| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Waited long?” A voice asked from somewhere.
He has been quite focused on the view behind him that he has forgotten to check on the designated area. Upon hearing her voice, he’s suddenly pulled back to reality. He turns around to see her smiling at him. Playing innocent today, aren’t we? It’s not like he’s going to lose anything. He hops off the rail and walks towards her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked, still sounding so innocent that he could almost explode.
“Nothing big,” He said back, taking her hands into his while at the same time still keeping a cautious eye on her as they make their way back to the parking lot. “I was just getting some fresh spring air, you know. And then it got me thinking…”
“What?” She asked, swinging their joined hands back and forth – so carefree that he wonders where she got all the energy to be so enthusiastic.
“I was just wondering if you’ve lost your watch or something like that,” He said, his tone still leveled but his expression contradicts his calm state. “But now that I could see your watch is very much attached, it’s just puzzles me…”
“What are you getting at?” She continued on in that same innocent tone, turning to give him a clueless look.
“Oh, I don’t know,” He blurted out – his voice starting to give way to its sarcastic mood. “It’s like almost an hour already and I think I have to get back to work. That’s all there is to it.”
“Talking about that, you don’t need to go back,” She said in an as a matter-of-fact tone.
He shifts his eyebrows just slightly, turning her towards him and does a quick scan of her image at the same time.
“What are you doing?” She asked, flashing on her usual amused smile.
“Wondering if someone kidnapped you or did you forget that I don’t own that place,” He shot back, resuming his footsteps again.
“I called in for you and told your boss that you’ll be off for the rest of the day,” She said in that ‘know-it-all’ tone again.
“What?!” He exclaimed, stopping altogether.
“Why are you so alarmed?” She asked. “Today is your birthday after all. What kind of girlfriend am I if I let you work the day away without any excitement, right?”
“Zhang…Shao…Han,” He drawled out her name slowly for dramatic effects while pointing his right index finger at her at the same time. “Is this some kind of joke? You expect me to believe that cheapskate would let me off for the day?”
“Why are you talking about your boss in that way?” She asked, eyeing him with more suspicions than he is giving her. “Luke is not that bad.”
“Luke?” He asked, still keep that suspicious look on her. “How long have you known him anyway? Are you hiding something from me?”
“That’s not the point,” She said, dragging him towards his car. “Come on. We have to hurry.”
“What’s your hurry anyway?” He slowed down on purpose – just so that she could drag him again. “I’m serious, that Luke isn’t some guy you can just play mind games with. He’s creepy, okay?”
“I thought you said he’s a cheapskate,” She reminded him – so typical of her to point out his faults.
“He is, but he’s also a creepy boss,” He implied strongly as he’s getting out his keys. “How did you know him anyway?”
“I called in one time and he picked up ‘cause you were away,” She replied, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. “I think he left a note on your desk so you can call me back.”
“That was him?” He has a very good reason to be surprised. But regains himself while she circles around to the other side. He gets in real quick before saying, “That’s why he’s creepy, okay? He’s just so off the…”
“Isn’t it a bit weird telling ghost stories on your birthday?” She pointed out.
He stops dead from his task – starting the car – and turns to her. “What ghost story?”
She smiles. “Well, you tell it like some ghost stories.
“I’m not talking to you anymore.”
“Okay then. Where are we going?”
“I thought you had a plan? You’re asking me?”
“Let’s head to the mall and meet up with Johnny and Bianca then.”
“I get off work just for that?”
“Come on…”
Why did she have to grab his hand when she said that?
*****
Angela smiles at the scene ahead of them although it is not of any extraordinary view. But maybe it is because of the familiarity that makes her feel so welcomed by its mere presence.
“So, what’s the grand idea of taking me here?” Ehlo asked, breaking through her thoughts.
“You’re spoiling the mood,” She scolded him.
“So? It’s my birthday. I can do whatever I want, right?”
“You want to prove that by bullying your girlfriend?” Bianca asked.
“Shame on you, Ehlo,” Johnny continued. “How could you do such a thing?”
“Why are you guys making me out to be the bad guy when I had to wait around for her for almost an hour and then…” Ehlo rattled off.
“Still,” Bianca interrupted him.
“Oh great,” Ehlo flustered. “This is the worst birthday ever in history.”
He ends up walking towards the water fountain ahead while the others exchange a secretive smile behind his back.
“Are you guys coming or not?” Ehlo hollered back to them.
“Coming, Master,” Angela mocked, increasing her speed.
“He’s mad all right,” Bianca said to Johnny.
“This better work,” Johnny said back before resuming his footsteps.
When they arrive at the entrance of the cave, they could see Ehlo and Angela by the seal’s area.
“Tell me why we’re here again,” Ehlo asked as Angela turns away from the seals and continues on her way.
“To relax,” She replied.
Ehlo turns to give her a look.
“What?” She asked.
“I give up,” Ehlo mumbled before walking towards the monkey cages to the far left path.
Angela turns around to look at Johnny and Bianca – who had managed to catch up to them.
“Did someone forget to feed him his meds this morning?” Bianca asked.
“I would be mad too if someone’s pushing my limits like that,” Johnny said, suddenly feeling like he needs to give Ehlo some support.
“But how else are we going to stall for time?” Bianca asked, turning to him.
“There are other ways,” Johnny pointed out.
“But is it effective? Or will it cause him to be more suspicious of us if we were to use some other less annoying methods?” Angela asked.
“I guess not,” Johnny admitted.
“What is it with you three and stopping to have side talks?” Ehlo shouted from ahead. “Are we here to visit the animals or are we coming for tea?”
Angela lets out a secretive smile again before catching up to Ehlo – with Johnny and Bianca tagging behind at a safe distance.
“You guys are just too much sometimes,” Ehlo continued on as the others are finally close enough that he doesn’t have to raise his voice too much. “It’s my birthday and you make it sound so important at first but you just want to use me as an excuse to ditch work and come here and stare at the…”
“Why are you so irritated?” Angela asked. “Can’t you be patient and enjoy the scenery with us?”
“If you want to enjoy the scenery, go to a park, not a zoo,” Ehlo retorted.
”Who upset our favorite guy again?” A voice said from their right.
They turn to see Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao walking towards them.
“Oh great,” Ehlo snapped. “What is this? A reunion at the local zoo? How convenient.”
“Who pulled your tail this time?” Chen Yi asked when he’s closer.
“You meant someone dares to?” Qiao Qiao asked, amazed.
“Very amusing, you guys,” Ehlo said, his tone still apparently reeking of sarcasm.
“Come on now, you can’t be mad at us for a harmless joke, right?” Qiao Qiao urged.
“Say, where is your boyfriend?” Ehlo asked. “Or did you two…”
“I dare you to say it,” Chen Yi challenged.
“Did you sneak off to have some precious time off together?” Ehlo completed his question without a blink.
“Hey! There you guys are!” Achel’s voice blurted out from somewhere near them.
They turn to see Achel holding two ice cream cones and are coming towards them from the path Ehlo and the others had came from before.
“And I thought…” Ehlo said, pasting his teasing smile.
“Jie!” Achel exclaimed upon seeing Angela.
Angela turns on Chen Yi when she sees her sister handing one of the ice cream cones to Chen Yi.
“I didn’t tell her to get it,” Chen Yi blurted out nervously.
“I wanted ice cream,” Achel said, shielding Chen Yi from Angela’s gaze.
Although Achel said that but she gives the other cone to Qiao Qiao.
“Thanks,” Qiao Qiao said automatically as she takes it.
Achel smiles back at her.
“This is the part I like the most,” Ehlo spoke up again after some observations of all parties present. He snaps on his mischievous smile again before saying, “It’s getting interesting.”
Angela turns on him and gives him a sharp look before resuming her way down the path.
“What?” Ehlo exclaimed in disbelief. “So that’s it?”
“You should know her by now,” Johnny said, giving Ehlo a pat on the shoulder for support before following Bianca also.
As if discouraged by the turns of events, Ehlo doesn’t want to focus on Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao’s possible schemes anymore. He turns to follow the others also.
“What happened?” Achel whispered to Chen Yi as they follow the others casually at their own speed.
“You wouldn’t want to know,” Chen Yi whispered back, handing her the ice cream cone.
Somehow, they end up sharing the ice cream between them as they make their way around the zoo.
It is about an hour later that they finished the tour. They stop at a rainforest setting café located at the corner of the north side to enjoy the scenes before leaving. It appears that Qiao Qiao actually brought a camera with her and has been snapping pictures of everyone involved. Somehow, they managed to get Ehlo to smile a decent smile at one point and had quite enough to share all around when they get back later. Now that they’re sitting at their booth enjoying their drink, Qiao Qiao reviews the photos again.
“Let me see,” Chen Yi said, leaning in a bit closer.
“It came out pretty good, huh?” Qiao Qiao asked.
Chen Yi nods as he slides back towards Achel and takes a quick sip from her drink.
“What’s with you and drinking off people’s drink?” Angela asked from across the table.
“It’s sharing,” Chen Yi answered casually. “And not everyone. Just Xiao Yu, jie.”
“Where is Ming Dao anyway?” Ehlo asked, eyeing the group of three who are sitting across the table from him suspiciously.
“He’s…” Achel started to say.
“He has work,” Chen Yi jumped in, cutting Achel off and sipping away at the drink casually.
“Don’t you three have work too?”
“Our boss got sick so he let us off,” Qiao Qiao said casually since she’s still checking the pictures on her camera.
“All three?”
“So it was that coincidental,” Chen Yi said passively.
Then both Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao abandon their current task – drinking and viewing – to look up at Ehlo with a bright smile on their face.
“April’s fool!” Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao shouted in unison.
“Lame,” Ehlo said in his monotone voice. “I didn’t fall for it. If I did, then it’s really April’s fool.”
“Come on, man,” Chen Yi urged. “Stop acting so morbid on your birthday. People are going to think that you don’t like to spend time with us.”
“Why would I want to be caught dead with you kids?” Ehlo asked back.
“Or you want to spend time alone with jie?” Achel jumped in.
“If that’s the case, let’s move out, people,” Chen Yi said, shoving Qiao Qiao’s shoulder and signaling for her to leave.
“Quit the shoving,” Qiao Qiao warned, wrinkling her face. “You’re going to make me drop my camera.”
“I’m trying to hurry us out of here so we wouldn’t be in someone’s way,” Chen Yi explained, still shoving Qiao Qiao.
“What’s your hurry anyway?” Qiao Qiao asked. “I can sit here all day if I want.”
“Qiao,” Chen Yi said a bit gentler than before – and had already stopped shoving her. “It’s not your special day, so why are you stealing the limelight?”
The second half of what he said defeated the purpose of him using his “gentle tone”.
“I knew you were up to no good,” Qiao Qiao snapped.
“April’s fool,” Chen Yi reminded her with a grin.
“Same to you,” Qiao Qiao said with a smile. “Ha!”
“Great,” Ehlo muttered. “I’m stuck with a bunch of kids playing their kiddies games on my birthday.”
“It wasn’t our fault that you were born on April’s fool,” Chen Yi pointed out.
“Stop messing with him already,” Qiao Qiao said. “Let’s head out.”
With that, she stands up and grabs her small backpack from behind her.
“So now they leave us alone?” Ehlo asked no one in particular.
“Come on now,” Angela said. “They’re just trying to cheer you up. You can’t be mad at them, can you?”
“When did you become so understanding of others?” Ehlo asked, turning to her.
Angela knows he’s kidding so she hits him on the shoulder. He smiles at her before getting up himself.
“Guess what?” Bianca shouted towards their direction.
She and Johnny had been at the ticket booth talking to one of the employees the whole while the rest of them were here.
“What?” Angela asked back.
Qiao Qiao, Chen Yi, and Achel – who are supposed to be leaving – stop to listen in also.
“Free tickets to the amusement park!” Bianca shouted out, holding up two tickets in front of them.
“Great,” Ehlo said sarcastically.
“Cheer up!” Bianca urged. “How about this? We’ll give it to you!”
“No need,” Ehlo said. “You guys use it.”
“You didn’t ask me,” Angela jumped in, staring at Ehlo with her dagger eyes.
“Sorry,” Ehlo said. “But I thought since we have to let the kiddies come too…”
“Hey!” Chen Yi interrupted. “Like we want to follow you. It was just a coincidence we were here in the first place.”
“Sure, whatever you say, kid,” Ehlo shot back.
“If he thinks he’s too cool for us, let’s get out of here,” Qiao Qiao said, grabbing Chen Yi’s arm – and signaling for Achel to do the same.
“Fine,” Chen Yi said, defeated.
He leaves with the girls while the other four stare after them.
“Nice going,” Angela remarked.
“I was just joking with the little kids,” Ehlo said with a grin. “They think that they’re the only ones who can pull those tricks on me?”
“Hmp,” Angela muttered, not as amused as Ehlo had expected.
“Come on,” Ehlo said, pulling on her arm. “Let’s go somewhere else. The zoo isn’t exactly my definition for fun, you know.”
Johnny and Bianca end up following the two. They go to the amusement park where Bianca just got the tickets and spend the rest of the afternoon there.
*****
“I honestly hope it’s worth it,” Chen Yi said, crashing down onto the sofa next to Ming Dao.
“What did you guys do?” Ming Dao asked, curious.
“We ticked Ehlo off and sort of had a fight with him and…” Qiao Qiao said, her voice trailing since she could see everyone in the room stopping what they’re doing to stare at her. “What?!”
“I didn’t tell you guys to be so extreme,” Wallace said. “What if he doesn’t come home at all tonight but end up…”
“At our place?” Sam finished.
“Didn’t mean it that way,” Wallace said with a nervous laugh.
“Well, we can’t dwell on that now, right?” Sonia interfered. “Let’s finish this up and we’ll find out in two hours.”
“That’s right,” Jacky agreed. “Cheer up, guys. We’re not going to some funeral.”
“Zhu Fan Gang!” Everyone yelled out at the same time – including Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao.
“Sorry,” Jacky said, covering his mouth.
*****
After having been gone for half of the day doing pointless activities, Ehlo is more than ready to head home. He wonders why he went with the other three in the first place. He must admit that even if they’re the most wonderful group of people he met in his entire life, but they’re not that exciting in terms of planning activities for his birthday. Yes, it’s just a day to remind him that he’s getting there, but can they put in more effort than this? How old are they all really? A day at the park?
“Where should we go now?” Angela asked Bianca.
Ehlo rolls his eyes, wanting to put an end to this as soon as possible. He has to work tomorrow. What are they trying to do? Stay out all night just to prove they can spend every minute with him?
“Let’s head home,” Johnny spoke up after checking his watch. “It’s not that late but we all have work tomorrow, right?”
“Thank you,” Ehlo piped in, relief that Johnny brought it to the girls’ attention.
“All right,” Angela said, sounding almost disappointed.
“I guess we’ll have to take the girls back to our house first?” Johnny suggested. “I mean since Bianca have to pick up her car and all.”
Ehlo nods.
*****
“I want to go inside for a bit,” Angela spoke up as soon as Ehlo pulled into the driveway.
“You need a drink of water after all of that talking?” Ehlo teased.
“That’s mean,” Angela said, hitting him on the shoulder in the process.
Ehlo smiles. “Lucky I’ve already park or we’ll end up by that pole over there.”
The others get out one-by-one, ignoring Ehlo.
“So you guys aren’t going to talk to me now?”Ehlo asked, getting out also. “It’s still several more hours before 12, you know.”
The others don’t reply. They just continue towards the walkway leading to the porch.
“Hey, you’re going to keep ignoring me while walking into my house?” Ehlo attempted.
“I live here too, you know,” Johnny reminded Ehlo.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Ehlo said, catching up to Angela. “Anyway, I was…”
“Surprise!” A thunderous sound echoed as the door opens.
Ehlo represses a scream as soon as the lights come on. He scans the room to see a group of smiling people in front of him – his friends to be exact.
“How do you like this one, Huang?” Wallace asked from the center of the room, gesturing his hand at the current setting.
Ehlo still doesn’t say anything but just continues to observe his surroundings. He then turns to stare at Angela – who has a bright smile on her face at that moment. He slips a hand around her shoulders before turning to the others again. The others are unusually quiet at the moment, waiting for his response. He looks at Wallace in the eyes before saying, “You know what? You guys suck big time on the surprise thing.”
“Are you being ungrateful, Huang?” Qiao Qiao asked.
“I know,” Chen Yi followed. “After all, we did keep Qiao out of the kitchen just to guarantee you won’t be poisoned.”
Everyone couldn’t help but laughs at Chen Yi’s words, including Ehlo. Only Qiao Qiao looks annoyed, giving him a dagger look.
“Honestly, though,” Wallace said, finally regaining himself. “Why do we suck?”
“You kept me bored for half of the day just for this?” Ehlo asked, gesturing his left hand for effect.
“How else would we set this up if you could roam around freely and happily?” Jacky asked.
“Very funny,” Ehlo said, annoyed.
“Why are we still standing around here?” Qiao Qiao jumped in.
“Exactly my point!” Chen Yi chimed in. “Let’s party!”
“So this is a kiddie party after all?” Ehlo asked, gesturing his left hand again.
“Hey!” Chen Yi and Qiao Qiao exclaimed at the same time.
“Just kidding, guys,” Ehlo said, finally putting on a smile. “You guys can pull an April’s fool on me but I can’t on you?”
The others could see that Ehlo’s kidding so they smile back at him.
“Thanks, guys,” Ehlo said with much gratitude and appreciation – contrary to his previous sharp words.
The others either smile or signal out to him that it’s nothing as he pulls Angela into a hug.
© Friday, March 13th, 2009
Posted: Saturday, August 8th, 2009