C H A P T E R  5:
Our Pet, Mr. Panda!

“Hey, who was that girl back there?”

     Kris raised his head from the can of peas he was holding. He stared at his friend quizzically, as if to decipher the meaning of his friend’s sudden question.

     “Girl?” Kris’ left brow arched. “Which girl are you talking about, Tao? Do you mean Krystal? She’s just my annoying neighbour. Keeps tagging along everywhere I go. I’m surprised she didn’t stalk me this time.”

     Tao continued to follow behind him.

     “No,” he said. “The other one that was about to get into the house.”

     “Oh.” Kris tossed the can of peas into his basket and went ahead to find the carrots. “That’s my sister.”

     Tao nodded approvingly. “Cute.”

     “What?”

     “Chill, I’m just saying.” Tao had both of his hands raised in front of him. “Relax. No need to get defensive. I just didn’t see her the other day so I’m a little curious. I mean, I didn’t even know you had a sister in the first place. I thought you were an only child.”

     “Who says I’m being defensive?” Kris glanced down to count the ingredients in the basket.

     “Well,” Tao began, “you are her brother, so—”

     “So…?” Kris waited for Tao’s main point.

     Tao looked slightly puzzled with Kris’ actions.

     “Well,” he said, “you’re…being defensive.”

     Kris’ brows were pulled together, and his lips curled into a pout. “I…don’t get it.”

     Trying to scan his friend’s straight face, Tao couldn’t find anything that could even be related to his assumption. A brother that was hardly defensive of his sister? It was actually interesting to think about.

     “You know what,” Tao said, shaking his head and heaving a sigh, “forget what I said.”

     Ever since his encounter with Kris at Han River, Tao had thought that he had never met someone like him ever in his life. But actually, the most he thought was how lucky he was to be meeting another fellow Chinese in a foreign country. After explaining that his parents moved into Seoul to set up a martial arts class, it triggered Kris’ interest, and immediately Tao took notice of his determined attitude. He needed guidance. The other was keen on free lessons. It was a win win.

     And Tao seemed like a decent sort, which Kris was happy enough to oblige. Though the dude was weird, he had thought at first. Really. Weird. Especially when he noticed that the boy was carrying as what he called a ‘man purse’ which he gladly added that it was a limited edition Gucci from the newest collection.

* * *

Krystal was trashing her arms all about the vanity, grabbing mascara here, earrings there. When asked what she was doing, she easily replied, “You have to look good for dinner.”

     Jamie’s brows knitted. “Uh, it’s just dinner. And anyways, that Huang Zitao had already seen us at our worst. What’s more worse than seeing how you look after a day at school?” she murmured.

     “Zitao?” Krystal blinked. “I’m looking good for Kris.” And she returned to the mirror again as she curled her lashes.

     The vomit came crawling back up Jamie’s throat.

     “Krystal,” she said in a smooth and soothing voice. “It’s been years since you’ve been hitting on my brother.” She pushed Krystal aside to grab the main frame. “Get over it.”

     Krystal adjusted her (Jamie’s) dangly strawberry earrings while sitting on the floor, not bothering to get back up.

     “And besides,” Jamie said, “we’ve been doing Boy-scope for the past five years. Yet, none of us have ever really dated.”

     It had just occurred to Krystal as much as it did to Jamie, and both girls stared at each other with blank expressions. Not one of them had even had their first kiss or their first date, for a bunch of teenage girls who calls dibs on almost every guy they see that walks down the street.

     Before any of them could open their mouth to speak, they heard the voice of Mrs. Wu calling from the bottom of the stairs for dinner. After glancing at the door, Krystal turned back to Jamie.

     “Mr. Panda has arrived,” she sang as she stood from the floor.

     “Mr. Panda…?” Jamie’s tongue played with the name, and she was thrown away from the mirror as Krystal went to fluff up her hair.

     “Well, he looks like one, doesn’t he?” said Krystal. She opened the vanity drawer and dug through for a lip gloss.

     “Hey,” Jamie whined. “Don’t call him a panda. He’s way too cute for that. Oh, and it’s in the left drawer.”

     “Well,” said Krystal as she cracked open the other drawer as instructed, “pandas are cute, aren’t they?” She fixed her lips, gave them a loud smack, and pulled her best friend with her. “My prince charming awaits. Let’s go!”

     As soon as Krystal cracked open the bedroom door, she beamed brightly.

     “Oppa!” Krystal didn’t regret the fact that she had freshened herself up. She was apparently just in time, as she stepped out into the narrow hallway, over to Kris’ opened bedroom door that was just across.

     “Hey, Mom said you’re staying for dinner, right?” Kris said, and he pointed down to the living room. “Help us set up the table, would you?”

     Krystal placed her hand on her forehead to salute. “Aye, aye, captain.”

     It was surprising, because as much as Kris tried to get her off his back he couldn’t help but roll his eyes with a tiny smile at the girl’s determined nature.

     Jamie finally spoke up from behind. “Us?”

     Someone appeared from inside Kris’ room.

     “Yeah, I need to pick up the silverware,” said Kris. “Tao here will get the plates. Go on and help him.”

     It was another telepathy moment again. Krystal stared at Jamie from the corner of her eyes, and they were secretly speaking in codes. Lip pursing meant inward squealing. Widening the eyes meant fainting prevention.

     “Never seen you before,” said Krystal to the dark-haired guy beside her Kris. She had always been the straightforward type, but she knew how to handle it. “Tao, is it?”

     Tao didn’t seem to be taking any offence, and he just smiled. “I just moved.” He shrugged, and Krystal’s brows furrowed.

     B