"Will there be someone waiting for us?" I asked Kris as we made our way to the arrivals lounge. We flew first class again, only this time, he paid. He said that I have tramping on his pride for paying for our vacation. I already told him that it was alright since the whole New York and Paris trips were my idea. Besides, all accomodations have been free.

"Yeah, I already called my friend to fetch us. I hope he has arrived already. We would be attracting a lot of attention if we stayed longer," he said, walking faster. Good thing I have long legs that could match with his long strides.

The plane touched ground in Guangzhou by ten in the evening. But even it's late, there were a lot of people in the airport and it would be next to impossible to strut down the terminal without being noticed. So to make sure none of the Chinese nationals and foreigners would recognize us, we put on our best disguise.

I wore my black baseball cap, slid on my cerulean aviator shades, and wrapped the black-and-white checkered scarf around my neck. The scarf's big enough that it covered my chin and lips. Surely, no one would say that I'm Samantha Kim, right?

We also traded our designer get ups into ordinary looking ones. I changed my brown leather jacket to an NY sweater that is twice my size and my denim skinny jeans into a three-fourth camou pants that's actually for boys. I also traded my knee-high boots to an old pair sneakers. Seriously? I looked funny.

But Kris's disguise was funnier. He wore a black beanie and tucked in all his hair which, thankfully, he had cut short. He also wore his aviator shades which we bought as a couple item. He changed into a very large hiphop tee and pants that hung low in his behind. The kind the dancers wore on the music video of Teach Me How To Dougie. And as if that was not enough, he asked me to draw him a fake moustache and beard using my black eyeliner. I couldn't do it at first because it was damn funny.

"Sam, do you want to be on the headlines in the morning news tomorrow?" I shook my head, stifling a laugh. "Then just draw. Come on." So I started scribbling.

When his friend texted that the car's ready, we walked out of the lounge confidently and strutted the terminal, earning weird stares from the bystanders. But at least none of them shouted our names or fished out their cameras to snap a photo of us.

Kris and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief once we got inside the Mini Cooper of his friend. The friend looked at us funny when we had settled down in his car and was just staring at our appearances instead of driving away. He actually looks cute, with a boy-next-door vibe. He has a chiseled face, fair skin, brown eyes, and full lips which is opened slightly because of the two weird people sitting in his backseat.

"Kevin! It's me Yi Fan," Kris said, taking off his sunglasses and beanie. He also rubbed off his fake moustache and beard which left a black smear around his mouth.

His friend blinked one more time and when he finally recognized Kris, he said, "What the hell, man? I thought I was going to be robbed. What's with the weird look?"

"We need to disguise ourselves. We didn't want to be hoarded by people," Kris explained. "Oh, by the way, Kevin this is Samantha, my girlfriend. Sam, this is Kevin."

I took off my baseball cap and unwrapped the scarf around my neck before I shook his friend's outstretched hand. "Hi, I'm Samantha Kim. Nice to meet you."

"Hi, my pleasure. I am Kevin Shin," he said, shaking my hand lightly. "Wow. Yi Fan wws not really kidding when he told me he's dating the Samantha Kim."

"Wait. Your name's Kevin, too?" I asked as it dawned on me that they share the same name.

"Yeah," Kevin said, his brows furrowing.

"You said your full namr is Kevin Shin right?" He nodded. "Do you mind if I call you Shin? I mean I call Kris through his real name so it might cause confusion."

Shin pondered about it for a second then said, "Yeah, sure. Shin's a pretty cool name. Besides, it's Samantha Kim who's calling me Shin so I definitely won't mind." Shin smirked at me and...was that a wink?

Kris smacked the back of his friend's head when he saw what he did. "Can you stop flirting with my girlfriend and just drive?"

"Alright, I got it," Shin muttered, rubbing the back of his head. That smack must have hurt.

It was very dark outside and so far, we've passed only a few cars. The sidewalks were deserted save for a number of drunkards wobblig away. Maybe because it's eleven in the evening, Beijing time, or the city just isn't fond of night life.

After a thirty minute drive, Shin pulled up in front of a building which I presumed was a motel only when I got out of the car that I realized it was a hospital.

"What are we doing here?" I asked Kris.

"To meet my mother."

***

The inside of the hospital was almost the same as any hospital I have seen except that it's smaller and it gave me an impression that it was kind of exclusive to patients who were hidden to the general public. In fact, I noticed as we stroll down the hall that there was no emergency room and they kept smaller number of staffs.

We proceeded to the second floor and Kris entered the room labeled with Katherine Wu.

The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the thin figure seated on the hospital bed. She must be around my mother's age or probably a year or two older but her sickness, whatever that is, has caused her to look ten years older than her age. She was wearing a light green hospital gown which stick loosely to her body and a white turban was wrapped around her head. She was so thin that her cheekbones were very prominient and even in her ill state, I could tell that she was once beautiful. Kris has took after her a lot. They have the same slitted eyes, high-bridged nose, and even the way they smiled. Maybe the only thing Kris took after his father is his height, seeing how small she is.

Kris let go of my hand and ran to his mother. I watched in awe as the mother and son get reunited. Both were crying. And Kris, who I haven't seen shed a tear, was sobbing like a little boy and I couldn't help but tear up a little.

"Mom, why are you still awake? The doctor said you need plenty of rest."

"I'm waitig for you. When Kevin told me you're going to visit, I couldn't sleep even for a second. I'm so excited to see you. I've missed you so much, son." Mrs. Wu hugged Kris like there's no tomorrow.

"I know. I missed you too. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise of seeing you often. I—"

"Sshh. That's enough. What's important is you're here."

I watched them exchanged a few how-have-you-been's and I felt like I should be giving them privacy so I my heels.

"Sam, where are you going?" Kris asked, his voice thick from crying.

"Uh, I just want to step outside for some fresh air."

"No, please stay." Kris walked towards me, wiping his tear stained cheeks. "This is what we came for, remember?" he whispered when he got close to me. He took my hand and intertwined it in his w