LANA

“Lately, i’ve been craving for some Chinese cuisines. How about you, Lana? Where do you want to eat at?” Lay suggested.

“Huh, me? Anything’s fine,” I shortly replied.

“Lana, are you doing alright? You are zoning out of your favorite discussion, food.” Xiumin commented, as he glanced worriedly at me.

“I-”

“Of course, she’s fine. Her fats could fight off the bacteria. Imagine, those pounds of fats serving her as a wall protecting her from bacteria.” Kris mocked.

“Geez, do you have to be that mean, hyung? She’s as thin as paper, I do wonder where will a pound of fat comes from her,” Tao said, defending me, as he rose angrily from the sofa.

“Tao, it’s alright. I’m fine.” I said as I put on an assuring smile for him, expressing my gratitude simultaneously.  “Kris, I simply do not know the reason you hate me that much, but please, stay away from me today. I’m in no mood to deal with you today.”

“I do not-”

I stood up from the sofa before he could finish his sentence or two and went back to my room. I could feel whispers coming from them as I leave the room.  I shut the door behind me, isolating myself away from them. I needed some time the things that had happened this morning. Nevertheless, how absurd I could think it was, I still could not shake Michael off my head.  It seems that he had scripted a good act, but it all seemed too real at the same time. My heart is wavering whether to believe him or not. However, what was his connection with Suho? I need to find out about that.

I pushed myself up from the bed and went back to the living room to do some investigation.  They were, there sitting in the living room perfectly still, too quiet for comfort. I had a feeling that they had reprimanded Kris for his wrongdoing when I was not around.  Actually, I was totally cool with it, I had developed an ability to shut my hearing ability down whenever Kris talked all these years; I am not planning to play the victim role till my deathbed.

"Uhm Suho, I need to ta-"

"We had decided to go to the Chinese restaurant in Itaewon. Man, I miss those chicken feet they serve. Are you okay with it, Lana?" Baekhyun asked as he searched for something in his backpack.

"Uhm sure," I replied, slightly disappointed that I couldn't extract any information from Suho about Michael.

"Excuse me?"

"I apologize, sir. Our restaurant only serves Chinese tea for drinks," the waiter apologized as he bowed 90 degrees to us.

"Ew, Chinese tea. The next time we're going to a Chinese restaurant, remind me to bring sugars." Chanyeol uttered.

"Anyone up for Starbucks? There's a Starbucks outlet nearby."  Sehun suggested.

My mood sprang up immediately at the mention of Starbucks. I truly dedicate my everything to Starbucks. I have a Starbucks for years and I never grew tired of it. "Me, of course, me!"

"I know, we all know how much you love Starbucks, Lana." he chuckled. "Here, type down your orders here," he said as he gave his phone to Luhan, who's sitting beside him.

The phone went around the table, each person typing down their orders.  It ended with Kai, who ordered a hot chocolate. Regardless of age, time and price, hot chocolate has always been his one and only choice. Xiumin had the longest order, he's probably the most pickiest Starbucks fanatic I had ever met, beating everyone out with an extra shot, extra caramel syrup, less ice and sugar, topped with whipped cream and caramel salt Cinnamon Dolce latte.

Sehun then recited the orders all over again for final confirmation. "Is this it? Any final changes?”

"No," they all chorused together.

"Okay then, we'll be back soon, leave some chicken feet for me! Let's go, Lana!" he beamed as he cocked his head to the right, gesturing me to depart.

The line was longer than I had expected; everyone was lining up for Starbucks. I wondered what special occasion had happened, I am a regular client of Starbucks, visiting them almost every day, and yet I had never seen a line this long all these times.

"Is Starbucks having a huge discount today?" Sehun asked, wondering about the same thing as I do.

"I'm speculating that they have a new drink, wait, i'll check their ad-banner situated outside the cafe to verify my hypothesis." I said as I trailed off to see the cause of this explosion of people.

A few teenage girls wearing their school uniforms were gathering around the banner.  "Excuse me," I said as I squeezed my way through the crowd to get a clearer view of the banner.

"Say yes to Strawberry Cheesecake," printed on the banner says it all, my speculations were true. A red-white drink illustration was placed next to the writing on the banner. It appeared too tempting for people to be able to resist, this certainly had boomed Starbucks sales.

I was about to enter the cafe again when a small whimper caught my ears in place. “Huh?” I turned myself around only to find a meek-looking little fox terrier looking at me.  I knelt down and looked about it for a minute. Then, it cast up its eyes to the ceiling, and seemed, judging from its expression, to be thinking of its mother. Then it yawned. Then it looked round at other dogs, all silent, grave and dignified.

I approached the pup in awe. When a yard and a half separated us, I flung myself forward, enfolded the pup with both arms, and clasped it to my chest. Being caught, the pup was startled. Sinuous as a snake and swift as a hummingbird, it brought its head around, scored my arm with needle-sharp puppy teeth, and blood seeped out of the scratches. I dropped the pup and it immediately fled to the alley behind.  I winced in pain when I touched the scratch; it was quite deep, it would sting a lot to clean this scratch.  

“ Oh my. You got a bad scratch there. Poor sweetheart,” uttered a woman as she examined the scratch I had.  She has soft, ivory shoulders that were exposed and her cherry-red curls fell down her back. Her lips were carefully tinted red and her skin was flawless. Her silver eyes shone like twin moons in the grand dining hall. She wore a form fitting dress of lacey periwinkle.

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine,” I lied as I pushed her hand away. I prepared a foot back behind the other, ready to run back to the café.

“No,it’s not okay. You might be infected with Rabies if you did not get it properly treated.  Let’s go to my clinic now, it’s just nearby.” she said, convincing me.

“No, I’m reall-”

Before I could finish my sentence, she dragged me out to her clinic.  I had an internal battle of pride and fear as she led me to her clinic.  If I ran from her, I would lose my pride terribly. However, if I stayed with her, I wouldn’t know whatever things she might do to me later on. Nevertheless, of looks, who knows that she might be a serial killer, I wouldn’t enjoy this trip to the doctors.

“Told you so that it’s near!” she uttered.

I was completely absorbed with my internal conflict until I did not notice that we had arrived at her clinic already. It seems like I have no other option but to follow her in.  I followed her in with a heavy sigh.  The hospital corridor is stuffed and the air has an undertone of bleach. The walls are magnolia and were scraped in places from the hundreds of wheelchairs that have bumped into them. The pictures on the walls are cheap benign prints of uplifting scenes and above the double doors are large blue plastic signs with the areas of the clinic that lie ahead. The nurses were unhurried and they moved with a serene purposefulness from room to room on their rounds.

“Come in,” the woman said as she opened a room.  I went in the room; it was completely different from the clinic’s corridor. The air had a perfumed scent and the seats were plush. Every surface was dustless. There were vases of flowers and beautiful framed pieces of art on the walls. Medical equipment was professionally placed with care beside the examination bed.

It all seemed too perfect until I heard the woman locking the door. “W-what are you doing?”  I asked, panicking already.

“Oh nothing, I just thought that you and I need some privacy alone,” she said smirking her way to me.  My stomach felt unease as I stepped back, away from the woman.  I wanted to call the police and make a run for it, but my phone was nowhere to be found. I patted my front and back pockets several times, but it was all flat, no phones.  I tried to search for it---

“Got you,” whispered the woman as she hung a grain bag over my head, keeping my sight in darkness.