We eventually arrived at the airport. We still had three hours before we had to board.
“Who wants to go to the town square?” I asked.
“Me!” Miyeon said, raising her hand.
“What about you, Chief?” I asked. Didn’t he say he wanted to go just this morning?
“Never mind. I’m tired,” Byung-hoon said from his spot on the floor.
“It’s right over there,” I said, pointing. Seriously, it wasn’t that far. Maybe around 500 meters? You couldn’t even really call it a town square. It was just a department store, and maybe a few restaurants. Maybe that’s why the others didn’t think it was worth the bother. To be honest, even I was wary about going – it was way smaller than I had expected. Then again, we were already here so might as well check it out. Besides, Miyeon wanted to go.
“Yeah. I’m not going. You two go ahead.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, wait, if it’s just you two, it’ll be dangerous,” Byung-hoon said, looking concerned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Junho said with a grin. That’s because he knew what I was truly capable of. Of course, there are things about me even he doesn’t know. If he were to see me walking on air, he’d surely pass out. Anyways. In the end, it was just me and Miyeon. Oh, and Minwoo, who decided at the last minute to go.
The three of us headed for the town square.
***
“Lullu lalla the bird flew to Gangnam~” Miyeon sang on our way. Was she that happy?
“You know that song?”
“I love that song.”
“Odd,” I teased. There’s a lot of good songs these days and yet she picked one from years ago. She’s not even that old. I guess everyone has their unique tastes.
“Please go~~~ Go now~” Minwoo suddenly began to sing. I almost hit him then. I wish he’d just learn to keep his mouth shut.
“Hey, you’re pretty good,” Miyeon said to Minwoo. She still didn’t know how dangerous he actually was. I kept telling her over and over again that he’s trash but she doesn’t listen to me.
“I’m the visual member of Shy Boy,” Minwoo said, smiling. But didn’t Miyeon comment on his voice? So why is he talking about his visuals? Plus he’s not even that good of a singer. A street dog would sound better than him.
“That’s a hard song to sing,” Miyeon added.
“No. It’s pretty easy for me.”
You couldn’t even hit all the notes.
“Oh? I guess singers really on a different level.”
That made Minwoo smile even wider. I could see his shoulders lifting. He smoothly walked over to Miyeon and began walking on her other side.
“Hey, Sian, you’re a singer as well. Sing me a song.”
“I’m not that good.”
It’s true. I may be a singer, and at one point, I could sing, but now I wasn’t so sure. Nor did I have any interest in singing.
“Liar. You’re really good.”
“That was then.”
“Then, isn’t there anything else you can show me?”
“Hmmm.”
After thinking about it for a while, I just did a simple backflip. I could see all the hearts coming out of Miyeon’s eyes. My girl crush charm works quite effectively on women. Minwoo, on the other hand, looked rather defeated. Then again, all he had was his face.
“Sian, you’re amazing!” Miyeon said, giving me a big hug. Every time she does this, I can feel her chest press against my body and it drives me nuts. It feels different than with Jia. Not that I would ever betray her. I’ve never even dated anyone. The time I got married on a TV show wasn’t even because I wanted to. It was more like an arranged marriage.
Anyways, we soon arrived at the department store.
“Is this seriously the whole thing?”
It was rather small for a department store. It was only five stories high and the building itself was not that big. There were a lot of people though. Both locals and tourists. Of course, it only seemed like a lot because the building was that small.
“Let’s go in,” I said, heading towards the entrance. Miyeon and Minwoo soon followed.
***
“It’s nice.”
The inside looked much better than the outside. The interior was much larger than I had expected. And since there weren’t too many people, it wasn’t so crowded. And there were a lot of souvenirs.
“Sian, let’s go to the second floor.”
“Okay.”
I took Miyeon’s hand and we headed for the second floor. Minwoo followed, looking rather jealous. I bet he wanted to hold Miyeon’s hand as well.
The second floor was filled with clothing stalls, mostly the stuff that the locals wore.
“These would make great souvenirs, don’t you think?” Miyeon said, eying a cloak. I nodded in agreement. Miyeon bought the cloak right away. Just then, Minwoo cut in again.
“Miyeon, let me help you put it on.”
“Oh, okay,” Miyeon agreed. Minwoo put the cloak on her shoulders. I saw right away what he was trying to do and pushed him away from Miyeon. Minwoo didn’t like that.
“Hey, Sian. Why do you keep doing that?”
“Because you keep coming up with excuses to touch her.”
“What’s it to you?” Minwoo demanded, looking angry.
“Because I like Sian,” Miyeon said without a second thought. It was rather shockingly blunt. Why did she do that? Minwoo just looked more confused, not understanding what Miyeon was saying. So Miyeon said it again.
“I’m in love with Sian.”
“….”
Did she seriously have to say that…but Minwoo still didn’t get what Miyeon meant.
“Yeah, I know. Girls are like that. I know you two are friends, but Sian keeps bothering me.”
“No, Minwoo. That’s not what she meant.”
“Then what is it?”
“Miyeon doesn’t just mean she likes me. She super likes me. Like, love. I love you. You know? Do you still not get it? Do you understand?”
“Lo…love…? Like the stuff that happens between a man and a wom…”
I nodded.
“Yep.”
Miyeon added,” Exactly.”
Minwoo’s jaw dropped.
“What the-”
“So don’t touch Miyeon, you bastard,” I said, holding up my fist. Minwoo took a step back. Judging by the look on his face, he was desperately holding it wasn’t true.
“Then…you two…are…lesbians…?!” Minwoo demanded.
Miyeon and I nodded at the same time. Minwoo took even more steps back before finally just turning and running away. Miyeon clicked her tongue.
“Is being lesbian a crime? No one wants to be born this way. There’s no need to run away.”
“He’s just trash. Don’t worry about him,” I said, patting Miyeon on the shoulder.
Miyeon gave me another hug. As usual, she fit in perfectly.
“Thank you, Sian. For telling him you’re a lesbian like me.”
“Oh.”
That means that Minwoo will think I’m a lesbian too. Not that it matters. I can just tell him I’m not. Who would people believe? No one would believe Minwoo, or maybe they could. But if that happens, I can just sue him for defamation so he’d be stupid to go around gossiping about that.
Anyways, we continued to explore the department store.
“Third floor?” I suggested.
“Sure,” Miyeon said, taking my hand again. I didn’t object. But what if someone takes a picture of us? Then again, it’s not weird for girls to hold hands. It will be fine. We just can’t kiss. But Miyeon kept puckering up and my control was constantly tested. Then again, who am I? I am Sian, the most disciplined person there is. Disciplined enough to join 24-Hour Jungle as a permanent cast member? No. Absolutely not. No way. Anyways, we continued onto the 3rd floor, still holding hands. And that’s when I heard it. Gunshots. Those are surely gunshots. And not just one.
Bang bang bang! Bang bang!
Boom! Crash! Crash! Boom!
Shocked, I looked down towards the first floor. About 10 or so people were walking into the department store, all dressed in black!
***
“Shit.”
That was me. I just said the first words that came into my mind. I guess the original owner of my body liked to curse.
“Sian…I’m scared,” Miyeon said, burying herself in my arms. We hid behind a pillar, my arms still around her. I looked down to the first floor. The militants had taken over and everyone was on their knees with their hands on their heads.
“Ssaijiwa!”
Five of them came up to the second floor. The ones on the second floor started to scream and ran up to the third floor. The five men then started shooting.
Bang bang bang bang!
More screaming.
Aaaah!
Kyaaaaah!
The second floor was littered with dead bodies and people began screaming on the third floor as well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t escape. More men started to come in. I counted at least thirty now. This was getting bad. Couldn’t I take care of them? Of course, I can. But not yet. I had Miyeon next to me. If I just ran out to attack them, who would protect Miyeon?
Soon, the third, fourth, and fifth floors were all overtaken while the militants returned to the first floor. After that, these bastards began to set up a bomb. The one that looked like a leader did something with the buttons. But just then, two men held their guns up to us and began shouting.
“Ssijereian!”
It sounded like he was ordering us to come out with our arms raised. So I did. Miyeon, too. If it were up to me, I’d just attack, but I had a feeling that would get the other people killed in retaliation. So for now, I would just go along. I needed to plan. There were thirty of them so I couldn’t just come at them left and right. Most importantly, I had to get the leader away from the bomb. But just then something unexpected happened.
“Hey, hey. Hahaha.”
One of the guys began to poke at Miyeon’s chest and snicker. Without thinking, I sent a high kick flying towards the guy’s head. The guy flew like a bullet and crashed through a second-floor window.
Crash!
The sound of the window breaking caused the man in front of us to turn around. I shrugged. The man looked confused but continued walking. Miyeon and I followed after him, arms still raised.
