21 LOST SOULS

Lirzod was walking down a sloping corridor. "Geez, these streets are like a maze. Shouldn't K Block come after J Block? Just how are these blocks situated?" Though some part of him wanted to ask others for directions, some part of him didn't. So he continued to roam, hoping to end up at the K Block.

However, the blocks had no straight paths that connected one block to the other. Because their shapes and sizes were different, it made it even harder to know which blocks surrounded a particular block. The curving streets were an additional bonus. All of this irritated Lirzod a bit.

After he entered one of the corridors, his ears caught the sounds of music. "Is Snow White still playing music?" All his uneasiness got washed away as he walked in the direction of the source and began to dance a little while forming words for the music.

"Bag, bag, bag your hazelnuts.

Bag, bag, bag your chestnuts.

Bag, bag, bag your walnuts.

Bag, bag, bag your peanuts.

***

Bag, bag, bag your Baru nuts.

Bag, bag, bag your Pine nuts.

Bag, bag, bag your Soy nuts.

Bag, bag, bag your Raw nuts.

***

Bag, bag, bag your salted nuts.

Bag, bag, bag your roasted nuts.

Bag, bag, bag your seasoned nuts.

Bag, bag, bag your beloved nuts."

"Hehe," Lirzod rubbed his nose. "I should make Duera dance to these lyrics when I get back home."

Somehow he reached one of the entrances to the open segment and could barely see Stussy playing instruments at the top of the figurehead, but when he was about to step out into the open, he hit an invisible wall made of air and fell back. His nose got bruised, and that impact jolted awoke all of his senses. He came out of the dream where he was playing an audience to Duera's dance. "What the hell..." He was surprised and looked around not knowing what he just hit. When he walked ahead, he hit it again and startled.

"This..." He stood and knocked the air with his knuckles and a sound similar to that of him hitting a glass, came out. He shouted out loud but got no response from her or even from any other workers who should have heard his voice. "Can't she hear me?" He tried again for a few times, but the result was pretty much the same. Not one person glanced in his direction.

Seeing how his efforts were fruitless, he shook his head. "She must have set this wall." A pouting for a few seconds, he began to walk away. "I will come back when there's no wall here, haha..." Saying that he picked up the pace and covered a few hundred meters before slowing down.

"I should first head back to my room which is in the K block if I'm correct. But how in the world do I get there on my own?" He looked at some people who were nearby and wanted to ask them for directions but then shook his head. "No, I have to find the room by myself."

He resumed his relentless journey with a renewed vigor.

Fifteen minutes later.

In some random street, Lirzod was walking like a zombie, his shoulders flailing, head tilted down, and spine arched forward. "Screw these streets. Screw this ship. I just want to go home. I'm really missing them both," He seemed distressed and couldn't help but sulk.

At that moment, he saw a female figure cross the junction and enter a different street. His eyes lit up and he ran after her. Only after he crossed the corner of the street and got close enough, he realized that it was Sariyu. Seeing her brought tears out of him. "Sariyu!" He jumped at her from behind, startling her. He curled his arms around her and rubbed his head on her back while sobbing. "Waah, I thought I'd never see you again."

"Lirzod! Let go of me!" Sariyu did her best to get out of his bind, but he was too absorbed in crying that he didn't pay heed to her actions at all.

"Who the heck is that little finger?" Some of the men who were following Sariyu from behind were enraged. "How dare he attack a girl from behind? He needs to be taught with fists!" They all ran towards those two.

"Lirzod! I'm talking to you!" Sariyu shouted, but got no reply. She ground her teeth and spoke in a controlled tone, "If you don't step away before I count to three, I promise for real that I'll kill you."

The words 'kill you,' reached Lirzod's ears and brought him back to his senses. "No." he shook his head and hugged her tight. "If I do you'll run away."

Sariyu was startled. "Run away from what? Let go of me first!"

Despite her attempts, Lirzod was in an advantageous position, so she struggled to succeed. In that time, three men arrived at the spot and wasted no time in pulling Lirzod away.

"You rotten flower! How dare you cling to that beautiful lady?" They were quite furious as they forcibly pulled him away.

"Are you alright, miss?" One of the men asked her.

Sariyu took a deep breath and nodded as she glared at Lirzod. "Can you beat that prick for me?"

"Of course," the three men stood in between her and Lirzod. "Hehehe," they cracked their knuckles and let our vulgar smiles, "with pleasure."

"This is too much," Lirzod stepped back. "Sariyu, tell them to stop."

"Huh? Did you stop when I told you to?" Sariyu raised her voice. "The right thing to do is bear the punishment."

"What?" Lirzod frowned.

"Hehe, you heard the lady," the three guys came closer and closer. "Now, hand your candy ass without a hitch and we'll make a quick work out of it. Otherwise, you won't be able to rest it on any surface for weeks."

Lirzod pressed his lips harder and looked at Sariyu who pulled out her tongue purposely as he would do to her all the time. (You devil...) He looked back at the men and forced out a grin.

"Heh, what are you smiling for?" One of the men snorted.

"Maybe, he's too afraid to do anything else," another man said.

"Hahaha," they laughed in sync.

Lirzod startled and stood straight. "Hello, brothers. Can I ask you three one thing?"

"Ah?" Their laughing stopped. "What is it? Are you gonna make your dying wish or what?" They chortled.

"No, no. You three are helping that girl for a reason, right?" Lirzod said and paused to examine their response.

"Of course, we want to become her Offsider," those three replied simultaneously, and the next second, they looked at each other.

"Hey, I got to her first, so I will be her Offsider!" One of the men blurted out.

"What? I choked the boy's throat and pulled him away. I deserve to be her Offsider!" Another man rolled up his sleeves.

"Hmph, I'm better than you both. I even asked the lady if she alright after we helped her!" the third one loosened his collar.

"Ridiculous. You call that a better thing than mine?"

"Of course, it's better than your both combined, to be honest."

"Shove your honesty in your shoes!"

"Yeah, I will shove mine in my shoes, while you two can shove them in your rear ends." He repeated made sharp gestures which picked the nerves of the other two.

"You shithead!" Those two began to tackle the third guy and their struggle took no time before turning into a full-blown fist fight.

As the three were busy in brawling, Lirzod sneakily made himself scarce.

Seeing the unfolded events, Sariyu felt a sour taste in her mouth. She could only shake her head as she left the spot as well.

After she crossed a couple of streets, a figure jumped at her from behind trying to hug her again. But this time she turned back and unsheathed her knife in a swift movement. The knife stopped less than an inch away from that person's throat. "Maybe once, but never twice in a day," she said, her eyes oozing out a threatening aura.

That person, Lirzod, forced out a smile and stepped back. "So you saw me coming," he exposed his empty palms, "just trying to surprise you, that's all."

"I knew you would follow me right away after escaping out of that place," Sariyu turned away and began to walk. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not you'll stop following me from here onward."

Without saying a word, Lirzod followed her from behind which made her twitch.

"Words are wasted on a shameless scoundrel like you." She felt a pulse in her throat which forced her to ignore him.

"It's not like I want to follow you, but I can't help it," Lirzod's voice weakened a bit as he tucked his arms at the sides. "Your room is right beside mine, right? So I'm just following you. That's all."

Sariyu was surprised a bit. "Hmph, whatever. Just make sure to stay at least ten meters away from me."

"Ten centimeters? Okay." Lirzod quickly stepped closer.

Sariyu grabbed the handle of the knife resting on her waist. "I said 'meters.'"

"Got it." Lirzod raised his arms and stepped back enough distance. "Speak clearly, Madam Mustache. You know I get deaf at times."

Sariyu's feet came to a halt. Her pulse sped up and heat flushed through her body, all of which reddened her face as she turned back and jumped on top of Lirzod. She pulled his tongue up and placed the knife at a touching distance to it. "I told you not to call me by that name." Her expression was devoid of friendliness. She truly seemed serious.

"Sorry. A tongue slip." Lirzod spoke in a not-so-clear tone.

Sariyu let go of the tongue but swiftly moved her hand and cut something.

"My sidelock!" Lirzod's lower lip quivered as he looked at the bunch of hair.

"Consider this as the penalty," Sariyu stood and sheathed the knife.

Lirzod stood with and touched his face. He only had a sidelock on one of his sides. "You are heartless." He shouted at her. More than a year ago, he saw a strand of hair develop at the area between her nose and the upper lip. From then on he began to tease her with that name. Though Sariyu cut the hair and though it never grew back, Lirzod never really stopped using her name. "Fine, you shaved one side. But who'll take care of the other side? Come and shave this side as well?"

Sariyu didn't bother to reply and resumed her walk.

After crossing that street, Lirzod spoke. "Hey, hey, I almost forgot to tell you." His face beamed strong color and sheen. "I developed a new song. Want to know the lyrics? I'll sing it for you, but you should shave the other side as well, okay?"

"If it's about the stupid nuts again, then save it for yourself," Sariyu coldly replied.

"Yes, but I promise it will be good."

"No."

"Bag, bag, bag your —"

Sariyu touched the handle of her knife and turned back. "What part of 'no,' you didn't understand?"

"Oh, I thought you said 'yes.' My bad. I won't sing anymore." Lirzod put his index finger on his mouth.

Sariyu sheathed her knife and continued her walk. Lirzod silently strolled behind her.

A few minutes later.

In a random street, Sariyu was being followed by two people. One of them was Lirzod and the other was a new guy who joined only a minute ago.

"Hey, I'm following her for a good reason," the guy argued with Lirzod. "You said, you are following her even though she rejected your proposal. Aren't you just wasting your time?"

"I can waste a lot more time for a beautiful girl," Lirzod said.

Sariyu could hear his words and it twitched her. But she didn't turn back.

"What? You mean, this girl isn't beautiful enough to your eyes?" the other guy asked in shock. "I'd give her my life if she asks for it."

"Hmph, you are talking like that because you know nothing about her," Lirzod said.

"Then I'll just know her a bit more and then disprove your words!" the guy closed in on Sariyu. "Excuse me, can you tell me about yourself? A little would be enough."

"I'm not in a good mood, so back off before you hurt yourself," Sariyu's voice as cold as ice.

The guy got shocked as he came back to Lirzod and said, "you're right."

"I told you."

"Yeah. And I don't want to be an Offsider to such an Entry," the guy stopped and walked away in a different direction.

Lirzod just waved him goodbye before turning back to Sariyu and chortled. "Nobody follows you in our town. But here, so many men want to follow you. I'm sure you are quite happy about it."

"It's annoying, to say the least," Sariyu replied without looking back.

"Mm," Lirzod looked around and realized that they were in the D Block. "Hmm? Hey, didn't we already go past this block before? Why are we in this one again?" He looked at her but didn't get a response. A second later, his eyes enlarged. "Don't tell me, you..."

Sariyu's heart began to pump faster and she pressed her lips hard hoping to control it.