Perfect Little Flower

Chapter 6

Dom's loud sneezing irritated me. "Just go to the hospital like they say, you idiot" I said, groaning. Yuna and Mia who already told Dom to go to the hospital nodded in agreement. When Dom sniffed and put his head on the pillow, I went back to my reading.
But a few seconds later, Shelly plopped his elbow on my table, "So, who's the lucky guy?"
I frowned, "What lucky guy?"
She tsked and groaned, "Come on. I'm not stupid. Your lips a bit swollen yesterday and your hairs a mess. That's not the product of being lost" then she pulled her chair closer, "Were you lost with someone?" She chuckled, teasing, "In a janitors closet perhaps?"
I remained calm.
Just staring at her waiting for her next move.
Shelly sighed, "Fine. I'll figure it out myself. Surely there's cameras inside the building. I could simply just pay the operator to see where you've been"
As Shelly's about to stand up, I grabbed her collar, "Say one word about this I'll end you"
Her eyes lit up, a squeal forming in her mouth but before she could, I cup her mouth, muffling it. "Shut up" I seethed.
I removed my hands from her mouth and wiped my palm on her shoulders, "Your lipgloss is really glossy. I'm surprised no unfortunate hair was caught in it"
She chuckled and smacked my shoulder, "Who's he?"
Shelly pushed my shoulders, "Come on. Tell me"
Sighing, "I don't know. I forgot to ask his name"
She gasped loud enough to attract Yuna and Mia, "What's going on?" Yuna asked in her authoritative tone.
"Nothing" we both say at the same time which made us more shady.
Yuna narrowed her eyes at us, "Fine. Whatever you say"
"Why don't we go to the cafeteria to eat?" Mia said, smiling brightly.
Yuna shrugged, "Fine by me"
Shelly stood up, "Come on" sensing I won't go, Shelly grabbed my arms and pulled me, "You're coming with us"
Groaning, I hesitantly obliged.
We all stood in front of a vending machine, choosing what drink we want since we already ate earlier.
"Jay likes that weird flavored drinks, should I buy him that?" Shelly tilted her head, contemplating.
Yuna pushed a bill inside, "I'll just go with my usual" she said, punching a button.
"I've never tried these before. What should I pick?" I asked them, scanning the vending machines contents.
"You should try the cola first since it's the safest" Mia suggested, "Here, you can try mine so you can see if you like it" she thrusted her drink towards me.
I hesitantly took it, "What's the flavor?"
"It's Tea with mint" she says.
I drink it and gave it back to Mia, "Wow that's surprisingly good"
She smiled brightly again, "I know right"
I finally decided to buy the same drink as Mia while Shelly bought the weird flavored drink.
Walking back to our rooms, Shelly suddenly gagged. "What the fuck is this?" She looked at the bottle of drink like it's a disgrace to humanity.
"It's that weird?" Yuna asked
"It's disgusting" she says before throwing the bottle on a nearby bin and suddenly grabbed mine before I can protest.
Shelly sighed, "Ahh, that's better" she says after drinking mine. I rolled my eyes at her before grabbing my drink back.
Yuna suddenly turned into the other direction, "I'll just give this medicine to Dom" she says while waving a yellow box.
Mia suddenly grabbed Yuna's arms, "Can you..." slowly, Mia took the same yellow box from her pocket and gave it to Yuna, "Can you give this to Minu?"
Yuna's eyes widened for a second before nodding, "I will" then she walked away.
"You know, despite saying she doesn't acknowledge Dom's feelings for her, she deeply cares for him" Shelly says, "And avoiding Minu but caring for him as well is contradicting yourself"
What she said made me think hard. Is it possible for someone to feel like that for me? The stranger I've seen twice may or may not care. But the saddest part is, I may.

•••

The house was dark when I came home, so instead of isolating myself like the usual, I changed my clothes into a dark hoodie a shorts and sneakers. I was about to grab my car keys but then I stopped myself.
I'll just walk tonight.
I say goodbye to Ha Eun and I rushed out before she could ask me where I'm going.
The streets are pretty busy at night. It's so alive with tons of street foods in every corner, the clubs loud music can be heard from the outside, and the best of it all, there are entertainment everywhere.
"How tall is that guy in orange?"
My ears picked up some comments until I find myself walking towards a group of people circling around.
My interest piqued when I heard that there's a street fight with an ex-boxer. I love watching street fights, specially if there's blood involved.
I walked deeper into the crowd, stopping at the front to get full view. A chill runs down on my spine when I see who's fighting.
There at the center is my stranger in an orange shirt, waiting to fight the guy for $10 per 10 minutes. I slowly backed up, ensuring not to let him see me. I finally stood behind a couple of people but still have a good view of them.
He wore the white boxing gloves as if it's his second skin, while the host taunts him.
"Looks like you've had a few play-fights with your friends, huh?" The host stood into a stance, "Well, I have one minute to beat some sense into you, bring it on"
My stranger just stood there, the patch from yesterday still in his eyes.
"What are you doing? Come at me! I'll show you what a real fight is" The host slumped his shoulders into a fighting stance.
Then suddenly, my stranger took a step back, swung his arms and aimed for the host. The host dodged it but then he never dodged the punch when my stranger changed the course of his fist, punching him in the head.