KOF Extras

Duo Lon's birthday

11th March
Shen yawned and got out of bed to answer the annoyingly persistent doorbell. The caller seemed to not stop for even a second, repeatedly pressing the doorbell without even taking a break.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Shen groaned, groggily staggering towards the front door of his apartment.
"FBI, OPEN UP!" Someone bellowed.
"This isn't the US," the Shanghainese pointed out with a yawn. "It's China. There's no FBI here."
"Fine, then this is the MSS!" The person corrected. "MSS, OPEN UP!"
Shen scowled and yanked the door open. To his surprise, there wasn't an army of officers behind it. Not even an officer in sight at all!
"I should've known," Shen sighed when he saw his grinning French friend standing in front of him. "What do you want?"
"It's Dewey's birthday, let's go," Ash grinned.
Shen yawned again, leaning against the doorframe. "Ash, are you serious? He's in Hebei. We're in Shanghai. It would be night by the time we reach there! By the time we find his house and start celebrating, it would be midnight."
Ash snorted, shaking his head. "Who says we're going on road? We're going on air!"
Shen gasped and muttered something in Shanghainese language, much to Ash's amusement.
"Yeah, sure, go get ready," Ash smirked. "We're going now."
Shen groaned. "But I just woke up, I'm a mess!"
"Just come, you can shower in Hebei," Ash remarked. "You don't even look that bad."
"Yeah, the last I showered was two days ago."
Ash's eyes widened in surprise and disgust. "Mon Dieu... you're very unhygienic. And smelly. Go shower now! I cannot allow this in our flight!"
"Yeah, sure and you're very clean," Shen rolled his eyes. "France is so cold, you barely even bathe."
"There's such a thing as a hot bath and besides, we only skip showering if it's really cold. And also, I wash. I'm very particular about cleanliness. Also, go shower? Your BO is revolving."
Shen rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. Also, get inside. You're still standing in the corridor."
Ash shook his head. "No, it's okay. I'll wait for you in CrabbyCrab downstairs. You get ready, pack up, and come down. We can have a quick snack before leaving for Hebei. Okay?"
Shen nodded and closed the door with a groan. He was still somewhat groggy and thought he seemed more drunk than sober. Well, he did have a slight hangover from drinking too much the previous night.

Shen walked towards CrabbyCrab, wearing the most impressive scowl he had. First of all, he was not a morning person. Second of all, he didn't like being rudely awakened so early. And now he was having an unexpected trip to Hebei, more than a thousand kilometres away from Shanghai.
He swung his yellow duffle bag over his shoulder, his fingers still holding the handles, and entered the restaurant. Of course, there were gasps upon seeing him, Shen Woo, the God of War, enter the restaurant.
"Woo Shen!" Ash called, raising his well-manicured hand to get his attention. "Over here!"
Shen rolled his eyes at the play of his name and went over, sitting down in front of the younger man. Ash immediately pushed a plate of crab cake burger.
"Made with Shanghai Crab since it's Shanghai," Ash smirked. "Eat up. Don't wanna leave on an empty stomach."
Shen nodded and started eating the burger. Ash then pushed a half-filled plate of dim sum to him.
"Here, have some of this too," Ash said, munching. "It's really good."
The two of them had a very hearty meal in the name of 'quick snack'. Well, Shen was just happy that he got a free feast.
"Alright, let's go," Ash said as soon as he was finished. "Come on, Betty's waiting for us at the airport."
Shen let out a big burp in reply, much to Ash's disgust. The younger man just shook his head and followed him out of the restaurant.
"Wait, I'll get a taxi," Shen insisted.
He hailed one and they both got in.
"Where to?" The driver asked.
"Take us to the Pudong Airport," Shen said, the Shanghai dialect clear in his voice.
The driver nodded and drove straight there. To Ash's surprise, the fare was a lot cheaper too.
"Wait... what?" Ash exclaimed in surprise. "It was three times the price when I took one to your place!"
"Because you're a tourist," Shen smirked. "I'm a local, even though I'm blond too."
Ash shrugged. "That makes sense."
They entered the airport and saw Elisabeth waiting there with Ron.
"Come on, let's go," Ron hurriedly said. "Xiao's keeping him distracted."
"Wait, so you guys wasted two hours by going to Hebei first, and then coming here to pick me up?" Shen asked in surprise. "Idiots, if you called me, I would've come."
Elisabeth frowned. "We haven't gone to Hebei yet. We arrived here last night."
"I came here a few days ago for something too," Ron added. "None of us wasted two hours just for you."
Shen scowled, getting a hint of what he meant.
"Let's just go," Shen sighed.
"Wait, we're waiting for one more person," Elisabeth stated. "He got excited when he saw the ice cream shop outside."
Ash sighed. "I should've known. He must be wolfing down one scoop of berry-flavoured ice cream after another."
"I heard that..." a voice very similar to his bellowed. Everyone turned to see Saiki coming over, holding two to three cones of ice cream in each hand. "Also, I got you guys some ice cream too." He handed each of them a cone, but none for himself. "Aight, chocolate for Ash, cherry for Shen, vanilla for Elisabeth, and mint for Ron. Where's Mikia?"
Mikia came to them, holding her baby. Saiki smiled and handed her a come of berry ice cream. "Berry and yoghurt for Mikia."
"What about you?" Ash asked. "You're not eating?"
Saiki smirked. "I had like five. Didn't have enough hands to bring those in, right?"
"You're worse than Kula," Ash chuckled, eating his ice cream. "Anyway, Shen, what ya getting for Dewey?"
Shen let out an exaggerated sigh. "I have no idea, really."
"Well... we're in China, right? Why don't you get him a nice new qipao?"
"Ash, it's changpao, not qipao," Shen shook his head in amusement. "Qipao is for girls. The men's equivalent is changpao, or changshan."
"Whatever, just get him one of those!" Ash smirked. "I'm sure he'd like it."
Shen frowned and nodded slowly. "Actually, that's a really good idea. I've never seen Lonny wear anything besides that."
"I thought I saw him wear a long trench coat once?" Ash pointed out. "Whatever, he wears a cheongsam most of the time."
"Changshan," Shen sighed. "Cheongsam is for girls."
"Then qipao?"
"Cheongsam and qipao are the same."
Elisabeth chuckled and ate the last of her ice cream. "Let's go."
They boarded the Blanctorche plane and went straight to Hebei.