Midday Flame

Chapter One

On a warm afternoon, a guy with brown eyes and spiky hair is scanning his surroundings. He sees a beach with brown sand and clear water. Behind the beach is a large field of pineapples ready for harvesting. The spiky-haired guy sees another guy with brown eyes and short black hair. This guy wears a white top tank, brown shorts, and sandals.

"Hey, Kang!" said the spiky-haired guy.

"Fen?" asked Kang with a surprised look.

"We need to talk." Fen said with a serious look on his face.

Kang is annoyed. "I'm tanning! Can this wait?"

"No! You can tan anytime you want. I have something important to tell you"

Boluo Beach is a land of eternal summer. The southern half is the beach while the northern half is where the residents live. Scattered throughout the beach are fields of pineapples.

Upon arrival at Boluo Beach, Stella and Lyla go to the beach to dip their toes in the sand. Bruno looks for some street food to eat while Harold watches the girls from a distance.

Bruno looks around for a food vendor. He eventually sees a vendor selling local food. He walks up to take a closer look.

"Hmmmm… What is this?" Bruno asked the vendor, who is an old man about fifty-something years old.

"Ah you must not be around here, young man! Grilled shrimp, pineapple, and fluffy white rice." the vendor answered with a warm smile.

"You could tell that I'm not around here?" Bruno asked, ignoring the description of the food.

The vendor gives a warm laugh. "Haha! Yep! Because everyone here already knows what I sell."

"I'll have four." Bruno said, grabbing the food and then bringing them back to Harold and the girls.

"Oh food! I'm hungry." Stella said, grabbing one of the plates from Harold.

Bruno is in the process of handing one the plates to Lyla, but a young man happens to bump into him.

"Tsk!" the young man said, glared at Bruno, and continued to walk away.

It is now time to discuss the plan which is to find the jade-eyed young man. He seems to be the one who masterminded the theft of Stella's self-portrait.

"Now that our stomach is full," Harold said. "Let me explain what we're going to do. This jade guy was good enough to detect that Bruno was following him, so it won't be easy for us."

"He won't get me a second time!" Bruno said.

Harold makes a show of thought. "We need to find out if he's here or not. We were only told that he might be here. Bruno and I will ask around for anyone with jade-colored eyes. Most people here have brown or dark eyes."

"Sounds good to me." Bruno said.

"Should Lyla and I help?" Stella asked. "People are more willing to answer questions from a cute girl."

"Heh!" Harold chuckled. "Why do you and Lyla hang out for a while? Wait until Bruno and I complete our inquiry, and if we haven't found out anything, then maybe you guys can help."

Stella frowns. "Okay! We'll go into the water."

"We can go swimming." Lyla said to Stella.

"Oh, right! Let's buy a bathing suit first!"

The four split into two groups. Harold and Bruno will go as one group while Stella and Lyla go as another group.

Harold and Bruno head to a bar to gather information. The two boys head into the bar and scan the surroundings. It is an open bar meaning it isn't in a building, but outside in the open.

As Harold walks inside, a young man bumps into Harold and runs off. Bruno turned around to see where the young man was going, but the young man had already left.

Inside the open bar, they scan the area and sit down at the very end of the sitting area. After a few minutes of waiting, no waiter or waitress came to serve Harold. He turns around to talk to Bruno.

"Not much for customer service around here." Harold said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bruno asked.

"We have been here for a while and no one came to ask for my order."

"Hmmm… You're right. Guess we just go up to the bartender?"

Harold nods and stands up. "Yeah, that's what I'll do."

The bartender is a young girl. She seems to be about nineteen years old or so. Her eyes are the color of amber and she has her black hair in a ponytail.

Harold smiles at her while approaching her. "Hello? You have coffee?"

The bartender makes a face of confusion. "Coffee? At a bar?"

"Yeah, I'm craving coffee at the moment." Harold answered, slightly leaned over the counter. From this point of view, he is able to see that the bartender is five feet five inches and wearing brown sandals. Her outfit is a yellow minidress that goes to her knees.

"We have coconut juice and pineapple juice. If you want some caffeine, we have an energy drink.

"I'll have both the pineapple juice and an energy drink." Harold said.

The bartender looks at Harold, turns around, and grabs a pineapple and uses a juicer to make pineapple juice. She pours the juice into a clear plastic cup. She reaches under the counter and grabs a can of energy drink. Both are served to Harold.

"Thanks!" Harold said and gave her a half smile which made her face turn red.

He goes to give one of the drinks to Bruno and then heads back to start a conversation with the bartender.

"Hey, one quick question, have you seen any… " Harold started to ask, but stopped when he noticed the bartender was looking past him. He turns to see what she is looking at and sees a tanned dude walking towards the bartender. It took less than a minute for the tanned dude to reach the bartender.

The tanned dude turns to Harold. His face looks like he's irritated. "Enjoying yourself?"