Chapter 4

Had trouble come knocking already? Brows slightly creased, Icarus asked, "What is it about?" "Let's talk outside. I wouldn't want to disturb the rest of the class with our conversation," Leon replied with a threatening smile. Icarus nodded without making any further comment. He followed Leon and a few other guys—four of Leon's usual chums—out to a quiet corner by the staircase. Once they got there, the five guys formed a circle around him. Leon stood in front of Icarus and questioned haughtily, "Icarus, are you acquainted with Ruth or not?" "We've met before, but I wouldn't say we're acquainted," Icarus responded honestly. "Not acquainted, you say? Why did Ruth ask to become your deskmate then?" Leon continued questioning in an unpleasant tone—not that it bothered Icarus, of course. "It's because she needs a favor from me," Icarus said. "Ruth needs a favor from you? You must be kidding. Why would a wealthy heiress like her need a favor from a poor bastard like you?" Leon retorted with a mocking chuckle. All four of his lackeys laughed along too. Icarus simply smirked without responding. After a while, Leon asked once more, "Tell me the truth, Icarus. Do you have something on her?" "Nope." Icarus shook his head. "You sure?" Leon questioned as he stared intently at Icarus' expression. Icarus couldn't even be bothered to respond this time. "Hah. I knew you wouldn't answer me. Either way, I don't care. You'd better find a way to switch seats. When I enter the classroom tomorrow, I don't want to see you sitting with Ruth," Leon commanded. "You got that?" "I'll do my best," Icarus replied before yawning. "Can I go now? I'm hungry." "You can go, but you'd better remember what I said. Or else, don't blame me for not going easy on you despite us having been classmates for two years." Leon threatened him with a sneer. With his wealthy background and constant envoy of lackeys, Leon had always been domineering toward the others in Class 2. No one dared to offend him. And since Icarus was basically invisible in class, Leon thought of him as a loser who didn't pose a threat at all. As Icarus strolled off, Tom piped up, saying, "Are we just going to let him go like that, Leon? I'm sure he has something he's holding against Ruth. If you can get it from him, you'll be able to get Ruth to—" "There's no rush. It's too crowded here in school. We can't get physical with him. Relax. If that loser doesn't do as I say, we'll have plenty of chances to teach him a lesson," Leon said coldly. Donovan, who had been waiting for Icarus at the classroom entrance, exhaled in relief when he saw Icarus returning unharmed. "Icarus, if Leon ever asks to talk to you alone, you'd better not go no matter what! He's not a nice person," Donovan warned. "Got it." Icarus nodded. "Perhaps you don't know, but Leon's family runs a construction company. His dad is kind of powerful here in Hindale. We can't afford to offend people like him!" Donovan anxiously explained when he noticed that Icarus didn't seem to take him seriously. Icarus said nothing. Before classes resumed in the afternoon, he went to the staffroom and told Hank he wanted to switch seats. Hank flew into an outrage and admonished him, "Icarus, do you think your family owns this school? What makes you think you can switch seats just because you want to? Plus, considering your circumstances, you should be thanking your lucky stars that you get to sit with Ruth! Why are you trying to act like it's a problem for you?" Evidently, to Hank, keeping Ruth happy was far more important than entertaining Icarus' requests. There was no way Icarus could move his seat away. Since that was the case, he didn't bother trying any further. He went back to the classroom and sat in his seat. Throughout the entire afternoon, Leon and Tom kept swiveling their heads backward to shoot Icarus warning glares. Once the school bell rang to signal the end of class, Ruth packed her things before turning to Icarus with a faint smile. "See you tomorrow, Icarus. From now on, I'll help you with your studies." Icarus ignored her, but everyone else heard her. Before leaving the classroom, Leon approached Icarus and scoffed. "Don't forget what I said earlier today, Icarus, or else—" Once again, Icarus couldn't be bothered to deal with Leon. He walked off before Leon could finish his sentence. Leon's eyes flashed viciously as he watched Icarus leave. How dare a useless piece of trash show him such little respect? "Leon, why don't we go after him and teach him a lesson now?" Tom suggested. Leon waved him off and said icily, "It's fine. Since Icarus doesn't want to move to a different seat, we'll just have to help him!" … There were a few hills beside the neighborhood where Leon lived. At the base of one of the hills, he kept a small vegetable garden filled with a variety of vegetables. Every two days, he'd come over to water the plants and harvest some of the produce. Today, he headed to the vegetable garden as he always did and went to retrieve two pails of water from the nearby stream. As soon as he stuck his pails into the stream, he saw a layer of dark red floating on the usually clear water. He also caught the stench of blood in the air. There was blood in the water! Icarus cursed at how the crisp, clean water was now polluted with blood. Frowning, he stood up and started walking upstream. After passing over a small slope, he spotted a woman about 100 feet ahead of him. Dressed in a somewhat tattered office suit, she was stumbling along the edge of the stream while clutching her left arm. It was her blood that had dripped down from her left arm and fallen into the stream. When she saw Icarus, her eyes lit up with hope. "H-Help!" she shouted with all her might. A husky voice male rang out behind her. "Ms. Young wants you dead, Melinda. No one can save you now!" Two men in black suits and sunglasses ran toward the injured woman, Melinda Johanson, from behind, both armed with guns fitted with silencers. Not wanting to get involved, Icarus turned to leave, but the two men had seen him too. "Who are you?" one of them demanded as he raised the gun and pointed it at Icarus. Icarus couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on today. Why did he keep running into trouble? Feeling exasperated, he replied, "I was just passing by. Don't worry. I didn't see or hear anything." Hearing that, Melinda sank into despair, while the two men exchanged glances, their eyes glinting with hostility. They couldn't risk letting what they'd said earlier be leaked to others. In a desolate place like this, what difference would it make if they killed one or two people? One of them fired the gun right at Icarus' chest, but in an instant, Icarus vanished, and the bullet missed its mark. Icarus' voice rang out with a sigh. "Why must you choose to cross me? All I wanted to do was fetch some water for my garden." Before the two men could react, Icarus reappeared less than three feet in front of them. He slapped one of the men in the face, hitting so hard that the man's head flipped 180 degrees backward. His features were all contorted. Blood splattered out of his mouth, and soon, it was clear he'd stopped breathing. Terrified by this, the other man yelped and tried to flee, but Icarus didn't give him the chance to leave. He punched the man in the chest, and the chilling sound of breaking bones could be heard. The man slumped to the ground, his eyes bulging with fear. In just five seconds, the lives of both men came to an end. Icarus' expression remained unruffled. He didn't intend to attack them, and he'd even promised not to say a word about what he saw. Alas, they'd tried to snuff him out, so he had no choice. He wouldn't do anything to those who left him alone, but he'd kill those who tried to come at him. After dealing with the men, Icarus turned around and looked at Melinda. She was also staring at him, her eyes wide with shock. Did he kill those two hitmen just like that? Who on earth was he? Was he even human? Having lost a lot of blood, Melinda had already been severely weakened. Stunned by what she just witnessed, she felt woozy and passed out.