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Worried as I was, I couldn't just barge into the girl's sauna.

"Madam Orchid!"

Before I could think of what to do, Francis immediately rushed forward towards the sauna entrance, ignoring the sign.

"Wait!"

I then grabbed his arm and pulled him back, preventing him from crossing the line and getting himself in trouble.

"Hold on." I said. "Don't get yourself in trouble just to help her. There are others in the sauna. They can do it. The last thing you need is to be labeled a pervert." Upon hearing the word "pervert", he rapidly nodded and took a few extra steps back.

While hearing her fall was definitely jarring, based on the reassuring voices we heard from within, it seemed she picked herself up rather quickly. Not a few minutes later, my phone vibrated, notifying me of her texts.

What are you doing here?!

Get out! People will find me!

How did you even find me?

Regarding her last text, I was going to point out Francis until my phone vibrated immediately after.

Don't answer that.

A little irritated she didn't just come out to talk to me herself, but also relieved to know she was doing okay, I texted her back. This time I made sure to convey a little annoyance and sarcasm in retaliation for making me worry.

What, are you acting like you haven't read the news?

And how about a "Thank-You" instead? I actually took time to worry and check to see if you were okay!

But you know what, that's fine. If you don't want me here, I'll leave.

She didn't respond for a while, likely since she didn't believe me, so I huffed and headed towards the door, making sure to stomp so she could hear me. From behind, Francis called out to me.

"Wait! Mr. Aaron, where are you-"

And just a few seconds later, my phone vibrated again.

WAIT COME BACK

Got her.

I'm sorry

Don't leave.

Well that wasn't too hard, cruel as I might've been. I quickly swerved around and walked back to where I once stood to which Francis breathed a sigh of relief. Turning back to my phone, I swipe-texted her back.

So are you going to come out and talk or are you just going to make me wait here?

Once again no response came, and for a while I was willing to think she probably hid herself deeper within the sauna. To my surprise, not even a minute later she eventually walked out of the room still in her sauna clothes with a towel wrapped around her head, albeit looking a bit more miserable than I had ever seen her. Her face pointed down and her posture was slumped, almost as if she was being forced to apologize to someone. Rightfully so, in my opinion, wrong as it may have been. Although I finally got to see that she was okay, to say seeing her offer no explanation for the last few days upset me would be an understatement.

While Francis pestered her as she walked out, I, knowing she no longer had the element of surprise, stared at her as sternly as I could. She and I said nothing to each other, though in my case I was holding myself back to prevent exploding on her.

The silence between us lasted what seemed like a few minutes and I started to wonder what the receptionist was doing that prevented him or her from coming back within the time frame, but then again, maybe it was better there were no strangers to make things more awkward between us.

"Hi…" she finally muttered, still refusing to make eye contact with me.

That's it?! I came here worried and trying to see if you were okay and that's all you give me?!

"Hey." I replied, hoping to get more out of her.

More silence.

I grit my teeth and clenched my fists, angry that she acted like nothing was her fault. Francis looked at us nervously, not really knowing what to say. I put a finger to my lips, silently asking him to be quiet to which he nodded.

Looking out the window, I noticed the dark sky and lights around the neighborhood and realized I was on a time table, so I took initiative.

"So are you gonna tell me what's going on?" I started, feeling my heart beat faster as I talked. "What's up with the articles? Why have you been so quiet and why have you been ignoring my texts? I come here worried about you and all you do is act like it's my fault for checking on you?!"

I felt the stress and anger escaping me as I vented out everything. I might've spoken faster and sounded angrier than I wanted, but at that moment I didn't really care. I was too upset at her to think of anything else.

"I…I don't…"

Ding!

My phone vibrated again, but I ignored the alarms. I didn't know why, but I felt I needed to hear this. I needed her answer.

Ding! Ding!

Urgh, fine!

Forcing my hand back into my pocket, I roughly pulled out my phone and opened my messages, eager to see who was it that was ruining the moment. What will I do when I find out? I don't know. Turning my phone off sounded like a good idea.

Emphasis on the "-ed" part of sounded. Past tense.

Why? Well, when I realized it was dad who was texting me, the idea didn't sound so good anymore.

Con đâu rồi? Làm gì đó? (Where are you? What are you doing?)

One of the downsides of dad's text messaging was that I could never tell how he was feeling. Was he angry at me? Worried about me? Or maybe annoyed I was wasting time? Maybe all three? Either way, I wasn't one to take chances. I had to tell him.

Suddenly, it hit me. What was I doing exactly? Dad didn't like being left in the dark. If I told him I was doing "business" with a friend, he'd ask to be more specific. If I were to tell him I was trying to get answers out of a girl, what the heck was he going to think?

Realizing I didn't have many options, all I could do was text back saying that I'd be out soon and he didn't have to worry.

Hopefully.

Putting my phone and away and turning back to Orchid, it was easy to see she hadn't moved a muscle. Dad's texts messages distracting me from my anger, I let out a long sigh, realizing I didn't have a lot of time left and wasn't going to get anything out of this so I turned to leave.

"Fine, don't say it if you don't want to. I'm running out of time so I need to leave. C'mon Francis."

Just as I turned around, I felt her hands grab mine.

"Madam Orchid!" Francis called again.

Her hand shook as she latched onto me. It reminded me of how she was when Rose and I encountered her in the alleyway.

"Don't go…" she whispered. I sounded like she was close to crying. "I'm sorry...I don't have anywhere to go…"

I turned around once again to take a good look at her. Her head was still down, but they way she shook made it obvious she was crying. Upon being grabbed, I stood frozen in place not knowing what to do, and I think it took me a good ten seconds to get my mind back up to speed.

"Nowhere to go…?" I finally asked. She didn't answer back, of course and I was about to mention her home until i decided against it, realizing she probably had a reason to avoid it.

So...no home, currently in a sauna and being called on for help. Great. I had no idea how to deal with this.

But I did know someone who did though. At least I hope he did.

Grabbing my phone and dialing dad's number, I waited anxiously, despite knowing he'd answer pretty quickly.

"Cái gì vậy con? Con ra chưa?" he asked. (What is it child? Are you on your way out yet?)

"Well uh...it's actually a little complicated." I quickly replied in english, hoping to convey the urgency. "Could you come quickly please? We're at the sauna."

"On my way."

*Click*

And then we waited. Well, I did anyway. Francis, on the other hand, moved around us frantically trying to figure out how to comfort Orchid, asking her if she needed water or a towel or maybe both. Orchid, on the other hand, stayed silent while latching onto my hand. I felt bad for Francis, seeing as how he was trying to help but was constantly being brushed off. That said, I could sort of understand Orchid's silence. Usually when I had bad days, I didn't want to talk to anyone. Of course, those spells ended quickly when dad always called me out for a soccer game or sparring session.

"It's alright Francis. She'll be fine." I said to him, slowly moving my other hand to pat her back, unsure of if she'd let me. I breathed a slow sigh of relief when she made no motion to brush me off.

I hope.

"B-But-!"

"You need to relax. At this point there's not much either of us can do."

Most likely not the right thing to say, as it made him look even more anxious, but he at least stopped pacing around the room and settled down a little.

A few seconds later, I spotted dad dashing towards us until he reached the door to which he slowly opened it, making sure not to break it in his rush. It was obvious he had been running, seeing as how he carried Rose in his arms and took a deep breath as he entered. He then took a few moments to observe the scene, trying to get a feel of the situation. I shrugged my shoulders as he looked at me, not really knowing what to tell him.

"Hey! It's the same girl as last time!"

And of course, it's Rose who breaks the silence.

I stiffened in embarrassment, realizing she didn't know what was going on. I wanted to hush her quickly, but thankfully dad did so before I did. Looking back down, I noticed Orchid had let go of my hand, most likely because dad had arrived. Despite still avoiding everyone, she now faced forward, showing her reddened eyes.

"So uh…" I started, not really knowing how to put everything together, so I gave him the short version in vietnamese so she couldn't understand me. Why? Well, if I were to say it in english it'd feel like I'd be revealing her secret to the world. It wasn't true of course, but taking additional measures never hurt anyone, right?

"Em đây là...bạn con. Bay giờ bạn con không có chổ ở." (She is...my friend. Right now she doesn't have a place to live.) I said, to the best of my ability. It made me a little ashamed that it took longer than usual to articulate what I wanted to say compared to how I was back then.

"Không có chổ ở hả?" he whispered. "Trời ơi, bây giờ làm sao đây?" (No place to live, huh? Oh dear, what to do?)

Despite asking such a question, dad continuously nodded his head as if he had already found a solution. I had a slight feeling I knew what it was. Thinking about it, it was pretty obvious.

"Bạn con nghĩ sao?" (What does your friend think?)

I turned back to Orchid, whom I noticed now was watching Rose draw whatever animal came into her head. She was smiling now, helping Rose in whatever way she could. Unwilling to drag her attention away from Rose, I said the suggestion out loud.

"Well, if you have nowhere else to go, then we'll have to provide for you a place to stay."

Rose perked up at what I said and looked around for the potential tenant.

"Ua? Who's staying with us?" she asked.

"We don't know yet." I replied. "It depends on her." The moment I said "her", Orchid turned back to us, realizing she might be living with one of us. Despite us still being unsure, Rose's eyes still brightened, excited for the possibility of another girl in the house. Before I could let her speak, I turned to Francis to see if he was an option.

"Francis, do you have a room to spare at your home?"

Right then he stiffened up immediately. "W-Well, my house is small but...I suppose she could sleep in my room." His eyes then widened upon realizing what he just said. "A-Actually no! I um… believe she deserves to sleep in a bigger place!"

He fidgeted wildly, looking at me as if begging me to save him. Well, that left only one option.

"Well, I guess you can stay with us then. Sound good?" I asked.

Orchid then waved her hands. "N-No! You don't have to…"

"It's fine." Dad intervened. "We have room to spare. Enough for one more person, in fact." He smiled at her, reassuring all of us that everything was going to be okay.

Orchid reluctantly nodded, understandably unsure of everything. Truthfully, we didn't have much room. There were only three bedrooms within our house, all of which were taken by one of us so either one of us had to move, or we had to share a bedroom.

I shivered at the thought of her sharing my room, especially if it was my room. Me and a girl sharing a room? No thanks. I couldn't handle the awkwardness.

Still, Orchid nonetheless accepted to which Rose cheered. Obviously, she couldn't understand the weight of the situation and was just happy to have another girl in the house.

"Did you bring anything along with you to the sauna?" I asked, thinking she'd be smart enough to bring some necessities around even if she were to go "missing". She nodded quietly and hurried back to the sauna to grab her belongings.

As we waited I looked back at dad, trying to read his expression. He wore a neutral expression, which was a first in a very long while, but I knew better than to assume he was actually "neutral". A hand came up to cover his mouth and his eyes wandered the sauna as if deep in thought. Most likely, he was coming up with living arrangements for the four of us. Once his eyes turned to me, the smile he so often wore returned to his face.

"Cái gì vậy con?" (What is it?)

"Are you sure about this?" I asked. "Taking her in and all?"

He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, silently questioning me on why I didn't speak our mother tongue. I, in turn, tilted my head too and widened my eyes, trying to tell him that this was a serious issue.

"Ba nói thật mà. Sao con hỏi?" he replied. (I'm being serious. Why do you ask?)

I raised an eyebrow. That was unusual, as he rarely allowed me to invite friends over back then. Of course, with the places we lived back then, I wasn't sure I'd want my friends within my home either. Still, that couldn't have been the only reason, right?

"Tai sao ba cho bạn con ở với mình nhưng mấy năm trước ba không cho bạn con vào nhà mình?" (Why are you letting her stay in our house when years ago you wouldn't bother letting my friends in?)

"Con nhớ không? Mấy năm trước ba mẹ đâu có tiền. Nhưng mấy năm nay vì ba có việc ba được làm nhiều tiền." he smiled once again, reassuring me there was nothing to worry about. Despite that, I was still worried. Nevermind that a pop star would be living in our house now, what about providing her food and water? (Don't you remember? Back then we didn't have money. Since I have a high-paying job now, money isn't aa big issue.)

"Đồ ăn và nước thì sao?" I asked, hoping he had considered at least that much when he decided she could stay. (What about food and water?)

"Con đừng lo. Ba có tiền." he replied, giving a thumbs up and winking as if he hatched some nefarious plan. (Don't worry. I have money.)

Well, if he was so sure about it, then who was I to complain? It was dad after all, money-related things were his forte.

Soon after, Orchid arrived at the lobby back in her school uniform and hair tied back into twin-tails.

"I'm ready." she said, and together we made our way back into the car. I raised an eyebrow as Francis tried to cover Orchid's face with his hand while we walked until I remembered something.

Oh right, she's a pop star.

I tried to help out too, staying as close to her as possible while doing my best to keep an eye out for anyone who might've seen her. There were a couple of eyes that came our way, though with the way they looked at us, it was more likely they were more suspicious of me and Francis than they were of her. Nevertheless, we made it to the car without a hitch.

"Trường, để An Nhiên ngồi vối con. Xe ba không có đủ chổ cho năm người" (Aaron, let Rose sit with you. I don't have enough space in my car for five people.)

Rose "awed" loudly at being unable to sit next to Orchid but obeyed nonetheless, placing herself on my lap although she did so rather roughly.

"Alrighty, you mind leading me to your home, Francis?" My dad asked, switching back to english. Francis stuttered a bit, trying to say yes and making it was obvious he wasn't used to talking to adults. Dad thankfully took it in stride and easily found Francis's home even with the shake directions he gave out. To my surprise, he actually lived not too far from school. It seemed like the midway point between MapleStory Academy and PSG. Giving a curt bow, we watched as Francis rushed into his house before dad drove us home. To make this less awkward between us, dad struck a conversation with Orchid.

"So, what's your name, con?" he asked, slipping some vietnamese in his speech. "How do you know my son?

"Dạ, thưa chú con tên là Lan. I first met Aaron while doing community service."

At that moment all three of us stiffened for a moment before realizing what just happened.

Did she just…?

I saw dad's eyes and smile widen, obviously pleasantly surprised at her ability to speak vietnamese.

"Oh-ho-ho!" he chuckled loudly, most likely also happy there was someone else who could speak our language. Rose herself laughed as well. "Giỏi quá! Sao con nói tiếng việt giỏi quá vậy?" (Very good! How did you learn to speak so well?)

"Dạ, đó là vì con đang lấy lớp tiếng việt ở trường học con." (Yes, that's because I'm taking classes at my school.)

Huh, so PSG offered those classes as well? That was something new. Who knew my first language was that popular? That said, hearing it now, her accent wasn't bad at all. Sure, she spoke a little slow and her pronunciation of the "T" wasn't perfect, but it was obvious she took the class seriously and most likely had some exposure beforehand, considering she and I were similar in age and all. It was hard to believe how well she spoke even though it was likely she and I were both in the beginner classes at school. No doubt she's probably earning top grades right now. I had to give her credit, considering she was a pop star, I didn't think she took school seriously. Of course, there was no way I was going to let her know that.

Lost in my own thoughts, I nearly jumped when I felt dad's hand upon my shoulder. Turning to my left, I saw him smiling at me with an eyebrow raised like he was expecting an answer from me.

"Uh...sorry, what?"

"Ba hỏi tại sao bạn con chưa học tiếng việt một năm, mà nòi hay, nhưng sau mươi lăm năm tiếng việt của con dở quá." (I was just asking how your friend spoke vietnamese so well after learning for not even a year while yours is so bad after nearly fifteen.)

Oh yeah, leave it to my dad to flatter someone else at the expense of his own children. Hey, I might've not lived in my motherland for too long, but I was still confident enough in it to recognize I spoke better than most people!

Giving him a light punch on the shoulder, I looked out the window and ignored whatever it was they were talking about, eager to get home and rest.

We arrived home soon enough, and dad and I helped Orchid bring her things into the house, with me carrying her bags while dad carried her suitcase.

The familiar scent of our home hit our noses the moment the door opened. Wood mixed with the fruity scent of the cleaning product we used around the house. It wasn't strong, but it definitely made an impact once it hit you. It was a sharp contrast to how her house smelled, which I vaguely remember lightly smelling like flower perfume.

"It's a little small..." I commented, setting her things down on the counter. "But hopefully it's bearable. You think you'll be alright?" I asked, worried the lack of space would make her feel uncomfortable.

She smiled at me and nodded. "Mmhm. Don't worry. It's...very nice."

The way she had to pause to finish made it obvious how she felt. I wanted to say something along the lines of "You don't have to lie", but decided not to. Neither of us needed our day to be worse.

"Okay...thì bay giờ làm sao đây?" dad asked, after we had set everything down. (So what to do now?) "Ai ngủ trong phòng ai?" (Who's sleeping in whose room?)

"Uhh…"

Come to think of it, why didn't we think of that? Before we could reach a solution, Rose thought of one for us.

"My room! My room!" Rose exclaimed, jumping up and down. "She can sleep with me!"

"Không con ơi, có hai người nằm trên một giường không thoải mái đâu." Dad said. (No child, two people sleeping on a bed isn't comfortable.)

Rose's shoulders immediately slumped and her face fell. She looked close to crying.

"Aww…"

Orchid smiled and patted Rose's head.

"Không sao đâu bác," she said, kneeling down to match Rose's height."I don't mind sharing a bed."

Dad raised his eyebrows while standing frozen in place, surprised by the fact that he was called bác*, instead of chú but nonetheless he agreed to her wishes. I smirked a little at his reaction. Not as young as you thought you were, huh?

There was also the idea of Orchid taking one of our rooms and one of us sleeping on the futon, but since she insisted, we weren't in a position to complain. Moving her belongings into Rose's room, we set them down near the closet as Rose offered to help clean things up and shooed us out of the room.

After leaving the room, dad and I looked at each other and shrugged. Maybe it was best we left them alone.

"Sorry ba..." I said, looking down and realizing what I had done.

He smiled and patted my head, roughly rubbing it soon after.

"Không sao đâu con. Ba chỉ lo cho con thôi." (No worries. I'm just worrying about you.)

I followed him to the living room, not really understanding what he said since it was less about me and more about Orchid. He then grabbed a thick binder and opened it, ushering me to sit down next to him. As he turned the pages, I soon noticed it was a photo album. The photos of myself when I was a baby quickly came and went and as dad kept turning and as he turned, the baby turned into a smaller, more recognizable version of myself. Some people were beside me, most commonly Joe, some weren't. I wish I could remember who they were, but no names came to mind.

"Ah, đây nè." Abruptly stopping, he took out the photo out of its pouch and handed it to me. Within it, I saw a picture of myself seemingly taken during middle school.

It was a picture from my middle school graduation. One of the two actually. I took a good look at the picture, hardly recognizing the the boy standing alone looking depressed as he held his diploma. The other one, which was still in the photo album, had the same exact boy, though he was smiling this time as he stood next to his sister and father. The smile obviously being forced.

"Con nhớ không? Lúc đó con đâu có nhiều bạn vì mấy học sinh biết mình là người nghèo." (Remember? At that time you didn't have many friends because many students knew we were poor.)

Of course I remembered.

Slowly, my face started to sting as I moved my hand to rub my chest, which was where I gained most of my scars from fighting back. I often yelled at them in my head, asking them what was the big deal. We were poor, so what? What the hell did you expect to gain from making fun of a guy living in a small room while wearing off-brand clothes? It wasn't like we chose to be poor! And It wasn't like I didn't have friends, they just...weren't around often enough. It was Joe who was my only true friend at the time, but even then he had his own friends as well.

"Đó là lý do ba không cho bạn con vô nhà. Ba chỉ sợ họ chọc con." (That was why I didn't let them come in. I was afraid they'd bully you.)

I handed the picture back to him, unwilling to look at it any longer than I already had. As he took it back, I noticed dad's solemn eyes despite wearing a smile. He patted my shoulder twice before getting up and putting the album back where it belonged.

"So does that mean I can invite friends to my house now?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Được-" (Of course.)

"Anh Hai, chị Lan** is calling for you."

Chị Lan?But then I made the connection.

Huh. How convenient it was that both her english and Vietnamese name matched.

Following Rose to her room, I saw Orchid out of her uniform and in her bunny pajamas. She gave me a barely noticeable smile and nodded to Rose, to which she left the room.

"Rose?" I asked.

"It's alright. I asked her to give us some time alone."

"I see. So…? What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I just...wanted to say thanks. You know, for everything." Orchid sniffled, as she dug her nails into her palms.

"I…I..."

She tried to talk, but with every attempt her voice grew shakier. I moved to the bed and sat beside her in an attempt to give her company. She grabbed my hand again, and I moved closer to give her a hug. She gripped my waist tightly as her muffled cries reached my shirt.

"Hey, everything's going to be alright." I whispered, softly rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry." she sniffled. "I just...I don't want to sing anymore!"

*Bác is a way to address adults who are older than your parents, while chú is a way to address a male adult who is younger than your parents. Basically, Orchid indirectly called Aaron's dad old.

**Lan means Orchid in Vietnamese. So both her real name and name she chose for herself in Viet are "Orchid". XD

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