Most of us haven’t seen Mr. Wu around ever since the day he brought me home from the market. It has already been a week since I last saw him and some say that he’s been locking himself up in his room, doing who knows what. For several nights, before entering my room after a long day, I’ve been seeing beautiful maidens, who only had minimal pieces of clothing on, coming in and out of his room always carrying a bottle of liquor in their hands. I didn’t dare wonder what they were doing in there but sadly. . .

I think I already had an idea.

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It was already midnight. My stomach wouldn’t let me sleep so I decided to get a midnight snack downstairs and upon stepping out of my room, I saw a drunken Mr. Wu, passed out in front of his bedroom door which made me gasp in disbelief.

“Are you alright?” I asked, softly patting my palm on his sweat covered face but I got no response. I wrapped an arm around his waist and hung one of his arms around my shoulder to help him up but it was harder than I thought. Landing on my during my first attempt to lift this man up, I tried again and this time, I was able to succeed. His scent which was composed of the odor of alcohol, cigarettes and vomit disgusted me so I tried to bring him to his room as fast as I could.

I think I was being blessed with luck today since the door was locked which made me groan in annoyance. The good news was that the key was just inside his shirt pocket . . .  but the bad news was that his pocket seemed to have caught some of his vomit. Closing my eyes, I reached into his shirt pocket, grabbing the key and upon unlocking the door, the sight that appeared before me made me want to burn my own eyes.

“Unbelievable” I murmured to myself upon seeing several pairs of underwear, broken pieces of glass and spilled liquor on the floor. I cautiously guided this man towards his bed and upon helping him lay down on his bed, he suddenly wrapped his arms around my neck which made me lose my balance and fall on the bed with him.

“I can’t breathe” I said, trying to free myself from his grasp but pleading to this man was no use. As of the moment, he was in his own little world surrounded by walls that would be hard to penetrate.

I’ve stopped trying to free myself a few minutes ago, realizing that it was no use and as I was lying on this man, motionless, I heard him mumble something which stunned me, making my body numb from any feeling.

“Yul” He called out, reaching his arms out like he was trying to catch something. “Yul”

I wanted to ask him why he was calling out my name but I realized that there were many Yuls out there and I was probably not the one he was referring to.

“Yul, Where are you?” He asked.

Lifting my head up, I saw tears rolling down his cheeks which made me feel empty once again. This man was exactly like me. He too was searching for someone; Yearning to be with that person who was dear to him.

“I’m here.” I softly whispered in his ear, resting my head on his chest and eventually fell asleep.

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Upon opening my eyes, I saw that I was in an unfamiliar place; a room which had a view of the sea. White sheets covered my body while my head rested on pillows as soft as newly roasted marshmallows. A tray which laid on a folding table before me contained a plate of golden fried sunny side eggs and a plate of sweet scented buttered toast coated in sugar. Looking around, I also saw that Mr. Wu was watching me, sitting on a black leather recliner nearby.

“Did we transfer to another room?” I asked, rubbing my eyes as I sat up. “You look better”

Mr. Wu shook his head in response and walked toward you, handing the plate of eggs.

“Eat up. You look hungry.”

“I am very hungry, thank you very much” I said, grabbing the plate from his hands and started stuffing my mouth, like I haven’t eaten in days which made him chuckle.

“You remind me of someone I used to know.”

Blinking at him, I had second thoughts about whether or not to ask him if he was talking about Yul but did so anyways. “Do I remind you of Yul?”

The smile on his face remained but looking into his eyes, I saw that what I asked somehow hurt him.

“Yes” He replied meekly.

Deciding not to speak anymore since every word that comes out of my mouth always ends up hurting him, I continued eating my meal in silence.

“What’s your name?” Mr. Wu asked, almost making me choke on my food.

“Yuri” I replied.

“Hi” He said, reaching his hand out “I’m Kris”