Jemima appeared confused herself, even though she was the one who would cook the food.
"Which one do you want? The spicy one or the non-spicy one?" Jemima asked, waiting for the stranger's decision. "It's up to you," the man replied softly. It would be best if that were all he said, keeping his curiosity about the package for later. Jemima seemed to choose between the two instant noodle packages carefully, then nodded to herself. "Oh, by the way, what's your name?" "My name is Jemima; you can call me Jemi," Jemima said, feeling happy to have someone to talk to like this. Hmm, his mouth couldn't stay quiet, thought the man as he sighed. "Hey! What's your name?" "My name is Jemi," she replied again. "Ahem! My name is Julian, yes, Julian," the man answered hesitantly. "Oh really? That's a nice name. I'm sure you're just bankrupt or kicked out of your house," Jemima assumed on her own. "What do you mean?" Julian asked, not understanding the girl's words. "Well, I mean... sorry beforehand, after you changed into slightly brighter clothes like that, you don't look like a homeless person anymore," Jemima explained. Julian nodded as he looked at his outfit: a navy jacket with cream-coloured fur, a light grey t-shirt, and denim jeans. Only his shoes were not changed: Air Jordan Silver shoes. "Oh, I just didn't buy the shoes. They look nice, although it seems fake," Jemima yelled out as she saw Julian taking off his shoes. "Ahem!" Julian coughed in surprise at the girl's words. "Are you okay?" Jemima asked. Julian nodded while rubbing his neck, "I'm fine. Just a bit cold," he answered. Jemima nodded in understanding. "So that you know, those are unique and rare shoes. Since its first release, these sneakers have been sought after by most men worldwide because the NBA legend directly signed them, Michael Jordan," Jemima confidently explained. "Do you know Michael Jordan?" she asked. The one being asked just looked around cluelessly. "But... I didn't know there was a fake edition," she added. 'What? Did she say these shoes are fake?' Julian's inner thoughts were startled. If only he knew how much they cost. His heart was slightly pinched. It turned out that if he wasn't anyone, even when wearing branded items, they still had no value in the eyes of strangers who didn't know him. "Are you offended? Didn't I apologise earlier?" Jemima asked, coming back with two bowls of freshly cooked noodles. Julian shook his head, "then why are you silent?" Jemima asked again. Julian's eyes were only focused on the two bowls of food in front of him, with pieces of meat and vegetables on top, looking delicious, although strange because it was the first time he had seen it. "Hey, why aren't you answering?" Jemima asked again. "Oh, sorry, so what should I explain?" Julian replied, asking back. "Ah, never mind... let's just eat first. Julian," Jemima replied, thinking that someone like Julian, who lived on the streets, couldn't possibly know about fake shoes or not. Just being able to wear shoes was already something to be grateful for. "Hump... yummy..." murmured Jemima as she prepared to scoop the broth in the bowl, but suddenly someone banged on her door. BANG! BANG! BANG! Jemima's eyes widened towards the door, then alternated to Julian. They looked at each other, but Julian, who was clueless, seemed indifferent. "Jemima! Come out!" a woman shouted from outside. "Who?" Julian asked. "Shh!" Jemima replied, raising her index finger. Although not understanding, Julian nodded and did the same, raising his index finger right above his lips. "Come out, Jemima, I know you're inside!" the woman called again, sounding frantic. Julian's eyes sneakily glanced at Jemima, the girl's face looking very confused. "You should just open it," Julian whispered. Jemima ignored the man's words next to her. Instead, she bit her index finger's nail. "Jemima! Come out! Should I break down the door, huh?!" the woman shouted again. Jemima's lips grimaced. Finally, she stood up and walked towards the only door of the house. The lock was opened, and the woman outside immediately swung the door wide open, almost hitting Jemima's face if Julian hadn't quickly pulled the girl's clothes, making her step back. "Oh! Apparently, having a private moment with a man?!" snorted the middle-aged woman who barged into the house. Jemima just lowered her head, looking embarrassed and not daring to respond to the woman's rudeness. "Tsk! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, like mother, like daughter," the woman sneered again. "Ah, whatever, I don't care—no wonder you didn't want to marry Ian. Apparently, you've been cheating with another man," she continued. Julian glanced at Jemima; the girl looked scared and confused. "Remember, Jemima, your debt is very high. Ian doesn't need to be repaid; that man only needs to be paid by your body," the woman said. Julian was shocked; even his mind started to wonder about Jemima's job. 'Could she be a sex worker?' he thought as he saw Jemima's trembling body in fear. Before Jemima could defend herself, the woman suddenly took a bowl of hot noodles then poured it over her head. "Ouch!" Jemima winced from the heat. "What is this? Are you crazy!" Julian snapped, reflexively scolding the middle-aged woman while quickly running and looking for something to wipe off the noodles poured on Jemima's body. "Are you okay?" he continued to ask. Jemima just stood frozen, tears starting to flow; the girl tried not to cry by biting her lower lip hard. But it seemed unsuccessful; the scene looked very pitiful until her pain was felt deep in Julian's heart. "Hey! Who are you? Her customer?" the woman asked Julian while pulling his arm, which Julian immediately pushed away, feeling disgusted when the middle-aged woman touched him. Julian remained silent, staring sharply at the woman. "Uh! Your gaze is truly terrifying," the woman sneered, shuddering. "Do you think I'm afraid? Hah!" she continued shouting, as if challenging. For some reason, this was the first time Julian wanted to slap a woman's mouth since Sarah. "Listen, young man, I have the right because I am your stepmother," the woman declared.The cold night in Coast Field City. "Let go! What are you doing!""Help… help, help,"Faintly heard a woman's voice screaming for help as she ran in fear down the alley where homeless people were resting. "Let go! Help... help, help!"One of the men among the homeless woke up and raised his head, looking around. He realized it was not a dream or hallucination because a few meters in front of him, he saw a girl being chased by three men. Despite the many homeless people around, none of them wanted to help the terrified girl being harassed by the three men. They chose to ignore and pretend to sleep.‘Alright, what a fool!’ thought the man. He remembered his recent unpleasant experience, why should he even care about the unfortunate girl who was a stranger to him? Since everyone else chose to remain silent, on what grounds should he act like a hero? "Just take her clothes off! Let's do it here!" shouted one of the three men among the harassers."Hey! She's mine, Sam!" another man yell
Although reluctant, Sam and Mat advanced together. They were ready to swing their fists, while Ian appeared to retreat because he underestimated the mysterious man. Jemima moved forward, in line with the mysterious man who had been protecting her. However, the man pulled Jemima back to stand behind him. Sam pulled out a sharp weapon, intending to end it as quickly as possible because he was disgusted by the unkempt appearance of the man in front of him. He also couldn't stand the odor emanating from the man's body. The mysterious man and Jemima took a few steps back, Sam began to launch an attack with his sharp weapon, but his target was Jemima. Fortunately, the weapon did not harm Jemima as it was blocked by the mysterious man's arm. "Hey! What are you doing, Sam?!" Ian shouted, seeing Jemima almost injured by Sam's attack. Both of Jemima's eyes widened in surprise when she saw blood starting to flow from under the sleeve of the shirt of the mysterious man who was currently pro
The man immediately stopped his actions upon hearing Jemima's shout. He got up from Sam's body, Ian, who looked frightened, stumbled backward, while Mat, whose hand was injured earlier, quickly moved Sam's body, intending to leave the place, abandoning the dirty streets.After the three men left, the mysterious man sat down exhausted. He appeared tired and moments later, he fell unconscious."Hey, wake up, what happened?" asked Jemima, unsure of what to do.Suddenly, some vagrants approached her. Jemima was scared, thinking they would attack her."Quickly call an ambulance or a taxi, Miss.""Yes, your helper must be seriously injured."Jemima felt relieved as the vagrants approached to help her. However, she was slightly annoyed that when she was attacked earlier, none of the vagrants helped her, except for this one person.Oh, how foolish! Jemima sighed inwardly, and immediately called an ambulance, and a few minutes later, the paramedics arrived, taking her and her helper away from
When they left the hospital, the man thought the woman would hail a taxi for their transportation home. However, he was mistaken as he had to continue walking following the peculiar woman."Where are we going?" the man asked again, starting to feel tired.Jemima pointed to something quite far ahead."Bus stop?"Jemima nodded with a flat expression, "Let's consider it an exercise." She said."Wait, what's wrong with her? Aren't the job of vagrants to move around and walk endlessly?" Jemima whispered, not intending to be sarcastic. Of course, her question couldn't be heard by the man as she was speaking to herself.Finally, they arrived at the bus stop. The man followed Jemima and sat on the available seat. In the middle of the day in this winter season, there was not a single passenger waiting for any bus, except for the unemployed.The blue bus with the sign 'Springbrook Road' stopped in front of them. Jemima stood up and boarded the vehicle, followed by the man behind her. They sat s