Chapter 02 - Student Emotions on Collision Course (Part 3)

On the bus, Chengyu sits on the seat located at the very back of the bus and holds onto his donation can.

“That was extremely close move, now that I have shrugged them off for the time being... hope that they don't go bonkers and start to take a taxi to try and catch up to me again...”

But suddenly, a sharp pain hits his heart, and he immediately clutches his chest in pain.

“Ugh! Not now! Could it be due to......?”

He rememberd that he had used his mysterious ability twice in succession, first to push Lina's hand off his shoulder and the second to increase his escape speed to catch the bus that is about to close its entrance door when he reached the bus stop.

“If I use that ability just one more time, I don't think I may be able to stand up for quite a while after that...... I have to be extremely careful in using that kind of ability the next time I'm forced to utilise it......”

He decided to try to close his eyes and rest on the seat and recover some of his lost energy throughout the bus journey, not knowing where the bus will take him.

The date is 20th May 2007, 1:45 pm.

Slightly more than an hour passed by and Chengyu finally woke up again on his seat in the bus he has just boarded in Yishun, and the location of the bus is now near Bukit Merah Town. As Chengyu tries to determine his current location and the most suitable bus stop on its route to alight, he suddenly sees a shophouse ahead where there is a bus stop the the bus will stop at.

“Maybe I can move on from here......”

Chengyu decided to alight at that bus stop and tapped his transit card.

The transit card he is using now is still used to pay for adult fares as he has yet to receive his own special student concession transit card that allows him to purchase a concessionary pass. Paying for such a pass would make taking public transport more affordable compared to paying adult fares for a simple two-way journey of going to New Hope Poly from his home in Sengkang and back due to the fact that he can take unlimited bus trips while the pass is active for a fixed fee per month, the catch being that he has to make the pass payment every month until his Polytechnic days are officially over.

After he has alighted from the bus, he starts looking around and finds a underpass that shows 'Tiong Bahru' and a MRT Symbol before it.

“This must be near Tiong Bahru MRT Station if I'm not wrong...”

Then he saw a pink-coloured building that has no name on it, but has several retail brands on the prominent parts of the exterior itself.

“Judging from those things there, that pink building must be a shopping mall. I don't discount that place to be suitable to collect a few coins inside my can though...”

Having that thought in his mind, he entered the underpass and walked underneath the road via that underpass towards the mall, but en route to the other side of the underpass, he had no choice but to hide in a corner. The reason?

“I think I just came across a competitor somewhere......!!”

He peered at the spot where there are a few people gathering at. Although the crowd was there, but the centre of attraction was still quite visible from a distance. But what made him try and hide is that he noticed the same can that he has is located right in front of the person, and a middle-aged man talking to him.

“It seems that the middle-aged man is squatting there while the young man is talking to him......”

Chengyu tries to look more carefully and after a while, a small mat of cards is shown where the donation can sits. Next to it was cards lined up in an orderly formation on the mat itself. The items were made visible when part of the crowd that originally blocked his view made way for reasons seemingly unknown.

“Wait a minute! These are not ordinary cards!” Chengyu inspected the design and shape of those cards from where he is hiding. “These are actually Tarot Cards that people use to tell something about peoples' lives just by the meaning of the cards used the directions they are oriented as well as their positions on the playing field. Deciphering things about peoples' lives or even their future is an art in itself, and being able to do just that requires tremendous amounts of skill and knowledge to accomplish! Don't tell me that's the method he is using to get a few coins in his donation can?? Can the regulations of donation even allow this to be done? I never saw anything in the regulations booklet barring this kind of activity taking place, maybe this might be the basis that this guy is on in setting such a small booth like this......”

All of a sudden, he saw the young man talking about something seemingly related to the middle-aged man's work life.

“If you try to listen more to what your subordinates think of you and adjust to that accordingly, there may be a chance you can earn their trust gradually. Remember, you understanding what other people want is usually as important as others understanding what you want.”

“Thank you, young man. You're a great help.”

“My pleasure. If my divination can help alleviate some of your worries in life, I'll be the most glad.”

And the middle-aged man walked off, seemingly happy about what he heard. And Chengyu, who is hiding in a corner hearing about that portion of the young man's divination, has some kind of plan in mind.

“I really have to know some answers, especially regarding about that Reika and what she talked to Lina about back in Yishun, but wasn't able to get any concrete or reliable answers or clues that might help me get any way to that. Maybe if that person can give me any insight on this kind of thing...... Even if I don't really believe into this kind of stuff, but trying is better than having absolutely nothing to begin with, right?”

Chengyu decided to try if he can get some help in finding the clues needed to get the answers he need right now.

“But I should really need to do something about this first...”

He opened his bag and placed his donation can inside so that he does not give any image of a competitor to him, as well as not to give himself away too easily. In addition, since he can't speak whenever he wanted to, he picked out his paper notebook and a pen from another compartment in his bag and hopes this can at least help in communication when oral speech capabilities is temporarily disabled for him.

“Alright...!”

He walked slowly towards the booth, making himself look like a commuter going towards the MRT Station situated in the basement, and turned his attention towards the booth itself.

“Good afternoon, sir. Would you like to have your fortune told?”

Chengyu nodded his head slightly without uttering a single word.

The bespectacled young man sports a violet-coloured shoulder-length hair, and is wearing a light-violet-hued shirt coupled with a violet-coloured simple vest on top of it.

“Okay, sir. Please place a coin of any denomination into this can in front of you and you can get a free session of fortune telling.”

Chengyu looks at the can, which is the exact same can that he is carrying.

“Looks like he is also one of New Hope Polytechnic's students as well, huh...”

He placed a fifty-cent coin into the can, and the young man starts to shuffle three stacks of cards. The stacks have different heights, meaning the number of cards in each of those stacks is different, and all the cards used there are face down, their real identities hidden from view.

“If it's okay with you, can you tell me what problem do you have, and I'll try my best to see if I can give any divinations based on the problem you provided me, okay?”

“It seems he has a certain level of confidence about the divinations he can churn out, but whether he can give me any insight will depend on how he works out the question I'm writing down in my notebook......”

Once Chengyu has finished writing his question on his paper notebook, he showed it to the young man making the divination, which shocked him.

“That's weird, you can't talk? That's quite an unfortunate case we have here......”

“Sorry young man. I can't open my mouth and talk whenever I feel like it, so you have to try and bear with me like this for the time being...”

“But it's all right. So long as you can let me know your problem in writing, I can still help you out in this one. No problem.”

By then, he has just finished shuffling his three decks, so he took the paper notebook that Chengyu has written and looked at it. At the same time, Chengyu noticed that these are not ordinary tarot cards.

“I knew these cards! These are specially designed tarot cards that uses images from Japanese anime as their design for their face down as well as the different representations. The image used for the face down is the same for all cards! This has been a quite popular item at comic shops here and there are so many varieties of those cards based on different Anime or Manga series that are the trend here to try and appeal to the young people. No kidding, the variety of designs has also been extended to poker cards as well! These designs usually keep to a single Anime show or Manga series for each deck. And those tarot cards also come with a simple instruction manual on deciphering these cards and their meanings, but as the text of the manual and the cards themselves are in Traditional Chinese, only those who can understand the language will be able to understand how to utilise those things to do simple divinations. Probably these items are primarily made for the Taiwan or Hong Kong markets since the text is primarily used in these regions.”

“So, your problem will be 'I have many questions pertaining my past and hope to find a person who can give me answers to this. I have tried to ask people around me but couldn't find anything that constitutes an answer or even a clue that can lead to one. So I want to ask if I can live long enough to find such a person like that?', is that right?”

Chengyu nodded his head in response, and the young man took out one of the decks and spreads them out like you would see a croupier deal playing cards in a casino playing table.

“Okay sir, please pick just one card from each of the three decks that I will spread out for you, and place the cards on the three square spaces in front of you from left to right, meaning the card that you pick on this one, you place it on the left square, the next one on the middle and the last one on the right. Do not flip over the cards to see at this time, just pick one card from each of the decks and place them face down on the squares marked out for you. Looking at them before I tell you constitutes cheating and can cause the divination to be very inaccurate, if that happens I won't be responsible if anything untoward happens to you after that!” Those words that came from his mouth demonstrates the seriousness and pride he takes in his art.

The young man takes out a cardboard that has three squares drawn on it and places it in front of where Chengyu is sitting.

“Okay, he seems very serious about this 'Tarot Divination' thing...... I'll play along with him and see what happens......”

Chengyu picks out a single face-down card from the stack that the young man spreads out.

“Are you okay with this card?”

Chengyu nods his head in reply, and places the first drawn card inside the first drawn-out square on the cardboard. The young man then collects back the stack sans the card that Chengyu has drawn out and placed on the cardboard, then takes out the second stack next to the first one which has the most face-down cards and spreads it out like the way he did the first one. Chengyu picked a face-down card from this second stack and places that face-down card on the second square on the cardboard. The same process is repeated for the final stack which has the least number of cards judging from the height if it and he places the final card on the remaining unoccupied square. At each time Chengyu picks a card from the deck, the young man will confirm with him if this is the card he will select before placing the card on the squares.

“Okay sir, you ready for the moment of truth?”

Chengyu nods his head.

“So let's reveal what cards you have selected and the meaning behind those cards...”

The young man flips over the first card that he has selected during the selection process.

“You see, tarot cards are usually divided into three classes – namely the Major Arcana, Minor Arcana and the Court Cards. The reason I have you select cards from three stacks is because the three stacks contain cards belonging to each of the three classes. And the cards you have chosen are from each of the three classes in this system. The first one that you have selected is from the Major Arcana class. So let's see what is the card you've chosen and what it really means based on the problem that you asked me.”

The card was revealed to be of 'Justice' that is upside-down based on the card's orientation.

“First card is 'Justice' in reverse orientation. On the basis of your problem, your have a past chock-full of injustice and things not done the right way that directly or indirectly affects you to the extent that the truth has been hidden or distorted with the wrong kind of information about the incidents you face in the past.”

“There is some truth to what he says about this one. Injustice obviously refers to the selecting of the class monitor way back in my secondary school days where selection is based on popularity and not ability. But the truth being hidden or distorted might mean instead to two incidents – the time I returned a key chain to a girl in a motorised wheelchair while I was warded in hospital, as well as the mysterious student taking down the teenage gang members that landed me in hospital and left the school the same day as I did. These incidents only serve to generate more questions than answers that require me to find any trace of the answers that can lead to the truth behind them......”

The young man then proceeded to flip open the second card.

The second card was revealed to be of 'Three of Swords', also in an upside-down orientation like the first one.

“This system of divination I'm using to try and answer your problem is based on the Cause-Effect-Direction method. How this system works is that three cards belonging to each of the three classes are used in this divination system. For your case, I utilise a three-card divination having the Major Arcana card as a interpretation of the Cause, the Minor Arcana as the Effect and the final card picked from the Court cards as the Direction to find a solution or path to a solution to guide you to reach that answer to your problem. Of course the classes can be switched based on the questions posted but I believe this system and class order to be the most suitable to give the answer most suited to your question.”

“I get it. There are numerous ways to decipher cases and questions simply by altering the way the cards are arranged, the number of cards to perform the divination as well as the classes of cards used in the divination. All of them make a difference in the end result so having the matching system for a problem posted can help deliver a more accurate analysis and divination.”

“For the second card, 'Three of Swords' in reverse orientation. Based on your problem, this can only mean one thing: The Cause of the problem reflected on the reverse-oriented 'Justice' card has the Effect shown on the reverse 'Three of Swords' card which is severe suffering and negativity that has been suppressed inside you for a long period of time. I have reason to believe that this suffering and negativity has not only grown in size, but has resulted in your heart completely shut off from the outside world and taking outside warmth as dangerous threats that can seriously damage you.”

“I guess he has gone some way in describing the consequence of that near-fatal attack correctly... but the damage done is actually far more serious than he has described though......”

“Maybe the last card may be able to help find some clues to finding a path in which you can take while having to suffer as little damage when you walk down that path...”

The young man then turns over the final card, belonging to his Count card deck. The last card was revealed to be of 'Knight of Cups' in the normal orientation.

“Okay... an upright card at last...”

“For your problem, you might want to find a person who can give you clues to reach for the answer and help you, and the last card describes the personality of that person you may consider looking for somewhere down the road. The 'Knight of Cups' means that he or she is a very kind and gentle person who with the right person can fall head-over-heels for the person he or she likes and is committed to this partnership for a very long time. When he or she has a relationship to protect he or she would value that relationship over his or her life, so to find such a partner for that kind of person will not be an easy task, but this person may be able to hint at an answer that you might seek, so don't give up on that precious link with him or her and you'll be on the right track.”

However, what he said sent a rude shock in Chengyu's mind, and was reflected on a sour look on his face.

“That's not right...! Describing on that person seems more like someone I should find for a partner...... but what I am looking for is a person I can find answers to, not someone to spend the rest of my life with! But if that person can really give me the answers I need without getting tangled in that kind of relationship, this might work out......”

Nonetheless, Chengyu wrote a 'Thank You' note in a fresh page of his paper notebook, tore it out and gave it to the young man as gratitude before leaving the booth.

“I have reason to believe that this 'Knight of Cups' that that young man showed to me may also be a mirror image of my own personality in a certain sense, but someone with a similar personality like me to be able to find a clue to the answers? I don't really know very well about this......”

He first decided to walk up the escalator to the ground level, then moved up to the second level to continue on his search for donations. However, he did not realise that the nightmare that had almost enveloped him earlier in the day is about to rear its ugly head once again...

Chapter 02 - Student Emotions on Collision Course (Part 2)

The date is 20th May 2007, 11:30 am.

Chengyu has just exited Yishun MRT Station, the station that he has alighted after taking the train that headed north from Toa Payoh MRT Station earlier in the morning. The girl that has been following him has also arrived here, but finds him missing as he guessed that the passengers would usually take the underpass located inside the MRT Station instead of the pedestrian crossing located outside, and being a person unfamiliar with the Public Transportation System like her might go with the flow of the passengers there. But as she heads to the escalator towards the underpass. She paused unexpectedly.

“Wait a minute. If that kind person-san wants to avoid me at all costs, he might consider going to paths others might not be willing to take. What if......?”

The girl went outside as few people went outside the station except for those waiting for the bus at the bus stop 10 metres outside the station entrance. She then looked around and finally found her target, Chengyu waiting at the pedestrian crossing serving the cross-junction outside the station.

“There you are! Please don't run away from me anymore, kind person-san, because I really want to talk to you for a while......”

She made her way there, and was careful not to make him notice so that he doesn't get shocked into running away again, but somebody else that she is hoping to meet have accidentally caught her eye......

“Is that......?”

The girl immediately made a run as fast as she could to the new target, and the target actually noticed her running across the pedestrian crossing that Chengyu himself is also in the middle of and stopped in her tracks. And as the girl ran past Chengyu to meet her new target, his worry turned immediately to frustration as his efforts to evade her has ended in failure, at least for the time being.

“Darn!! I tried hard to get out of her sight but ended up like this!! But wait, she isn't waiting for me at all for following me all the way here, she's actually......!”

“Lina-saaaaaaaaan!” The girl calls out to her new target, and the new target is surprised to see her.

The new target called Lina-san sports a moss-greenish shoulder-length hair, has brown eyes, and wears a light green sleeveless summer blouse that straps over her neck with a emerald-green short skirt that stops just above her knees, completed with a pair white flat-soled shoes that looks like a mix of femininity and sporty styles.

“No way! Is it really you??” Lina replied her.

“Yes! It is me, Reika!” The girl that is originally following him finally revealed her name. “I thought I missed you in the campus, but I finally got to meet you in person at last! I thought I can only talk to you through the campus chat-room, I'm so happy to see you face-to-face!”

“Me too! I've never expected us to meet in such a place like this!” Lina replied, making Reika and herself like two little girls meeting each other after a long time.

Meanwhile, Chengyu has just stepped on the other side of the crossing where the two are and watches from a distance, and is already furious inside at the sight of the two friends. This is part of Chengyu's own emotional defence mechanism that is invoked automatically when he is near behaviour that he deems unacceptable such as friendship and boy-girl relationships, and this is reflected in the anger that he is feeling right now.

“So that long-haired girl's name is Reika, huh...... Wait a minute! That name sounds so Japanese-ish, plus that accent that she speaks. Does it mean she really is......?? But I have heard cases of Chinese females adopt Japanese Names as their Western Names in front of their own surname before......”

“So, have you adapted to life here in Singapore?”

“Um... still in progress though......” was Reika's reply. “Although I arrived here from about two months ago, I am still trying to understand the train system here, it's quite different from those in Tokyo or other parts of Japan though......”

“My wild guess just hit the bull's eye!!” thought Chengyu as he heard the conversation from a distance. “She really is Japanese......! That accent and complexion has never got me wrong!!”

“Oh, I've heard that your childhood friend also came with you to Singapore to study here, right?”

“You mean Kentaro-san? He is here too, but I think he might be too busy trying to hook up local girls here to come and help me......” Reika replied with a shy laugh.

“I never knew he is such a flirt. Anyway, what course are you studying now, now that you're enrolled in New Hope Polytechnic...”

“Oh, me? Same school as you, Lina-san.”

“Really? School of Information and Communications Technology?”

“Yes. In the Information Technology Course. Kentaro-san is doing the same course as mine.”

Lina gave a wry smile.

“Oh? Too bad. I'm in the Mobile Business Solutions Course. Looks like I won't be going to the same class as you guys huh...”

“Don't say that. I heard that some of the modules require students studying different courses to come together as a class.”

“Yeah, I heard about it as well, but isn't that more for the Inter-Disciplinary Modules, Reika?”

“Oh, yeah. But that should be a chance that we can study in the same class like that? I would really want to learn a lot from you about life in Singapore though.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My dad's too busy preparing for his new assignment in his new company to experience life here, and my mum's too cooped up in her new job as a part-time teacher in the Japanese Association to do the same.”

“Oh, I almost forgot to ask you, where is your dad working as here?”

“A senior financial analyst at the Yokomoto Bank. It's the same company that he works back in Tokyo, just that he is now transferred to the Singapore Branch to work in the same job specifically for Japanese companies that have operations here. The company told him that he is transferred here because he has a good command of English and can do basic Japanese-English translation of financial documents that are needed in his assignment. He has worked in the company for close to 20 years and this is the first time he has been assigned to a foreign land to work on a medium-term contract basis.”

This brightens Lina's expression.

“Oooh, financial analysts earn quite a lot, do they? Why didn't you do business administration and study number-crunching instead of studying a course like what you do now? You can earn as much as you dad does now.”

Reika smiled wryly at her suggestion.

“Uh... I'm not very good at crunching numbers or do numerical analysis as good as my dad does... I feel more inclined to do basic programming and create software like interactive recipes that can teach people... a bit like my mum.”

“Really? Does your mum do software programming too?”

“Not really, but she does more teaching than doing stuff like making software as she is not good at that. I would like to have a balance of making content and teaching people better than just simply teaching though......”

“So what does your mum teach over there at the Japanese Association?”

“She mainly teaches Basic Japanese to elementary-school kids attending classes there, mainly consisting of children of Japanese Expatriates there, so that when they go back to Japan, they can be able to fit themselves back into the education system there seamlessly based on what they learnt in those classes. It's mainly on a part-time basis as she needs time to take care of our house here while my dad goes to work and only comes back after 8 pm. As for my dad, he is on a 3-year contract assignment here as one of the five senior analysts here. It's not easy being on that job here since you need to have a good grasp of the British style of English used in this place and he has a degree from a United Kingdom university.”

Lina seems surprised at how Reika ended up studying here.

“Actually... I came here once for an operation to receive my bone marrow transplant, but I was mostly in hospital at that time so I didn't have the chance to look at places outside the hospital......”

“That's bad, I heard about the operation you had almost 2 years ago in Singapore when you told me about it via the messaging program that we used to talk through the internet. But are you really serious about going to find that person who has donated the bone marrow that saved your life?”

This sent another wave of shockwaves through Chengyu's mind when he overheard that conversation.

“That Reika actually received a bone marrow donation here in Singapore close to 2 years ago...... Wait! Isn't that around the same time I unwittingly donated my own bone marrow in hospital while I was warded for my injuries??? I don't believe what happened to me at that time and her transplant has anything to do in common but I can't take my chances just yet......!”

“And in that hospital, I was helped by another kind soul who helped find back my precious key chain that Kentaro made for me......”

This invoked another set of memories in Chengyu's mind as a unwilling eavesdropper of the conversation.

“She claims that someone has retrieved her precious key chain, but it can't possibly be her on that wheelchair! I'll never believe this kind of nonsense!!”

“...and that's why I decided to help more people as a repayment to the two kind Samaritans who helped me in the past so that more people can be happy. And since my wish to come here coincides with Dad's assignment here. The whole family moved here along with him so that we can stay together as a family, and take the time to get my diploma and find them at the same time!”

“Wow, that's very thoughtful of you, Reika. But I don't know if you can find that person to thank him before you can finish your studies here. I don't want to give you the cold shoulder, but given that your dad has limited time to work here before your whole family moves back to Japan, it won't be easy though......”

“Thanks Lina-san, but I won't give up until the time our family goes back when the day comes, I have so many support from my friends as well as Kentaro who is also here now. I really don't want to disappoint myself and those close to me by giving up that easily.”

Lina held both Reika's shoulders with her hands.

“Don't worry, Reika! If there's anything you need to help, just let me know! I'll try to help the best I can.”

“Thank you, Lina-san!” Reika replied with a cute smile. “You're a wonderful friend!”

But then she realised that Chengyu is standing a short distance behind them.

“Oh! Kind person-san! There you are!” she went to Chengyu, who for some reason wants to move but couldn't find the will to do so.

“Darn!! Why did she follow me all the way here!! I should leave when I have the chance and now that I've spurned that very chance I can get my hands on!!”

“Please, kind person-san! Please don't try to run away from me again.”

This made Lina curious and walked to where the two are.

“Who is that person?”

“Oh! He helped me with my donations back in Ang Mo Kio where I was trying to get people to donate to my can. If not for his help, I would've been stuck there without getting a single cent inside and may get detained by the organisers for that...”

“You mean you took their words of 'getting nothing in your can, you can't get home' kind of joke for real??” Lina laughed at that kind of suggestion. “You seriously can't believe that kind of nonsense! Last year some of my seniors didn't have a single cent inside their cans and yet they can get released on time! Seriously, you're believing in that kind of threats, I don't know if you can really differentiate between what's real and what's a joke, haven't you?”

Chengyu looked at Lina and saw that she also has a can on her hands as well, the same can both Reika and himself are carrying.

“Not good! Two against one this time......!”

“Hey, Mr. Nice Guy!” Lina tries to put her right hand on Chengyu's left shoulder, but the moment he starts to feel the pressure of that hand on his shoulder. His face instantly turns to extreme anger and his emotional defences swiftly charges into hyper-drive, causing all movements around him to slow down significantly.

During this realistically short span of time, he quickly grabs Lina's hand that is on his shoulder with his own right hand, pushes it away hard, makes two-and-a-half vertical spins out of their reach and holds his can tightly with his right arm while performing a claw stance using his left hand, aiming it directly at the two girls with his eyes staring sharply and angrily at them echoing a powerful and savage growl resembling a fierce wolf ready to attack its aggressors without any mercy.

By the time this stance has been shown to the two girls, less than ten seconds of real time passed, shocking them with the speed at this is done, then Lina suddenly realises the acute pain the swift move had on her right hand!

“Ouch! That hurts, you know!!” Lina gets very angry at Chengyu. “What's your problem!?”

“You'd better be careful where you put that hand of yours, young lady!!” was the thought running in Chengyu's head.

“Hey! You'd better apologise now, or......!” Lina steps forward, angered by the expression on Chengyu's face.

“Don't come near me! You're a recognised threat from this point on!! Come closer and I won't show any mercy on you!!” was his reply in his mind while growling even more loudly with the left hand ready to swipe at her if she comes any closer. But as Lina comes even closer getting more angry, he tries to back off even further, thinking that he has no reason to deal any damage on her.

“Stop right there, you moron!!” Lina tries to grab Chengyu, but Reika suddenly tries to hold her back.

“Lina-san! Please stop! I don't want you people to hurt each other, please!”

“Let me go! That moron has no reason to do things like that!”

“Please! He just helped me before. I know he has a kind heart.” Reika tries to reason with her friend. “I'm very sure he has a reason for doing the thing he did just now. Please don't aggravate him further, okay? I'm sure if you stop attacking him, he will stop as well.”

Lina looks at Reika, who shook her head in agony to try and get her friend to stop. Lina stops her aggression and said to Chengyu in a very annoyed manner: “I'll take account that you helped her before and let you off this time. Next time I won't be so easy on you!!

An very angry Lina brings Reika through the front entrance of the shopping mall while Chengyu looks on while still on the ultra-defensive stance.

“Bring it on if you can, wretch! You'll regret it all the way to your funeral should you really attack! Don't force me to deal the death blow on you should things get way out of hand!!”

After he has calmed down and recovers from that defensive stance, he starts to analyse the situation about the two girls from a witness's perspective.

“It seems that the reason why this Japanese girl named Reika, who was following me, suddenly ran past me was due to the green-haired girl named Lina that was presumed to be her friend appearing right outside the mall, and it is obvious judging by their conversation that the Reika and Lina knew each other way before the she came to Singapore and study in New Hope Poly. By Reika herself was even more strange... why had she claimed that she came here to Singapore almost 2 years ago to have the operation to have a transplant of her bone marrow? Is it because she can't find a match back in her home country? Worse, is that she claims to have the operation at around the same time as I donated my own bone marrow during my hospitalisation. The girl named Lina seems very aggressive for a girl who doesn't dress like a tomboy, in sharp contrast to Reika who shows no sign of aggression or enmity throughout the period from the time we met all the way to try and stop Lina from attacking me. But why the contrast, and why is she so obsessed with trying to approach me when I am doing all I can to stay alone to avoid hurting anyone as well as allow damage to my own heart? I still have no answer to this even till now......”

Chengyu then remembers Lina bringing Reika into the mall a while ago.

“If my analysis this time is correct, the two girls must've been trying to collect donations from people in the mall. That means they might be still in this mall, and maybe the only way to find any hint of an answer to my questions is through Reika herself. Thing is, I have not been able to hold verbal conversations with anyone other than my parents since I graduated from my secondary school with my 'O' Level Exams. Will doing something people normally have little problem doing such having a conversation with people my age even be possible for me??”

But since if he doesn't start doing something now, he might miss out on information that can help answer his questions, he decided to go into the mall, hoping to find them and see if he can get any information especially on the reason Reika came to Singapore to study and the relation to things that happen in the past.

The date is 20th May 2007, 11:15 am.

As he reached the third level of the mall, he started scouting around for the two girls, hoping to catch them chatting about their past and possibly finding any clues along the way, while at the same time accepting any donations to his can coming his way and giving stickers to the donors.

“Ugh! Multi-tasking like this is pretty tiring...... but I need to do this to find more information about those two, especially about that Reika. She may have clues to help me find some answers to my questions......! But coping with that wretch named Lina is not an easy task if I need to get things done though......”

Looking around the third level took quite a while, and after some effort, he finally found glimpses of them walking around the sports store there. He sets there to try and spot them while trying to avoid their detection at the same time. Once he is there, he tries to utilise his heightened hearing ability that he has developed as part of his secret extreme training to try and hear their conversation.

“Wait a minute! All these two are talking about what's happening recently, nothing related to the answers of what I'm looking for! Have they realised that I was listening to them for answers? But they shouldn't have any knowledge about what I'm asking as I have not spoken a single word since the two met, they shouldn't be able to decipher what I'm thinking in my head all this time!”

Chengyu decided to continue the tracking discreetly while collecting donations at the same time, trying hard to listen to the two girls' conversations to listen for any clues to the answers he seeks regarding Reika's past and the connection to his own.

“I know this is going to be tough work, but for the answers, I can't give up just like that!”

Meanwhile the girls are talking about Reika's childhood friend while Chengyu tries to listen from a corner two shops away.

“How come Kentaro came here to study and tries to hook up girls here?”

“Um...... that's......”

“What's wrong?”

“He seems...... somewhat...... heartbroken......”

“Why was that so, Reika?”

Reika felt hesitant to speak.

“Um, Lina-san......” she musters her courage to speak. “Promise you won't laugh at this, okay?”

“Okay, promise.”

“Thank you. Actually......” Reika starts to explain. “Kentaro-san at that time had someone he liked for a long time......”

“Ooooh! Who was that lucky girl then?”

“Uh......!!” her cheeks were red.

“Don't tell me you're the one he likes, didn't you??”

Reika sheepishly nodded her head.

“Kentaro-san confessed his love to me three weeks before my family set off to Singapore...”

“Oh my goodness! You're super lucky, you know that?” Lina seems delighted at what she just said.

“Really?”

“I thought that I was a sporty girl and have a not-so-bad body, so guys should be taking notice of me, but too bad they are not good enough for yours truly!”

“Um... I thought no one ever asked you out, Lina-san?”

“Hey!” Lina suddenly gets very annoyed, which caused Reika to giggle at her expression.

“Actually you should show a little more of your feminine side together with your sporty self. This way, more guys will take notice of you more often.”

“Enough of myself. So how did you answer that childhood friend of yours?”

“I think the answer was pretty obvious though, otherwise how would he come here to find local women here?”

“I guess you're right...... that means you must've rejected his confession.”

Reika sheepishly nodded her head.

“You know, I still have faint memories of a boy during my stay in hospital where I received my transplant...”

“You mean the time that waaa~nderful boy you always keep talking about that returned you your favourite red-ribbon keychain that Kentaro gave you on your 12th birthday?”

“Yes.I wonder if he is still around here now......”

“I dunno. Maybe he may not be around anymore, who knows.”

This has Reika scared stiff!

“Please Lina-san! Don't scare me with things like that.”

“Oh, sorry... I forgot you are afraid of scary talk like that.” Lina apologised. “But seriously, you think you're still able to find that same boy you met in that hospital? He would have been an adult by now if he's still around.”

“I believe he may be still out there somewhere, I really want to thank him for the kindness he showed me. And also to the one that donated his bone marrow to me too.”

“Looks like you have a really huge task ahead of you to do other than your studies, huh......” Lina said with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Chengyu is annoyed that he kept hearing the same things all over again about the transplant and keychain events that happened so long ago.

“I guess I may not be able to get much from them based on what I've heard from them so far......”

The date is 20th May 2007, 12:45 pm.

The three persons involved have been collecting donations for the past one-and-a-half hours and they decided to have lunch.

Reika and Lina were having lunch at the fast food restaurant near the front entrance, while Chengyu is also having his lunch at another fast-food establishment on the opposite side separated by a passageway to the front entrance. As a precaution, he finished his own food and left the restaurant ahead of the two girls after trying to hear their conversation without any success. However, at the other restaurant......

“Hey Reika, did you notice a very strange man going out of that restaurant?”

“Huh? Where is he?”

Lina points to Chengyu that was walking out of the restaurant on the opposite side.

“It's kind person-san.”

“What 'kind person' is he? That jerk looks more like a wolf in sheep's clothing!” Lina is obviously fuming at the sight of him. “And you actually think he is a kind person? He is a nutcase!!”

“Lina-san. It's not courteous to address him like that.”

“And after all the stalking he is doing on us, you think he's not?”

“That's not it!” Reika was flustered. “That's......”

“Anyway, I have an idea to prove whether is a kind person, a lecher, or a nutcase, okay?”

“Huh? How?”

The two walked out of the restaurant and exited the mall via the main entrance, but Lina suddenly told Reika to split up with her so that they can sandwich paths with Chengyu when he walks by. And sure enough, Chengyu is really walking past the 'trap' set by the girls.

“Where did those two go...... I have a bad feeling that I might be ambushed any time from now...!!” This immediately activates his emotional defence mechanism and prepares to attack in case of anything happening after this.

As he slowly walks by two pillars that the girls were hiding. Lina pops out of one of them and barks at him.

“Okay, moron! Stop right there!!”

“Darn! A trap?!” Chengyu looks back and sees Lina, and instinctively raises his left arm as his right hand is holding to his donation can.

“You can forget about that fake act of yours, jerk!!” Lina was seemingly not impressed at his stance. “Answer us why are you following us around the mall! Wrong answer, I'll call the police!”

“Darn!! You even want to get the police involved in that kind of matter? You must be bonkers!!” thought an angry Chengyu as he tightens his stance, ready to attack. But just then......

“Lina-san. Please let me talk to him, okay?” Reika showed up from behind another pillar and tries to talk to a very agitated and furious Chengyu.

“Kind person-san. Please tell us why are you so interested in looking for us.”

Chengyu couldn't even open his mouth when he needs to, need to say speak.

“I know you can talk, kind person-san. So please tell us why do you want to follow us around the mall.”

Chengyu then remembers that he did open his mouth to tell her “Do what you want. I'm getting out of here!” earlier in the day.

“So that means I might be able to open my mouth and speak, but I still don't know how I was able to do it. Until I can figure it out myself, I don't think I can just speak at will like normal people do!”

So faced with no option, he tries to concentrate his mind, but the result of this is simply a gathering of energy in his left hand and he instinctively swung that hand of his like the action of swiping something with a left claw, and that creates a seemingly large gust of wind that blew through the two girls, causing them to almost lose their balance.

“What the...??”

“Owww!”

Chengyu quickly used the space of their confusion to run off in the quickly towards the bus stop near the shophouses that were next to the mall and boarded the first bus that arrived there, and the escape was boosted with the sudden activation of his unknown power that slows down time dramatically.

By the time Reika and Lina knew what was happening, Chengyu was nowhereto be found.

“Where is he?” Lina looked around, and saw the person in the bus that has already leaving the bus stop, and this made her really mad!

“Moron!! Jerk!!! Don't ever come back, you bastard!!!”

“Lina-san. That was not very feminine of you, you know.”

“Who cares abot being feminine when he's on the loose!!! That jerk has ruined our afternoon and I won't rest until I catch him!!”

“But you just screamed at him not to come back.” Reika told her. “If he really doesn't come back, how are you going to catch him?”

A frustrated Lina just screamed loud and hard at the bus stop as a reply, Reika couldn't do anything but sigh at her actions.

“Lina-san sometimes has a bad temper that may put off a lot of men though, but she is still a very lively person and a good friend to me too. I hope she can find her Mr. Right soon.”

Chapter 02 - Student Emotions on Collision Course (Part 1)

The date is 20th May 2007, 7:50 am.

Li Chengyu has just stepped out of his father's vehicle outside the bus stop opposite New Hope Polytechnic.

However, this day is a Sunday, and there are not supposed to be any lessons during Sundays, so what is exactly the purpose of coming to the polytechnic on a Sunday?

The question has already been answered during the Freshmen Orientation Lecture on the first day of his life here......

(Six days ago, 3:40 pm)

During the Freshmen Orientation Lecture, the principal of the Information and Communications Cluster mentioned about an activity that every student in the polytechnic has to do on the first weekend in their school lives – Raising Funds for the polytechnic's chosen charity beneficiary via a Flag Day Activity during the first Sunday of the school term.

“It seems like every new student in every class each year has to do this once...... But being a lone ranger like me, doing this could be a very hard challenge.”

The principal also informed all the students about the specific details regarding the entire activity and the dos and don’ts of this activity. A copy of the instructions was also emailed to all the students a day later for them to read.

(Present time)

Chengyu reached the Convention Centre where his harder-than-usual journey will commence in a short moment.

Inside the hall there were many students crowding around small groups. Some of them have found new friends since starting their new lives as students of the polytechnic and are crowding around their new-found groups, while others are still finding their own groups to begin with. For Chengyu, he still wishes to be a lone ranger in whatever he does and hopes to stay that way.

“I sure hope that this can get started quickly...”

Once Chengyu has found the room that he is supposed to get the things he needs to start his journey, he steps into the room to obtain his items, which consists of a tin can with a coin slot on the top, a set of sticker sheets, as well as a government licence needed for a person to perform this activity. This government licence is to certify that a person is authorised to collect money from the public for charitable purposes on behalf of an organisation which is the polytechnic he is studying now. The tin can has the activity logo and details wrapped around it for easy identification and is sealed beforehand so that no extraction of the donations inside is made theoretically possible by unauthorised persons.

“The licence states that I am authorised to solicit donations all over the island with the exception of on public transport.”

Chengyu also thinks about how others solicit donations in the past, and how he tries his best to ignore these people without donating a single cent.

“It seems like I may be paid back in my own coin in some way or another... I don't know if I can even survive through this one in one piece, or in any kind of sane condition as I am right now......”

With the horn sounding the start of the activity, all the students are expected to leave the Convention Centre and out of the campus to start asking for donations. Chengyu also went out of the campus as instructed and starts on the journey...

Going back to the same bus stop he alighted from this morning, Chengyu checked on the bus route to the nearest MRT Station and takes the first bus that goes there. However, the perennial problem of overcrowding presents itself as it did every day, the difference being that this time, students form up most of the crowd instead!

“This is simply nuts with this kind of crowd......!”

When the bus reaches the bus stop near Clementi Bus Interchange, he alights from the bus and goes up the escalator to reach the MRT Station to board the first MRT that comes into the station. As he sat down on the seat that is available to him, people started to put some coins into his can, and he automatically tears out a sticker from the sticker sheets to give to anyone who has donated.

“Although asking for donations on a MRT Train is not allowed, but there's no way I can stop people from donating into my can without me doing anything, because that choice of theirs is made out of their own free will...”

However, in the middle of the ride to the next station, there's someone who is walking towards the carriage he is sitting inside. She has brown hair and green eyes and wears glasses coupled with a dual-hue brown dress complete with a pair of seemingly-too-small brown boot-like shoes. Worse still, she also holds a can that is exactly the same as what he is holding!

“Competition...? Right here......?? This is not good...!”

Thinking something bad might happen if he doesn't move quickly, Chengyu immediately stood up and started moving in the same direction as her, trying to keep a distance from her as long as possible.

“Get out of here! I have to get out of this place as soon as possible!!”

When he sees a crowd, he immediately rushes into it, and hears the announcement of the train arriving at the next MRT Station soon after.

“I have to get out of this train fast! Have to get away from someone like that girl!!”

Chengyu quickly went out of the train carriage as soon as the doors open, rushed down the escalators and went through the fare gantry to escape. As soon as he got through the gantry, he slows down, breathing very heavily in sweat.

“This is nuts...!! I don't want to face unnecessary competition so early in this journey like that!!”

He took a whole ten minutes to calm down completely before walking across the road to the cinema complex and bought a drink to hydrate himself in the hot and humid morning. After doing that, he decides to re-enter the same fare gantry and boards the train which takes another route that goes north.

“I hope that person is not in this train anymore...” Chengyu thinks as he boards the train on the central platform and sits down on a seat. But unlike the previous train ride, nobody donated into his can even though there are no competitors around.

The date is 20th May 2007, 10:15 am.

Once the train reaches the Ang Mo Kio MRT Station, he decided to alight and head to the town centre, where a massive construction site is. The construction site is for a future air-conditioned bus interchange in about 2 years' time. Chengyu looks around and sees no visible students here and heaves a sigh of relief.

“No competitors around for the time being, but I still have to be extremely alert about my surroundings in case of any problems or unwanted rivals cropping up here...... I wish that I won't be able to utilise the results of my secret extreme training here when it comes.”

For the next fifteen minutes, people start donating into his can and he does the usual thing that he is supposed to do, not knowing that another student holding the same can as him is already there trying to ask for donations. Chengyu then walks up the bridge that connects two sides of the main road together, and donations kept on coming into his can slowly until he reaches the middle of the bridge. As he looks towards the other side of the road he is shocked at what he sees.

“No way...! How come I've missed the competition that is right ahead of me without even noticing it!!”

Chengyu immediately puts down his can and takes out his fold-able binoculars to take a closer look at the person that is situated about fifteen metres away from the bridge entrance on the other side. There he finds the sole competitor that is obstructing his donation road and his calmness – a girl having Asian-type pale-beige skin with long black hair and has a red ribbon tied to the back that is visible from the front. She is wearing a white long-sleeve blouse coupled with a black long dress complete simply with a pair of red shoes that seemingly looks like beautiful high heels but with a much lower and bigger heel base. The most important thing is that she is also holding a can that is the same as he is holding right now! Chengyu took down his binoculars and observed her from a distance for about fifteen minutes and realised something.

“It seems like that competitor is trying to ask for donations too, but without any success. Although I do get donations without even opening my mouth, but that kind of situation over there is just simply......”

At this moment, Chengyu suddenly felt a sharp pain in his own chest where his heart is located.

“What's wrong with me!? Whenever I feel sadness for myself or other people, the thorn in my heart starts to act up and pain will follow! I need to do something about this, but what can I do......! This really is one effect I would never want for my extreme training!!”

Chengyu thinks about this problem while the pain in his chest continues to get more serious. But amidst this pain, he could only think of one thing that he can do...

“I hope this can tone down the pain that I'm having... for the time being...”

Someone has donated a one-dollar coin into his can, and that became the source for the idea that he thought up. So he decided to take out a one-dollar coin from his wallet, and walked towards the black-haired girl, who turned towards him when he approached her.

“Good morning sir, please donate......”

Without any prior signal from Chengyu, he immediately placed the one-dollar coin right inside her own can! And this shocked her for a while, especially when she noticed the can that he is carrying is exactly the same one she has herself! However, Chengyu doesn't show any emotion whatsoever in front of her. This stalemate lasted for a nearly a minute until she takes out a sticker from her sticker sheet and offers it to him.

“Thank you very much!” She offers it to him with a cute smile on her face.

However, that smile of hers, coupled with the pale-beige skin and black hair, caused Chengyu flashbacks within his head: Flashbacks of a scene so familiar in his memories somewhere before.

“That expression... that look...! That's......!!”

The smiling-face scene that happened 2 years ago at the hospital where he is warded for injuries and the bone marrow transplant suddenly appears right before him. Worse still, the same expression that he sees now is exactly the same as the expression shown by that girl sitting on the motorised wheelchair at that time, right down to the face, hair colour and everything in between! Although the image taken by his mind at that time is not as clear as it is now, it inevitably caused his emotions to suffer shocks for the first time in more than 2 years, and the result is that he immediately changes to a defensive stance and emotion.

“Why is the expression that I saw just now looked so familiar......! Why does this girl look so much like that girl back then......! Who is she anyway......!!”

Chengyu quickly turned his back on her without thinking. In his mind were blurry images of a young girl very similar to what she looks like now, but he still had no idea the identity of that girl in his mind however hard he tried to recall from his trove of sad memories!

“What the heck is wrong with me!? I don't want to be reminded of my horrific past again! Never!!”

But suddenly, the girl in question right now starts talking to him.

“Sir, are you okay?”

Chengyu reluctantly turns around to face her again, and she instantly offers the sticker to him.

“It's okay to take it, mister. You've helped me to find more motivation now to garner more donations.”

Chengyu couldn't say anything about her reaction. But suddenly, a few persons started placing coins inside both their cans, and the two instinctively gave the stickers to the donors as they were instructed to do beforehand. This inevitably puts a smile on the girl's face.

“You must be a lucky person.”

Chengyu's face showed anger at what she said.

“What the heck is she saying...!? I knew more than anyone else that my own luck level is in negative territory, so how could she say words like that when she doesn't even know anything about this, or even myself as a person!?”

Trying to minimise the trouble that he can potentially cause, he starts to leave the scene without saying anything.

“Please wait!” the girl calls out to him, and he pauses for a moment almost instinctively.

“Is it okay... if I can come with you?”

This cause a shock in Chengyu's heart.

“I think... it'll be easier... if we can collect donations together...”

The shock turns to intense frustration and anger as he believes in working solo, something that he has constantly told himself to upheld since the bullying incident years ago.

“Do what you want. I'm getting out of here!” Chengyu blurted out a very rare sentence before leaving the place and heads for the MRT Station to take a train further south. The girl also decided to follow him shortly after.

The date is 20th May 2007, 10:55 am.

During the trip, Chengyu and the girl that followed him sat at two ends of the same train carriage. He looked around and noticed her sitting at the other end of the same carriage.

“So she decided to follow me huh...... I don't know what she is up to exactly, but don't ask me for help if you get lost somehow......!”

When the MRT train reaches Toa Payoh Station, he alighted out of the train, and the girl followed him. But it seems like the girl knew somehow that he tries to make himself somewhat unapproachable, so she kept a safe distance from him all this time and collected donations on her own. Chengyu also did the same thing and this lasted for almost an hour.

“I still have absolutely no idea why she has to do such a thing... Can't she just leave me alone as I am!?” Chengyu thought with an angry look shown on his face, thinking that it may contradict the belief he has upheld for so long.

But suddenly, he notices that the girl is taking out a small bottle, tries to drink something from it and realizes that not a single drop of water came out of that bottle.

“Oh no! I forgot to fill up on water before I left the campus......” the girl said to herself, in which the entire cut-scene was caught in Chengyu's eye without her knowing it.

“Speaking of water, I also feel thirsty as well. I'd better buy something to drink...”

Chengyu stood up and walked to the nearest budget store to buy a bottle of plum juice. He paid for the bottle and left the store without noticing anything about his carrier of purchases. It was when he returned to the place he collected donations, then he realised that there are two bottles of plum juice in his carrier instead!

“Oh no!! Didn't I just pick only one bottle, why are there two bottles inside!?”

Chengyu quickly rushed back to the same store and checked the display, there was only one bottle missing from the shelf – the one that he just bought. But why are there two bottles in his carrier? He looked for the price board where it shows the price of the plum juice that is only a dollar each, but he then realized there is some small printthat is unrecognisable if seen from a distance.

The small print read: 'Buy 1 get 1 free. Please claim free item from the cashier.'

“Darn! No wonder I got two bottles of plum juice for the price of one! That store seriously has to do something about the fine print though...... I only have the stomach to drink 1 bottle of that at any one time. Wouldn't the other bottle be wasted??”

Chengyu returned to the place he collected donations and saw the girl still worried about her bottle.

“I don't know where I can get clean water even though I know Singapore has a healthy source of clean water, but only the campus has ready-to-drink water that I can get...”

“I guess this person either is from overseas and got to here not long ago, or really is from a reclusive family...... Well, I guess the other bottle may have its own use after all in times like this......”

Chengyu walked to where the girl is and handed her one of the bottles of plum juice with his left hand. When the girl lifts her head up and saw the bottle, she was surprised that Chengyu was the one who offered her the drink.

“Uh..... thank you......” she humbly received the bottle with both hands, her face blushing red.

But Chengyu showed no emotion and left the place without saying anything as soon as he gives the bottle to her. When she raises her head to look at him, he is already nowhere to be found.

“Oh no! Where did he go??” The girl picked up her donation can and headed for the MRT Station again. When she went down to the MRT platform at the basement of the Bus Interchange, she saw Chengyu boarding a train that has arrived and followed into the same train without thinking. But it was only then that she realized that she is boarding another carriage on the same train that is heading north again.

“It seems like he is trying very hard to avoid me at all costs......”

Thinking that, she stayed in that carriage and waited for Chengyu to stand up and alight and followed suit, following a short distance from where he is but is careful not to let him notice her. But what she did not know is that Chengyu, having gone through extreme training to have much heightened alertness to things around him in the event of adverse situations, actually knew that she is moving nearby.

“I have an idea that I am not being able to shrug off that person as easily as I would think, there is no possibility that she is not around here somewhere...... But by the looks of it, since she is not doing anything that might cause any adverse situation for me at the moment, I think I should pay slightly more attention to what she does or will do if anything happens, especially due to the change in the environment here that could happen anytime, starting from now......!”

Chengyu decided to keep watching for any untoward situations from her or anything in the surroundings by looking around once in a few minutes after he has passed through the fare gate. A few moments after he has passed through, the girl also passed through the same fare gate that he has passed through before.

Chapter 01 - Beginning of a Tough Journey (Part 4)

The date is 14th May 2007, 3:50 pm.

It is about time for the students to head to Lecture Theatre 28 for the freshmen orientation lecture for all first-year students there. By the time Chengyu arrived inside the Lecture Theatre, it has already been crowded with first-year students.

“Compared to the canteen before...... this is far worse...!”

Ten minutes later, the principal of the Information and Communications Technology Faculty came onto the stage and the people there starts to quieten down. The principal starts to introduce herself and started introducing the courses offered by the Faculty. His course, Diploma in Multimedia & Animation, was also mentioned, in which he immediately checked his notebook computer for background information.

“Looks like my current batch is the third intake in the course's history......”

The principal of the Faculty also mentioned something important: A student is only allowed to fail any module once. A repeat fail of the same module in the course will mean immediate ejection from the entire course itself.

“That's a pretty tall order for me in this kind of condition though......”

Chengyu continued to listen to the Principal's speech while looking at more background information on his notebook computer.

After the lecture ended at around 4:45 pm, the students in the Theatre exited the hall in a long stream. But he waited for almost all to leave before keeping his things inside his bags and move out of the Lecture Theatre. On his way there, he stopped by a vending machine, and noticed that the machine is selling iced coffee in a can.

“That's quite a surprise here......”

He placed some coins in the coin slot, and selected the coffee before the long can drops out of the dispenser.

“I guess there are some people who still wants to keep themselves alert after many hours of studying, huh...”

He finished the coffee quickly before dumping the empty can in a rubbish bin at the central lift lobby in the Faculty before taking the lift up to the 7th storey of Block 31 where his class mentor's office is located. The correct procedure is that he should go to the top level of the block to speak to the staff via the telephone inside the office there, but since he has lost his speech capabilities where he needs them most for no apparent reason, this would be a problem. So he has no choice but to wait for Mr. Chua to come out of his office floor on his own and meet him personally.

And surprisingly, the mentor that wants to see him came out of the office floor within 20 minutes of waiting outside!

“Oh, Chengyu! It's you. I've been waiting for you for quite some time.”

Mr. Chua invited him to a meeting room in the office floor, and both of them went in and sat down. Chengyu noticed that Mr. Chua has carried a notepad and a pen with him.

“Chengyu, I know you now have problems expressing yourself using speech, so I prepared something for you to write down on this, because I hope you can answer some of the questions I wish to ask you. It's okay if you don't wish to answer all my questions though because some of them might involve intrusion into your personal life, so answer them with the best of your ability, okay? If there are any questions you don't want to answer, just signal me to let me know.”

Mr. Chua then placed the notepad and the pen on the table right in front of Chengyu.

“Okay, first question. What made you choose New Hope Polytechnic as your choice of school after your 'O' Levels?”

Chengyu hesitated, but thinking that the question has not probed too deeply on his past, he starts to pick up the pen and wrote down on the notepad: “To learn animation.”

Mr. Chua was not surprised initially, but what he wrote next surprised him!

“I cannot have any tolerance on people who pick on someone apparently weaker than themselves!”

While writing, Chengyu's anger seems to have intensified.

“Anyone who does this kind of lowlife-thing will be crushed to pieces with everything I have!”

“Calm down, Chengyu. It's okay.” Mr. Chua said to him to calm down his anger. “I guess he really far more anger and hatred in his heart than I have ever imagined...”

Then he tries to ask him a second question.

“So, what does this bullying issue have to do with you studying this course?”

Chengyu immediately wrote his answer on the next line available: “I am trying very hard to make people know about the harmful effects of bullying being more potent than smoking or taking drugs because it can harm people not only in his own generation, but also the next ones after it if not handled properly. I can't think of any other way than through something I can make to force people to understand this!!”

“Looks like Chengyu here is hurt pretty badly by those people who have tormented him years ago......” Mr. Chua thought about the notes that the teacher from Chengyu's former secondary school have given him.

But suddenly, Chengyu wrote a question about the incident during the student introduction session in the morning that surprised him further.

“Do you know something about my past? How come you don't show any rejection when I was not able to express myself properly this morning?!”

This clearly impressed Mr. Chua about the ability Chengyu actually had in him.

“Oh? So you noticed that I tried to speak a little about your past pain to your classmates, huh? Your observation skills are much more sharper than a normal student would have. I am really happy that you show such talent in this, you really are suited for this course, you know, since that skill of yours will be important to excel in this course.” Mr. Chua praised him, but that only served to increase Chengyu's defences and immediately wrote something on the notepad.

“I am a person born with no talent. These skills are never talents because they took years to extremely harsh training to develop and grow so that I can tell good persons from bad ones and avoid harm as much as possible. Due to the skills that I have developed all by myself, I have absolutely zero tolerance for grey areas in a person for fear of betrayal and the eventual irreparable damage that it will cause. It will be “Game Over” immediately for a person who dares to attempt this heinous act.”

Reading what Chengyu wrote made Mr. Chua feel that he really needs help after his ordeal before coming here to study.

“I think that's pretty sad for a person like you. Actually I know a little about you from your class form teacher from your previous secondary school, the school that you took your 'O' Level Examinations in. That teacher from your class was one of my former students in New Hope Polytechnic more than 10 years ago and she knows that you've been hurt seriously before and even ended up in hospital twice because of what happened in your first secondary school before transferring to her class. I was thinking: 'This boy may end up shutting himself out of the outside environment completely after all these things that happened to him, and it reflected on your behaviour in that school.' Even though I do not study deep into psychology, but I knew from all these things that you are actually a very good person deep inside who has potential to fly high in whatever you choose to do in the future. You just need the right help to do just that and also to open yourself up once again.”

Mr. Chua then went outside the meeting room to call someone on the phone and returned 5 minutes later.

“Chengyu, for your problem, I may not be in a good position to offer you advice on this, but I may recommend you to someone who just might be able to do that......” Mr. Chua gave him a green-coloured slip and a map. “You can approach the Student Services Office at Block 4 of the polytechnic where a counsellor will talk to you. Hopefully, they can help you to untie the knot that is stuck in your heart. I really hope that you can give it a try because these counsellors are more than willing to help you with your school life here when you need them.”

The green-coloured slip is actually a recommendation for counselling at the Student Services Office at Block 4. The time scheduled is on the 30th May 2007, 2:30 pm.

“According to our class timetable, I don't think you have any classes during that period, do you? So I really hope you can at least make a trip there to find out about our student care programmes that may be of help to you, okay?” Mr. Chua patted Chengyu's left shoulder. “Meanwhile, if you have any problems, please know that I am always be there to help you. I won't want to have any prejudices against people like you so you can be assured that you will never be ostracised when we're around.”

Amazingly, Mr. Chua's hand on Chengyu's shoulder did not invoke his emotional defence mechanisms at all!

With that, the first one-on-one meeting with Mr. Chua ended without any hitches.

The date is 14th May 2007, 6:10 pm.

Chengyu has finished his classes for the day, and heads for the bus stop to take his bus ride home.

During the ride, he thought about the treatment dealt on him in his former secondary school compared to the treatment in this polytechnic.

“Is it true that they are genuinely wanting to help students not only academically, but also on other aspects of the students' lives here?? If that's really the case, I still have to be careful with every word I say, or every action I take towards these people. What I've gone through 2 years ago back there, I don't have the physical or mental stamina to allow that kind of experience to make a repeat of itself all over again right in this campus...... If that happens, all my extreme training over the past 2 years or so will be completely wasted down the drain!!”

But as soon as he starts recollecting those horrible times, he starts to feel intense pain in his chest almost immediately! Clutching to his chest, he rids himself of all those memories temporarily and sits his ride home.

The date is 14th May 2007, 10:30 pm.

A very tired Chengyu lies down in his bed, thinking about the first day in the new polytechnic.

“Right now I am still fully-guarded about myself and refused to let anyone in in case of a unprecedented attack on me. Since primary school I've always been an unwilling victim of these attacks, which inevitably forced me to create my own defence mechanism against everyone in the school before. Sometimes having to hurt other peoples' hearts may be the only way I can protect my own from their attacks. Any hostility will only serve to strengthen my defences against them. Many times I wish I could bring a weapon to school just to protect myself from those bullies back in secondary school. But if not for that mysterious Zhiwei person, I would have been a dead person by now..."

“As for the support supposedly planned for me, I don't know if this may help me or break me, but since I can only talk to my parents right now and not to others my age, maybe this might serve as an opportunity to start talking to people that may be willing to trust me. However, wrong use of this trust can backfire so I have to use it very wisely and correctly or the incident with the friend I issued a 'Policy Fail' long ago may repeat itself all over again!”

Thinking about the past has caused him to drift off to sleep due to the effects of the medication he took for his headache. Hopefully tomorrow can be less sad than today and he can be able to cope with the demands of tomorrow as the journey in his Polytechnic life had just set off from the starting line......