4 Mato (1/2)

Li Ming was in agony. All his bones creaked like an old printing press that hadn't been maintained for over a century would. Sitting in that cramped seat for 8 hours was nothing but torture for Li Ming, especially since the food they provided on the airline wasn't to his taste.

Li Ming hailed a taxi and pressed on a tablet to designate his destination and swiped his credit card. He was headed to Va**bond Inn, located about 20 minutes away from the staples center. It was the cheapest place that he could find given the amount of time he was given.

Upon reaching the Inn, the tablet emailed him a receipt. Li Ming was so shocked he almost puked blood all over the tablet. 16 miles trip had costed him well over 50 US Dollars! This wasn't a taxi service, this was Daylight Robbery! His budget had already dipped under 1100 dollars.

Li Ming staggered over to the check-in area of the Inn, praying that there would be no additional costs.

After getting his room key from the kiosk, he immediately headed over to his room and flopped onto his bed. The 8 hours of travel and the steep price of the taxi ride had tired him out physically and mentally. Now it was time for a quick nap.

'If I wake up in 4 hours, it'll be noon or something...” Li Ming mumbled as he dozed off.

---

Li Ming sat on the hotel bed, frustrated. He had forgotten to set an alarm to wake him up, and it was now about 1 in the morning. Although he was fully rested, he was now extremely hungry.

He got up off the bed and went to wash his face.

*bzzzzz bzzzzz*

His phone received an alert.

'Oh? Its from Counselor Watanabe.'

”Li Ming. Of course you won't be coming to school this coming week. Its Golden Week, remember? Are you alright? Do you need to talk? Call me if you do!”

Li Ming's face darkened. He felt conflicted inside. He felt angry, but also homesick.

'Of course I'm not alright! You basically called me a failure in my face... and now you're texting me and asking if I'm alright.'

After a moment of conflicted emotions, Li Ming decided to get food before doing anything else.

'Hmmm, whats open right now?'

Li Ming browsed his phone for a while, but with no results besides bars, clubs, or convenience stores.

'...'