"Are you okay?" Lei asked for like a thousandth time. And Lili was already done with answering him. She just ignored it and asked a question instead.
"Do you really think it's okay to wait like this without signs or anything?" Now Lei looked at her as if he was questioning her sanity. He gestured towards her and himself.
"You have bright purple hair, and you are with a Asian tall guy… Do you think they would confuse us with someone else?" Well, he sure was questioning her sanity. Lili chuckled.
"But I didn't tell them I changed my hair color…" She didn't wash her hair, so it was now tightly tied into a ponytail, which she caressed.
"They are here," Lei said and pointed at the hall that a group of Asian guys with luggage came out of. Lili smiled. She expected fear, but when she saw them, only a tingling feeling of happiness and expectations came in.
"Somebody forgot to update us on this," Yixing gestured towards the hair when they met and Lili swept the hair off her shoulder in a narcissistic gesture, but they all knew it was only pretending.
Well, everyone except the new guys, the two she couldn't remember yet. Who promptly showed they hadn't met her and thought she couldn't speak Cantonese. Yixing just used English with her.
"Don't you think she is a bit conceited, judging from that gesture? I thought Lei lou ban would have someone kinder than her," the smaller one said and Yitian gasped. Lili smirked. It was time for her to fully grasp the reins again.
She came closer to Xisheng and stood before him. She was smaller than him, but since she was always small, she learned how to tower over someone.
"Listen here, you little turd. You are on my turf now. I'm the only connection to everything in this country. The people here hate speaking English. They definitely can't speak Cantonese or Mandarin. I'm the one who booked everything for you. Be mindful of what you are saying," Lili said menacingly in Cantonese. Then she turned to the other one. He was actually less arrogant looking. She put on a wide smile and her voice sweetened. Thankfully, his name popped up in her mind.
"Hello, you must be Luhan, I'm Lili. Welcome to Czechia. You will have a wonderful time here, unlike your friend." She switched to English and shook Luhan's hand. He was so shocked by the change he didn't even realize he was shaking his hand with her and stared at her.
The other guy helplessly looked at Yitian, who only shrugged. Lili loved him, and his support in her reign. As if he had another choice.
"Don't look at me, Xisheng. You weren't nice to someone who is the source of your entire weaponry assortment. And even some parts of your armor are made by her. I can do nothing when you pissed her off. Even Chao is scared of her," he said, and Lili nodded in agreement.
Well, she wouldn't say Chao feared her, more like respected her. Her expression that turned scary when she looked at Xisheng, thankfully Yitian helped her with his name, softened and she smiled at him.
"You don't have to worry. I won't kick your ass back to Hong Kong, but be careful of what you are saying. Even if you speak in another language, there might be people who understand you…" Xisheng nodded and apologized. Lili laughed
"It's okay, you should let it go," she said and winked at Yitian. Then out of nowhere, she sang the phrase with him, and heck, even Huobai joined them and started singing with them the song from Frozen. In the end, it all ended up with them laughing so hard that Lili choked.
She had led them through the airport and made them sit on a smaller bus that could accommodate all of them. She sat in front and as soon as they got on the highway, she started speaking into the microphone.
"So welcome to Czechia. We are now heading to Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, close to the airport. I will tell you a bit about history… You only need to know that some think that Prague was founded as Boihaem in c. 1306 BC. But the fortification was only around 9th century AD." She paused and chuckled into the mic. Because that was all she remembered. Lili was really terrible with numbers. She could tell the history, but no numbers.
"So in short. A lot is new. A lot is old. I will take you sightseeing tomorrow. So you will hear everything there. I will warn you. There are a lot of tourists in Prague. So I recommend wearing facemasks. You will be okay once we are in my village. You will meet maybe like a boar if you are lucky…" Lei took the microphone from her and felt like he needed to add a few things.
"It's like in every country. Some people might be racist, but mostly they are not. If you don't annoy them, they won't even pay attention to you. And if they are looking at you, don't take it as being racist or something. Lili said that they might be staring at you just because they are either not used to seeing people like us, but mostly because you are handsome. So Huobai, Yixing, and others… Don't take it to heart…" Lei finished and gave her the mic back.
That was really helpful. Lei at first felt weird in her hometown, but now he knew it wasn't meant to be racist that they were looking at him. He was okay.
"Don't worry, I'm used to being stared at!" Huobai shouted from behind them and the entire team agreed. Lili nodded the whole time.
"Oh, and another thing… Czech really like to drink. There is like a pub or a restaurant or a bar on every corner… But if you don't have a high tolerance, don't drink with them. We have been trained since we were teens. We usually drink under our parents' supervision to get used to alcohol, so we have a really high tolerance. At least most of us." That was all she wanted them to warn before.
"Any questions?" she asked, but it looked like they were so overwhelmed they didn't even know whether or not they wanted to ask something.
She booked them into the same hotel where Lei and Lili were staying for the past three days. And it was a really luxurious hotel called Art Nouveau Palace that was in the middle of Prague's Old town.
"I have your cards and a list of how you will sleep. So when I call out your name, please come to me," she said when they were in the lobby. Standing on a side that no one would get in the way of other guests.
"Yitian, Chao." They came, and she gave them the key. With a sly wink.
"Huobai, Yixing." They came and got an even more obvious wink. At which Huobai was quite surprised.
"Wuchen, Yinli, Hongjie. Yuhuai, Luhan, Aijie." They were in rooms together by three. Yuhuai overseeing the two newbies.
"What about me?" Shanshan asked, standing there alone.
"I heard about your sleeping. You will sleep alone. I know you have been afraid of sleeping with Wuchen back home, afraid of waking him up. So maybe here where you are alone, you could get some more sleep." Lili smiled endearingly at him and gave him the key card. Shanshan was looking at her hand, all confused.
"How do you know?" He never told anyone.
"Well, all of you tell me bits by bits so I see all the sides. And after what I went through, I noticed why you are afraid to sleep with others. You are considerate to wake them up." She shrugged and walked away, too. Leaving Shanshan confused, with a warm feeling in his chest. He smiled at leaving Lili and felt really good again.