Love Business

"Really? That's great!"

Pan and Yara look at each other. Aye Yi, who is sitting in front of them, letting out a proud smile. "Two of my mentee were chosen for a big project! How can I not proud for that!" he says.

"Most of the participants are from Senior Zee's group..." Yara arranges those words carefully, afraid that it might somehow offense Aye Yi.

"It's expected for a valedictorian group. If they haven't been chose, that means they're not doing well, right?" Aye Yi smiles.

The girls feel relief when they see a positive reaction from Aye Yi.

"So... Let's do some revise for the project. May I see the business plan?" asks Aye Yi. Both Pan and Yara hand out their business plan to him. He studies them one by one.

"Your plan looks interesting..." Aye Yi looks at Pan and smile.

"Really?" she asks in disbelief. The senior pulls his seat close to Pan and they begin to discuss the plan together.

And totally forgot about Yara.

The girl slowly pulls her plan towards her and begins studies it herself. There is a frustrating feeling inside but she brushes them away so she won't get caught in bad feelings. She knew Aye Yi's original intention was to get close to Pan.

And she must help him to achieve that.

***

Yara refuses to go back to her room after the mentorship. She's too upset to even look at Pan straight. The bias treatment is getting more and more obvious between her and Yara, thanks to that stupid mentor of theirs.

Yara stares at her SME proposal, sighing as she slowly strolls along the road where she can enjoy the sunset that evening. Her mind wanders, thinking about good times that she had before all of these ruckus happened to her.

"If mom is still alive, I might be at Milan by now..." Yara murmurs alone. Her heart churns, remembering her mother's love that always flourish inside her. She holds the proposal tight, closing her eyes as she prays for her soul that might be in Heaven by now.

"Feeling mellow?"

A voice behind her makes Yara jumps a bit. When she turns around, Aye Yi is standing too close to her, towering her small frame, almost invisible to others. Yara steps back, taking a space between them so things won't go awkward.

"I am not!" Yara replies, as usual, she pretends to be feisty. Aye Yi mockingly smirks at her, and out of a sudden, grabbing Yara's hand and drags her somewhere.

"Where are we going?! I wanna go home!"

"Let's play basketball..."

"Are you crazy?! I don't play sports!" Yara shrieks as she tries to escape. But, hearing Yara's chiming voice, Aye Yi halts and that's when they collide to each other.

Luckily, they stand firm on the ground.

Yara brushes her uniform in gush, hiding her nervousness behind her curtain bangs.

"I know I am attractive, but don't hurt yourself just because you wanna get close to me–"

"In your dreams, sucker! Stop being delulu!"

Aye Yi lowers his torso, looking at cutie Yara with his teasing eyes.

"I only state facts. Because I can still remember, someone was getting wild before... Couldn't get enough of me..."

"I was drunk. That didn't count," Yara replies in short.

"Ah... I wished you're drunk now. You look cute and pretty when you are..."

"Can we stop talking about that? Because I don't think you wanna recall it when you're about to court my bestie," Yara softly reminds Aye Yi. The man sighs as he swings his body away from Yara.

"Fine. But, you can't stop me for trying to be friendly to you," says Aye Yi. Yara snickers as her face goes bleak and done.

"Senior, if you wanna play pull and push, I think you should reconsider your decision to court Pan. I don't like to see my friend dates a player like you," Yara warns Aye Yi, making the boy shakes his head in tiny.

"Who says I wanna date Pandora?"

"You asked me to help you getting close to her!"

"Getting close, but not dating her..."

"You know what, I had enough of this bullshit–"

"Okay, let's go play basketball..."

Aye Yi grabs Yara's hand again and drags her to the basketball court. His sudden action somehow is so subtle and brings calmness to Yara, that she refuses to fight back.

She's trap by her own confusing feeling.

***

"Oho, look who's here..."

Aye Yi's face turned sour as soon as his eyes land on Top. His friend is already in sleeveless basketball jersey, waiting for him for hours. The man's eyes sparkle when he spots Yara, who slouchy follows Aye Yi from behind.

"Ah, no wonder why you're late..."

"She's my mentee, Top. Hands off, eyes close..." Aye Yi cups his hand right in front of Top's face, making him chuckles in disbelief.

"Come on, pal... You know I won't dare..."

"Better be," replies Aye Yi. He casually takes off his shirt and changes into his jersey in front of Yara. The girl turns around, hiding her sight from the unpleasant scene.

"That's too domestic, Aye! You shameless ngor!"

Aye Yi smirks, as he hands his white shirt to Yara.

"Stop being so naive..." he whispers at Yara. "You've seen everything before. You even touched them..."

Yara pushes the man away from her before she grabs the shirt and tosses it away, on the bench next to them. Aye Yu chuckles as he walks away, leaving Yara standing alone with face red like a cherry.

"My man is interesting, isn't he?" asks Top. Yara frowns as she sighs, looking at light-feet Aye Yi who runs and jumps around in court.

"He's a pain in the ass! I thought I will stop meeting with jerks after Senior Kim and Senior Seth. But looks like the list continues..." Yara vents out her anger at Top. The man shakes his head as he chuckles.

"Has he ever curses you, or scolds you?" Top's inquiry makes Yara halts a bit and think.

Yes, Aye Yi is such a pain in the ass. But in what way? Just because he's being bias, and he's now a bad guy? Or, is it the part when Yara feels used by him? That's consider as a bad act? Really?

Yara's mind goes wild while thinkiny about it

"His bad experience mould him to be who he is now; stern and insensitive. Living as a poor boy from the south, depends on the scholarship, had to work part time at the bar during his freshman year, I think he's being harsh because of that," says Top.

"But, if you dig deeper, you'll find out his true color. He has a strong will to survive and provide his family with a good future. That's why, he always eager to win. Because his love for his family is more than just a feeling. They are his world," Top's voice sounds helplessly adore his friend. All of these indeed are the truth about Aye Yi. He has no reason to lie to Yara.

The girl stares at Aye Yi, taking some time to digest the information. Judging by the background story, compared to Zee, Aye Yi has a harsh upbringing. No wonder why he was mad when Zee managed to snatch the scholarship and upgraded before him. His competitive side doesn't allow him to lose.

A ball rolling at Yara's feet, making her conscious back into herself. She picks the ball and hold it as Aye Yi, with his little hop marches towards her.

"Here..." Yara shoves the ball upfront.

"Toss it to me," says Aye Yi.

Yara frowns. She pouts as she awkwardly throws the ball. Aye Yi has some difficulty taking the throw, making him almost lose his balance.

And that's when they collide together. This time, it's off limits.

Aye Yi manages to grab Yara's waist and pulls her closer before she slams into the concrete ground. While Yara winches a bit, crouching her back as her head is latches on Aye Yi's chest. Her hands tangle mid air along with her right leg.

Lucky for them, Aye Yi's core strength is not a joke. He manages to pull them up so they won't fall. But the sight is slightly intimate between them.

"Weeehoooo, what a scene!" Top cheers from his spot, teasing both of them with his laugh. The whole court suddenly pays attention to them as Aye Yi slowly let Yara go. The girl, with her flustered face, looking around while frowning. Aye Yi just shakes his head faintly.

"You're bad at throwing ball!" he says.

"I've told you, I'm bad in sports!" Yara protests.

"If it's Pan, she won't pass the ball badly," Aye Yi's non-chalant words lacerates deep into Yara's heart.

"Then, you should ask her to come instead of me..." Yara turns away, snatches her bag from the ground and walk away from the court, fuming inside.

Top sighs, walking towards Aye Yi and pats his shoulder lightly. "What did you do?" he asks Aye Yi.

"Did I say something wrong?" Aye Yi bluntly asks. Top lets out a frustrating voice as he nods at him.

"You compared her with Pan. Dude, look at her! How can you compare that little softie with someone gruesome like Pan? It's not fair, right?" Top lighten up the issue.

Aye Yi slowly looks at Yara, who already far away from the court. Top nudges his elbow, forcing him to finally take a step and pursues Yara from behind.

***

"Yara! Yara!" Aye Yi grabs her hand from behind and halts her from leaving. The girl pulls her back away from Aye Yi.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it-"

"I know, I'm just a small girl. Compared to Pandora, I am nothing. Talentless, unattractive, not even wise!"

"I didn't meant it! It's just came out, like that!"

Yara gives Aye Yi a dead stare. She pushes him away, refuse to talk anymore. But, Aye Yi manages to stop her once again.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again," says Aye Yi.

Yara's eyes get dimmer. She sighs as she holds her anger and tries to cool down.

"Fine. One more time, and that's the end between us!"

"Promise!" Aye Yi grins. "I mean, I should treat you right, because only you can help me getting closer to Pan..."

Hearing that makes Yara chokes inside. The reality starts to hit her by those. She's just a bridge to bring Aye Yi closer to Pan.

You forget your place again, Yara. Why should you care about his treatment anyway, right?

"Fine. You better mark your words," says Yara, unable to fight Aye Yi anymore.

"Cool! So, that won't be a problem for you if you set us on a date tomorrow, right?" Aye Yi grins at Yara. The girl frowns as she remembers, they were supposed to go out together; the three of them, for some material research.

"What's your plan?" Yara still cares to ask, even though she's half hearted already.

"Skip the meeting. Leave us alone," says Aye Yi.

"Fine. I'll skip the meeting. But, I have to be with her until we reach at the mall. I won't ditch you guys just like that. It's unnatural," Yara agrees.

"Thanks Yara! You're the best!"

Aye Yi jumps at Yara for a big, huge hug. He lifts the girl with a merry mood, spinning her lightly. Inside, Yara feels devastated.

Why does it feel so hurt?