Love Business

"So, freshie... Are you ready?"

Pan's eyes waver. Her sights suddenly get blurred. Kim smirks at her, slowly leaning towards her when Han immediately stands up from his seat and accidentally spills the drink on Kim's t-shirt.

"Ai Han!!!"

"Ops. Sorry, Senior!" he quickly apologizes to the man. Kim tries to calm himself. Han takes out his handkerchief and with a dare in his guts, he dabs Kim's attire.

"What are you-?"

"Senior, I don't think this will do. Come, follow me..." Han drags Kim away from the table even before he can speak up.

Pan sighs heavily. She can feel her heart is beating so fast. The whole body almost lost a soul.

"That was close, right?" asks Ta. While talking to Pan, his eyes focus on Zee. The man has been sitting on the couch restlessly since they withdrew the card during The King Game.

"Yeah. Thank God..." Pan replies, awkwardly laughing between words. She takes another shot of drinks.

"Han has a good sense of intuition... I praise him for that," Bear says. Ta laughs a bit, eyes static on Zee. Now, the couple is checking on his reaction to the incident.

"I wonder how it would go if that kiss happened..." says Ta.

"It's all your fault, Bear!" Seth points his finger at Bear.

"It's just a game anyway! I mean, if you're clever, you'll gain a triumph," the man replies to Seth.

"What if the spot was you, or Ta?" Seth glares at Bear.

"I'll let him do it. I know Ta won't feel anything. And I dare kiss Pan. I know I have no bad intention, or catching feelings for her," Bear grabs Ta's hand. He gazes at Seth, looking confident with his statement.

"You guys were talking as if I'm not here..."

The four gentlemen are now looking at Pan. Her voice changed, from normal to deep. Her gaze, too! She glares at them with her sharp eyes.

Zee knows what happened to Pan.

She is drunk and embarrassed right now.

"Sorry..." Bear quickly apologizes to Pan when the man sees Zee's reaction changed.

"Zee!!!!"

A girl jumps on his back. She comes out of nowhere.

"Thia, I told you don't come up to me like that..."

"You ignore me, that is why!" Thia hangs her head on Zee's shoulder. Pan can't help but skim them from her seat. Her heart churns a bit.

"You're busy, I think..."

"I'm always making time for you..." Thia hugs Zee. "Come! Let's dance!" she pulls Zee's hand. The man refuses at first but gives up after being persuaded by his friends.

Pan frowns while taking the last drop of her drink. Her mind is fuzzy, thinking about why she has to feel devastated when she sees Zee with another girl. Then, she snickers alone.

Maybe I'm drunk! Wait til I'm sober... Pan persuades herself.

"Pan... I wanna throw up..." Yara whines. Pan quickly helps her get up and usher the little girl to the bathroom.

***

Pan walks back and forth in front of the ladies' room. She waits for Yara to settle herself. In the end, she exhausts herself. So she decided to lean her back against the wall.

The image of Zee dancing with Thia suddenly haunts Pan. She sighs as she tries to coax herself to stop thinking about it.

We are history. It's normal if he moves on easily...

However, Pan feels overwhelmed when she remembers Zee's treatment of Shu. His kindness melts the child's heart. Maybe her, too! When she thinks about it, her heart bleeds.

Move on, Pan! Move on!

She slaps her cheek softly.

"Hey... Are you alone?"

Pan looks at the man who greets her. He looks kinda normal, but the reek smells of alcohol tell her the contrast.

"I'm waiting for my friend..."

"Hey, you're kinda cute... Can I-"

"Sorry, I'm not interested," Pan quickly rejects the man. Little that she know, the man slammed the wall behind her. He's getting a bit pissed off.

"Well, that's too fast, don't you think?" the man gives her a deep gaze.

"I'll decide fast when I feel I should act like one," Pan replies to him.

"You love playing hard to get, huh?" the man starts grabbing her wrist. Pan fights him back, but the alcohol in her system begins to react with her blood, causing her to have the first snap of drunkness.

"Let me go!" Pan struggles to fight. Aside from her being drunk, the man is quite huge himself. The chance to fight him is slim.

"You wanna play hard, huh? Let Daddy teach you how!" the man yanks her hand, dragging her to somewhere secluded from the crowd. Once they got there, he slams Pan onto the wall. His filthy lips try to kiss Pan. But she resists with her might.

"Let me go!!" Pan hits the man in his face. The man stumbles back, away from her. She doesn't wait any longer and quickly dashes away from there. The man is chasing her from behind.

"Come back, you bitch!" the man yells at Pan. She ignores him and tries her best to escape. Pan curses herself for being drunk at this very moment.

Looks like I overestimate myself!

With fuzzy sights and wobbling legs, Pan fights her way to escape. She runs along the aisle and finally sees the light. As she is about to reach the open space, the man drags Pan's hand. She stumbles back and falls into his rough embrace.

"Let me go!"

"Shut the fuck up!" the man smacks her face. Pan falls to the ground, grunting in pain. Inside, she feels this is the end of her life. She closes her eyes and prays for her safety.

When she opens her eyes, the man is already on the floor, grunting in pain. There is a man on top of him, launching numerous punches. All Pan can hear is continuous grunts coming from the bad guy.

"Come. Let's go," the man drags her hand and helps her stand up. "And you... Don't you ever dare show up in front of me!" the man drops a harsh warning.

Pan feels her body has been dragged out of the club. She slowly feels dizzy and her guts churn.

"I feel sick!" says Pan.

"Come," the man drags her far from the crowd where she can spill out her guts. Pan throws out every drop of drink that she gobbled just now.

"Here..."

Pan takes the water bottle from the man. She washes her mouth.

"Thanks... I feel better now," she says. Slowly, her sight recovers and by now, she can see the face that saves her.

It's Cray.

***

"Sorry for causing trouble," says Pan.

"It's okay. I was just about to leave the party anyway," Cray replies. "Plus, I feel more than happy to send you home. At least I gotta know where you live," Cray stares at Pan with a lovely sight.

"It's quite a distance. That's why I chose to live on campus," Pan tries to avoid his eye contact. She feels the hangover is about to start.

"Don't tell me you ride your motorbike from here to class," Cray frowns.

"Only on weekends. Two times per month. It's not every day..."

"Still, it's quite far, Pan..."

"Just keep your concern. I'm fine..."

"Why can't I feel concerned about you?" the man starts to ask Pan a killer question. Pan sighs. She slowly turns her head and looks at Cray.

"You have a lot on the plate. I mean, instead of wasting time on me, you should focus on your life. We're only friends," Pan replies.

"So, friends can't be concerned about each other?" Cray asks Pan again. She takes time to digest the inquiry before finally she answers him back.

"Yes. We can. But, I just know you. We only talked several times, chatting casually. So, I'm not that important compared to your other friends," Pan replies to Cray.

The man suddenly scoots over, leaning his body, facing Pan.

"Should we talk more?" Crays asks Pan. She gives him a big huge laugh.

"Au, did I say something crazy?" he asks her while trying to stop her from laughing.

"No. Your expression is hilarious!" Pan laughs again. Slowly, Cray draws a smile on his face.  He lets her laugh her ass out. Seeing Pan's laugh warms his heart.

"Feeling better?" Cray asks. Pan nods. The laugh slowly changes to a sweet smile. Cray keeps staring at her. He never leaves his sight away, making Pan feels awkward.

"I'm leaving. Thanks..."

"Wait..." Cray stops Pan. She halts, with her left leg hanging out from Cray's car. The man seems to have something in his mind. His lips tremble, as if he wants to tell her something.

But later, he smiles as he lets go his hand from Pan.

"Sweet dream, Pan..." says Cray. The girl nods politely steps out of the car and closes the door. Pan watches as the car swiftly leaves her in the night.

"So, you two are a thing now?"

Pan turns around. Someone comes out from the hiding.

"Senior Zee..."

"It's Zee. My friends aren't here, you can let loose a bit," Zee comes out from the dark, straight away walking towards Pan. She can smells a stench of liquor coming from Zee. Not the one that they drank just now at the party.

"You're drunk..."

"Put that aside. Does Cray know what we are?" Zee bluntly asks.

"We were, Zee. That thing happened years ago..." Pan shuts herself when Zee puts his finger onto her lips. Her eyes go wide, looking at Zee with a surprise look.

"The last time I checked, nothing is change between us. You just walked away... Just like that..." Zee's face is getting closer and closer. "I guess... I still have my rights..."

"Zee... You're drunk..."

"Are you sober then?" asks Zee. Pan blinks, looking at Zee with her slowly blurry eyes. The alcohol hits her nerves by now. She is on edge by now.

But, Zee's scent that abuses her nose causing a stir of emotion within her heart that still in confuse. Slowly, Pan can feel that her gap between the man is getting closer and closer..

And everything goes blank from there.