13
"Mama..."
"Hm?" she looks at Shu while drying the little's hair.
"Where did you meet Uncle Zee?"
Pan halts. She blinks her eyes, staring at her daughter.
"Why?"
"I like him. I have a good feeling about him," Pan feels bummer. These are the scariest words among those babble tatters that Shu ever said to her.
"Oi, you have a crush on him?" Pan tries to make a joke. Shu pinches her cheek.
"Don't change the subject, please! It's not for me but for you!" Shu pouts her lips.
"Shu, I've told you many times..."
"I know you don't want to. But..."
Shu looks down. She bites her lips a bit.
"Shu, are you gonna say that you need a father?"
"I-"
Pan stares at Shu. Her gloomy eyes make Shu torn apart.
"I'm not a good parent for you, right?"
"No... It's just that..."
Pan waits patiently.
"Mama, I have a good feeling about Uncle Zee. I mean, I can look upon him. He's a good man," says Shu. Pan keeps quiet. She lost her mind when Shu told her that.
"Shu, you just met him once. You cannot evaluate people in that short period..."
"And here I am telling you that he is a good person. I like him. I trust my judgment," the girl stubbornly upstands her opinion.
Pan sighs. Shu's stubbornness complements her too-hip parental style, and she's the person that Pan fears the most right now. Who's to blame? Of course, Pan needs to look at herself in the mirror! It's on her, for sure!
"You gonna meet him again?" asks Shu.
"Nah. He's a senior and he will graduate soon. I don't think I'll meet him again," Pan replies fast. Yeah, the answers seem realistic.
Shu clamps her palms together and shuts her eyes tight.
"Bunny, what are you doing?"
"Praying," she subtly replies to her mother.
"May I know what are you praying for?" Pan smiles at Shu.
"This and that. Nothing much," Shu pulls her blanket and tuck herself to bed. Pan watches her with a smile on her face.
"Good night, bunny..." she gives her daughter a good night kiss.
"Mama..."
"Yes?"
"I just want you to be happy..." Shu softly tells her before shuts her eyes and drifts into a dreamland.
***
It's a bit hot tonight, so Pan decided to do some laundry. Even though it's not good to dry up clothes under a roof at this hour, she still does it anyway. She will have a rushing morning tomorrow, so this will buy her some time.
While watching the clothes tumbling inside the washing machine, her mind drifts and wanders around. Shu's words and what happened today at the sports day appear too good to be true. After some years, she meets a face that she unexpectedly sees is something beyond her plan.
And now Shu is slowly taking a liking to Zee.
This is a nightmare for her. She sighs as she watches the clothes tumble up and down, just like her feelings now.
As long as I can keep Zee away from Shu, the secret stays with me!
She calms herself down.
***
"Morning..." Bear greets Zee who is yawning while entering the classroom. He nods and slams his bag on the table.
"Where is Ta?"
"He needs to meet the dean for the mentoring program," Bear replies. He takes out a note from his bag and starts scribbling something.
"Bear..."
"Hm?"
"Why is everyone staring at me? Is it me or my imagination?" Zee looks around. His classmates took a bit too much interest in him this morning.
"Oh... Did you check the university's Twitter forum?" Bear smirks. Zee quickly grabs his phone. He's so busy that he forgot to check his social media. To be honest, he's not the type of person who is into this kind of social thing.
He scrolls down when he stumbles something that makes his heart sink.
#teamZeePan
#teamCrayPan
"Ai shia, what is this??!" he almost yells out. Bear giggles in tiny.
"Congratulations, now you're officially a target of shippers..." Bear pats his shoulder.
Zee checks on the picture that is uploaded to the page. A picture of him and Pan facing each other. Pan was standing a bit higher than him. He was standing on the stage.
Like Romeo and Juliet.
#teamZeePan
This is too absurd to digest!
He scrolls the page again. This time, it's a picture of Pan, holding the bunny's head costume with a man standing in front of him with a wide-ass grin.
When you fall in love with a cute bunny!
#teamCrayPan
His guts churn while looking at the picture.
It's the day when she was assigned as a bunny mascot for the BBA cafe.
***
In the hot ass weather, she fought with herself to give her best to reach the expectation of the seniors.
Zee was fully aware of that.
"Don't tell me she's running solo!"
"Yeah, she's dancing in that for the past 2 hours now..."
His heart sank. Immediately remember what she told him the day before.
Responsibility.
"I'll be back..." says Zee.
"Where to?" asks his friend.
"Roaming around..." he then left the booth. Looking around the venue. When he stumbled upon the Home Econ booth, he saw something.
Pink milk.
Pan's ultimate favorite drink.
So, he decided to buy the drink. Pan must be tired and hot in that costume. This will boost her energy. Zee smiled, thinking about the old memory that he had with Pan.
The pink milk was the element of their first meeting.
***
A few years before...
It was scorching hot at the field. That evening, his soccer team had a final game with the neighboring school for the district level. It was so hot, that even he, who used to stand under the sun felt the heat was killing him.
He whined at his teammates on how the weather might kill them in no time. That's when he saw the boy was holding a glass of pink milk. He asked him where to find the drink, and he said there was a booth that sold the drink on the other side of the field.
In the hot weather, he dragged his feet towards the booth. On his way, he stumbled upon a girl with full bags of groceries, towards the booth as well. All the goods fell from her bag, so she squatted down to pick the goods. Zee helped her as well because it was his fault that he collided with her just now.
"Your shoes lace..." the girl pointed out his shoes. He was about to tie it when the girl quickly grabbed the lace and tied it. Zee felt a cold wind swipe away his tiredness in the hot sun. When the girl lifted her face, his heart stopped beating.
That's when he knew, he fell in love with the girl.
Ever since then, he stalked the girl whenever she goes. He knew her family, her house even her cat, too! However, as years passed by, everything changed about the girl and him too!
He never thought he could see her again, and have a solid relationship with her while going through some shitty life at the same time.
***
Now, after so many years, they met again.
Zee drew a smile again. Maybe the pink milk could bring up memories once again. He walked towards the BBA cafe booth, looking for Pan in the bunny suit.
And what he saw broke his heart into pieces.
The man whom people claimed was The Charming Prince of that institute was one step ahead of him. Seemed like his pink milk looked even better than his.
That's when he realized.
Pan is no longer belong to him.
***
"Are you sure you can attend the class?" Pan asks Yara over the phone. She is on her way to class.
"I'm okay. Besides, having a dean's son as a friend is a huge privilege!" Yara squeaks.
"What do you mean??"
"I'm in the dean's car with Han! It's a BMW... And he even has a driver!" Pan scoffs and laughs in tiny. Yara is an innocent soul, even the smallest thing amazes her.
"Okay... Enjoy yourself. I gotta go now..."
Pan cuts the call and starts her bike. She manages to stop by her dorm before the class starts. Now, she's on her way to the BBA building.
While taking a turn, her bike suddenly dies. She frowns as she slowly pulls over and gets down from the bike.
"Ai satt! What's wrong with you, man?" she murmurs to herself. Looks like there's a problem with the wiring of that old ass bike.
"What's wrong, freshie?"
She looks up and sees a man in a white shirt and black jeans smiling at her.
"Oh, Cray..." she stands up slowly. "My bike broke down," Pan replies to him.
Cray gets closer and checks the bike.
"Did you check the oil tank?"
"It's full. I did refill the gas,"
"How about the plug? Did you change it?" he squats down and takes a look at the engine.
"Regularly. I think there's something wrong with the wiring. It happened before..." Cray stands up and gazes at Pan, smiling.
"You do know your ride well..."
"I think we should be aware of our ride, especially the one that we use daily, "
"Some chicks only know how to drive. They never care about what's inside the car," says Cray. He hands her some tissues so she can wipe her dirty hands.
"Not all women are the same, senior. Besides, nowadays there are a lot of women who are aware of this safety thing," Pan replies to him.
"Like you?"
"Not only me. There's some out there. Believe me..."
Cray snickers and laughs a bit.
"So, wanna lift?"
"Nah. Thanks, but my faculty is just down there..." Pan points her finger at the BBA building.
"It's quite far from here. Besides, the weather is hot today. You might get a heat stroke," says Cray.
"Walking a mile can't give me a heat stroke..." Pan chuckles.
"Ah... You and your sarcastic..." Cray looks up to the sky and lets out a big laugh.
"You have a problem with that?" Pan asks him with her eyes glaring at him.
"Nope!" Cray gazes at Pan. He leans closer, staring at her shocking but calm face. "I find it cute," his eyes convey a sneaky glare.
Pan blinks a few times. She frowns as she pokes Cray's shoulder and pushes him away from her. Just a bit.
"Thanks for the compliment, sir," she replies with a smile on her face.
"So... Can I accompany you to class?" asks Cray. Pan looks hesitant about the situation. After some measurements of thinking, she finally makes a decision.
"Fine. However...."
"However?"
Pan stares at Cray, purposely letting him wait in anxious feeling. When the man almost jumps up and down, she snickers and laughs.
"However, you can only send me until at the front of the building. No need to send me straight to my class," says Pan.
"Why?" Cray asks her again.
"I hate it," Pan replies to him in short. She grabs her bag and strides to his car.
Cray watches her from afar and smiles. She is indeed different from the other girl that he knew. She's straightforward and independent and her sarcasm is a whole new level for him.
He can't wait to know her more.