The Hidden Truth

You don't know who I am, well unless of course you've seen books or shows about people with superpowers. Well, I hesitate to use the word "superhero", because to be a hero means more than just having powers, but that ain't the point. These books and shows told the truth, mainly. There were things which they stretched, but they mainly told the truth. That is nothing. I never saw anybody who didn't lie sometimes.

You see, everything started just a year ago.

A year ago where I discovered something out of the ordinary.

A year ago where my life changed forever

A year ago where I could decide between good and evil

Okay okay I'm sorry this is getting a bit too extreme already. Not many 22 year olds get to decide between good and evil at that stage of their lives. I sure don't plan to be one of them who decides too soon. I love being morally gray.

Anyway, let me put you out of your misery. You can tell that I was never a chatty sort, but I do like to tell important stories, and trust me you'll love this one. I would listen if I were you.

Or you can go back to your boring life of CV hunting in this dog-eat-dog world.

The choice is yours, really.

If you decide to stick around, great! As I said earlier, I was never the chatty sort, so you can probably extrapolate that I'm not one who loves giving away my life story, but like I said, this is something you'd want to hear about. Are you ready to hear more about me?

Well, to know me, we have to go back to more than a year ago, and then I promise to tell you what actually happened a year ago. Don't worry, I wouldn't lie to you on this one.

 Let me introduce you to myself. My name is Kasper An. As you can tell from my name, I'm Vietnamese.

And my story actually begins more than 50 years ago, way before I was born.

Back in Vietnam, you all know about the Vietnam War. I don't want to bore you with the details, but even Wikipedia can tell you that the North Vietnamese forces beat the American-led forces, leading to their withdrawal.

What they didn't tell you about were the innocent civilians who got scattered because of the war. They didn't talk about the families having to flee the war zone and become refugees, trying to find a better life elsewhere. Some probably got killed as they ran; the only memory of them being printed on black and white as "collateral damage".

Others, like my family, were a little more fortunate and managed to escape the war-torn country. But of course the problems don't end there.

Nobody likes refugees. If you've seen Donald Trump on the news, you will certainly be aware of the xenophobia that exists in almost every country.

Anyway, my family managed to land in the United Kingdom. We are currently making a living in London, but of course life is far from peaceful. It's hard even for citizens to make a living in London, let alone a non-citizen.

Fast forward to the present, and life hasn't really changed much. It's still the same dog-eat-dog world and we're still struggling to make ends meet.

Oh right, did I skip the part where I was going to tell you about? Okay, I'll go back to a year ago this time. Yes, right now it's for real.

Just a year ago, we were still living in the same dog-eat-dog world today, and of course the same one as 60 years ago and probably since the beginning of mankind. Dad was running a Vietnamese takeaway. It's one of the best in my opinion, but sadly it doesn't spread that far through world of mouth. My Dad was always one who took pride in doing what he does best - making good food. Sadly, he's always unfairly losing out to restaurants that open many chains everywhere, despite those restaurants serving inferior food. Many of these restaurants blatantly pay critics and food bloggers to give them high ratings, therefore putting them higher up the list of restaurants when people search for them through google.

Not only that, but the rent is really high and the restaurant only earns just barely enough to make ends meet. We don't really have enough for our own personal enjoyment. Okay I know many would judge me for saying that, but it is easy to judge when they themselves spend lavishly on luxury goods and fine dining.

My Mom is a hero. She's a homemaker and spends time looking after the family. Occasionally, she goes to help my Dad out at the restaurant. Many people don't think highly of housewives, but trust me it's one of the most noble jobs ever. Parenting is a 24/7 job. I've probably given her more than my fair share of problems, and it doesn't end there as she still has to look after my younger brother too.

My younger brother Markus is about 7 years my junior, so it's mainly just him who's being looked after. As I've just turned 21 then, I decided that it's about time to start giving back to the family.

So yes, that's when I decided to try to look for a job.

When I stepped out of my house that day, little did I know my life was going to take a very bizarre turn from then on. For better or for worse? Now that is the question.

So I turned up at the doorstep of this company called Montague Group. Everyone knows about this company. It's a really famous multinational technology company, started in France, that probably has the wealth that surpasses some countries. The building I turned up at was just one of its many worldwide branches. The company's founder and CEO, Clement Montague, was such a celebrity. There's not a single person I know who didn't idolize him. Many girls had a crush on him. Heck, even guys had a man crush on him. Now maybe if I were to try applying for a job here, perhaps it will be the start of something great. Quite a number of my friends worked here, and judging from their social media feed, they all seem to love it. I probably can't go wrong.

Well, the strange thing is I'm trying to apply for a job but I don't exactly know what job. Right. Not a good start, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?

So I approached reception and told them that I was trying to apply for a job. A receptionist looked at me in a bewildered manner and asked me if I was on any scholarship. I just decided to say yes. You may judge me again here, but I never saw anybody who didn't lie sometimes.

So the receptionist told me to go upstairs to level 5 and wait there. I happily obliged.

So I waited. There were others waiting, so I had to wait for my turn, and after what seemed like more than an hour, I was finally called into an office.

Now inside this office, there was a rectangular desk, and on the opposite side of the desk sat this well dressed man in a suit with the name tag "Alex", and something like "Branch Manager" or something like that. I didn't really know whether to sit down immediately on the chair opposite him, or whether to wait for him to call me to sit, but I just sat down anyway after saying my most enthusiastic "Good afternoon sir!"


Hey, I told you I was a quiet sort, so that in itself was already something big.

But this Alex guy didn't seem to bother. He just asked me for my resume. Okay I don't have the best resume around because I'm not a CV hunter like many other lame people, but still I gave him my resume to look at. Now Alex just looked at it, but he didn't really give a look that made it seem like he showed interest. In fact, he just passed my resume back to me and said one of the most infuriating things ever.

So this is how the conversation went.

So Alex said, "Kasper, right? Well..."

And I just said "Yes?" in the most respectful manner that I could probably say.

Then he was like,"This is just the worst CV I've ever seen. You don't seem to show any interest for the job"

And I obviously replied,"Sir, with all due respect, you can't judge my interest based on my CV"

And then he said it.

Alex said,"Frankly, not only is your CV full of shit, but you look like you're from North Korea. It's not good for the company's image."

I got really mad at this point and screamed,"COME ON, I'M VIETNAMESE! CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?!"

And he replied,"Get out of my sight you fucking communist, and go back to your country."

I got mad, and I wanted to let him know I was really pissed off what that blatant racism. He didn't even bother pretending, did he?

I swung my fist hard and landed it square on his face. He flinched a little, but I think I should've hit harder.

Alex just glared back at me and told me,"I'm bringing you to court for this you filthy prick"

Uh oh, time to run. I took off as fast as I could. Needed to get to the lift.

Oh shit, it seemed like there were guards chasing me. Okay, no lift, time to take the stairs.

Dammit. Running is tiring.

I could hear their footsteps approaching and fast. But at least I've found the stairwell, and I've started running down as fast as I could.

I remember how Mom always told me not to jump a few steps at a time as it is bad for my knees. Well, sorry for not listening on this one!

So I just hurried away like crazy. Finally I'm on the ground floor. Jeez that took a while.

I slowly walked towards the exit of the building, thinking I've evaded the guards. I was so wrong.

I turned around, those buggers were still chasing me.

What the hell...

I continued running.

Ran out of the building. Ran towards some residential areas and shops.

AND GUESS WHAT? THE GUARDS WERE STILL CHASING ME. GOSH, DON'T THEY HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?

Were they on steroids or what?

And as I was running through the city, I saw my brother Markus, also running.

And also from a group of people. Sweet mother of coincidences.

I ran towards him.

Oh shit, not a good idea with the guards chasing me. But on hindsight, well, maybe it was alright in the end.

As I was fast approaching Markus, I frantically slapped him on the back trying to get his attention, also screaming "MARKUS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU RUNNING FROM?"

Markus screamed back "SORRY CASPER, I ERRR...PICKPOCKETED  FROM SOME PEOPLE AND UMM...YEAH NOW THEY ARE OUT TO GET ME..."

And I was like "YOU WHAT?!"

Markus seemed to be expanding much energy to scream a reply back,"SORRY BIG BRO! THEY WERE SOME SNOBBISH RICH INDIVIDUALS ANYWAY. I'M ROBIN HOOD RIGHT?"

With a sigh of disbelief, I said,"You...NEVER MIND!!! JUST SHUT UP AND RUN!"

It seemed like an eternity of running, but hey everything is relative.

Ever read about the Flash from comics? Even the Flash gets tired.

Neither of us are the Flash, so obviously we were getting freaking tired by now.

I said "Markus, this isn't working. We can't keep running, we need to hide and lose them"

Markus replied,"Well, if you have any ideas, just say it already!"

I found a little corner of the street and ran towards it. A dead end...

Or maybe not, if we could climb over the wall.

I told Markus to climb over it first.

Markus was like "are you sure?"

and I said,"Now Markus, if you have any ideas, just say it already!"

Nothing like replying others with their own words.

Markus said "you know I'm not the fittest.."

and I screamed "SHUT UP AND CLIMB"

Markus quickly obliged. As he climbed up the wall, I gave him a slight thrust with my hands to push him further up. As he reached the other side, he screamed to me "COME ON BIG BRO! I'M WAITING HERE"

I started to climb, but lo and behold, the guards approached.

Now they were making their way towards me. Shit.

I was the only thing between them and the wall.

They are catching me for sure.

They went closer and closer to me...

Closer

With every step, they were getting much closer.

And then they walked past me

What? They walked past me?

They made their way towards the wall

Oh shit, hope they didn't climb it. And hope Markus shuts up now.

Okay at least he was smart enough to hear their footsteps and keep quiet.

But wait, they walked past me?


Then another group of people came. I could recognise them as the group chasing Markus earlier. Only that they were still running. And they weren't the most graceful of people.

I mean they were clumsy.

They ran and crashed onto the guards.

Oh yes, did I mention they ran past me too? Weird.

Too weird.

But I did enjoy watching what happened next, as the guards and the group of rich snobbish people started fighting.

Time to climb the wall safely now I guess.

I got to the other side.

"Markus, I'm here!"

Markus replied "I hear you big bro, but I can't see you"

I was feeling really bewildered now. Things were getting really strange.

"Markus, I'm right in front of you."

Markus looked way more confused than me, saying "No you're not. Big bro, stop playing games with me. This isn't funny."

Hmmm. Was I dead? Was I a ghost?

Well not really. I pinched myself. Ouch. Okay definitely not a ghost.

Well lemme cut the long story short, I found out that I was invisible. And it took me a while to figure out how to reappear again. It was a bit funny and I couldn't really explain how to deactivate my invisibility.

Well, it's like a guy explaining to a girl how males reproduce.

Okay sorry, I forgot there may be kids who will hear about this too.

Anyway Markus was like "WOW Big bro, what's all this that you're hiding from me?"

I didn't even bother to explain that it was my first time and blah blah blah. I only replied,"Well Markus, the world has many hidden truths. These truths have been kept secret and swept under the rug, leading to many inequalities in this world, and that's the reason why we had to run today"

Markus looked confused again, saying "Wait big bro, I don't understand what you just said"

I just calmly said,"Silly boy, you'll know when you get older. Now lets go home, I'm really hungry for some pho noodles."

Well, looks like I'll need to find a job somewhere else!


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A word from the wise to all those fortunate or unfortunate to live in the 21st century. There's a wondrous magic to life called "truth". When kept hidden, the magic fades and prejudice takes its place. The lack of truth in this world leads to a lack of understanding. This lack of understanding gives rise to many problems facing today's world. Inequalities of every kind. The first step to solving these problems and reducing inequalities of any kind is to release the truth, for the truth will set us free. But with every step forward, two steps backwards might inevitably be taken. Does everyone want this truth to be set free? That, is the hidden truth.
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A man picks up his mobile phone. On his left wrist was a TAG Heuer watch.


On his coat was a badge which bore the name "Bernard".

"Yes. I've got it all covered. It's done. We'll be expecting him soon."

He put down the phone and placed his coat on the chair. He pulled open the drawer to reveal a pistol.

He calmly walked away.