Sock Puppets : Liu Yangyang

Chapter 10: Hotsauce and Sharks

Y A N G Y A N G 

'Thanks again for agreeing to take me,' Neyza said. She was dressed fashionably in a black T-shirt dress and sneakers with white knee-high socks, her inky blue hair tied loosely. 

I shrugged. 'It's about time you meet the Dreamies.' I had come to the conclusion that if Jisung couldn't help jog her memory, Joy and Sorrow could do the trick, because she'd seen them in the past. 

'The Dreamies? They sound fun.'

'Trust me, they are. Let's go, then?'

She nodded. 

'Take my hand,' I told her. 

'W-what?'

I stuck out my hand. 'Hold.'

'Uhm. Why.'

'I suppose you can apparate on your own then.'

'Apparate? Like- like in Harry Potter?'

'Somewhat. Now take my hand,' I huffed impatiently. 

She took it. I felt hers tremble, and my heart melted. 

'You don't have to be scared,' I murmured, tucking a stray wisp of hair behind her ear, ignoring my pounding heart and the look Kun was giving me from behind the counter. 'You're safe with me.' Before I could understand what I was doing, I tilted her head upwards so her eyes could meet mine. 

Neyza visibly reddened. Did I- Did I make her flustered? 

Suddenly, the door to the café flung open. A lovely grey Siamese cat jumped onto Kun. 

'Aww,' Neyza cooed. I, however, groaned. 

'What's wrong? Don't you like cats?' she asked.

'Quite on the contrary. I'm very fond of cats. And I love Louis. It's his owner that won't let me live if he sees me now. Time to go.'

And with that, we teleported. 

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N E Y Z A 

I stumbled onto the sand, still not able to take my mind off what happened a few minutes ago. How I just wanted to envelope him in a hug. How his intense eyes made me feel so safe. How his plump lips looked so soft and... kissable.

'Snap out of it,' I chided myself.

'Snap out of what?' Yangyang asked, hands in the pockets of his jeans, an amused expression on his face. 'You've been spacing out for a minute or two.'

'Ah. I didn't realize. So, uh, where are  the Dreamies?' I asked, looking around. We were currently on a beach. The blue-grey waves, for the moment, looked tender and compassionate.

Yangyang pointed at a compact but extremely charming cottage, outside which a group of boys were running around, building sand-castles and having fun in general. There yells and whoops were audible even from where we stood, which was a good hundred meters away. 

As we reached, I could make out Renjun, laughing like there was no tomorrow. He was so different from the Renjun I'd met at my house. He looked more free as opposed to reserved. He spotted us and grinned, shaking sand out of his hair.

'Miss Kestrel, good to see you again!'

'You too.'

'These are my best friends. Yo Dream!'

The rest of the boys had gathered by now. Of them, two seemed very... familiar. One had pink hair and the other had brown. 

'I'm Sad,' the brown-haired one said.

'And I'm Happy!' the pink-haired one joined.

'And together we are...'

'Sappy!'

The rest of the group groaned. 'Isn't it time to get rid of that already?' Yangyang said, annoyed. 

'Sappy.' I frowned. 'Jeno. Jaemin.' My head began to throb. 

'You okay?' Yangyang asked, concerned. 

'Fine.' I waved him off. 'I just... I know you two.'

'You do,' Jeno said, flashing an adorable eye-smile. 

'Anyways, I'm Mark,' said a boy, munching on a watermelon. 'And this is Haechan. Madness.' he gestured to the brunette next to him who was chugging what looked like hotsauce. 

'Your twin,' Yangyang whispered. I shoved him playfully. 

'I'm Chenle,' a boy in a black t-shirt introduced, lying lazily in the sand. 'Procrastination.'

'Procrastination? I've been waiting for this day,' I said, smiling sweetly. 'Does anyone have a weapon?'

'Don't hurt me!' Chenle yelped as the others chuckled. Just being with this sunshiney group made me feel so alive.

'And I'm Jisung,' the last boy, who had a shock of bright blue hair, supplied. 'The one you've been looking for.' 

'Dream.'

'The one and only. I heard about your nightmares.' He scrunched his nose cutely. 

'So can you help me?'

'Unfortunately not,' Jisung said, shaking his head. 'That's Memory's job.'

Mark smiled sadly. 'And I can't help you without hurting you. Your memories are dangerous to your head.'

'Oh.' I slumped. A wave of unexpected sadness came over me. Jaemin put a hand on my shoulder, which helped a bit, but I was still disappointed. 

'Don't worry, though!' Jisung said cheerfully. 'I can't help you remember, but I can definitely make your nightmares vanish for a good long while.'

'Wow, really? Thanks!' I said, brightening up. 

Haechan giggled. 'Now that that's over, do you want to come feed some sharks with me, Neyza? I have a feeling you're like me.'

'Haechan, no-' Yangyang began, but I cut him off.

'Hell yeah.'

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Y A N G Y A N G 

'I don't understand why you thought it was a good idea to try riding on the shark,' I said, leaning against the café's window, shaking my head.

Neyza shrugged, the wind ruffling her dark hair affectionately.

'Today was fun,' she began. 'Though I didn't really get what I was hoping for, I made some awesome friends. And spent some time with you.' She took a deep breath. 'And the more time I spend with you, the more I'm intrigued by you.'

I wasn't sure when I stopped breathing. 'What are you implying?'

'What I'm implying is, I want to get to know you more. I like spending time with you, Yangyang. We should meet up more often. The two of us.'

Before I could reply, she stood on her tip-toes and placed a velvety kiss on my nose. 

'I'll text you,' she said, smirking, before bounding back to her university. 

I was certain I stood there frozen for at least a few days. 

'Boo,' a voice said. I jumped. 

'WHO IN DARTH VADER'S UNDERPANTS-  oh. Ten.'

'I found you,' he said, sipping on his drink. He always smiled like he knew my deepest secrets. Which was probably true. 

'Tell me all about her,' Ten whispered. 

This was going to be a long night.