Prologue
"Hah...hah...hah..." a girl panted as she ran on the corridors of a long row of shophouses. She stopped when she came to a stairway marked with a rusty plaque that says '421'.
The girl looked up the tiny and dimly-litted stairway and stood there silently for a few moments before she walked up the stairs which creaked at her every step. The girl looked at the doors on her left and right. The right door was slightly ajar and a stream of light had escaped from it. There were laughter from what sounded like a dozen people and noises from the television. She turned to the left door and it was another different thing altogether.
While the right door was new and sturdy and the room within had signs of life, the left door was shut tightly with both paint and wood peeling off. 421-2, the small door plaque says.
Silently, the girl stepped up, grasped the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door creaked as it opened reluctantly.
The girl slipped her finger to a switch and pressed down gently. Dim lights flushed across the room, revealing a mininally furnitured but clean and tidy living space. There were only three cupboards that were lined against the walls, an old table with four chairs and a tilted and slightly shaky ceiling fan. The only untidiness present in the living space was probably the two shirts that someone had tossed onto the chairs rather carelessly.
Sighing softly, the girl stepped into room and shuts the door quietly behind her, which also shuts out the noise from the neighbour at 421-1. She walked slowly towards the bedroom door that was left half-closed.
The bedroom's lights were off, but some of the light from the living space had flowed into it, giving the girl some visibility. The room had an old wooden wardrobe, a wall cupboard, a king-sized metal bed that had a scrubby mattress on it.
"You are late," a boy's voice said. The girl's eyes slowly drifted to the left of the bed where an old television was sitting comfortably on a worn cupboard. The television was on but the screen was blue. A boy in a white shirt and jeans was stooping over the cupboard as he pushed a tape into the VCR.
He stood up and turned to look at the girl who stared right back at him. After a few seconds, the boy looked at his wristwatch and said, "... It's already nine".
The girl said nothing as she walked over slowly and tossed her school bag onto the bed. The boy did not say anything else as he bent down slightly and pressed the 'Play' button before sitting down on the bed. The girl joined him, sitting on his left.
The screen flickered as the blue screen was replaced with a coloured picture with large words that reads 'All About Ah-Long'. The two kept their eyes on the movie but their minds were not there; there were other things to worry about.
The boy stole a glance at the girl in the corner of his eyes; she was only fifteen and still schooling... he cannot give her anything but yet he has dragged her into his awful life. Perhaps it was a mistake... no... it's fate but twisted fate it is. Just like the main characters in the movie.
There was a loud screeching sound as the motorbike skidded on the racing course before it eventually exploded. The scene made the boy shudder, his hairs standing on ends. He turned to the girl, and saw that her eyes were fixated on the movie's tragic scene but that her face appeared to have paled. He looked down and felt a wrench in his heart when he saw that she was clutching onto her school uniform tightly. He knew what she was thinking.
He placed his hand onto the girl's right hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. The girl looked at him and for the next minute, they stared at each other.
"... You won't end up like that, would you?" she asked softly as her eyes lowered.
"No... I won't..." the boy promised as he held both her hands tightly. The girl looked up and into his eyes and she knew he's not lying. Slowly she slipped into his arms as he embraced her tightly.
The movie begun to roll its credits.