"I call out your name...but you're not there."
I turn a little to the side as I hear a faint tune play from under my sheets.
"Where are you? I'm trying to find you."
And as I was approaching the door to my senses, the melody got louder and the lyrics sharper.
"You stole a piece of my heart and ran away! Where are you now? You're a monster that entered my life."
I pulled down the sheets and tried to look around with my drowsy eyes. There was no one in the room and Cherry's bed was empty. I wondered where she went but I was yet again falling into a state of coma when a sudden bang! gave a quick smack to my veins and unstrung my head from my soft pillow. I looked around, all wide eyed and scared and saw Cherry coming out of the washroom and then closing the door even louder than the previous bang!
My sleep had left me and the only thing that caught me now was confusion. I stared at Cherry who didn't notice that I was already awake and alive because of her loud music at such early hours! She walked over to her phone and stopped the rock-ish kind music. It was actually a girl singing for her ex who had dumped her but the way she sings it kind of gives us a mutual feeling, though, I'm not a big fan. Just trying to empathize with her.
She then walked over to the dressing table and began applying lotion.
"Cherry," I called out to her, "Did you order breakfast?" but she didn't listen.
"Cherry." I tried again yet there was no response from her. I knew my voice was loud enough to reach her and maybe even the next room then why won't she respond back?
"Cherry!" I yelled, and she didn't even flinch. She was busy doing her own work which was now applying eye liner and eye shadows and hell a lotta stuff which I didn't see her apply before...What's wrong with her?
Or maybe...there's something wrong with me?
Am I dead?
Because If I'm not then why won't Cherry look at me. I mean, she never acted like this before so...Perhaps, I am dead, but I don't know I'm dead that's why I'm still stuck on the earth because I have some unfinished business to do--No! What am I even thinking! There's definitely something wrong with Cherry and not me.
"Cherry, dammit! Why aren't you listening to me?!" I screamed even louder and this time, it worked. I would gladly dust my hands for such good work.
She put down her eye shadow brush and palette and impassively turned to me. I frowned upon her inexpressive face.
"I hate you." She said which befuddled me even more because she never said that to me...Okay, maybe some twenty times before but never after I became a writer.
"Eh?"
"Why didn't you tell me that you and Kai are dating?!"
"Hm?"
Me and Kai...are dating?
"Then, will you go out with me?"
Oh damn! I and Kai are dating! It--It wasn't a dream then? It's all real...the lights, the cold wind, the words any girl would long to hear...
"Oi!" Cherry snapped her fingers and I immediately looked at her. "Don't you dare act like you don't know anything."
I shook my head and I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"You came home last night, and you didn't even look at me or talk to me even though I repeatedly kept asking you where you had gone to! You just came right in all cheesy smiled and slept on my bed! Don't you know how worried I was when suddenly someone started to drag you away?! Gosh, my heart still beats from fear!"
"But Cherry--" I was about to speak but she cut me off. "And how did I find out about you and Kai? Because you were sleep talking!"
"Eh...?" I tilted my head confusedly.
"You never sleep talk! You were more like talking right to me but not to me..." She kept flapping her hands in frustration. "I didn't believe you at first but after putting the pieces together, I had to."
Cherry's face was turning redder by the minute and I could clearly see steam coming from her nose and ears. I didn't know she was that mad for what happened last night because the only people that stopped her from following me were VANILLA members.
"But it was VANILLA, right?" I mumbled but she wouldn't calm down.
"So what if they are VANILLA members? They don't have the right to just snatch you away like that! I can sue them right now for their indecent actions!"
"C-Cherry! What are you talking about?!" I screamed at her for talking like that about them. "It's VANILLA, Cherry! The group we love and care for! Don't say such things!"
"To hell with them and to hell with your Ka--"
Unanticipatedly, there was a knock on the door that saved me from Cherry's wrath and from the words she would have regretted uttering. She gave me a deadly glare before heading to the living room.
I shivered in my place. The goosebumps were real.
I still wonder though why I didn't tell such an important matter to her last night...What had gotten into me? It wasn't like me to not tell her--
"Ari! Where are you?!" Unexpectedly, I heard a familiar voice approaching the room. I sat still where I was in perplexity and widely stared at the opening to see for myself if the voice I heard was true or just a part of another dream.
"Oi! You can't just enter without taking permission--" Cherry's voice faded into a distance and a perfectly carved figure stood in front of me. He smiled widely and stared back at me with those hypnotic chocolate irises. My mouth dropped open in surprise and excitement, but I couldn't move because my nerves gathered so much tension. I was even about to get a cramp on my feet.
"Kai..." I managed to utter. He walked towards me and as discomforting as it may sound, my focus was entirely on him. My heart was losing controlling and I started to sweat from my palms and neck. (Glad my hands were under the blanket though)
"Morning, did you just wake up? Did you eat breakfast?" His smile livened me.
I nodded and then shook my head and then smiled dumbly because that's what I'm good at. I shyly looked down because I couldn't look into his eyes anymore and froze. I just realized that I was only in my tunic! I quickly looked up at Kai who was approaching me and then at myself and then back at Kai and then quickly, pulled up the sheets to my neck. I had already turned the extreme shade of red and after such a huge realization, I'm certain that my face is a pIT of boiling lava.
He gestured me if he could sit on my bed and I hesitantly nodded. Slowly, without his notice, I tried to scoot back to the head of the bed to cover the opening of my back.
"Why are you here--?" Cherry was about to ask him like she was going to murder the hell out of him the very chance she gets but fortunately, another knock on the door saved Kai from so. She grumbled something, gifted him a deathly glare and headed back to the living room to open the door.
He looked at me in absolute puzzlement but got distracted as a loud wave of high-toned noises echoed throughout the room.
This time, I looked at Kai in puzzlement but judging from his carefree expression, I presumed he knew what made the sound.
"GUYS! IN HERE!" He yelled, and a series of muddled thoughts ran through my head until it all stopped at once when probably, six or seven VANILLA members entered my room. All casually dressed but appearing as Hollywood models. Believe me when I say that my eyes went blur for quite some time. I don't know if it was dizziness, or a concussion or poor sight but my room was suddenly filled with bright light and fragrance that scented like different flowers that I had never smelled before.
"Oh, Morning Ari!" Yifan was the first one to greet me. I smiled back like I usually do and then one by one, each of them gestured a 'morning' to me. The room was abruptly noisy, lively and somewhat heart-thumping. Like the feeling you get when your favorite relatives come to your house or when your grandma suddenly shows up without informing you. But I still felt nervous. I felt like I should hide or run away because my body was tensing up again.
"Did you eat yet?" Zhang Ye asked softly.
"She didn't," Kai answered before I could even unjumble the words Zhang Ye spoke.
I was in a complete state of shock, but no one seemed to know. Where was Cherry when I needed her...? She would've already seen through me and helped me somehow!
"You guys are seriously--!" She stomped to the room past the members and as happiness was building up inside me, she went into the washroom and closed the door with a bang. Silence enveloped the room in quite an awkward manner.
"Maybe she's still mad for what happened yesterday," Bai He said with a nervous smile.
Or maybe she's just embarrassed for her behavior in front of them.
"Anyway," Sun Ming cleared his throat. "We should order something for Ari."
"And us," Cao Yu jumped in. "We didn't eat too."
"But you can't just order your food in someone else's room," Zhang Ye complained but no one seemed to hear him. Most of the members scurried to the phone that was near Cherry's bed and started to instinctively order their food.
"Kai," Dai Ah called out to him. I didn't notice that he had been standing beside him the entire time.
"Yes?"
"Did you tell her the reason you came here for?"
"Ah, no..." He shook his head and then looked at me. I wanted to look at Dai Ah but Kai's gaze always captured me first than the rest. I grew my eyes just a little wide so that he would answer Dai Ah's question.
"Please don't faint but, I came here to spend some time with you." He smiled and waited for a reaction.
Instead, the members stopped ordering and let out a loud 'Oooooo' in a teasing manner. Yet, Kai wouldn't take his gaze off me and I wouldn't take his gaze off him.
"Ah, Ari, what would you like to have for breakfast?" Yifan asked.
"Just order anything and everything." Teng Min sang.
"We can't do that, Teng." Shi Qiu impassively uttered.
"Let's just wait for Ari to answer."
"Let's just order all the breakfast items." Zhang Ye proposed.
"How many items are there?" Sun Ming asked.
"12," Bai He answered.
"Perfect, let's order them all and we can just share." Cao Yu opined. "Right, Ari?" He pushed Yifan aside a little to take a tiny glance at me.
Everyone waited for my reply, so I quickly gave them a nod and they went back to ordering a bunch of items from the menu.
"Wait, we didn't ask what the girl inside the bathroom wants," Zhang Ye said and turned to look at the tightly shut bathroom.
"We are ordering anyways so she can eat whatever she wants." Teng Min voiced but got distracted as soon as Cao Yu was about to hang up the phone. "Cao, I want one Nacho's!"
"Nacho's at this hour?" Sun Ming shook his head.
"So what?" He shrugged but eventually, Cao Yu didn't order his nachos so he gave a menacing glare to him which made Cao Yu leave the room.
"Sorry for just barging in like this." Bai He abruptly apologized.
"It's also gotten a bit noisy here." Sun Ming hesitantly chuckled.
"It's fine," I said with an assured smile.
"I did tell you all to not come but you guys didn't listen." Kai pointed at each one of them with a slight pout of disappointment.
The members were about to retort when there was a knock on the door.
"I'll see!" Cao Yu shouted from the living room and headed towards the door.
This time, I casually looked at Dai Ah. He faintly smiled at me and then headed straight to where Cao Yu was.
"Kai, you did tell her about today, right?" Bai He asked curiously.
"About today?" I thought aloud and turned to Kai.
"I was about to, but you guys came in and it slipped my mind." He once more pointed his index at the rest of them with an iniquitous pout.
"Ah, it's the manager." Shin Qiu snapped his fingers to gather everyone's attention.
"Manager? How did he know we were here?" Sun Ming asked to himself and went running to the door, followed by the rest of the members except Kai.
I could vaguely hear some of the sentences that were going on outside but because Kai was sitting in front of me, I couldn't concentrate very well.
"What are you guys doing here?" I guess that was the manager talking.
"What are you doing here?" Cao Yu asked.
"I asked you first!" The manager yelled.
"If you tell us first then we will tell you!" Bai He yelled back.
"What kind of a rule is that?"
"Our rule," Yifan said coldly.
"Forget about it, where is Kai?! I have something to talk to him."
Kai's eyes grew wide and he worriedly stared at the opening of the room. He peeped at me, signaled me to stay silent and then turned his head back to the door.
To be honest, I'm liking how he's hiding in the room and the other members are lying just for him. It's like we really are together...I mean, we are together but It's still hard to believe. I really hope I'm not dreaming because If I am then hell, something's wrong with my brain and I would really need to see a shrink.
"We don't know where he is," Cao Yu said.
"You all are lying." The manager seemed irritated.
"You doubt us? How dare you doubt us?" Bai He said dramatically.
"I'll try calling him, then we'll see if you guys are liars or not."
"Ah, seriously Manager?..." Kai mumbled annoyedly and right then, his phone started to vibrate in his pockets. He took it out with a sigh and held back his laughter. He turned the phone around to show me that his manager was really calling him. He turned his phone into mute and assured me silently that everything's okay. Guess he did perceive my slightly worried expression. Hopefully, nothing changes in his schedule because of me. That's not what I want and that's not something he should do too.
"Of course, his phone must be on vibrate. Let me come in and check--"
"Oi, Oi, Oi! how can you just enter somebody else's room?!" Bai He screamed.
"And you guys can?!"
"We are here because we know someone," Cao Yu argued.
"Just go already," Teng Min said. "We will come and pack our bags, that's what you want us to do right? We will do it."
"Wah, Teng Min you really have no manners to talk to your big brother, don't you?" Cao Yu and Bai He teased him.
"Why? Why aren't you guys supporting me?" He whined.
"Manager, we're coming. I don't know why Teng Min suddenly started to talk like that." Sun Ming said.
"Ah, brother, not you too!"
I and Kai got so diverted by the commotion outside that we forgot about each other. And of course, the girl in the bathroom too. She loudly slid the door open, her expression as angry as minutes ago and she marched out the room like a bull who was about to fight a dozen men in the ring.
"What is this damn commotion?!" She yelled loudly. We flinched a little but startlingly, everything turned silent.
"Did she kill them all...?" Kai asked hesitantly and swallowed his fear. "Why can't I hear anything?
"S-she wouldn't do that..." I whispered; my shivering eyes were waiting for the beast to show up.
"Are you sure...?" He asked.
Honestly, no.
When just then, Cherry came to the room while dusting her hands. What was with her proud expression...? She looked up from her feet and grimaced upon seeing Kai. "You're still here?"
"What did you do to my members?" He asked, widening his eyes.
"I threw them out." She said.
"Just like that?" Kai mumbled but Cherry heard him. She has super sharp ears that could catch even the faintest of the breaths.
"Just like that," She repeated. "Aren't you going to get out?" She raised her brows.
"W-why the sudden hostility towards me?" Kai frowned.
"Cherry!" I uttered lustily so that she would set her tone and behavior. That's seriously not the way to talk to Kai!"
Tch." She clicked her tongue and slightly softened her expression.
"Kai, I'm sorry for her behavior--"
"It's alright," He chuckled and got up. "I will only leave once Ari is ready."
"Hm? Why does she need to be ready?" Cherry asked.
"Because--" I was about to answer but Kai was too fast with his words. "I'm taking her on a date."
Cherry turned her ghastly face at me. I couldn't speak out what I wanted to say. That's how horrible her expression was...
"Fine." She suddenly turned around and vanished into the living room.
"Cherry?" I called out to her because somehow, she appeared a little offended by what Kai said. However, there was no response from her. Is she mad at me? Or perhaps she doesn't really mind me going out with him...? Ugh, why can't I understand her sometimes?!
"It's okay, she will get through it eventually," Kai hesitantly laughed and turned to me. "Why don't you go and get ready?"
"I will." I nodded shyly.
"Go." He ordered.
"I will." I repeated.
"Don't you wanna go out with me?" He asked irately.
"It's--It's not like that! I will if you will get out for a minute!" I glanced down at my sheet and then back at him as an indication.
He frowned for a second and then widened his eyes in realization. "Ah! Sorry." He laughed timidly and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to compose my mind, my feelings and the rest of my body parts straight.
A date with Kai...? My heart jumped in excitement and I jumped out of the bed and hopped a few times to release the tension from inside me.
I was about to head to the washroom when I heard faint mumbling coming from outside. I got slightly curious and ended up listening to Cherry and Kai's sudden conversation.
They sat across each other. Unfortunately, I could only see Kai's broad back.
"Uh...Can I ask you something?" Kai asked.
"No." She said.
"Okay." He said.
Right then, there was another knock on the door. "I'll get it." Kai swiftly got up before Cherry could and headed to the door. Guess he couldn't handle Cherry's morbid glare.
"Oh, morning." Kai greeted the guy who brought the breakfast items the members ordered and forgetfully left. He told the guy to place the dozen items on the coffee table, thanked him and closed the door.
"Ah, I'm hungry!" Kai quickened his steps and grabbed a piece of fried chicken before sitting back. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked her. She shook her head but unexpectedly, her stomach growled.
"Your stomach says otherwise." Kai laughed. Cherry embarrassingly glowered at him and just when she was about to grab a sandwich piece, she said aloud, "If you don't go and get changed right this minute, I'm not sending you with him."
I flinched in surprise. "H-how did she know...?"
Kai suddenly looked back, his mouth stuffed with chicken and swallowed to yell at me. "You're still here?!"
"I-I'm going!" I hastily closed the door and ran to the washroom.
Gee...now that I think about it, those two are so alike...