Monday - 8:07 am

Pie sat back at her table after getting coffee from the pantry. She immediately opened their company IM to check if a certain person is already in. To her dismay she found this:

Kimhan Buranaphan is offline.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

Hmm? Late for work?

It has become her habit to check on Kim by looking at her IM status every day. And without her complete awareness, she's not just doing it every morning but she's doing it like every hour of the entire shift.

She checked her phone too to see if there were messages, apparently none.

Where could she be? Don't tell me she's absent? Or maybe she'll work half-day? Should I call her? But what if she'll ignore me?

The status didn't change the entire day, making Pie feel weary. If it wasn't for the thought that Van would find it weird for her to ask about Kim she might have already asked him. In fact, she was so close to doing that.

She glanced at Mr. Lee and stretched out her hand to pet it.

Aish. Where are you, Kim?

---

"Something bothering you?"

Mike's voice had broken Pie's reverie. She turned to him with a confused face, barely heard what he said.

"Are you alright? You're spacing out again..." he asked.

Pie propped her elbows against the car door and gazed out the window. "I'm just thinking of something..."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She leaned her head against her hand and turned to him. "Mmmm, it's mostly about work," she lied. She was actually thinking where on Earth could Kim be and why on Earth she didn't go to work today.

"Work?" Mike didn't sound convinced. "That work has certainly been bothering you for days now, huh?"

Pie raised a confused eyebrow.

As if getting what Pie was thinking, Mike continued, "You were not yourself over the weekend — oh, no, let me rephrase that — you were not in yourself since I picked you up from work last Friday. Something wrong?"

Knowing that he's right, Pie lifted her head from her hand and turned back to the window. That Friday conversation had surely disturbed her entire weekend to the point that she didn't enjoy whatever they did. Everything was boring for her. Everything was lifeless.

As much as she wanted to stay and talk to Kim that night, she can't. Mike needs to pick her up and they were supposed to have dinner with her mom somewhere in the city. And as much as she wanted to tell Kim the truth that night, she just can't. She was not prepared for that kind of talk yet, somehow it scared her.

All the troubles from the past few days sunk into her that night; her mom, Mike, Kim — she just can't sort them out yet. In the end, she knows she said things that she didn't mean. She avoided the questions. But she never thought that running away that night would hurt her the way she's hurting now.

During the interrogation, questions started popping out of her head: are her harbored feelings for Kim enough reason to be in a relationship with her? And how serious is Kim about this too? Will it be worth it to risk everything now to be with her?

While Kim was cornering her with questions, Pie felt the need to escape because she doesn't want to make impulsive decisions that she'll regret in the end.

And now she's hella worried about Kim's whereabouts. After what happened last Friday all she wanted is to talk to her, at least explain to her the reasons for her confusion. She wants to let Kim know that no matter how confused she is, one thing is certain, it is Kim whom she wants to be by her side by the end of each day.

"I'm just probably stressed," Pie uttered instead, feeling compelled to say something.

"I'm all ears, you know, just in case you need someone to talk to."

Pie turned to look at him, contemplating if she should tell him about it. She hesitated the last minute and just gave him a feigned smile.

---

"Home sweet home." Mike pulled the car over in front of Pie's house. He turned his attention to his passenger and noticed how she was struggling to unlock her seatbelt. "Let me help you with that," he said, leaning over.

Instead of slanting her body away, Pie didn't move to look at the boy she once liked so much. She stared at him as if expecting something would happen to her.

I should be feeling something now, right?

"There," said Mike, raising his head and meeting Pie's eyes, realizing the close proximity of their faces.

Pie was pushing herself to the limit. She didn't look away and stared back at him for long until Mike took it as a sign. He propped his arm against her chair and slowly leaned closer to her.

It was when he closed his eyes when Pie realized that what she's doing is insane.

"Mike..." she gasped, tilting her head down, making him halt halfway with confused eyes. “I-I'm sorry, I... I can't do it..."

Mike pursed his lips, realizing what he just attempted to do. "No... um... I'm the one who should be sorry..." he said, leaning back. "I... I shouldn't have done that..."

Knowing that she was partially at fault, Pie bit her lower lip and looked down at her hands.

"Please tell me you're not going to avoid me after this," said Mike.

Pie looked up to him. "No, I won't. It's just that... I'm still unsure of what I'm doing now..."

Relieved, Mike patted her head. "You're not alone in this, Pie. Remember, we're still both trying to figure things out."

Pie nodded. "I just don't want to rush into things..."

"Yeah, me too." Mike smiled. "Decisions about feelings should be thought carefully because one simple wrong choice could mean letting go of the right one."

Despite not really feeling good, Pie was able to make out a small smile in response.

"Just remember that I'm here whenever you need someone to talk to, especially the things you can't tell your mom, okay?"

Pie felt a weight lifted from her chest. At least if it won't work out with Mike she knows she's found a good friend in him.

"Thank you, Mike."

---

It just doesn't feel the same.

Pie is lost in deep thoughts again while staring at her ceiling. She was expecting that there would be at least an effect on her; heartbeats rising, butterflies in the stomach, over consciousness, anything similar to what she feels when Kim is in the same proximity like that, but there was none. She felt nothing.

Mike doesn't have the power to possess her, possess her in the way that Kim does just by looking straight in her eyes or just by showing her smirk.

Pie checked her phone hoping to see a message from Kim. She knows she could just message or call her but she doesn't have the guts to do it after what happened last week. At some point, she was expecting that Kim will find a way to talk to her again and she'll explain what exactly she is going through.

She threw her phone somewhere on the bed after seeing that there were no messages. She curled up against her body and buried her face in the pillow.

---

Tuesday

Kimhan Buranaphan is offline.

Pie shoulders slumped and her face sulked when she saw the same status like yesterday. She turned her head at graphics department's direction and sighed.

---

5:03 pm

"I'll go ahead, Pie," said Jane, leaning down to cheek kiss her friend who's still busy working.

"Is Zee picking you up?" asked Pie.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"You just look like you're going to a party each time she picks you up."

Jane giggled. "I love seeing how her jaw drops every time she sees me."

"You silly."

"I should really go now, okay?"

"Take care."

After two steps, Jane stopped and turned back to Pie. "Is Mike picking you up?"

"Nope. He's on an out-of-town trip."

"Hmm, you're already sharing schedules, huh," Jane teased. "In that case, would you like to come with us?"

"And be the third wheel? No thanks, Jane." Pie waved a hand.

"No, we're not going out for a date," said Jane, chuckling, "we're surprise visiting Kim."

The sound of that name had surely made Pie’s heart skip a beat. She turned her swivel chair around to face Jane. "In her apartment?"

"No... in the hospital..."

"W-what happened?"

"Uh, well, didn't she inform you that she was injured during her tennis game last Sunday?" asked Jane, not sure why her friend wasn't aware of what happened.

Pie shook her head no.

She didn't even tell me that her game was this Sunday.

"Oh. I thought you knew," said Jane. "We decided to visit today because she'll be discharged tomorrow morning."

Pie nodded in response but her mind was off somewhere else.

Why didn't she tell me? Is she mad at me because of the last talk we had; or doesn't she really care for me, not at all?

"So, are you coming or not?" asked Jane.

Pie blinked first. It doesn't matter if Kim wantd to see her or not, all she wants now is to see her.

"Let me just shut down my computer, Jane."