Pan POV
My room is enough for me. The single bed is very selfish because it is really designed for 1 person. If two persons with Nee-like weight fit in my bed, it feels like sardines in a can. My books and my collection of Naruto Shippuden sat on the small table.
I have the set of Team 7 displayed in my study table. The prized collection among these is the Naruto forehead protector with Masashi Kishimoto's autograph in it. It was a gift from Nee when he attended a Japanese conference in Tokyo two years ago. At first, I was skeptical when he gave it to me, but when he showed a picture and a video clip of Kishimoto signing the headband, I was in cloud nine at that time. Nee spent thousands of yen just to get a ticket and to purchase the item. That was a dream come true though I wanted Nee to have Sakura or Hinata art board signed instead.
Living in a new place is a new world. To be honest, I have never been away home for this long. For years, this is the first time I am separated from my grandparents. Nee's cottage, but I call it an apartment often, is not the typical house I am used to living with. I cannot hear the relaxing sound of the sea that sinks into my ears every time I lie on my bed.
We live in an off-campus housing, not too big for three people but too small for four. It has two bedrooms and 1 bathroom. It has a kitchen with a refrigerator and a stove. The dining room and the living room has a combo concept with a 55-inch flat-screen TV and a stereo. This apartment, or cottage but I prefer to call it an apartment, isn't so grand as the other apartments in the neighborhood. I believe it is the cheapest that Nee can afford yet the nearest to the school aside from another cottage right next to ours that is completely uninhabited. A caretaker comes there occasionally for a clean-up.
Nee pays someone to deliver our laundry to the dry cleaning. However, Mama didn't like the idea of your clothes being washed in the laundry shop because, to her, it's an indolent way of washing your clothes. I followed my grandmother's advice and started to wash my own clothes on the weekend and my 'busy' brother continues to pay someone for the dry cleaners.
I am not a bad brother; I wash his clothes voluntarily sometimes. I cannot stand washing 2 slacks and 5 jeans in one afternoon. That was a 'bloody' and 'intensive' wash, I believe. One rewarding thing washing Nee's jeans is the folded paper bills unknowingly hidden in the pockets. One time, I got a thousand inside his pocket. I didn't bother telling him. He didn't ask. 🤐
Going back to my room.
So here I am stuck in the house doing nothing except blinking and thinking about the past, the present, and the future. My friends invited me to watch a movie with them but I refused. I walked to the kitchen while wiping some eye boogers on both eyes. I wear this Extra-Extra-Large T-shirt and pajamas for bedtime. Just trying to open my eyes wide, I heard subtle clickety-clack of the keyboard. I walked closer but it seems Nee hasn't noticed me coming.
Nee is writing a paper and some Professor's 'I-dunno' stuff. I tried to distract him.
"Ahem..." but he did not bother turning his head to look at me. 😎
I slid open the window so I can feel the morning breeze coming in. I come closer to Nee. Nonetheless, he even did not notice me standing in front of him face dancing. Whoa! girls notice me meters away but my bother didn't regard me getting his attention.
Is something wrong with my presence? 🙄
I prepared two mugs and poured hot water. I dipped the tea bags into the two mugs separately and the water eventually turned darker. The smell of the tea reminds me of my grandparents' morning routine. Nee never noticed me holding two mugs of tea. I slowly put his mug beside him a few inches away from his elbow. He might spill the tea accidentally.
"Do you really think I did not see you 'harvesting' your eye boogers?... I liked the face dance that made you less adorable to me. You looked so, oaf!"
"😡"
"Drink it first." I offered him. "Busy again? What's the new research all about?" I asked him.
"Just finishing some last-minute editing for the online journal of the History Department. This is due next week."
"Next week!!! Oh, you're on top of things! Want my help in editing?"
"The last time you helped me was a disaster. We ended up arguing whether to drop the word 'that' or to use 'which'. If I know in advance that I'm a better grammarian than you...I wouldn't ask."
"😡." I admit that Nee is better than me in almost many things.
"So, do you want me to take some look and make some comments...?" 😊
"Nope! Your comments aren't academic; you think figuratively. You sound poetic. You can only read, but never make my writing Shakespearean nor Petrarchan. OK! Continue doing your assignments instead."
"How about we watch anime after that? I suggested.
"We watch Naruto many times. Besides, I have something to work on remember the Selection yesterday?"
"Yeah...I will never forget it." I will really not.
"We need to make the final decision next week. The Senior Professors together with the other faculty deliberated it yesterday."
"And...no one is selected?"
"We actually favored 3 applicants but we need to triple check their applications for verification. Plus, we need to screen another batch. Andddd... I'm not inviting you..."
"I'm not interested. Really triple check???" I am no longer interested in that thing. I made trouble last time. I don't want to go back!
"Yeah, that's an important part. We like to make sure the student is competently qualified for the program. The program is a bit specialized and of course, demanding. Students need to balance their classes and the extracurricular activities required by the program."
"So that means in the 3 potential applicants, there is a chance that no one will be accepted?"
"Good inference!"
"I think that is good for you because you will be supervising a challenging program! No student, no program, it means less work and more time for leisure. "
"A very dense and senseless inference, Andreas!"
"You can't say that again!!!" 😤
"That's the very illogical idea I heard this morning..." Nee nag.
"It's rational...my brain told me."
"Thinking about it makes me want to go back as a plain instructor. You see, it's the program's launching and that means I will be packed with many unprecedented problems. Apart from my teaching post, I need to manage many things. See my eyes," he pointed his eye circles, " this is what leisure means to me."
"You look haggard by the way..."
"Thanks for the praise..." 😠
"Maybe you should try my night-time skincare routine..."😄
"Do you think I need that...?"
".. 😊.." I responded.
"Why do students want to apply for that program in the first place?"
"You weren't listening yesterday, were you? For students who don't care about their future, it's not appealing. Here's the beauty of this program. Only a handful number of universities offer this kind of program. This program, if you are successful, hits many opportunities at a time. An advance for a Master's degree and a very strong addition in the résumé. This also benefits the university in its image to attract excellent and brilliant students to enroll in the course. The competition nowadays is head to head and the universities need to distinguish their best offerings from other universities."
Nee sipped his tea while looking at me.
"And besides if the student will become accepted, he or she will have the chance to work with the university's most handsome History Professor!"😉
"He or she will be working with a Panda!"😂
I lean my arms on the table.
"Let's be serious that was very academic, Nee." My brother often gives sermons to me about my opinions. I shifted that part, which causes him stress, to another so he will not continue making another long speech.
"Do you have a favorite pick among the three?
"Honestly, and this is a good time to think about this one. I have someone in mind but I have to play fair and impartial about my evaluation. I need to review the papers first before making a verdict."
Nee mentioned "honestly" and that made me divert my attention to another very important issue which also causing me nightmares- the watch.
😰