Photograph
Maybe Next time We'll Meet Again
Chapter 16:
I turned around and saw the other guys on the floor.
"Let go of her" he said
Why is he here? Shouldn't he be ...
The man gripped my arm harder
"Didn't I tell you to let go?"
The man glared at him.
He kicked the man and he fell backwards.
"I warned you already. Don't even try to mess with me"
he gave them a glare
The men quickly ran away and along with the car.
"Are you okay?" He asked
Am I okay? Yes... I didn't need any help before...but I'm surprised
"Xiumin...aren't you suppose to be with Luhan and them?"
"Yeah...I was but I got lost and happened to see you here,so I followed" said Xiumin
Really? It doesn't seem like he got 'lost' though
"Oh Xiumin, about before. How did you fight those guys? They looked very strong"
"Tao's not the only one that knows martial arts. I'm good at fencing and taekwondo too"
"And this is my first one hearing about it..."
"Well we already have Tao with the wushu image. There's no need for another one, so I don't need to act that way"
"Oh" I'm speechless, I always thought that Xiumin was the weak one that liked to eat. I would have never thought that he was like this
"What are you doing in this deserted place by the way?"
"I was looking for my friend who lives around here, but he moved"
"Oh, that ."
"I know right... I had to come all the way here and he's not here"
" hey who were those guys by the way?"
"I don't know"
I'm honest, I really don't know... But I have a hint of who it can be
Xiumin looked worried
"You have to be careful, Minhee. We don't really know this place well, things can happen easily. Your lucky that I was here"
"Says the one that got lost" I smirked
"Hey!" Xiumin flicks my forehead
"Oww!" I rubbed my head
"By the way, where were you guys before you got lost?"
"I'm not sure? I think it was around the Great Wall of China?"
My eyes stretched
"What! The Great Wall of China!!"
"Yuup, I think we were there?"
My eyebrows raises
"The Great Wall of China is really far from here. It's like 30-40 minutes from here! How the heck did you get lost?"
Aish! I can't believe him. He's the oldest yet he acts like he's the youngest.
Xiumin shrugged his shoulders
"Did you text the others?" I asked
"Uhhh...nope"
I took my cell phone out and texted Luhan
To: LuLu (Luhan)
Hey LuLu!
Xiumin's with me right now, so you don't have to worry.
How could you lose him? He's not a five years old! Anyways do you want to meet us back at the hotel or do you want us to come find you?
Reply ASAP!
Love Minhee
I closed my cell phone. Hopefully he could respond quickly, I don't want them to be looking around uselessly for no reason.
"So...what do you want to do? Do you want to go back to the hotel to meet the others or wait and find them when Lulu replies?"
Xiumin taps his chin thinking
"Hmmm..."
*grumble*
What was that sound ? It was so loud!
I stared at Xiumin and his face was red, he looked embarrassed
"Are you hungry?"
Xiumin nods his head
"I guess we can go get something to eat and wait for Lulu at the same time"
We walked a block and headed to the restaurant that Barom and I always go to when we stayed in Beijing for the summer.
The restaurant stayed the same, it had circular tables with plastic chairs. It may look ghetto to people but I don't care. The food was good and the price was good too.
Xiumin looked around, his face looked kind of weird and curious.
We sat at one of the small rectangle table that was near the wall.
"Wait here, I'll go order our food"
He nods and I go to the front
"Excuse me, but I want to order Hotpot for two " I said in mandarin
The lady wrote down what I said
"What would you like in it?" She asks
"Um..I guess some fish balls, beef, lamb, shrimp, squid. And some udon?"
She looks up and smiles
" Ah! It's you, Si Yun right? Baroms friend?"
"Oh... Yeah"
This lady still remembers me? It's been more than 6 years though.
" long time no see, it's been years now. How are you?"
"It's fine, everything is the same.My restaurant is doing fine. How bout you? Where have you been all these years? Barom was saying that he couldn't find you."
Barom couldn't find me? Maybe this lady knows where he is now.
"Oh...I had to move abroad. How's Barom? Do you know where he is now?"
"Barom said that he had to go back home. He really really missed you, he moved back a few years ago. He always come here to help out... Whenever he's here he'll always mention you. He said that you'll come back here one day and when you do he'll be there to wait for you"
Wow...sorry Barom...I'm sorry that I had to leave you like that. I never thought that you'll miss me that much...I never knew that you would wait for me that long.
"Aunty, I'm going to go back to my seat."
"Okay Si Yun, I'll prepare your food. It'll be at your table in a few minutes"
I walked back to my table and caught Xiumin staring at the wall.
"Whatcha looking at?"
"Oh...I'm looking at these pictures"
I looked at the wall and saw some photos of some customers, but most importantly I saw a lot of pictures of me...pictures of me and the dance crew...pictures of me and Barom.
I grabbed the picture of me and Barom
" hey that's you right?" Asked Xiumin
"Yeah"
"Who are they?"
"Oh, that's me and my friends"
"Wow Minhee! I never knew you went to Beijing!"
Well that's not the only thing. There's more that you don't even know.
"Oh..yeah. I just forgot to tell you"
"So you know the owner? I saw you guys talking for a while"
"Yeah. I used to go here all the time." I pointed at all the photos of me and my friends
The lady came to our table and sets up the Hotpot machine and the food.
She places two beers in front of us.
"Here Si Yun, beers my treat"
"Thanks Aunty" I said in mandarin
She leaves and Xiumin looked confuse
"What did she say? Why did she give us beer? Did you order it?"
"She said beers on her, I didn't order it "
I opened it and took a sip, Xiumin stares at me wide eyes
"Hey Minhee you know your not of drinking age right?"
I stare at him and raise my eyebrows
"So?"
"You shouldn't be drinking,doesn't that Ajumma know your underage?"
I've been drinking since the age of 12, no one ever asks me my age. I guess that's an advantage of looking older than what I'm really am.
"It's okay, she doesn't know"
I grabbed Xiumin's and opened it for him
"Here"
Xiumin looked uncertain
"What? Your like 23 , I'm pretty sure your old enough to drink"
"I know but...the company says were not allowed to. And I don't really drink"
"Really! Your saying you didn't drink alcohol before? Your 23 are you serious!"
Xiumin's face turns slightly red
"Yeah, I'm serious"
"Here drink it! " I shoved the bottle into his mouth
Xiumin gulps and his face turned so red, he breathes and he looks like he wants to barf
I patted his back
"Drink it slowly...it's okay since it's your first time, your stomach is hurting because you drank on an empty stomach"
I placed some of the meat into the Hotpot and stirred it for awhile
The food was done after 10 minutes and we started to eat.
"You okay?"
I stared at Xiumin, his face was kind of red still and he hiccups occasionally
"...yeah I guess...my head is kind of dizzy though"
"So what did Lulu show you guys before you got lost?"
Xiumin talked for about 10 minutes, I checked my phone and there were no new messages or any missed calls.
We finished 5 minutes later
"Aunty! Bill please"
She came to our table and I handed her a $50 bill.
"Keep the change "
"you shouldn't have, this is way too much"
"No, it's okay. I haven't seen you in so long, think of it as a tip"
"Okay then. See you next time then"
She smiles
I waved and we left
"So what do you want to do now?" I asked Xiumin
"Hmm... I don't know. Did Lulu text you?"
"No..he didn't. I'll try calling him now"
I tried calling so much time but no one answered
" he won't answer... I guess we'll take the bus back to the hotel then"
We walked to the bus stop, I checked the schedule and saw that there were 30 minutes until the next bus
Xiumin started to gag a little
I took his arm and dragged him to the playground.
I patted his back and lead him to the swings
"But Minhee, the bus!"
"It's okay, it comes in 30 minutes"
"Oh"
"Are you okay?"
"A little, but I feel like my throat is burning and my head is kind of spinning"
"It'll be okay, that's how it feels on your first time"
We swung on swing quietly for about 20 minutes
Xiumin stares at the pole and speaks
"Hey Minhee look here!"
I turned my head and saw the bus
"!"
"Look..at this..."
"The bus is here!" I interrupted Xiumin
I jumped off the swing and dragged Xiumin, we ran and got on the bus on time.
"What were you saying before the bus came?"
"Oh... Nothing..just some drawing I saw on the pole"
'I saw a heart that says Barom + Si Yun forever...that sounds familiar. Where have I heard that name before?' Thought Xiumin
"Okay, then. If your tired you can lean on me, it's a pretty long ride home"
Xiumin rested his head on my shoulder the whole ride.
I took the picture of me and Barom out, he must have placed those pictures there.
I wonder where he could be...he's not in Beijing, nor Guangdong. Where is he?
The restaurant owner said he went home. But isn't his home supposed to be in Beijing?
I placed my picture away. I took a few of the other pictures too, I don't know where else to find these pictures. Even though I have MySpace, I only have some pictures but they are only of myself besides for that one picture with Barom.
No one uses MySpace these days, I can't even find Barom online. It's been 6 years, I can't expect him to use the same email and myspace.
I glance at Xiumin. He's fast asleep.
*sigh*
If only I can be like that. If only I can sleep peacefully and live without any troubles like like Xiumin.
I look at the window. Suddenly a black car was beside the bus.
The car followed the bus everywhere it went.
Don't tell me it's him. Didn't Xiumin scare them away?
Who am I kidding? Rosaceae ain't scared of anyone.
I stared at the car most of the ride.
When it was finally our stop, I shook Xiumin hard.
"Xiumin illeona!"
He slightly twitches
"Illeona! We're here!" I pinched his cheeks
He woke up and I quickly grabbed his hands.
I ran to the hotel dragging Xiumin along.
We're luckily that the hotel was close to the bus stop.
Xiumin lets go and pants
"Minhee...we didn't have to run!"
I stared at the door and sees the black car drive away.
He's gone...
"Minhee! Did you here what I said?"
"Huh?"
I turned around and stared at Xiumin
"I said let's go find the others."
"Oh okay...I'll look for Tao, you go find Chen oppa"
Xiumin headed to the restaurant and I headed to the 12th floor.
I totally bet you oppa isn't there, I think Xiumin just wants to eat.
I went to Taos door and knocked.
No one answered. He's not home yet?
I knocked again and again but it's the same.
I went towards Lays room. I knocked on the door and noticed that it was slightly opened.
I went inside and shouted
"Lay!"
No response
"Lay! You there?"
I looked around and saw no one.
I the light and something glitters.
I went up close and grabbed it, it was a frame.
I looked closely and saw ...
I gasped. Why? Why is there a picture of ...
Tears came out of my eyes...No it can't be...why?
The frame slipped from my hand and dropped to the floor.
The glass broke and cut my hands.
At that same time he came out
"What are you doing?" He said
Comments