Stars

“Could you go grocery shopping for me darling? I’m really sorry, I’m stuck at work and Cindy isn’t answering her phone.” I scoff in my mind; Cindy is probably shopping for clothes with her friends or something, and purposely not answering. “Please Melinda?” “Sure mum, I’ll get the groceries.” “Thank you! This is why you’re my favorite daughter,” she laughs, “Don’t tell your sister though.” I can feel her winking from the other side of the phone. “No worries mum, cross my heart.” I joke. “Because you’re getting the groceries, you can pick what we’re eating tonight. OK bye, love you!” She hangs up. My mum is a childcare manager, she is constantly held back at work because of the kids who get picked up late, or because she has to organize things like; staff, food for the kids, activities, stuff like that. I guess that’s the reason why she did a good job of bringing us up, because she has lots of experience with kids. Anyways thanks to Sally’s myki, I can take the bus to the supermarket. I unwind my earphones and plug it into my phone. I press the buds into my ears and turn on my music. ‘안쓰러웠는지 친한 친구 놈이 소개를 시켜줬어너보다 더 좋은 여잘 만나 그만 널 잊으라고.’ I sigh as I listen to one of my favorite VIXX songs; only u. A smile creeps on my face as Leo’s part comes up. I mouth the words with too much passion. My stop comes up and I hop off the bus. Still listening to music I walk start to walk to the grocery store which is about a 15 minute walk from here. I sigh, I’ll have to walk to the grocery store and back because this is the only bus stop.

I have a little skip in my walk, “What should we eat today…?” I asked myself, “hmmm….. Thai noodles? Stir fry noodles? Fish soup?” The sudden wind blew my hair in all funny directions, “ugh.” I manage to say. I take out my phone and turn on the camera to check my hair. While fixing my hair in the camera, I notice two figures in the corner. Pretending to fix my hair, I examined the figures; two grown men dressed in all black, they both had black sunglasses on. One man had a thick black mustache, the other man had a big cast on his left that bulged from underneath his jacket. The bulge started from his shoulder to his elbow and forearm was supported by a band wrapped around his arm and neck so that it didn’t have much freedom to move. Cast around the shoulders…… My mind flashed back to when Hyuk was attacked the yesterday. I swung the bat into the man’s shoulder…. I suddenly began to breathe fast. Oh no, these guys…. I cant afford to panic. I rip the earphones from the socket and shove it and my phone into my dress pocket. I pick up the pace, lets see if they chase after me. I try to make it look casual by skipping, and every time my hair gets in my eyes, I take the opportunity to dramatically flip it out of the way and glance at them. They’re picking up the pace. I can feel my palms start to sweat. The grocery shop is ages away, how will I get away? I need to make sure that they’re actually following me first. I zig zag my way to the grocery store. Taking routes that take longer time to get there and people in the right mind wouldn’t use. They followed me the whole way. I decide that they are following me and start to run. “Shit, she’s on to us.” I hear one of them say. A familiar voice, the man who ran to his injured friend yesterday. OK now I’m panicking. How long must I run to lose these guys? They’re grown men and I’m just a high school girl, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? The wind pushes the hair from my face so I have a better view of where I’m going. The cool air burns yet sooths my tired lungs, my legs ache with every thud on the ground and I’m feeling light headed. I can’t run for much longer. My mum’s words linger in my head. “The world is a very dangerous place now-a-days, so you girls have to be careful. If you notice someone is trying to kidnap you or anything, run into someone’s house. Hopefully they won’t be a killer or something.” I swallow hard but my throat feels like sandpaper. I should really get more excursive done in my lifetime. My eyes search the houses around me. Which house is likely to house friendly people? I see a house with beautiful roses of all colors planted in the front garden. I run and knock on the door. No answer. Hoping that there is somebody actually home I continue to knock and knock. Finally, a woman seeming to be in her late 20’s opens the door, “Can I help you?” Her voice is like sweet honey. I hesitate. “I’m finally here! I knew I was going to be late so I ran.” Hoping that the men in black took the story. “Wha-“ she started, but I guess she saw the desperation in my eyes, she smiled and took me inside.

Bending over, I gulped big lungful’s of air. The burning sensation wouldn’t fade any time soon. “Is everything OK?” asked the woman in a worried tone. “No… I mean yes…I mean.” I’m struggling to speak, can I trust this woman? For all I know, she might be a brothel manager or something. A beautiful one at that. Her light brown hair tied neatly into a textured bun, her big eyes like caramel candies, her lips were slim and naturally pink, her skin was light and glowing, her hands are slender and soft and she had a beautiful figure. I stand up straight and see that she is approximately 20 cm taller than me. I start to speak when a familiar voice calls; “Jeesun noona?” N walks into the hallway. “Who’s at the…door…..” He stops when he sees me. I smile awkwardly and wave. “Hi Melinda.” He says.

Notes