Chapter 5 – Red Python

“---- I have never killed anyone, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction ----“

2005 July 3^rd, 6.47. P.m., No.9h, Pastor’s Club,

Both Fan and Hwa laid in the bed resting themselves. Nothing had gone wrong between them, Fan just cried herself out and now both of them are lying beside each other’s company thinking back at how things were and how thing are. “What had made me the way I am?”

Rustling up the bed trying not to disturb Fan, Hwa got off of the bed and walked toward the window.

Sigh.

Hearing his sigh, Fan sat up on the bed with her legs crossed.

Her seating position and the way how she seemed embarrassed to look at Hwa made him realize something.

“Girls acting all embarrassed and shy and docile like a maiden who had found her one true love does sure look cute, it skips a beat in a man’s heart… but Fan, you aren’t embarrassed, you are ashamed of yourself even though you shouldn’t be and… it makes my heart heavy.”

“Oh… oh…. Fan, are you feeling bashful because you are in a room with this handsome man, huh?” Asked Hwa trying to paly dumb of the current atmosphere.

“No, you idiot…Fufu…” Chuckled gently, Fan.

“You don’t have to hide it, I know I am a good catch… hehe….” Hwa still kept of feigning ignorance to loosen up the mood.

Fan smiled gently and looked at Hwa. Her somewhat dead eyes had a bit of a light in it or is it the moon Hwa saw in her eyes.

Hwa took out his marauder’s smoke out of his shirt pocket and took a single cigarette to light. He rustled through his clothes to search for his lighter. All he found was a note in the pocket where his lighter should have been.

“Hey, what brand of smoke is that?” Asked Fan.

“Marauder’s.”

“Give ‘me one here.” Said Fan as she walked towards Hwa

Hwa gave the cigarette he was about to light. Fan took out a different brand of cigarette pack and a lighter from her back pocket and pointed it towards Hwa as a signal to pick one. (She had changed from her cheongsam to a tank top and a shorts).

Hwa took a single cigarette and lighted it up after clicking the lighter thrice. Fan lighted her cigarette off of Hwa’s lit one.

Cough.

“Woahhh… it’s strong, too strong.” Said Fan smoking the marauders.

“Oh~ this one has switch, which flavor I wonder it would be, huh?”

“Banana.” Replied Fan.

“…”

“I imagine…”

“…. Imagine, What?” Asked Fan, following his long pause.

After a gentle chuckle, Hwa Said, “I imagine… you leaving this place tomorrow for your self-betterment and focusing on your health and getting better.”

“Haha….” Letting out a huge laughter Fan Said, “I hope it does work that way. Well for one, the pimps here won’t let me do that and I have to pay a big sum to buy myself, Funny isn’t it?”

“Trust me, you don’t have to worry about it after seven today.”

“Hmm… I guess I can take your word on that, after all you look so trustworthy and an impotent.” Said Fan in a sarcastic manner.

“Here goes…. I imagine you, Hwa the idiot, eating a whole full meal today night with someone you love and bang her at her place…. Haha….” Said Fan.

“Hmm… I imagine you getting better, finding your goal and ambitions and getting addicted on it.” Said Hwa in a gentler manner.

“…. And I hope…. No imagine you would wake up tomorrow and realize you are not alone. You have people to support you.” Said Fan, Letting go of her sarcastic personality and with a gentle caring tone.

“I imagine you, while you were trying to achieve a goal you are faced with a crisis and you feel like giving up and then at that time you find a wonderful person who stays by your side for better or worse and he pushes you towards your goal… and you achieve it….

… Haha…. Now I imagine you both married having a child, settling down in a remote area where you both could be for each other’s…. And of course that little devil is also by your side… Fufu.”   Said Hwa taking his time to picturize this scenario in his head.

Fan let out a single tear from her left trying to imagine and wiped it off out of embarrassment before Hwa could see it, but Hwa took a glimpse at how Fan looked at that moment.

“Now that is the kind of look that makes a man’s heart skip a beat.”

“I want to write a romance novel…. A cute fluffy romance novel about a blind high school teacher and his colleague, a senior teacher.” Said Fan in a bashful speech.

“That sounds lovely.”

Hwa looked into his watch and saw it was already a minute passed seven. Hwa took out a couple of gas masks from his hoodies and handed one for Fan.

“Get out of here, wearing this… out through the fire exit here, Fan.” Said Hwa as he held the window by the stairs.

Fan smiled gently with some tears flowing out of her eyes and her cheeks red as a tomatoes, the wind and atmosphere made her look like a maiden from a romance manga who had just gotten confessed to.

She slowly opened her mouth and said, “I am Saengdao, nice meeting you, Chin-Hwa”

And wore the mask handed to her by Hwa and left through the emergency fire exit.

“….”

“Hmm… Saengdao huh? Starlight…. She sure did look like the rays from stars there.”

Hwa took out the note in his pocket and read it before wearing the mask. It said “Don’t smoke.” With two hand drawn smileys.

“Fufufu…. Smileys? Really, huh? I know for a fact it was not given by that old hag, although she wants me to stop smoking. And yes, not by kerl or any girls at club. And Saengdao, I just met her… After all, it was shio…

Chuckle.

“Why did she go out of the way to take away the lighter, she could have taken the cigarettes…. Does she mean cigarette without lighters are useless as I am useless without her, huh? Or am I reading too much into the things, huh?”

As Hwa wore his gas mask smoke emerged out through the floors. It was the paradise smoke he retrieved this morning. Hwa walked out of the window as the slashes, screams and gunshots from down below echoed through the whole Soi Cowboy.