Foreboding

***LEI***

"It's fine. I was distracted too." I heard the other party reply.

I immediately got up and was about to help the woman I just bumped into, but another pair of hands showed up and helped her up.

"Okay ra ka[1]?" the guy said in a familiar language, well dialect rather.

"I'm really fine." answered the girl, to be more precise, young woman.

"Uhm, I'm very very sorry about that." I said in English.

I looked at the two and noticed the familiar Filipino features they held. They both had dark brown hair but the girl had fairer skin than the guy. She also seemed to be of mixed-nationality since she had dark-blue eyes than the brown ones that most Filipinos had. She also exuded an ethereal beauty I couldn't explain and I'm pretty sure if I said those thoughts out loud Artemis would flail me alive. Plus, she feels a little like Artemis in a way. The guy, although he looked a little plain, he was charming. His skin was tanned lightly and his dark brown eyes bore unto mine like they were a pair of drills.

"Doctor Lesfar?" I heard Artemis call.

"Doctor Hunter?" responded the woman.

""You two…know each other?"" the guy and I asked at the same time.

"She's my senior in Harvard School of Medicine, plus we also met in a few lectures and seminars." Artemis explained.

"So, she's a doctor too?" I asked.

"A psychiatrist to be more accurate." she smiled at the two's direction. "It's so nice to see you again, doc."

I just noticed that we had been speaking in English.

"Indeed. By the way, this is my… err… partner? I guess the right term 'is' partner, Damon Celestine."

"Hello." he held out his hand which Artemis shook in return.

"Nice to meet you." Artemis responded with a smile that showed off professionalism.

"Uh… This is Doctor Skye Lesfar. She's a psychiatrist based in the Philippines." Artemis introduced again. I said my greetings. afterwards "Doc, this is uhm Lei… my err…"

"Boyfriend, am I right?" Doctor Lesfar guessed. "I can tell."

"Yeah. You could say that." Artemis and I eyed each other.

"He looks suspicious, with the cap and mask and all." said Damon.

"Oh, that… uh…" I was loss for words. I couldn't exactly say 'I'm a famous K-pop idol so I'm wearing these!'

"You don't have to tell us Doctor Hunter there must be a valid reason why you can't tell us in the first place. Anyway it's a good thing we ran into you." Doctor Lesfar responded. "Damon and I are not familiar with Seoul, as you are aware. We're looking for a store. We had been walking in circles and we still haven't found it."

"Uh, sure." I replied. "What's the name of the store?"

"It's Xiao Fen's Antique Store."

I almost choked on my own saliva when I heard Mister Celestine say the name.

"You're… you're looking for… Xiao Fen's Antique Store?" Artemis asked. "What a coincidence! We are actually on our way there!"

"Do you have any relations to the shop?" asked Mister Celestine in a serious manner.

"Oh, the owner is actually one of my friends' grandfather, so we're visiting him." I answered. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie.

We made our way further in the street. We led them to Xiao Fen's Antique Store which was only a few blocks away from where we collided and which happened to be Liu Fen's store!

"His naming sense sucks." I whispered to Artemis.

"He's a two thousand year old antique himself. His creativity's a bit outdated and not exactly on par with modern people, don't you think?"

"I suppose. But why are 'they' looking for Liu Fen's store? What do they want with him? Or his store?"

"Not sure. I didn't really ask."

"You're an assassin-"

"Used to be."

"Aren't you used to scoping on things to be more prepared?"

"I can't exactly have them suspect me right?"

"I guess. He's not in some sort of trouble, is he?"

"For an old man, he's very cheeky and a little troublesome. We'll have to see."

We reached the store a few minutes later. Just like its counterpart in the Philippines, Xiao Fen's Antique Store looked quite old. Even though it only opened half a month ago, its windows already had some dust on its sill and on the glass. Its displays ranged from wooden items to metal ones. There were even some made from jade and ceramic.

Liu Fen himself, on his original form, was manning the cashier's counter and there was no one else inside the store.

"Lei! Artemis!" Liu Fen squealed and greeted us. "You have finally decided to visit! Seven and the others already dropped by quite some time ago, you know? I was doubting whether you were busy or just did not want to come. If you have anything you like I'll give you a discount."

"Not even for free?" I asked.

"This is no longer the ancient times, nothing's free anymore Lei. So, what made you decide to visit?"

"Err… we'll get to that later. Somebody's looking for you, or rather the shop." Artemis pointed to the two guests we brought to his shop.

For a second, I thought I saw Liu Fen's eyes go wide but it vanished right away. It made me a little suspicious.

"Welcome to Xiao Fen's Antique Store!" he greeted in English. "My name is Liu Fen the current manager, what can I do for you?"

"We're here for an investigation." replied Damon. "It's concerning your store back in the Cebu, Philippines."

"Oh, my grandfather manages that one, but he's dead. Then we transferred here." Liu Fen replied nonchalantly.

I couldn't help but sigh in disbelief.

"I see, but you have records of any purchase that had been made right? Even from other branches?"

"I guess."

"Can we talk somewhere privately?" Mister Celestine glanced at us.

"No problem." Liu Fen replied. "We can talk in my apartment in the second floor. Artemis, Lei can you man the place for a little while? This'll be quick, I promise."

I nodded while Artemis answered 'sure', then the three went their way to the stairs that led to the second floor. I eyed Artemis and saw her sigh then went somewhere inside the store and went out of my sight.

"I suppose I'll be the cashier." I sighed and sat to the cashier's counter. I took that time to take off the mask and cap since nobody seemed to visit the store anyway.

A few minutes later the three came back. Mister Celestine and Doctor Lesfar said their goodbyes and left the store.

"What was that about? Hey Liu Fen, what did they want?" I asked.

"They're investigating a case back in the Philippines. There had been a series of bombing incidents in Cebu, Philippines lately."

"What? And they went to Korea for what exactly?"

"Well they saw antiques on each site and they found one of them was purchased from my store a long time ago. I closed the store in the Philippines so they had to come here personally. They were just checking."

"What kind of antique was it?"

"A magical one. One that causes spontaneous combustion."

"So it causes explosions? Are they…"

"It's better if we stay away from their problems. Getting involved with them will complicate our already complicated life." he gave me a sad smile. "So, what brought you guys here? Wait… where's Artemis?"

"Here!"

Artemis popped out from one of the aisles and headed to our direction.

"Liu Fen, here." I gave him the invitation card and the plane ticket Bai had prepared. "I'll be having my birthday in six days, well mine and Chen's birthday. It will be held in the Zhang Family mansion in Xi'an. I hope you'll be there."

"Oh? That's so nice of you. Of course I'll be there."

Artemis and I left the store afterwards. On the way back to the main street…

"Why do you think he said that?" I questioned.

"Said what?"

"To not get involved with Doctor Lesfar and Mister Celestine."

"Detective."

"What?"

"He's a detective. Anyway, I think Liu Fen's right. I can't explain it but Doctor Lesfar and Detective Celestine seems a bit… unusual."

"Unusual?"

"Yeah. Detective Celestine, well I can't explain him but his aura just gives me some serious vibes. Doctor Lesfar on the other hand, I can sense in from her. She's like me."

"What do you mean?"

"She's a witch and a powerful one at that."

"Is that a good thing?"

"I don't know but I'd really like to find out."

***

On the day of our departure, we all gathered in Incheon Airport. Of course our trip was a secret and thankfully there were no fans in the premises.

"Chen and Bai will meet us at the airport." I announced.

"Where's Liu Fen?" Seven asked.

"He'll be there. He said he had some things to take care of first."

"Come on!" Artemis called. "Our flight's being called.

During the entire plane ride, I had that foreboding feeling again. The last time I had such feeling, Fa Xiao Min abducted us and we went tomb raiding in Hainan.

Notes:

[1] "Okay ra ka?" - it's a Cebuano (a dialect in the Philippines) phrase that means "Are you okay?".