Taste | Changbin

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Lennon knew they were screwed right after they finished checking out. The girl from earlier and a group of other girls were looking around at the buildings and glancing in their windows. One of the other girls in the group pointed towards the gift shop and said something to their friends. It didn't take long before they all started heading towards the shop. 

Lennon grabbed Han's hand and pulled him towards the back of the building. "Give me the glasses you have on your face."

Their bodyguard was in his own little world glancing at small trinkets on a case. 

"What?" Han's eyes widened. "But they're part of my disguise." 

"It's too late for that. That girl and her friend realized who you were. Someone must have found out we're in the area. They're going to be here in a few seconds. We don't have much time. Hurry!" 

Han quickly jerked the glasses off his face. Lennon ripped off her hoodie and yanked it over his head. "Keep your head down and stay with the bodyguard, got it? I'll meet you back at the hotel. Don't worry about me, they don't care about me, they want you. There's like ten of them and if they have friends, you'll be screwed." She yanked off his beanie and pulled the hood up to cover his face. 

The doorbell to the front door chimed. She quickly shoved the beanie on and shoved her hair into it. Shaking, she shoved the glasses onto the bridge of her nose. She hadn't run since high school, but hopefully she still had it. 

"Hey!" She quietly hissed at the bodyguard. "Keep an eye on him. There's a bunch of fans here and I'm going to distract them." 

"You're going to what?"  

"If you let him get mobbed or hurt, I'm going to call JYP myself and have you fired, do you hear me?" 

The bodyguard swallowed, but before he could say anything, footsteps shuffled towards them. She dropped her head down and turned the opposite direction. She silently weaved through the isles full of items. Her paper bag crinkled at her side.

She had picked out a stuffed teddy bear for Hana's daughter. It was light brown with a white t-shirt that read "I <3 New York" in dark print. The other item, she took Han's suggestion, and found Hana a clear shot glass that said the same thing. It wasn't much, but she was hoping she'd like it. If she was lucky, she'd get back to the hotel without losing the bear or breaking the glass. 

"Excuse me?" A voice called out. 

Lennon moved quicker. 

"Hey, wait up!" 

Upon opening the door, she took off sprinting. Warm air brushed against her skin as her feet pounded on the pavement. Multiple pairs of footsteps came from behind her. By some miracle, her plan had worked. 

"Wait!" 

"Can you give us an autograph?" 

"Han, please!" 

It didn't take long before her legs started to sting from the overuse of muscles. She hadn't been this active in so long, she cursed herself under her breath. The paper bag bobbed along in her hand. She clutched it tighter to her chest as she weaved between people. She mumbled apologizes as she bumped from shoulder to shoulder. 

Her lungs burned, but she kept moving. She still had half a block to go before she reached the hotel. A red light caused her to stop. Traffic trudged along the intersection. The footsteps behind her sped up. 

Her eyes darted from one side of the road to the other. If they figured out she wasn't Han, they would just go back and try to find him. She knew how much Han disliked meeting people unannounced. It made him super anxious. 

She flung herself into the intersection filled with oncoming traffic. A white car hurried towards her. The driver quickly slammed on their breaks. She braced herself and ran towards the sidewalk. Another car almost took her out from the other side of the road. Car horns pierced the air. She called back an apology and started sprinting again. 

Building by building, she hurried towards the hotel. Sweat covered her hairline and soaked half her body. Her legs screamed at her to stop, but she kept going. She had no idea if they were still chasing her, but that was a risk she didn't want to take. She didn't look back, she kept going. 

She nearly fainted by the time she got into the hotel doors. Air conditioning greeted her at once. "Are you okay?" The man at the front desk asked. 

She sucked in a deep breath of oxygen. "Uh-huh, just a little run." She released the breath and breathed in again. "Nothing like a good run to get the body going." 

The employee stared at her for a few more seconds before mumbling an agreement. She slowly half walked/half waddled to the elevator doors and pressed the top floor. They slid open, so she could enter. She let out a sigh, walked inside, and pressed a button. 

A girl, covered in sweat just like her, entered the front doors of the hotel. Lennon's eyes widened at once. The girl met her eyes and froze. Her mouth opened like she wanted to say something. 

Before she could get out a word, the elevator doors swallowed Lennon whole.