"Let"s become friends, Fang Aisa."Talking politely to this guy is out of the question. He likes to do whatever he wants. When I was chasing him in my past life, he turned me away. Now, I don"t want to do anything with him and he wants to be friends. They say that women are too complicated to understand. What about men? Men are not easy to comprehend either.
Before I can refuse his friends.h.i.+p offer, I am struck with a sickening waft of rotting mice. My stomach churns and bile rises in my throat. I resist the urge to throw up and cover my nose. A middle-aged bald man with beady eyes approaches and steals a glance at me. He stops behind Sung Jun and eyes us with a mild interest.
When did this man bathe last time?
Sung Jun follows my gaze. He is astonished to see that man. I don"t know their relations.h.i.+p, but I can"t tolerate this bad smell. I turn around and run. Behind me, Sung Jun cusses loudly.
I am relieved to find that Sung Jun isn"t following me. I don"t take a chance and keep running until I collide with something.
"Oww!"
"Ow!"
The person I collides with is a small boy with dark hair and big round eyes. I scrunch my nose. He also smells like rotting eggs. What"s up with people these days? Why are they skipping baths? I ignore the smell and help him get up.
"Are you hurt somewhere?" I ask the kid.
The boy doesn"t answer me. He stares at me with his haunting eyes like he has seen a ghost. I guess that I look scary sometimes, but I don"t look like I eat children.
"Are you okay?" I ask again. The boy blinks his round brown eyes and sniffles. Why are children so hard to deal with? I only asked a simple question and he looks like I stole his toys.
"Kid, where is your mother?" I try again.
The boy starts crying and runs away from me. He screams for his mother. A woman in her late twenties comes out of nowhere and picks him up. The boy points at me and says something to that woman. I don"t want to get into trouble. So, I run away before that woman could find me.
What a troublesome day!
I stop at the hair salon. I wanted to get a haircut and buy some makeup supplies. I already have a nice dress to wear tomorrow. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be an important day for me. If things go right, I will save myself from a well-made trap.
I go inside the hair salon. The hairdresser lady gives me a welcoming smile. I give her a nod and take a seat.
"You have nice hair." The hairdresser lady has dyed purple and blue hair. She is wearing purple lenses. There are other teenagers and young adults who have a similar style. I guess that it"s a trend these days. "Should I wash your hair before the haircut?"
"Sure."
She slowly ma.s.sages the shampoo in my hair while I look at the catalogue. Her fingers are soft and relaxing. I start to doze off.
It"s snowing. The man in the dark coat watches me with undisguised hate and disgust. He clenches his jaw and flares his nostrils. Before I can introduce myself, he leans toward me and says, "You look just like your mother."
"Father...?" I say softly. We are meeting for the first time. Today, I am wearing my favourite brown coat with a red dress and black shoes. Earlier, Granny Lan shampooed and braided my hair. She also applied powder on my face. Is it bad to look like my mother?
"I am not your father." That man snaps at me. He looks too scary. I bite my lower lip. Grandma said that he is my father. Why is he saying otherwise? I don"t understand. Did I do something to displease him?
"But grandma said that you are." I look into his unfathomable dark eyes. His face contorts with fury when he hears me.
"You are disgusting just like your mother."
I wake up and find myself in the hair salon. My eyes are blurry. My cheeks are wet. I realise that I have been crying in sleep.
"Miss, are you okay?" I hear the hairdresser ask.
"Yes." I rub the tears away. "I had a nightmare."
"I am sorry to hear that." The hairdresser combs my hair carefully. "We just finished doing your hair."
"I see." A young girl with complicated expressions looks back at me. Her shoulder length hair, eyebrows and eyelashes are neon pink colour. Her face is pale and her lips are red as cherries. I don"t recognise myself for a long moment.
"What do you think?" The hairdresser watches me with her sparkling eyes.
"Why are my hair pink?" I gape at my reflection foolishly.
"Isn"t that what you chose?" She shows me the catalogue. The hairstyle is called "Pink Lollipop". I don"t remember choosing something like that.
"When did I tell you that I chose this?" I glare at her.
"You were asleep. I found your finger on that style." The hairstylist replies nervously. "Miss, this is a trend among youngsters these days. Your hair will even glow in dark."
Glow in dark...
I try to comprehend those words.
"We will give you a fifty percent discount because today is Wednesday." She smiles at me professionally. "After the discount, it"s only two hundred dollars."
I smack my forehead.