Prayer | ΛŦƐƐZ

ИƐƱF

"So guys, who is Laika?" Mingi asks as they are enjoying a generous amount of beef birria tacos and downing bottles of jarritos sodas.

"Oh! Laika comes to this town every summer to perform. It's said that she used to come and stay year-round, but rumors are something happened with her contract." Mingyu responds, picking up another taco.

"Maybe this town is pretty racist, you saw how those white old men stared at us." Wooyoung states as he takes a sip of his soda.

"Fair, but maybe that was not the real reason." San adds in, a little suspicious of the scenario.

"Well wouldn't you boys like to know?" Laika shows up, startling everyone in their seats. Seungkwan was full on fan-boying while the rest looked at each other confused. How much did she hear?

"Oh! Hello Miss Laika!" Mingi squeaked out and made a small bow towards her, causing her to chuckle. Jongho is elbowing him while raising his brows suggestively, causing the taller boy to smack him in the arm.

"Jongho, quit it." San warns his partner, who give a feign pout after being caught for his mischief.

"No need for formalities! I'm just like any other human being." Laika politely stated as she observed the other boys.

"Want a taco?" Wonwoo asks the woman, who politely declines the offer.

"I just came by because I overheard my name in the conversation." The air feels tense, although Laika shows no signs of negativity. "Don't worry, I know you are all curious. So, I'll tell you guys." Laika decides as she sits down on a stool near the boys.

Warning: this next part contains scenes of racism and discrimination. If you have experienced something like this or any other form, I'm so sorry. No one deserves to be treated as such for something they cannot change.

"When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of performing here. I used to be in a choir organized by a church, but I was always making kids laugh. My mom and dad were awfully suspicious of this village, simply because of the racist people there were. I wasn't aware of it, but they were. As I grew older, I was given the opportunity to do stand-up comedy here. Everything was going great.... Until that one day..." She takes a deep breath, with everyone patiently watching her.

"One day I was doing a show, and one of the special guests was a rich white man from Texas. He was dressed in a fine black suit, his wrist adorned with a expensive gold bracelet with his children's initials engraved on the plate. As soon as he passed by me and rudely bumped into me, I heard him mutter something. I thought it was just the anxiety getting to me, so I brushed it off. I performed and everyone loved it, except for the man. He immediately got up and started shouting about me stealing. Then I felt something slip out of my pocket and I couldn't believe what I saw: it was the golden bracelet he had on that evening. I was mortified. I know I didn't steal it, but no one believed me. He shouted, "People of her kind should not be around the innocent. They are hoodlums, and rather steal than work." Those words rang through my ears the entire time. I didn't know what to do, my brother pulled me backstage to try to calm me down...." By this point, Laika has tears pooling down her face as she recalled the horrible memory.

"That's horrible! I'm so sorry you went through that." Yeosang gives her a hug, with everyone having tears in their eyes after hearing the story.

"It's okay. I'm just still praying a similar scenario never happens again. It took years to get back in the business, and I got back only because the same man was caught framing other BIPOCs. That last thing I want him to be is in a church, he can be racist all he wants there." Laika huffs out of anger, which has everyone sympathetic for her.

"I'm pretty sure he is dead already. Racists don't last long anyways." Wonwoo jokes, causing everyone to laugh.

"Quick question. How come you didn't take up singing in the church choir?"

"Same reason. Racism. I was told that my skin was 'dirty', was told my hair was 'unprofessional' although I always had my hair in braids, I was also told to shut my mouth cause I was too loud, although everyone else was singing loudly. Keep in mind, all of these comments were made by adults, not children. I was only 7 as well. It was got so bad that my parents had to pull me out of there." Laika gave a sad smile, which had everyone in shock.

"That's not okay! You should've complained to the police!" San shouts.

"And what? Have them tell me they can't do anything since I had no evidence? Nice try." Laika replies fast, which had everyone looking down.

"Hey I'm sorry to intrude but why are you telling us all this? You barely know us." Minghao was a bit blunt, earning an elbow from Wonwoo.

"It helps me heal in a way, and you guys seem like people I can trust." The comedian smiles and begins to walk away, but turns serious once again. "By the way, that church you're staying in is no good. There's been rumours going around here about people missing when they stayed there." She then walks away, leaving everyone in shock.

"Missing people?" Mingi asked.

"Oh they're just stories people tell to scare you. Don't worry about it." Jun shrugs as he continues to eat, while Mingi was too queasy to finish his portion of the food after he heard the warning.