting my business!" Alan said.

"I would never apologize for something that wasn't my fault. I'm lucky that I found out about this right away before you did something else stupid," Dylan retorted.

This time Alan attacked first. Alan's attack is parried by Dylan using his hands. At least Dylan had seen scenes like this done by boxers on TV.

But unfortunately Alan broke through Dylan's defense and hit Dylan in the nose. Dylan's nose started bleeding because Alan's punch was so hard.

"I think this is enough to teach him a lesson," said Haily. She didn't want Alan to get his hands dirty for Dylan.

Haily pulled Alan out from the room. But Dylan prevented them from leaving by pulling Alan's leg so that Alan and Haily fell down.

Dylan managed to get up again with the rest of his strength. He prepared to throw a counter punch at Alan.

This time Alan took Dylan seriously. He threw his best punches and kicks until Dylan vomited blood.

This fight had gone too far. If it wasn't stopped immediately, it might end with Dylan losing badly and being hospitalized. Even though Haily tried to stop Dylan by pulling him, Dylan still persisted.

Dylan's body was battered and weak, but his guts didn't shrink. After all, Dylan wanted to prove that he's not as weak as others thought.

Enduring Alan's attack meant that Dylan also prepared to give up his life. Because if he didn't surrender immediately, then Dylan really would be finished in Alan's hands.

Dylan got slammed to the floor while Alan sat on his back. Dylan couldn't move because his body was pinned down. He just banged on the floor to vent his pain.

Dylan tries to keep himself awake. 

"You have to remember this for the rest of your life. You're a lucky loser to be alive," Alan said and he bumped Dylan's head on the floor. Dylan was running out of strength to fight Alan.

"Stop it or you'll kill him!" shouted Haily.