“I finished a lot of things at school,” he protested, as you scold him for being late again. He was in his school uniform, you go to different schools. “How come the girls in your school wear prettier uniforms?” he asked, eyeing you from head to toe.

Still not over the frustration because he’s late, you , “Oh, I see. You finished a lot of things in school? Like what? Checking on girls’ uniform? You ert!” and pushed your pointer finger on his head.

“Aigoo!” he shouted, “stop doing that!” He rubbed his head where you buried your finger. “I’m sorry.”

With that last statement, you calmed down. You can’t resist him, ever since you were children. As much as you want to get mad, his sorrys are always sincere, and you end up forgiving him. You hated yourself for that. What was with this boy that you can’t let go of? You even made it a habit of seeing him almost everyday under the same tree for 6 years now. You hugged your panda tighter. Once, it was roughly the same size as you, now it sits comfortably on your torso.

“Ri will be mad at you for squishing him to death,” he said, looking at the panda.

“Oh, I’m sorry Ri,” you apologized, as you bring the panda’s head closer to yours.

You went inside your house, tired from all the running you did, and grabbed a drink in the fridge. You sighed with relief as the cold water refreshed your dry throat. You went to the living room and sat on the sofa. You remembered what happened. 

“It’s a good thing we did not embarrassed ourselves further, isn’t it, Ri?” you said, talking to your panda. You looked to your left, expecting him to be there, but it wasn’t. “Ri!” you gasped, as a sudden realization almost gave you a heart attack. You left the panda under the tree!

“Stupid!” you muttered, as you stood up and began another race towards where you’ve been. While running, the boy’s smiling face came to your mind. Your brows went down, and your eyes glared, “This...is your...fault...stupid boy!” you cursed him in between your breaths. You won’t forgive yourself and especially him if something bad happened to your panda.

The sun’s going down. You ran faster, you don’t want to search for your panda alone in the middle of the night. As the white flowers came into view, you felt relieved. Stopping a few strides from the tree, you dropped to your knees and started catching your breath. “Made it,” you muttered.

You stood up, went to the other side of the tree, and fell slowly to your knees again. Where the panda should have been, nothing stood on its place. You took hold of the tree, palming it here and there, digging the ground beneath it in a desperate attempt to find your panda. Tears started building in your eyes; you tried hard to prevent them, but failed miserably. You sobbed, leaning on the tree, until you sobbed no more.

You walked back to your home, sulking, and every step a drag, thinking of the many possibilities why Ri went missing. As you entered your house, your mother appeared in front of you.

“Where have you been, young lady?” she questioned, arms crossed and her right foot impatiently tapping the floor.  Seeing her daughter not responding, she went back to the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready,” she called back.

“I’m not hungry,” you responded, immediately climbing up the stairs to your room. You had a hard time sleeping; for the first time, Ri is not beside you. You hugged your pillow and cried until you drifted off to sleep.

Even the next day in school was not all the better. Although some already accepted it, you were still being bullied by many for bringing a stuffed toy at school. The glances of the older students and smirks of your fellow classmates are all mocking. Many asked what happened to your panda, a few with concerns in their voices, but many with sarcasm.

“Nothing,” was all you responded to those who asked. As much as you want to explain what happened, you know most of them won’t care. They don’t understand anyway.  

After school, you walked your way home alone. As a familiar path appeared on your right, hoping that your panda would return where you left it, you dashed through grasses. As crazy as it sounds, that your panda magically appearing, or that you just didn't notice it yesterday, you still clinged to that tiny bit of hope.

As the tree appeared into view, as beautiful as it was yesterday, your heart started anticipating that your panda might be there. You walked to the other side of the tree, and sure enough, it was there! But this time, a boy in his school uniform is holding it. Upon seeing you, he stood up.

"Hey, you forgot this yesterday," he said, handing the panda over to you.

"Ri!" you instantly grabbed it away from his hands, hugging it . Tears started welling up again in your eyes, from all the happiness that you're experiencing now. But you stopped, realizing that it would be embarassing if you cried now. 

"You stole it?!" you started, stepping forward menancingly.

"What? No!" he protested, "I-I was calling you yesterday because you forgot it. I picked it up to bring it to you. B-But you were running so fast. And I don't know where you live. So, I decided to bring it home and give it to you in case you return here."

You raised your eyebrow suspiciously. "And what if I did not passed here anymore?" you asked.

He curled his lips back, and thought deeply. "I'll wait everyday, until I give it back," he answered.

"Is this boy stupid?" you thought, surely what he said was kind enough, but it's still a stupid idea, what if he waited in vain? But still, you got your panda back, and that's all that matters.

"So, who's Ri?" he asked.

"Hmm?" 

"The panda, is he Ri?"

You avoided his eyes. "It's none of your business," you said. You knew he will just be like the others, he will laughed at you for giving an inanimate object a name, and even bother carrying it everyday.

"I like pandas," he said.

You looked at him, you noticed he was blinking too much. "He really looks dumb every minute," you thought. "Why do you like pandas?" you asked, curiousity got the best of you.

"Nothing much really," he said, stepping forward closer to you, "you see this?" he said, pointing under his eyes. "These dark circles, and those" he pointed to Ri's eyes.

At first you don't understand. But after looking at  him and your panda twice, you bursted out laughing. You can't believe how you let that detail slipped out of you. He has very dark circles underneath his eyes, making him look like a panda more. "You're a panda!" you pointed out, laughing at him still. 

A look of irritation appeared in his face, then it changed, and he started laughing with you. "Yeah, I'm a panda!" he said, he bend his knees a bit and spread his arms, and started walking like a panda. You laughed even more after this gesture. 

After calming down, you said, "Ri is the name of my panda. My father gave him to me, his name is Terry, I named him after him. I always bring it anywhere I go."

"Anywhere? Even in school?" he asked, a smirk forming on his face.

You thought he was insulting you. "So what?!" you said sharply.

He curled his lips again, you noticed. "I think it's cute," he said.

"Wow, this boy really hit his head very bad," you thought, but a bit relieved because he was not insulting you. "I had it ever since my father passed away when I was 5, Ri keeps him close," you said, not meaning to go that far by telling him that detail. Now your heart was grieving again from the loss you had at such a young age.

"I'm sorry," he said, catching you by surprise. "It must be hard for you for thinking Ri is lost. I'm sorry. If I only knew, I would have asked my parents to searched for you yesterday."

"What's wrong with him?!" you thought. This is too much. You barely know each other, but here he was, apologizing for something he did not do. 

"I have to go now," he said, disturbing the silence. He bade you farewell and started walking away.

"Wait!"  you shouted, this time your situation is reversed you thought. He stopped and looked back. "Thank you," you said, barely audible because you were a bit shy for saying it to him.

But he gave you a flashing smile, you noticed how crooked his teeth are. 

"It's a good thing I got your panda back then, eh?" Seunghyun said. You can't help but notice how boastful he is. You got irritated of how he made it sound like you own him something.

"It wouldn't be even lost if you did not took it," you answered back. He rolled his eyes, getting your temper rising up again. 

"Can I hold Ri for moment?" he requested.

"No," you said firmly.  He gave you puppy eyes, and a pleading look, trying hard to be cute. "Will you stop that? You're getting uglier and uglier," you said.

He pulled back. "That's not true! You and I know that I am handsome!" he said. 

His arrogance always get to your nerves. "Well, it's only you who knows it."

"My mother said I was handsome," he said, pouting his lips. You laughed at his statement.

"Ri is even more handsome than you," you said, sticking your tongue out at him. 

"But he's not real!" he said.

"Exactly."

"But...but..." he stuttered. Smiling sheepishly, you knew you won this round. "But who do you like between Ri and me?" he asked. 

You stared at him, and you found yourself lost for words. "I..." you started. Seeing that you're losing your stance, Seunghyun started laughing, showing all his crooked teeth. You also saw his fangs, they've started being like that 3 years ago.

"Of course me, right?" he said, giving another laugh.

"No, the panda clearly won who I like the most," you said.

"There are two pandas here," he said, this time, sticking his tongue out at you. 

Failing to think of another good comeback, you just uttered miserably "I hate you." 

He curled his lips once more into a knowing smirk.