CHAPTER XLI: Hear the Word of Fright

The ambiance of the store was serene.

As we continued to stroll, I could help but be amazed by how pleasant the surroundings were.

The first thing we planned to do was to look around the store.

We already got our identification bracelets ready for any purchase that we may have.

Although I'm saying this, my companion has already exceeded the limits of her basket in just a blink of an eye.

While I was busy observing each product, Solar easily made herself busy by taking everything her eyes could land on.

This is obviously the part why I regret coming here with her.

I sighed and continued what I was doing.

There were cute pillows here and if there was one thing I loved other than plushies? It would most definitely be the pillows.

They're convenient and relaxing to use.

And if they're cute, that's already a plus point.

So what I'm encouraging myself to do is to find that perfect pillow to take home and add to my personal collection in bed.

After a few minutes of searching, I finally found it!

It was a big round bunny pillow with ears.

It was immensely adorable!

It was pink and the face on it was increasing its charming factor by tenfold.

Of course, I immediately grabbed it and hugged the hell out of it to test how comfy it was and it was spot on.

The pillow was so soft and smooth that I couldn't help but fawn over it.

"You gonna get that?" I almost hit Solar with the precious pillow when she suddenly popped her head next to me.

I glared at her and moved slightly away from her and her overfilled basket.

"Yeah."

"How about I get one too? So we would be matchy-matchy!" She even clapped her hands in excitement.

To which I instantly shut down.

"That's more than enough reason to refuse." Her jaw dropped at what I said.

"You deliberately hurt my feelings, don't ya?" She pouted.

I smirked, "It's my pride and joy."

She rolled her eyes at me and turned back to her shopping madness.

I checked out the stuffed toys next.

I really wanted a humongous panda and luckily they have one.

It was the only one left at the place it was displayed at and fortunately no one was there to stake a claim on it.

I couldn't resist hugging it the moment I saw it.

If I could just adopt a panda, I'd probably do it without any hesitation.

I mean, who wouldn't want a panda in their own home?

I checked the panda in my arms for any rips or tears, fortunately, there was none.

So I hurriedly grabbed it.

What I didn't calculate was how I couldn't exactly see anything while holding onto this.

I tried to lower it but I couldn't really grasp it properly with a pillow on my other hand.

The struggle is real.

I took a chance and trusted my instinct as I navigated through the shop to hopefully find Solar.

I sharpened my hearing sense and searched for Solar's voice amongst the noisy crowd.

It took a couple of minutes but I was able to distinguish a familiar voice near me.

"Ugh, this looks like my cousin." And there she was.

I strode or waddled, rather, to where she was presumably standing.

I almost stumbled when I accidentally bumped something.

I thought it was Solar because I heard a grunt somewhere but before I could even apologize, a hand gripped my shoulders and turned me around.

"What are you doing here, giant panda woman?"

"Walking like a pregnant panda in her last trimester, that's what it is."

This made her burst out laughing.

I kicked her leg to make her stop.

"Ouch, what was that for? You know you just hit me with your hard, sturdy, and expensively branded boots right?"

"Fancy for you to take notice. Now help me out here." I replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure, right after I take a picture of your utter demise." After that I heard consecutive shutters from her phone.

I tried to kick her again because that's the only thing available for use in my occupied body.

But I just couldn't reach her, annoyingly so.

After laughing at me for who knows how long, she finally brought me out of my despicable state by grabbing the pillow from my other hand and placing it in one of the baskets near her.

She then called for someone to assist us with carrying everything.

"Are you finished talking 'cause I'm still here without an apology." A voice suddenly called out.

I whipped my head towards it and that's when it all came back to me.

HE WAS THE ONE I BUMPED INTO!

Even though I still can't see him due to the object blocking my face, I could tell that he was annoyed.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't notice you earlier." I apologized.

"Don't you think I can see that?" The tone of his voice made me scowl.

I tried to peek at him but still couldn't do it so I just continued, "I apologize for unconsciously forgetting about you, but that doesn't validate you to be rude."

"Yeah and talking to a panda isn't rude? Why don't you put that fucking thing down?"

This made my eyebrow twitch.

I inhaled a deep breath and looked at Solar's direction.

Once di saw that her hands were free, I carefully shoved my cute panda towards her.

She was startled but I didn't have the time to explain as I faced the jerk in front of me.

When my eyes met his, he looked taken aback for a second.

But before he could even open his mouth, I hurriedly beat him to it.

"First of all, it was just an accident. An accident to which I obviously asked for your forgiveness. Second, I forgot your presence because I was merely preoccupied for a while to which I again apologized for. So I don't see any plausible reason for you to be rude and vulgar unless that's just your sickening personality."

"I-I wait…"

"What? Do you have something more insulting to say? Or do you simply want to add more to the list I just provided about how obnoxious you sound?" I gritted.

I heard Solar whistle at my side after witnessing what just happened.

But I was too busy dealing with the unknown being to even smack her for that.

I raised my eyebrow in an intimidating manner as I waited for him to speak.

After waiting for God knows how long, he finally ruffled his hair and looked me straight in the eye again.

"Okay. I admit my faults-"

"Such as?"

He sighed.

"Fine. Being arrogant, impudent, and blunt."

"I would have preferred 'jerk' but I guess you know your stuff."

He let out a frustrated breath and swooped his hair upward.

"Whatever. I'm sorry, too, for what I said. How about we call it a truce?" He extended his hand out to me.

I glanced at it for a second and returned my sights back on him.

"Okay." After that I turned around and left him there hanging.

I didn't say anything about being all friendly with him so he shouldn't have expected.

Solar followed me along with the assistant she called for.

I took back the gigantic panda and cuddled it tightly.

"Calm down, tigress. You're going to choke the poor panda." She chuckled.

"Enjoyed the show, didn't ya?" I turned my head towards her.

"Very." She smirked.

I shook my head at her and continued with my steps.

Once we reached the staff waiting at the end of the store, we presented our bracelets quietly and waited for her to finish scanning.

She wrapped and packaged all of our stuff and returned it to us in a neat manner.

She made the panda very convenient to carry because she placed it in a huge silk bag with two straps sewn in it.

Now I can carry it like a backpack, but it kinda made me look ridiculous.

And Solar didn't miss a chance to point it out.

"You look like Dora who went on a scavenger hunt." She pointed her camera at me, again.

"Yeah, it's even more fantastic to have Boots as a companion."

This made her give out a disgusted face.

"Ew. Oh, did you know that Dora and Diego are suspected to be lovers?"

"What the? Their cousins, you dumbass! Stop ruining my childhood!" I said as I felt an immense cringe shoot up my spine.

Whoever fantasizes about such things is seriously corrupted to the core.

Like who the hell makes an innocent children's animation become something so weird?

I shook off the disgusting thought away and roamed my eyes around.

"Dia! How about we eat something first?" Solar suggested.

I shrugged.

"Sure."

We headed towards the porch area of the café and placed our belongings on the other available seats from our chosen table.

It was honestly cool out here.

Even though the sun was high up, the clouds contradicted the heat, making the scenery much more inviting.

Solar agreed to order for us so I just gave her my order, a large glass of mango shake and a single slice of chocolate cake, before she went off.

She got back without much of a hassle and sat in front of me.

"That dude you fought with earlier, he was hot." She started.

This made me frown.

"Do you just randomly pick people to call hot?"

I mean out of all the people she could choose from, why that jerk?

"What? It's true! I mean, he had a bad boy vibe to him, plus I swear I saw a carved six pack underneath his black tight shirt." She wiggled her eyes at me.

I threw a crumpled tissue paper in her direction due to my disbelief.

"Why would you even look at someone's body like that?"

She gave me a blank expression, "Who doesn't?"

"A sane person?"

"Girl, stop. Everyone does that. Guys, gals, gays, lesbians, heck even grandparents do that!" She emphasized.

I was about to rebut but stopped midway.

I guess she does have a point.

"Like seriously, my old highschool principal eyed someone's breast without knowing that he was giving googly eyes to a male sumo wrestler."

I choked on my own saliva.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud as she continued to demonstrate the hilarious story of her principal's wannabe youth.

She only stopped once the food arrived at our table.

I automatically went for my drink because my throat was beginning to feel parched after all that laughing.

"I guess I know why you didn't appreciate that hunk's hunk." She added.

"Because the first thing he welcomed me with was his trashy personality?" I stated bluntly.

"No…wait, maybe half."

I took a slice of cake into my mouth before responding.

"What's the other half?" I asked as I took out another chunk of cake.

However, before it could even reach my mouth, what she said next made my body freeze entirely.

"Well, it's because of Ross, of course."

My mind became numb.

Suddenly, without assumptions, someone hereby realizes the fright I hid beneath the surface.