Barry Allen

Barry wore jeans, a loose plaid shirt, and a black fall jacket. He looked energetic and sunny-faced, his blond hair gleaming in the sunlight through the open door, his smile pure and innocent.

He was sincere by nature, born with a kindness that believed the world was beautiful. Anyone who saw Barry would be willing to trust this earnest young man.

"Barry, are you here to go to the police department with Alex?" Aunt Merri asked, delighted that Barry had come for Alex.

Barry and Alex had been friends since childhood. Although they had fallen out over some matters in middle school, Aunt Merri had always thought highly of Barry and firmly believed he was still Alex's good friend.

And today was an important day. After graduating from Central City University, Alex was about to begin his first job at the Central City Police Department. Barry's arrival made Aunt Merri happy.

From now on, the two young men would be colleagues at the Central City Police Department and could help each other.

Barry had become a trainee evidence specialist at the Central City Police Department during his senior year of college. After gaining experience for some time, he had officially become a forensic evidence technician, providing evidence support for the department.

Aunt Merri believed that with Barry and Alex spending time together, the two young men would surely regain their childhood friendship, work together better, and become good friends again.

"Aunt Merri, I came to go to the Central City Police Department with Alex."

Barry said with a sunny, cheerful smile. He had been looking forward to this day for a long time. Sure enough, Alex had chosen to join the Central City Police Department. He was the most suitable person to become a police officer.

"I entered the Central City Police Department a year before Alex, so I'm more familiar with the place. I thought I could help Alex get acquainted with the environment."

Barry said with a smile, his gaze involuntarily drifting behind Aunt Merri. He felt faintly excited.

He had very few friends. More accurately, he had none.

But the only person he considered a friend was Alex, the friend he had known since Central City Elementary School. When his father had gone to prison and his mother had died, during that dark time in his life, Alex had stayed by his side and helped him through it.

Barry believed that no matter what, Alex was his childhood friend, his brother.

Though they had once cut ties in middle school because of some unpleasant incident.

Today, however, Barry felt that he could use this opportunity to change Alex's attitude, become good friends with him again, and work alongside him at the Central City Police Department.

Hearing his wife speaking with Barry at the door, Bert looked at Alex, his eyes carrying a trace of surprise. Had they made up?

The morning sunlight slanted in through the window, making half of Alex's figure seem submerged in darkness. His black rectangular glasses made him look like a cold, ruthless schemer. Reflections glimmered across the lenses, obscuring his eyes beneath them, while making his face appear even more stern.

Silent and wordless.

Alex rose, pushing back his chair with the backs of his knees, producing a slight scrape.

The room was quiet, filled only with the voices of Barry and Aunt Merri talking by the door. Bert's deep blue gaze remained fixed on Alex as he left the dining table, picked up his black coat from the sofa, slipped it on, and walked toward the door with the same stern expression.

Alex's footsteps were steady and forceful. With every step on the wooden floor, Barry at the door could clearly feel his own heartbeat thumping in time with them.

When Alex appeared wearing those black rectangular glasses, though they concealed his distinctive, alluring beauty mark beneath his eye, Barry still recognized him. This was his good friend, his childhood friend, his good brother.

Alex was still so outstanding, so exceptional, so capable of drawing everyone's attention.

"Alex..."

Seeing Alex come out, Barry was delighted. With a sincere, cheerful smile, he hurried past Aunt Merri and strode toward Alex.

Aunt Merri watched with a smile at the corner of her lips. These two good friends, such big children.

However.

Just as Barry reached Alex.

Alex, who had been slightly lowering his head, raised his eyes and coldly glanced at Barry through his lenses.

Bang!

In an instant, Alex took a huge step forward, his right foot slamming heavily onto the wooden floor. The whole house seemed to tremble, and even the dust in the sunlit air appeared to shudder.

His upper body suddenly sank. A dropping force rose from beneath his feet to his waist, then, under his exquisite bodily control, transformed into a soft force. It looked, at just the right moment, as though Barry had stepped forward and Alex had fallen into his embrace.

Suddenly.

With a bang, before Barry's pupils could do more than shrink in terror, Alex drove a Shoulder Charge into his chest.

Barry felt a burst of soft force slam into his chest, like a powerful water cannon. His chest went numb, and he lost control of his body.

Alex's shoulder sent him flying. His feet left the ground as he stared at Alex in blurry terror, watching him grow farther and farther away.

Bang!

Barry felt another sharp pain in his back. His spine seemed to crack joint by joint as his body spread-eagled against the wall.

"Ugh..."

Barry's eyes bulged as he clung to the wall and groaned.

Every joint in his spine seemed to be moving in both comfort and agony, leaving his entire back exceptionally sore and painful for a moment.

Alex's single Shoulder Charge had sent his whole body flying diagonally into the wall above the front door, making the wooden concrete wall shudder violently.

The dust clearly visible in the sunlight trembled and swirled chaotically through the disturbed air Barry had stirred up.

Alex drew back his right foot and stood upright where he was. He raised his right hand, pressing the tips of his middle finger and thumb against either side of the black-framed glasses on his nose, tightening the slightly crooked frames against his skin again. Through the lenses, he coldly watched Barry cling to the upper wall for two or three seconds before sliding down and dropping by the door.

To strike someone like hanging a painting—that was what it meant.

Barry had literally hung on the wall for several seconds before sliding down.

Alex had measured his strength carefully. Barry's injuries were limited. He had used soft force in that Shoulder Charge, intending only to leave Barry stuck to the wall for a few seconds. The worst injury came from Barry's fall from the wall.

But it was nothing serious. He had fallen from only about two meters, half a story high. At most, his feet would be numb, his knees scraped, and his body sore.

Aunt Merri was already frozen in fright. It was not until Barry fell to the ground with a bang, sending dust flying, that she recovered from her shock.

"Ah!"

"Oh my God!"

"Alex, what are you doing?!"

Terrified, Aunt Merri hurried to Barry's side, wanting to help him up but fearing that after Alex had hit him like that, she might worsen a fracture. She spun anxiously beside him, repeatedly asking whether he was all right.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough..."

Barry lay on the floor, his vision swimming. He had a breath caught in his chest and kept coughing with his eyes rolling back. His entire body felt numb and miserable, but he was not seriously hurt. He could only wave his hand while coughing to tell Aunt Merri that he was fine.

Even Bert was startled at the dining table and hurried out.

With a stern face, Alex looked down at Barry lying on the ground and approached him. In the slanting sunlight at the doorway, his lenses reflected a cold gleam. He stepped directly past Barry, walked out the front door, and left behind only his receding back and a voice laced with cold fury.

"Get lost. I have never forgiven what you did to me!"