Mark Masahiro
For a moment I got so confused as to where I am exactly. If I wasn't mistaken, I'm still in Japan right? The alcohol must have done funny things to my brain that it started seeing things that were not suppose to be there.
"Mark!" The tall man that came in yelled my name as soon as his eyes caught me sitting beside Kana.
A year has passed since I last saw that familiar face and the pretty lady hiding behind his back.
Pran and Jane!
"Mark!" In a flashed, Jane had passed through Pran and deliberately throw herself to hug me.
"Uh! Jane. Pran. You guys. You...why are you here? How come you two are here?" I struggled from the sudden shift of my language from speaking Japanese to Thai. Since I've came back from a year ago, I seldom used the language except when this two friends I harbored in Thailand calls me.
Kana moved aside to give way for Pran as Jane as the two started to huddle themselves to me while smiling in all ears.
"Why you asked? Because we missed you of course!" Jane wrapped her arms around my torso hugging me like I'm some kind of teddy bear.
"It's the Christmas break Mark! Where else do you expect us to go? But you didn't invite us you ungrateful snob! It's all thanks to Kana for sponsoring our trip. Arigato na Kana kun." Pran beamed at Kana who was all smiling looking at the three of us.
"Don't mention it. It'll be reimbursed by Mark anyway." He nodded at Pran then stuck his tongue out to me like a 5 year old kid.
"Mark! Why are you you so thin? Have you been skipping meals lately? Oh. The muscles are still there." Jane shamelessly commented while groping on my abdomen. I wiggled involuntarily while laughing. She's the only girl apart from Saya who can get this touchy with me. Of course I don't count those girls I blindly slept with before. The ones who threw themselves at me when I drown myself over my loneliness after getting back from Thailand. Jane is far way different from those girls. I can never put malice with her clinginess. She's more like a sister than a normal friend to me.
"I'm happy to see you two! It has been a long time." I patted Jane's head and grinned at Pran. I truly missed the company of this two. They were the reason why I was able to make it out of Thailand alive. I don't know what might have happened to me when they were not around when my mother passed away.
"We missed you too Mark. Pran and me waited for this moment to come for months now. So when Kana kun called and offered us to come, we were too delighted to say yes!"
"Yeah. That girl was too excited to even sleep normally this past few days before our flight." Pran teased Jane. She frowned at him making a cute face that I am very much familiar with.
"Wow! This place is something! You guys are really loaded! I don't think I can afford a VIP room like this." Pran commented after pacing around the room feasting his eyes to the luxurious furniture used. He was now looking below to the hyping crowd bracing his palms at the glass panel of our VIP room.
"It belongs to Mark's cousin Pran. This is all his treat." Kana walk over to him looking at the dancing crowd as well. I know he longed to get down there. We used to loose ourselves dancing crazily like some normal people before. But he won't be able to do that easily now considering his present popularity.
"Should we go down and dance as well? It looks kinda fun! The DJ is really good. He's someone famous in this field I presume." Pran talked to Kana with his bright and excited eyes. I saw how Kana smiled back to him sadly.
"Aww what's wrong Kana kun? It's ok right? We can fix something about your disguise. Wait." Jane suddenly gets her self busy rummaging inside her elegant looking satchel bag.
"Here!" She happily pulled out a red colored hairy mess.
"Why are you carrying a wig inside your bag like some necessity, you weird woman!" Pran snatched the wig from Jane's hands and put it on his own head playfully. We all laughed at him as he swayed his neck from side to side causing the red wig to sway back and forth in a comical manner.
"Well we're in Japan. I fancy cosplaying before so I thought it would get handy. Kana kun can use it to disguise himself. I've seen some people down there with colorful hair as well. No one would suspect it's the famous actor Murukami Kana. Trust me on this." Jane smiled with utter confidence as she stood up and pulled my hand with her. She then signaled for Pran to pass the wig to Kana who wryly accepted it hesitating for a bit. Then he slowly placed it on his head and turned to look at us waiting for our reactions.
The room was suddenly filled with laughter as the three of us made fun of the famous actor in his red hair. It's not that he doesn't looked good with it. We're not just used of seeing him in that image. Kana also laughed after seeing himself in the mirror.
The excitement from the faces of my three friends suddenly gave me some dopamine rush. How long has it been since I felt something like this? I've been going out clubbing on my own for the last 12 months and the feeling of having close friends to join me was far more different than going all solo.
"What say you Kana chan? Are you going? Of course you are! Come on!" I grabbed his and Jane's hands leading them out of our VIP room. I heard Pran yelling with delight following close behind us.
We soon found ourselves squeezing through the crowd trying to get at the center of the dance floor. When we finally get there, we began trashing around dancing like crazy. I mostly jump up and down trying to keep up with the beat of the music as my mind went all blank. I can't think of anything but the joyous faces of my three friends who were leading me on. Kana was all grinning and howling which made me happy because I know this is kind of freedom for him. His red shoulder length hair bouncing strongly along with his weird dance moves. Jane was swaying her slender figure garnering attention from some of the man close to us. She was soon interacting with them giving her most charming smile. Pran was looking at her closely but when he saw that the men who she was dancing with appeared to be harmless, he relaxed and continued to trash around with Kana and me.
I don't know what made me closed my eyes as the beat made by the DJ switched into a much slower groove. I let my body swung from side to side while raising my right hand in the air. Regardless what type of music it is, it always calms my mind.
"Uh!" My eyes suddenly flung open when I hit my back with a body behind me. Hands gently pushed my back away before I could even turn around to ask for an apology. It was a man as tall as Kana wearing a black baseball cap and facial mask. He was dressed in a plain black sweater and some faded jeans in contrast from the rest of the party goers who were wearing nothing but fashionable outfits. He kinda looked underdressed and a little suspicious.
"Ah! Gomenasai. Gome." He awkwardly bowed down his head repeatedly and talked rather too fast that most of his words were muffled by the music and the mask he was wearing.
"It's alright. I'm suppose to be the one to say I'm sorry, sir. Sorry for bumping into you." I almost shouted the words for him to hear me clearly. He froze on the spot and just stared back at me. It was impossible to see his face more clearly given the lighting condition of the surrounding and the concealment that his cap and mask was doing to his face.
"Hey! Stay away from him!" Kana suddenly appeared in front of me and shove the man roughly making him bump to another person behind him. He repeated the actions he had showed me, continuously bowing for apology to the person he bumped to. Then he spared Kana and I one last glance before walking away in a hurry.
"Weirdo. Are you ok Mark?" Kana cursed at the man's back before turning to me. I nod at him and pointed at the direction of the man who was now put of our sight.
"That man was suspicious. Do you think it's one of your fans Kana chan? Have someone leaked some tips that you are here? Damn! It scared me a little."
I had bad experience with this type of people before. I used to get harassed by Saya's obsessive fans when we were still dating in secret. Even my niisama's life was lost because of this type of rogue fan. It's not impossible that it could happen again given that another close friend of mine became the nation's ultimate crush. So I become extra careful with the people acting strange around me.
"Could it be? Ugh. I hate this. I think we should head back up to our room upstairs. I'm sorry about that Mark." Kana looked somehow dejected as he started pulling me by my hand.
"Wait! Pran and Jane!" I looked around to search for my other two friends but they were no longer visible.
"Let them enjoy themselves a little more. They'd come back up at us if they get too tired from dancing." Kana told me glaring at the pair of girls who started rubbing themselves to me. I curtly turned them down making them pout.
"Kan! You go ahead. I'll go to the washroom first." I yelled at Kana and proceeded to the washroom located on the same floor of our VIP room.
The said washroom has only one occupant when I went in. A man in his early thirties I presume was washing his hands on the sink. He was dressed accordingly like the rest of the club goers who went tonight with a brown leather jacket that matches his fitted black jeans. He smiled at me seeing my reflection on the mirror behind him.
"Hi. Great crowd tonight do you agree?" He greeted me casually.
"Yeah." I answered him without any intention to engage myself to a more detailed conversation.
"I'm Cairo by the way. And you are?" He continued talking while I wash my face with the cold water from the faucet. I was planning not to answer him but seeing that his gaze never left me, I decided to respond anyway.
"Sakuragi. My name is Sakuragi." I lied smoothly giving him a small smile. It became a habit for me to answer strangers the first name that comes into my mind every time they asked for my name. It's often from the famous characters from the anime I am watching.
"Cool name! So Sakuragi kun, can I invite you to join me at my table? The drinks on me ofcourse. You can order whatever you want." I can't believe I was being flirted by another man yet again. This was not new to me though but I still find it weird every time it happens. What's with my face that magnets this type of man? Did I become this soft looking after I dated a man back in Thailand? But I wasn't able to bring myself dating another apart from P Vee. I just simply went back dating girls like before.
"Errr. I'm sorry but I do not sway that way." I answered him bluntly drying my face with some paper towels.
"Huh? But I saw you holding hands with that man in a red wig. He's into guys right? It's pretty obvious." He laughed wryly in an offending tone talking about Kana. I noticed him getting closer to where I was standing. His face painted with an eerie glee surveying me from head to toe.
I sighed loudly before facing him with my usual deadpan expression. Looking more closely, the man looked rather handsome. But his eyes are full of malice and they were telling me he's far from being a gentleman.
"Are you stalking me? Look sir, even if I like men, you are far from my type. So stay away from me will you? Creep." I turned away to leave immediately after I rejected him on his face but I found myself pushed on the wall in a blink of an eye.
"Ouch! What the hell!" I groaned out when I felt a blunt pain at the back of my head. My vision suddenly became hazy. The man named Cairo grabbed me harshly on my, his grip too strong that I felt his nails burying on my skin.
"Don't be a snob Sakuragi kun. This pretty face of yours doesn't suit the fouls words you are saying. I know you like men too." His other hand squeezed on my face making my mouth part. I clawed and pushed on his shoulder with my free hand but he seem not to feel the force I exerted. His leering face draw more closer to mine. Well there's no way I'm letting this perverted man kiss me.
"Ow! You!" He howled in pain and fell down on his knees after I strike my knee on his groin hitting his testicles really hard.
Even in that kind of situation, I still bring myself to laugh down at him as he rolled on the cold bathroom floor.
"Does it hurt? Next time choose someone your own size Cate san." I spat down at him still laughing.
"You fucking bastard! My name is not Cate!" He yelled at me in deep humiliation.
"Eh? It's not? Whatever. You look like someone who can be called Cate anyway." I continued with my insults while I checked on my face in the mirror. I wasn't able to noticed the man below me was already up on his feet. Before I could even react, my face was already shoved down to the sink.
I helplessly struggled to get free as I started panicking when the man opened the faucet letting the water run into my head. It will soon fill the sink and I'd be drowning in the most shameful manner. But the brute force of the man was too strong that no matter how I struggled, he never bulged.
"Let me wash that dirty mouth of yours Sakuragi kun." He snarled at me pushing my head more forcefully. My face was pressed so hard at the cold stainless bottom of the sink.
The water soon get into my nose and mouth and began suffocating me. My hands flapped frantically on my sides. For a moment I thought to myself that if I die right here and now, it would be too humiliating for everybody to see. I can't imagine what they would write in my obituary. Who would want to die drowning in a bathroom sink?
Suddenly I was pulled back up coughing out all the water that had gotten into my lungs. My knees went all weak and I slumped down on the now wet bathroom floor. My eyes were too blurry to see what's going on around me but it sounded like some commotion was taking place. Somebody was shouting curse words and was soon followed with the sound of punches. Then a body fell down a few inches beside me. His bloody face almost unrecognizable. It's the man I call Cate.
"You rotten bastard! How dare you!" Another man was soon kneeling above him and continue punching his face. The sight was so sickening that I almost vomited everything I had drink earlier.
"Stop. Stop it. You're gonna kill him. It's enough!" I pleaded at the man launching myself to pull him back from the now unconscious man below him using the last remaining strenght I have. I can feel his flesh trembling but he let me pulled him away.
"It's enough sir. You can stop now." I told him as he let him self sat down beside me on the wet floor. He was panting heavily below the face mask he was wearing. His white sweater was tainted with the blood that came from the other man's bloody face. This was the same guy that I get bump with back down on the dance floor just a few minutes ago.
My head started to get dizzy which was probably the aftermath effect of the alcohol, tiredness, and the fatigue I get when I exerted all my strength trying to fight off the man that assaulted me just now. My strength were all spent and I felt my body slowly falling sideways. I closed my eyes waiting to hit the cold floor again but it didn't came. Instead, I was caught by the strong arms of the man beside me holding me securely letting me lean on his chest.
"Shiya Mark! Are you ok?" Without any strength left, I can only grimace when I heard the man talk. When we were on the dance floor, I was sure he apologized to me repeatedly in pure Japanese. Why is he cursing at me now in Thai?
And why did he called my name too casually?
What's with all this stalkers and obsessive fans? They are getting more and more scarier.
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