Few minutes after the whistle blew…

'Fuck, that idiot. Why was he so insistent on racing with that girl?' Mark thought to himself, staring at the smoke left by the cars. He thought deeply about Louise's unusual behaviours, Louise wasn't the type to act irrationally without seeing the possibility of the choice he would've made. 

"This is unusual for Louise…" Mark muttered before sighing. "Who knows maybe it's because of Layla"

Mark had known Louise for almost 4 years after meeting each other in the orphanage. Although he has been the closest person to Louise, he has never shown Mark his vulnerable parts. Even when Layla went missing, Louise never asked Mark for his help and even got mad at him because he was searching for Layla under his nose, "None of your business!" Louise yelled. 

There was always an invincible wall separating them from each other, a wall Louise built that was far greater than Trump's. That was until one day, Louise peeked over the wall and talked to Mark, the day when Louise got horribly drunk. 

Layla spent the night at her friend's house for her birthday sleepover, which took hundreds of times begging Louise for permission until he finally gave in. It was a casual evening for Mark, chilling and watching television as usual, that is until Louise got home after dropping off Layla with crates of beer. 

"Holy fuck Louise, where did you get all that!", Mark startle at the rare sights. 

"...Tom had some leftover beer",  Louise quietly responded. 

"Fucking lies man, these could last us a decade."

Louise shoved a can to Mark face, "shut up and just drink with me". Louise placed the crates beside him and cracked open a can. Mark eyed Louise's face as he seemed a bit down, he went to the cupboard and grabbed a bunch of snacks for drinking, "you gotta snack when drinking". 

They were drinking for hours, a crate of beer has gone empty and they're wasted on the floor. Louise was giggling uncontrollably and Mark looked like someone who has been divorced 7 times. Louise hit Mark's belly, "said Mark, hasn't Layla grown so well? She got mad at me for babying her... what can I do? She's so cute"

Mark groaned and hit Louise back, "can you stop being so protective of your sister? Jeez, you're so creepy… you’re not her parent.” As soon as Mark has said that, Louise went quiet and stared at the ceiling; 

"You know Mark? My father made our family poor"

Mark, who was grabbing a cup of water, froze when he heard the sentences from Louise's mouth. He looks at Louise with shocked eyes, "what?"

"Yeah... his business went shit and he loaned a bunch of money from sharks", Louise looked at Mark with teary eyes "that's why I hate working in your store".

Despite numerous failed businesses, his father still wouldn't give up and kept piling debts on their family. Their house kept being ransacked and painted on by loan sharks because of unpaid debts, which made them live in fear. He was just 13. One day his father made a sudden announcement, they were going on a trip. Layla was so happy and his mother couldn't believe it, and so did he. That night he found his dad fixing their car, he was sealing every hole in the car and also duct-taping the air vent, but the aircon has been broken for years. 

Louise kept on spying his father, later he saw his father carrying a tank that said 'helium'. His father attached the tube to it and kept the tank hidden with luggage. Louise got extremely scared and ran back inside. While catching his breath, he found his father's notebook hidden behind collections of books, ones that are rarely being used. He slides open a page and finds his father's plans. His father wasn't taking them on a trip, he was taking them to heaven. 

Louise noticed a shadow looming over him, he was shivering and trembled worse than when the loan shark beated him and his mother. He dropped the book as he could feel his strength leaving his body, he was afraid but nonetheless he still looked behind. His father was standing behind him with a dreadful face, the face of a man who lost all his sanity, a man who had nothing left to lose, a man who was ready to die. Louise was so afraid of him, he tried to get away and crawled backward but his father knelt and grabbed his shoulder;

"Don't let your mother know kiddo, no one must know. You must keep quiet, you must!", the way he said felt desperate, but his tone was giving the impression he was reaching peak nirvana.

Louise stuttered when responding, "b-but dad... why are you doing this?"

"They're gonna kill me... THEY GONNA KILL US, EVEN YOU!"

"Dad... you're scaring me"

"You're the oldest Louise, you must've known the burden right? I'm doing this for all of us", his dad said with an eerie smile. Louise cried seeing his dad in such an alarming state, tried to overcome his teary eyes to search for his original father who was loving and a hopeless romantic to his wife. It was there, maybe it has long gone before then, no, maybe it was never there, it all was just an illusion that he had a perfect family. Suddenly his father's behaviour shifted, he was smiling normally and went inside his bedroom while quietly turning the knob and leaving Louise who was petrified on the living room floor alone. 

The clock ticking sound filled the room, Louise was still on the floor comforting himself by rubbing his shoulder with a face dried from tears. He was scheming for a way to save his mother and sister from his father's selfish plans, he didn’t know how or what to do but he wasn’t going to die solely because of his pathetic father. The ticking sounds slowly resembled a ticking time bomb, Louise wasn’t trembling like a small child anymore, his face became full of resolution and determination as he stared off the clock to his death. He peeked open his parent's bedroom door and saw his father was sleeping oddly soundly, he closed it back and went outside. 

"I killed them... I didn't mean to, all I wanna do is to live,” Louise was choking on tears, “tell me Mark, was I wrong?”

"No... humans have a strong desire to live anyway,” Mark said as he gripped his now warm beer with his cold hand.

"I had to look after Layla all by myself, she needs to grow into a good adult"

"You have me, Louise. Stop carrying all the burden yourself", Mark comforted. 

"BUT I HAVE TO! I... I'm the oldest, I need to take care of her I-", Louise suddenly went quiet. "I don't wanna work there Mark, I don't wanna work in your store"

"Then don’t, what’s that gotta do with my store anyway?”

"It made me feel sick being at the same place that the bastard tried so hard to build, but Layla liked it there and she'll hate me for racing..."

“Ouch… she didn't know the full story hadn’t she?” Mark sighed loudly, he took another sip and realised Louise got quiet. When he checked on him, it turned out Louise fell asleep. In that pure silence, Mark suddenly scoff and laugh by himself, "Oh, dear Layla, you one naive girl"

Mark always thought of Louise as his friend but sometimes it never feels like it, and Layla always regards him as a brother though he could never feel the same as she;

“Oh, dear Layla… no matter what your brother does, it’ll always end up being illegal shit anyway… suck it up.” The next day, Louise was too drunk to remember and Mark never brought up the topic ever again.

Then someone on a motorcycle arrived from the opposite way Louise and Jade went. His face was sweaty as he takes off his helmet, several guys greeted him, and Mark decided to overhear their conversation;

"Yo, I thought you went home already?"

The guy's motorcycle replies while wiping the sweat off his face, "There's police blocking the road up ahead. Lucky that I turn around early or else I would be shot in the head!" All the people who heard him laugh. He freaked out, "No really! They are carrying guns…GUNS!!!". 

Hearing this, Mark gets worried, 'Why would the police be armed if they were only trying to catch illegal racers?'. He looks back at the group of people before slowly muttering the words; "This whole thing doesn't feel right…" Mark then snatches the motorcycle from the guy and rides to where Louise went;

"I'LL GIVE IT BACK I PROMISE!!!", Mark yelled at the owner.

Few minutes before the encounters…

"AHAHAHAH… this is fun!"

Jade laughs as she tries to catch up to Louise, "Kinda scary not gonna lie, feels like the car is gonna fly". However, that did not stop her from pushing the gas pedal even more. She then notices the speed of Louise's car; 'Is it me or he's going slower?'.

Not questioning it further she pushed the gas and passed Louise, creating quite a distance between each other. When she turned the long corner she saw a group of police in the distance in front of her, blocking the road. Jade hit the brakes which made loud screeches from the tires. She looks out the back and sees Louise's car behind her, quite far from her "did that motherfucker notice?". She turns her attention back to the group of police and sees that they are armed with guns;

"Is that a fucking gun—"

An older guy among the policemen gives a signal with his hand, "OPEN FIRE!"

"Huh?" The baffled Jade finally realizes the situation she's in, it's a fucked situation. "FUCK!" Jade gets down and crawls to the passenger seat beside her and almost falls from opening the door. She quickly closed it and took cover on the other side of the car. She then saw Louise pop his head out a little;

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!" yelled Jade.

"Huh?" Louise could only reply so.

"WHY ARE THE COPS HERE?"

“WHY WOULD I KNOW? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING?!?”

As the two continue with their banter, a bullet almost grazes Louise's head. Louise ducks his head before popping it back up again, she then realises who their targets are;

"I THINK THEY'RE AFTER ME!" She yelled to Louise.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT THEY'RE SHOOTING LIVE BULLETS AT US?!?"

"I DON'T KNOW?!"

Louise hears an engine and turns to see a motorcycle heading toward them. He looks a little closer and notices that it is Mark, 'That dumbass... Why is he here?' He thought. "MARK! TURN AROUND" Louise yelled at him but Mark kept heading toward him. 

Mark skids the motorcycle as he yells to Louise, "JUMP ON LOUISE!" Louise's escape route has appeared but he hesitates, and then he realises something new happens. A woman in her mid-30s got out of her car and told the police to stop firing at them. She is holding something in her hand as she walks to the front. Louise saw this chance and took it;

"JADE, RUN TO ME!" Louise yelled while waving to her.

Jade runs as fast as she could to Louise but before she ever reaches him, the woman from before shoots a tranquilliser at Jade. She hisses like a wild animal, trying to take the dart off but at last, she falls to the ground. While the woman reloads the gun, Louise runs to Jade but he gets shot as well. He looks at Mark, who is running toward him after hitting his head on the ground. Louise slowly mouthed the words;

"Run...you idiot..."