15 Dreams

Who would have thought that the library served well as a medical centre? Certainly not Fan. He was expecting endless corridors of bookshelves and dated signs. He thought his eyes were about to pop out with the cafeteria on the right, and the medical room on the left. Brushing his hands through the bookshelves, he jolted at his clean hands. "How do they keep this place so polished?"

Marching to his right, he saw the other contestants counting their haiku sheets. One look and he couldn't help but see them as babies. Nila, Hassin and Bobby were in their thirties, but it still made Fan feel old. He'd be lucky if he reached his fiftieth birthday at Christmas.

"Is there anything I can do?" Fan said as Nila and Hassin had nursed Sook-Jo's injuries.

Nila lifted her head and smiled. "We're fine."

Hassin nodded too. "She will need lots of support. There's no serious damage on the body, but the mind may never heal. We must all do our best."

"I can do that." Fan squinted. He wasn't even sure if he was giving the right response. Hassin made sense, but his way of words came unnaturally to him. Even though they were both speaking in English, there were still communication barriers. As a Chinese man talking to an Indian man in English, the clarity was awkward.

Despite the rancid madness, Fan felt contempt. Yanyu's dreams had come true, she was in Chang-Hoon's arms. He was sure this was not the way that they wanted to write their love story, even though Fan knew nothing about romance stories.

Chang-Hoon came across as a pleasant young man. Fan held his tongue when it came to Chang-Hoon's baggy jeans and ripped blazer, but if he's what made his niece happy than Fan could forgive his dreadful fashion sense.

Trying to sleep would have been pointless. His concerns were dragging him down as he paced about the corridors. It was the second time Sook-Jo's life was in danger. His head pounded. If Chang-Hoon couldn't protect his own sister, how could he be trusted to respect his niece?

His belief that Yanyu would survive kept him sane. If anything, it would be Yanyu protecting Chang-Hoon. Taking a deep breath, Fan kept his mouth shut. He heard about Alfie and Catherine's fall out this morning, he could not take the risk.

Fan followed Bobby to the religious studies section. "Can we talk?"

He turned around. "Of course."

"I need to do something for me." Fan took two rings from out of his pocket.

Bobby had proven to be super observant. "Those are the rings that Mariangela and Pedro were wearing." He took one from Fan's hand and observed the dragon's face encrusted on it. Its fangs held a delicious opal with swirling aesthetics. "How did you get these?"

"I found them in cottage covered in blood," Fan confessed. "I have a feeling the robots have taken them. We managed to take them down but all that was left of them were these rings." He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it would be a shame to waste such lovely rings."

"Please get straight to the point," Bobby requested. "I'm not so sure what you want me to do with these rings."

"I want you to host my niece's wedding."

Bobby pursed his lips. He took another look at the ring and then darted his eyes over at Fan. "Do you know even know what you're doing?"

"No. But they say we can do what we want. My niece wants to get married and I might not see her again."

Bobby opened out his hands, with the ring dangling between his little finger and his thumb. His left hand rested below his chin. "Isn't this...soon? Chang-Hoon and Yanyu have only just met."

Fan lowered his head. "Yanyu will survive. I want to make her happy one last time."

"Why are you so convinced Yanyu's going to survive?"

Fan never thought he would have to explain the night in Shanghai. "The day Yanyu was born, I met with a fortune teller."

Bobby paused to take a seat. "What kind of prophecy."

"My brother had his fortune told to him. I joined in because I was curious. The lady said that one by one, all those close to me will die until only one is left. And that person will go on to have a bright future, but I won't live to see it."

"Sounds like it's just a coincidence."

Fan shook his head. "No! You don't understand. Our entire family died one by one. I know Yanyu says bad things about me on Discord." Fan cleared his throat and gave his best impressions of his niece in a high-pitched voice with overdramatic arm waves. "Oh, Uncle Fan won't let me go shopping. Uncle Fan won't let me eat this or that. Uncle Fan is stopping me from having a life."

"I won't lie," Bobby said. "She has said that. But how do you know?"

"I look in her diary. One page she loves me, the next she hates me. Just typical teenage drama."

"Isn't that a bit..." Bobby was trying to find the right word, "...invasive?"

"Please understand. China is a good country. Yanyu and I are lucky to have a good apartment in Shanghai. I know what she loves, but in China, there are scams everywhere. So many fake goods are sold here. One bite of a fake egg can be enough to kill. I know what this fortune teller is saying. My niece is destined for great things and I cannot ruin it for her."

"Have you asked Yanyu?" Bobby asked.

Fan gasped. Then slapped his head. How could be have been so foolish? Yanyu deserved a say in her future as well. "How could I be so foolish?"

Bobby stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's the game. It plays mind games. Now I'm happy to help you. But we must see if Yanyu wants to get married first before we go ahead."

"So we have a deal?" Fan asked with his hand open.

"Yes." Bobby shook it and returned the second ring to Fan.

"Uncle Fan!" Yanyu shouted, running into the room. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorting out your wedding?" Fan announced, direct and firm.

"My what?" Yanyu shrieked, marching closer up to Fan's face. "Here? The robots will come and destroy it! And where's the cake? The fancy dresses and the food?"

"You can renew your vows when you go home, but I thought it would be nice if you and Chang-Hoon could get married now so I get to walk you down the aisle."

Yanyu spun around with her hands squishing her forehead. "This is all too sudden. You know I want to get married but I don't know if we can here."

"Well," Chang-Hoon interrupted, stopped Yanyu in her tracks. "They did say we could do whatever we want here."

"It's your special day," Fan reminded his niece. "It's up to you where you have it."

Yanyu gulped. "I want to get married on the beach at sunset, and I don't want to get married until we find Yuzuko and Sakura. But... what will Sia Bucks think off all this?"

"She'll be fine with it!"

They all looked behind to see who it was? "Mariangela!"

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