Overflowing Lights // lee haechan

1

Grabbing the bag that basically held my identity, money, and phone I finally stretched my legs outside the car.

Glancing up toward the entrance of the side street read the sign Masue Village. From the entrance I could tell some night life was evident as most shop owners were cleaning up.

Scanning the shops as I tried my best to look for a place named Umi Sushi, I was left almost lost. Most people were waking up the passed out drunks, opening up shops, or cleaning the litter from the night before.

"Excuse me, do you have any clue where Umi Sushi is located?" I ask approaching a middle aged man sweeping the front of a building. He wore a green apron that decorated with embroidered stitching that read Lu's Lily's. It didn't take much to notice that he worked in a flower shop and that wasn't just from the evident smell of pollen.

"Ah- down the end of the block and off slightly to the right" he explained after clearing his throat. Nodding lightly I left him to continue.

Masue Village was small and quaint. Not too much on the modern side, but not a complete dump you could say. Most buildings consisted of beige and whites, as most were plastered with neon signs only visible in the night time.

Approaching the the end of the street and turning slightly at the corner sat a small building in between many. What set it apart was the pair of stairs that elevated it by a two or three feet from the other businesses.

Trudging up the stairs to the glass door that was already propped open I could hear light laughter erupting near the entrance.

My eyes immediately landed on the large booth right next to the door. A group of 8 boys sat clambered in the large booth in front of the window with plates and bowls stacked up in front of them. After a couple of them matching my eye contact I found myself feeling embarrassed in front of the group.

Fixing my eyes passed the three other tables and to the counter, a middle aged woman appeared from the back kitchen. She was dressed in a pale blue dress with a dark grey apron wrapped around her waist. Her make up had seem to fade a bit as her mascara was smudged under her eyes. Or is that the dark circles? Her hair was tied up into a low bun with hair flying in all types of directions.

"Can I get you something?" she questions as if she's trying to hide the fact she's trying to catch her breath.

"I'm Kora, we talked last week about the room" I state inching forward to the counter as I knew my voice couldn't carry from the door. "That's right! I totally forgot you were coming" she replied with a huff.

"You boys will be alright? I'm just going to show her around?" she asked looking to the booth full of boys.

"yeah, actually-.. we're gonna get our of your hair for now" a boy with dark black hair replied while putting money down on the table. The boy seemed to lead everything as the rest of boys didn't seem to argue and followed. But I noticed the gaze from someone. His eyes were quite intimidating and he'd probably scare me if he didn't have some soft features. It was also easy to distinguish him from others as his blonde/silver hair stood out to my eyes.

"Anyways, follow me" the woman stated as she opened up the half door and allowed entrance for myself behind the counter. The other side of the counter was a small table with a chair that was obviously a sitting area for the woman as her phone stayed plugged in on.

"I know we really didn't talk much on the phone, but I'm Yasana" the slightly shorter woman said turning around quickly to hold out her hand. Extending mine out she was quick to grab and shake my hand quite aggressively.

It's either she's running on straight adrenaline or she just did a line of coke or something.

Following her through a short hallway I was met with the kitchen of the joint where a mid- 30's man stood cleaning up for the morning.