4 is for "happiness" and doesn't mean "to die"

Chapter 2

It's the morning after our headline show at the Palladium.

I woke up an hour before checkout time, so I try to rouse Yui awake — it doesn't work — and head off to the bathroom to refresh myself.

Yui's still asleep even after I change from my pyjamas. I'm tempted to jump on the bed and make a ruckus but an idea comes to mind; I shall let her sleep. I pick up the room service menu and skim the breakfast section. As expected, none of the items are specifically what I want so I decide to make a trip to Su and Nora's room and have them custom order for me.

When breakfast arrives, I arrange Yui's so there is a bunny face drawing on her plate, in tomato sauce, away from the omelette and sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. I'm about to figure out what else to draw when I hear a groggy and deep voice.

"Good morning."

I look over my shoulder. Yui has sat up and is rubbing at her eyes. "Ah, you're awake! Go and brush your teeth. Breakfast is ready."

"What time is it...?" Before I can reply, Yui has reached for her phone and found her answer. "Ahh! It's that late already?"

Yui bounces off the bed and runs to the bathroom.

Luckily for my empty stomach, she's back a few minutes later so I can pass her her breakfast.

Yui chuckles at my drawing, accepts her plate and thanks me with that sly smile of hers. I grin, happy at the success of my plan, and pick up my own breakfast.

"Time to eat!" we echo before we consume our meal quickly, being conscious of the time that we need to checkout by.

We meet Su and Nora outside and we do another sweep of our room to ensure we hadn't left anything behind. Then Nora leads the way to the reception desk with Su right behind her. Yui and I hold hands as we follow along.

Our producer is already at the reception desk. When he sees us, he gives us a nod of acknowledgement before he turns around and exits the hotel.

Nora helps us checkout and we soon follow. Our bus is parked outside and the staff kindly lift our suitcases on board so we don't strain ourselves and accidentally pull a muscle. Dancing with a pulled muscle is terribly painful! I know that from personal experience.

We make ourselves comfortable on the bus and then we're off.

Yui has insisted in having me take the window seat so I do so; she sits down next to me. We watch the buildings and people that we pass by, and I notice a set of colours that are repeatedly draped over walls, signs, people's clothing and accessories, and even on huge flags attached to street poles. I had seen a few sightings of them during our drive in but Su, Yui and I were too busy rehearsing for our first public "From Dusk Till Dawn" performance to look outside our windows much.

"This city is so amazingly colourful," I remark. "There's rainbows everywhere."

Yui hums in agreement. "It's because it's 'Pride Month'."

I turn to her. Yui is still staring out of the window. "'Pride Month'?" I parrot.

Yui finally faces me. "Do you know what 'LGBT' are?"

I blankly stare. "No...."

"It stands for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender."

"Ahhh." Those words, I do recognise. I then pause. "What's 'bisexual' and 'transgender'?"

Yui stares at me, with patience, and it reminds me of how we explain concepts to each other during study sessions. "'Bisexual' means a person who would date someone no matter their gender. And 'transgender' means a person, say ... a man whose family registry had him listed as female when he was born."