“Am I weighted?” Lain asked Lonnie as they entered the compound, they just arrived home.
“Do you want an honest answers?” He asked with a smile, Lani nodded.
“No you’re not weighted”
“Then does that mean you will keep giving me a piggyback since I’m light weighted”
“Sure I will, always”
Both laughed, and Eloise who has been watching them since they entered the compound, cleared her throat, intentionally.
“Halmeoni” Both of them said at the same time, and Lani came down from Lonnie’s back.
“Grandma, I didn’t know you will be back soon” She said.
“Why? Where you planning on doing bad things with him?” Eloise asked.
“Of course not grandma! I am not a bad child”
Eloise looked at Lonnie and he quickly looked somewhere else immediately.
“Broomstick”
“Yes, granny” He answered sharply.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“Huh? Dinner? Yes, I ate already at Dami’s housewarming party”
“You call that food? You only ate two spoons of rice” Lani said.
“I am not much of a eater. I get full easily”
“Then do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?” Eloise asked.
“Coffee?” He muffled and gulped down his spit.
***
Lonnie keeps clipping his hands under the table, he was so nervous, cuz Eloise was sitting opposite him, and staring at him.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“No! Not at all” He answered.
“Then why haven’t you touch your coffee?” She asked.
“Coffee?” Lonnie looked at the coffee on the table and quickly gulped it down inside his throat, he even choked in the process.
“You’re afraid of me, right?”
“No I am not afraid of you, granny”
“Then loosen up when talking to me. I only want the best for my granddaughter and that’s why I was a little harsh on you”
Lonnie said nothing.
“Well you see, Lani might always put on a smiling face, but she always gets hurt easily. She might cry over little things, but that’s her nature. Her parents died when she was just five years old, it was so hard for Lani to cope without her parents. I had to do my best to make sure she is able to live in a world where her parents doesn’t exist anymore. I always make sure I give her everything she wanted, cuz I wanted her to be happy always. Lani is a weak girl, she is not suffering from any kind of diseases, but she always collapses anytime she exhausts herself”
“Collapse?”
“Yes. That is how her body nature is, she collapses when she over stresses herself and when she can’t take the pains she is feeling inside. That’s why I didn’t allow her to get a part time job like her normal age mates do, and I also want a man who is never going to hurt her. I am considering you to be that man”
“Me?”
“Yes. Don’t ever hurt my granddaughter again, she is someone who can’t endure a broken heart, she might collapse or die from it, always make sure she is happy, ok?”
“I will grandma. I care about Lani a lot, so hurting her is the last thing I will do”
“I trust you, Lonnie” Both smiled at each other.
“What are you both smiling at?” Lani asked, coming out from her room. She just had a bath and she packed her hair in a messy bun.
“I will just slice some fruits for the both of you” Eloise got up from the wooden floor and went to the kitchen.
“What did you two talk about?” Lani asked sitting beside him.
“Nothing out of the ordinary, just a little chitchat”
“Really? I wish I was part of it” Lani said, drawing invisible lines on the table.
Lonnie looked at Lani as she continued drawing invisible line on the table with a smile on her face. Eloise’s words echoed in his ears, and he felt sorry for Lani.
“Lani”
“Mmm” She answered, looking at him.
“What’s wrong?” She asked when Lonnie was just staring at her and not saying anything.
Lonnie pulled Lani closer to himself and hugged her, wrapping his hands around her slender body. She is skinny and little in nature.
“I thought I knew you so well, but I just realized I don’t. I am never going to make you cry, Lani, that’s a promise”
Lani broke the hug.
“Why are you suddenly making a promise to me? What did my grandma tell you?”
Lonnie hugged her again.
“She said nothing to me, I am just making a promise to you, that I won’t ever be the reason for your tears”
Lani smiled and hugged him back.
“I will be holding on to your promise” She said with a smiling face.
Lonnie kissed her forehead, and hugged her again.
The noise from the kitchen made them separate from each other, both quickly went to the kitchen and Lani’s eyes widen when she saw her grandma lying on the floor unconscious.
******
The siren sound of the ambulance could loudly be heard as it entered the hospital premises.
Three nurses rushed out with a stretcher, Eloise was immediately placed inside the stretcher. Lani and Lonnie also came down from the ambulance bus too.
In Lani’s eyes, lies so much tears. She was crying as her grandma was being rushed inside the hospital.
“Please grandma, don’t leave me! I can’t go on without you” She said, crying.
“We will diagnose her and get back to you” The doctor said.
“No, I want to be with my grandma. She needs me, I want to be with her!” She said in a loud voice, crying.
“Lani, please let them do their jobs” Lonnie begged her.
“Lonnie, my grandma!” She cried, and he hugged her.
“Nothing is going to happen to your grandma, okay. She is going to be fine”
Lani continue crying, with her tears wetting his shirt.
Meanwhile, people were already taking pictures of Lonnie and uploading it online, and a lot of people were commenting and reposting it.
📱 Guess who I just saw in the hospital, it’s Lonnie Lee
📱 Lonnie is here in Hadong?
📱 What is he doing in the countryside, I thought he was suffering from a disease?
📱Lonnie? In Hadong? I need to see it with my own eyes
📱Daebak! he is more handsome now
📱It’s a good thing I am in Hadong, I am coming to that hospital right now.
Within ten minutes, the hospital premises was filled with lots of girls and all of them were holding Lonnie’s banner.
👥 I heard Lonnie is here, I want to see me!
👥 Lonnie, show your face to us
👥 Are you really sick?
👥 I missed you so much, Lonnie!!!
The rest of the girls inside the hospital gathered around Lonnie. Even those who claim to be sick or have a broken leg quickly healed all because Lonnie was inside the hospital.
There was chaos going on inside the hospital such that the security guards couldn’t hold them. Somehow the security guards were able to hide both Lonnie and Lani in a safe place inside the hospital.
👥 This is Lonnie’s first time in the countryside, give Lonnie to us!
👥 Who is that girl with me?
👥 I am going to ki|| her!!! Lonnie is mine!!!
The more the chaos was going on in the hospital, the more viral it was going. It became the trending news on the internet in just 30 minutes.
“Lani, are you alright?” He asked.
Lani didn’t say a word, all she cared about right now was the safety of her grandma. She won’t be able to bear it, if she loses her grandma.
The doctor entered the room, and his lab coat had so much stains on it.
“What happened to you?”
“Your fans did this to me. They are all insisting I bring you out from where I have hidden you. You’re indeed popular”
“I am sorry about that. How is she doing?” Lonnie asked
“I have run a test on her, and it’s confirmed that she has a tumor in her heart”
“Tumor?” Lani asked.
“Yes. I think she is aware of it, cuz when I did a test on her, she has been taking painki||ers to reduce the pains”
Lani broke into tears. “It’s all my fault, she hid her sickness from me, and yet I couldn’t notice it. She kept cooking for me despite being sick. I am a bad granddaughter”
“Don’t cry, you’re not a bad granddaughter. Is it still treatable?” Lonnie asked.
“Yes it is, but she needs to be taken to Seoul. They have the best experience and medical facilities there” The doctor answers.
“Finalize her transfer, I am going to pay for everything”
“It’s going to be expensive”
“Money is not my problem, just finalize her transfer and make sure she starts her treatment once she is taken to Seoul. Lani and I will follow suit”
“I will do that” The doctors leaves.
“Don’t worry Lani, your grandma is going to be fine. Let’s find a way to leave this hospital, and we will go to Seoul to meet her”
“Thank you so much” She sniffles.
Lonnie cleaned her dropping tears and hugged her.
*******
•SEOUL, THE UNBEATABLE MANSION•
“Camren! Camren!! Camren!!!” Sage shouts his name as she walked inside the gym. They had a gym area inside their mansion.
“What’s wrong, Sage?”
“Have you seen the trending news?”
“You already know I am not a phone addict. What’s trending?”
“It’s Lonnie. He is in Hadong”
Camren quickly dropped the weight lifter and took Sage’s phone from her.
“It’s trending all over the internet! He was spotted with a girl in the hospital, but the girl’s identity hasn’t been confirmed” Sage said. She wasn’t happy seeing Lonnie with Lani.
“Let’s go to Hadong” Camren said, and Sage nod her head in agreement.
******
•HADONG, LANI’S HOUSE•
“Don’t worry Lani, I will help you pack up your bag” Lonnie said when Lani was making an attempt to arrange her clothes inside her bag. They managed to escape from the hospital through the hospital’s ambulance.
“I can do it, Lonnie”
“I insist, you have stressed yourself today, I don’t want you to collapse”
“My grandma already told you about it?”
Lonnie nod and Lani started crying again.
“She has always done so much for me, but I haven’t done anything for her. I’m a worthless granddaughter”
“You’re not a worthless granddaughter, Lani. You may not know this, but your grandma is happy that you’re her granddaughter”
Lani sniffles. “I am sorry too. Thanks to what happened everyone knows you’re in Hadong”
“It’s not your fault, it’s bound to happen anyways. No secrets can be hidden forever. What matters is that your grandma is okay. She is already being transferred to Seoul national hospital, we will go see her once we get to Seoul”
“Thank you so much, for helping me”
“I wish I can do more, you’re my baby remember?”
Lani laughs lightly and tears falls down from her eyes. Lonnie smiled and hugged her.
***
“Lonnie, wait” Lani said when they were about leaving the house. They are set to go to Seoul.
“Did you forget something?”
“Yes I did”
“What did you forget?”
“My grandma’s toothbrush, she’d be needing it”
“Don’t worry Lani, I will get her a new one, once we arrive in Seoul”
“I will just make it snappy” She ran inside the house.
Lonnie was patiently waiting for her, when he heard footsteps coming towards him, and immediately he turned, a baton was forcefully landed on his head, and he loss consciousness
“I have gotten Lonnie”
“Bring him to me” Maryjane said and ended the call.
“Let’s go Lonnie I have….” Lani words hang in her mouth when she couldn’t see Lonnie inside the compound.
She gasped when she saw her bag and one of Lonnie’s sneakers on the ground.
“Lonnie!!!” Lani screamed his name, looking around for him.
******
•SEOUL, MARY-JANE’S MANSION•
Lonnie regained his consciousness after water was splashed on his. He gasped trying to finalize where he was.
“Long time no see, son” Mary-Jane said.
“Mom?” He struggled to stand up only to discovered he was tied up in a chair.
“What is the meaning of this!” He said trying to break free from the chains, but he couldn’t.
Mary-Jane smiled and walked up to him, with her long penciled heels, making tapping sounds.
“Do you know how long I have been searching for you?”
“I know why you’re looking for me, but I no longer have my voice. I can’t sing anymore, so let release me, I need to go!”
“Where exactly? To meet that good for nothing countryside girl”
“She has a name!”
“Does it look like I care? She is of no use to you, Lonnie. That girl doesn’t add any value to your life”
“She makes me happy!”
Mary-Jane chuckled. “Really? I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with that countryside girl, but you better get use to not seeing her face ever again”
“What do you mean?”
“I am going to seek to it that you never go back to Hadong. You’re going to go back to your life as a K-pop idol”
“I can’t sing anymore!”
“I don’t care Lonnie. You already know the pains I had to go through, just because I chose to give birth to you. You own me a lot, so if you don’t want to be lock up in here forever, you better try your possible best to sing again!”
“Why are you doing this to me? I’m your son!!” Lonnie shouted as balls of tears falls down from his eyes.
“I never said you weren’t my son. You’re my son, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pay me back for the sufferings I endured for five years. Get your thinking straight, Lonnie, you only exist because of me, so you should be grateful and pay me back for it”
Lonnie looked at his mom with painful tears, falling down from his eyes.
“Keep an eye on him, and don’t allow him to leave this room, until he sings” Mary-Jane commanded.
“Yes, Ma’am”
“Don’t do this to me! Let me out of here! Lani needs me! Mom, please!!!” Lonnie cried.
“Lani!!!” He calls out her name in tears, struggling to break free from the chains, and he started bleeding because of how he was struggling to break free from the chains.
……
TBC