"Mom, I'm not sure if I still like him in the same way I did before, okay? May I remind you that it was like 10 years ago?"

"I know, but at some point, you're still fond of him, right?"

Pie stared at her mom for a long while and breathed out uncertainty. She knows her mom is right. There's this part in her, no matter how little, that is still attracted to Mike. And she doesn't know if it will continue to shrink or — who knows — grow eventually.

"Just try going out with him for like a month and see if anything would spark between you two. If it doesn't then you tell him. I believe it's enough time for him to rethink his feelings too, right?"

"Mom —"

"A month won't hurt you, Pie. The least I could hope is for you to become good friends if this really won't work out. If after a month you'd realize that he's not the right guy, then fine, I'd stop bugging you."

Pie knows that there's no way she could win this argument. "You promise?"

"Yes, just for a month. I just don't want you letting this chance pass by."

---

Pie is staring blankly at the ceiling, reflecting on what she and her mom talked about earlier. Her mom snooped on what happened after Mike dropped her home. Pie told her everything, making her mom squeal with glee.

Just for a month? Urgh! Why am I not feeling right about it?

She is supposed to be happy too because this is what she wanted before — to get his attention. And the fact that her mom has two thumbs up for him should be good news. But instead of being joyful with the turn of events, she's in a dilemma instead. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that she's morally better off with Mike, she can't set aside the fact that she's still feeling something for Kim too.

The problem is she's not sure how serious her feelings are for Kim. It's too underrated to call it a crush but is it that serious to call it love? How would she know if it really is love? And what would she do if it really is love? She can already imagine her mom objecting to it.

Pie turned to her side and curled up against her body, hugging herself in anxiety. Sleep won't come to her yet. She was hoping that Kim would call her just to confirm if she's arrived or what. She feels so lost right now that all she wanted is to ear Kim's voice.

She glanced at her phone to check the time:

12:07 am

She buried her face in the pillow and sighed.

Please let me see you tomorrow, Kim. Please.

---

Bangkok International Airport

"Good evening. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 89B to Chiang Mai. We are now inviting those passengers..."

Kim let out a sigh of relieved after finally setting foot on the ground.

Phew! Home sweet home!

If she had known how much of an encumbrance that storm would be, she would not have gone to Indonesia in the first place. It was torture missing Pie for a week, and what's making it worse is she can't even make a call because the electricity was cut for days due to the wide damage the storm caused.

But her agony is over. She's finally home. Her enthusiastic is building up on the thought that Pie has been missing her too. She couldn't believe it herself at first, but after their trip from Pattaya, everything seemed to have changed between them. They grew in closer, in a more special way than friends could be. She knows it's too early to assume anything but she can't help raising her hopes up.

That's the reason she wanted to have that talk with Pie, to clear things out. Although she's not hoping for that talk to happen right away, she has no plans on prolonging it either. She just needs more signs from Pie before she pushes that talk to happen, and that's when she'll finally confess to her.

Having plans to call Pie, Kim checked the time on her phone:

12:07 am

Oh, I guess she's already sleeping.

She puffed her cheeks and blew air out. She pulled her bag straps over her shoulders as she walked towards the exit. There's an excitement that's quickly building up inside her on the thought that it'll be just a few hours from now before she goes to work.

I can't wait to see you, Pie.

---

Monday – 7:11 am

What the —

Pie purposely went to the office early that day with the objective of putting her chocolate present before Kim arrives — or before anyone arrives and sees her. It never occurred to her that she'd be competing with a pile of wrapped gifts, cards, letters, and some tiny stuffed toys.

She bit her lip and stared at the chocolate on her hands.

Tsk. Will she even like this? It's so simple.

"Hey, good morning," said a voice who's entering the room.

Pie's stomach flipped and her heart began to race. She knows that voice well enough to make her panic. She turned around and immediately hid the chocolate behind her back.

"K-Kim?"

And then there she is, the person Pie has been longing to see since last week, standing in front of her, having that smirk on her face with one hand holding tight to the strap of her bag.

"Hey, 'sup? What are you doing here this early?" said Kim.

"I, uh, I just put my reports on Van's table," Pie lied.

Kim glanced at her wristwatch. "At this hour? It's only seven quarter, Pie. Can't that wait until 8 am?"

"Ummm..."

"By any chance, were you checking if I'm already in?"

Pie rolled her eyes in defense. "Why would I?"

Kim made a quote signs with her fingers and mimicked Pie's way of talking, "You have no idea how badly I'm missing you now, Kim..."

That immediately brought Pie to embarrassment. She covered her blushing face with a hand and grunted, "Urgh, I hate you, Kim, I hate you..."

Kim laughed. "I missed you too, big time."

"Not funny..." Pie glared, still blushing.

"Hey, why is the baby still grumpy?" asked Kim, walking over to her. She patted Pie on the head. "You're so cute, are you even aware of that?"

Pie pursed in attempt to repress a smile that badly wants to break free. Seeing Kim now in front of her makes her want to throw herself for a hug. "You haven't called me."

"Ah, yeah. My phone was dead. Lights were out for days because of the storm."

"You should have at least called me when you arrived yesterday."

"Were you... waiting for my call?"

Pie gave a slight nod for an answer. "I was up until 1 am."

Suddenly all her stress from the travel and lack of sleep just vanished in a snap. Kim's heart melted at the sight in front of her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I arrived here past midnight. I thought you were already sleeping," said Kim.

"Hmp..."

"Hey, don't be mad at me..." Kim leaned over, searching for Pie's eyes. Instead of answering, the latter stretched out her arms and showed a wrapped item in her hand. "What's this?" asked Kim, pointing at it.

"For you."

Kim took it hesitantly and stared at it. She didn't really expect to receive something like this now, especially from Pie.

"If you don't like it, feel free to throw it somewhere else. I'm going back to my station now," said Pie, starting to walk away.

"W-w-w-w-wait," said Kim, grabbing Pie by the arm, "who said I don't like it?"

"Then why aren't you saying anything?" Pie tried to yank off her arm, too shy to even look at Kim.

"I'm just surprised, Pie, c'mon..." Kim linked their hands together and squeezed it. "Don't go yet, honey..."

Knowing that Kim won't see her face, Pie smiled at the endearment. It's thrice sweeter hearing it in person. She finally stopped yanking and turned to Kim, their hands still linked.

Kim is observing the chocolate with a big smile on her face. "Did you make this? Is this the reason you came here early today, to surprise me?"

Pie nodded. "But I don't think you'd like it. I guess you don't need that chocolate when you have those," she said, pointing at Kim's table where the latter shifted her eyes at.

"Are you kidding me?" Kim chuckled. She walked over to her station and dragged Pie along with her. "There's no way these can beat this," she said, raising the chocolate. "This is the best Valentine's gift I received this year!"

"Hmp, you're just saying that just to make me feel good."

"Hey, I'm not kidding, okay? I love it, I promise. And thanks for this. It means a lot to me." Kim put her bag down on the table and tried ping it with her free hand.

"It means a lot to me too. What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to put your chocolates in my bag so I could bring it home."

"You can let go of my hand so you can open it faster, you know."

"No, I don't want to." Kim squeezed Pie's hand harder. "What if you ran away?"

Pie smiled secretly. "Ran away? Where would I go?"

"I don't know, maybe ran away with someone?"

Pie suddenly felt something stuck in . She knows it was just a joke but she can't help feeling a slight guilt.

"Done!" Kim exclaimed after successfully putting the chocolate inside her bag with one hand only. "By the way, have you had your breakfast yet?"

Pie shook her head. "Want to grab a bite first?"

"Definitely. C'mon now."

"Wait. Let me see your neck first..."

"Huh?"

"Show me your neck," Pie reiterated. Kim, although hesitant, followed by ing her collar buttons. Pie looked in closely and finally saw what she's looking for. "Okay, I thought you're not going to wear it."

"Ah, this?" Kim pulled out the butterfly pendant. "You said you want us to wear it, right?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm checking, to make sure you obeyed."

"Of course. How about yours?"

"You're not looking hard enough," said Pie, pointing at her exposed necklace. "Make sure your fan girls won't see that, okay? I don't want to receive death threats anytime soon."

Kim smiled. "Yes, boss. Yes."

---

"KIM!"

Pie flinched in surprise when Puey stood up from his chair and screamed. She turned around and saw Kim looking surprised as well. She looked like she came from a quick trip from the pantry.

Kim halted and put down her tumbler on top of Jane's terminal. "Hey, Puey, how's it?"

Puey went over to hug her. "Kim! Where have you been? I haven't seen you for a week!"

"Yeah, I know. I was trapped in Indonesia last week. I missed you guys."

"Kiiiim..." This time it was May who came over and hugged Kim too. "I kept on asking Dang why you were missing," she said, pouting, which shifted to a smile after a second. "Did you get my present on your table?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks, May," said Kim, patting May's head. She turned to Jane this time. "And you? No hugs for me?"

"I'm sorry, Kim, you had your chance before. I'm already dating your best friend, so no..." Jane said sassily. She laughed eventually and stood up. "Of course, I missed you. Come here and give your mommy a big hug."

"Mmmmmm..." Kim gave Jane a tight squeeze. She pulled away and said, "Wow, it's just now that I realized how much I missed you all."

"Aren't you going to hug Pie too?" asked Jane.

Their eyes met for a second but Pie turned her chair around, obviously feeling embarrassed with the question.

Knowing that it would stir some attention in the office and will raise some eyebrows from the fangirls, Kim knows Pie isn't planning on bragging about how special their friendship is.

It might be easy for others to tell that they are close but no one has any idea how deep it is now. And to be honest, Kim's in the same boat too. She hasn't told Zee or Yam about what's happening between her and Pie lately, afraid that some jinx would ruin the rhythm.

"We already said hi to each other when I arrived here earlier," Kim answered instead. "We even had breakfast together, right, Pie?"

Pie hummed to agree. "Kim went in a little later after I arrived."

"Hmmm... are you sure you guys didn't plan on having a breakfast together ahead?" Jane asked them; probably still pulling out the string she had pulled before about noticing the closeness of the two.

"No," Kim and Pie said in unison. "We just came in both early," Kim continued, which Pie had agreed on right away.

"Okay, if you say so," said Jane. "Oh! Kim, have you seen Mr. Lee yet?"

"Mr. Lee?" asked Kim, pretending not to know. May showed the 'male' turtle to her and she hugged it right away. "Aww, this one is so cute!"

"Last week, someone sent that to Pie on Valentine's Day. Isn't that sweet?" said Jane, giggling.

"Ah, yeah? A secret admirer?" Kim glanced quickly at Pie who's already smiling at the acting.

"And speaking of that, have you already found out the persona of the sender, Pie?" asked Puey. "I really want to see the guy."

"Y-yeah," said Pie hesitantly. "I received a call that afternoon. It turned out that it was a special friend of mine."

A smile slipped across Kim's face.

"Special friend?" Puey got excited. "You haven't mentioned him to us, hmmm."

"It's because there's nothing to tell yet," Pie answered.

"When will we meet him then?" asked Jane.

"Huh? Why would you want to meet him?"

"We want to know the face behind this turtle," said Puey, picking the turtle from Kim. "Don't you think I can see from my station how much you're giving this toy a special treatment?"

Kim got curious. "Special treatment, like what?"

Pie facepalmed herself. Oh my gosh, Kim. Why are you even asking that?

"Like bringing the toy literally anywhere she goes?" Puey answered. "I bet if she could bring it in the restroom she would too."

"Urgh, Puey, stop that already," Pie grunted, embarrassed.

"Oh, and mind you," Jane interrupted this time, "she's always hugging that toy when she comes in and before she leaves. And it's on her lap during the entire working day."

"Jane!" Pie yowled.

"What?"

"It's embarrassing."

"Why would you be embarrassed, it's not like your special friend can hear you, right?"

Pie grunted again and covered her face with her palms.

Puey nudged Kim. "You see that? No one has made Pie blush like that before. That guy must be really special."

Kim couldn't take the smile off her face seeing how Pie is blushing now. "Well, I believe that she surely is special to him too."

Their eyes met for a second before Pie turns back to face her computer. When she’s sure no one would see her, Pie broke into a full smile.