"Nice to meet you. I'm Andre Huang."
"Liam Wu," he replies.
"My boyfriend." Mikayla utters, talking about Andre.
"What..?" Liam keeps his brows up. Mikayla actually has a boyfriend now..? Why does this seem like a punch to the gut, even though it's not like he didn't walk into this himself. "Is that true?" Liam asks her. Her lips curved upwards and she nods in reply. Meanwhile, Liam stares at Andre with his eyes wide open and he feels like the world is crumbling apart around him, while he looks back on the wrong things he did to his best friend. He didn't even shake—Just there he was in total paralysis.
Liam falls to his knees as his face falls down. He couldn't even ask her why she didn't tell him. He started it, after all. He tears up in regret, both that he hid something from his best friend then hurt her for essentially nothing, and that he broke their friendship that can never be revived.
The couple look at the weeping Liam with their expressionless faces—they could hardly give a darn about him, seriously!
"Excuse me." The security guard speaks once again. "At least say something if you're going to make him cry, with all due respect," he added.
Mikayla looks at the security guard, and back to Liam, then says: "Sorry."
The couple leave the building and Liam with the security guard. The security guard bends down closer to Liam, handing him a white handkerchief. "Take it. She wanted me to give it to you."
Liam looks up to the guard and tries searching from the balcony in case Mikayla is still there.
"Thanks, man." He says as he blows his nose into the handkerchief.
The security guard goes back to standing properly to greet a new guest, and he waited for them to enter the restaurant before he said: "I told you it wasn't me—It was that Mika you called. I'm kind of curious what that Andre Huang is like."
"What do you mean? Why?"
"Well, the... um.. Miss Mika waited for him to turn around when they were about to leave. She was so cautious of him when she was handing me the handkerchief. It's like she didn't want him to see it."
A long but not so awkward silence occured, encircling the two quiet individuals.
"What's your name?" Liam asked the security guard.
"You don't have to call me anything," he replied.
Soon, Liam decided to head home, though he still tried to reach Mikayla one last time before he went to bed.
The next morning, he stops by Mikayla's university to find her coming out of a car which seemed to be someone else's.
"Thanks, baby. Take care." Mikayla says as she bends down to the car window talking to Andre.
"I'll see you soon," Andre responds as he watches Mika walk further away and into the university. He leaves soon.
'This is my chance,' Liam thought to himself. 'Time to act like a man, Liam.'
"Mika." He runs to her and grabs her by the hand, making her turn to him with her jaws dropped down, startled.
"Liam.."
"Look—I'm sorry, Mika."
"..."
A short silence occurs; Mikayla blinks at him about four times.
"I forgive you, Liam."
"I.. That's great if, uh... if you do, Mika. But, I.. I was wondering if maybe... we could go back?"
"..?"
Mikayla was a little confused and she wasn't sure of what to say, but it did widen her eyes more when she saw tears coming from his eyes.
It seems his tears are unstoppable, and it also seems that he's unconscious about them since his expression does not really match that of a normal crying person.
"Liam, you're tearing up..?"
"Huh?" Liam moves his hands to his wet and reddish cheeks. Realizing how embarrasing this is for him, he quickly wipes his tears away with both his hands, while he giggles slightly to save the time from awkwardness.
"Heh.. Sorry, I didn't realize."
"Liam, are you okay..?"
"Yea.. No, yea, yea, I.. I'm okay. My eyes are just tired."
"From what?"
"I, uh.. I had to clean my, uh... apartment... I had four hours of sleep, yea, so.."
"... Liam, I lost my phone."
"What?"
He looks at her with raised brows. Is this why she hasn't been answering his calls?
"Yea, I.. I think it got stolen or I left it somewhere, but.. Yea, um.. I've been trying to get a new phone, but I couldn't decide which one to get."
"..."
"Oh, right. How are, uh... things going for you and Austin?"
Liam stares at her for a while before he looks down, and says: "He-"
"Sh*t, Liam, it's almost call time! I have to go, I'm so sorry. I'll catch you later! Kokoffi!" Mikayla rushes to the university, while still trying to shout her messages to Liam.
Liam is now left by the gates, feeling relieved that he finally got to reach closure with his best friend Mikayla.
Hours later, Liam sits at a table near the entrance at Kokoffi with his drink, while he scrolls on his phone.
"Waiting for someone?" Liam's co-worker speaks to him from behind, while cleaning a glass with a cloth.
"Not really. Just bored." Liam replies.
"Well alright, Hachiko."
"I just told you-"
His attention was dragged out from his co-worker when a familiar car pull up by the coffee shop; it's Mikayla's.
"I knew it." His co-worker giggles.
"Shut up."
"Yes, Sir.." The two joke at each other, while the other reach to open the door for Mikayla, as the other one goes back to the counter.
The two best friends greet each other with a short hug, and soon they take a seat across each other.
"Still don't have a new phone?" Liam starts the conversation.
"Nope. I really can't decide."
"Maybe I can help you sometime."
"Oh, I.. I'd love that, but Andre promised he will. Tonight, we'll be going to the mall."
"Oh. Anyway, speaking of Andre. If I may ask.. How did you meet him?"
"He's the one my mother wanted me to marry."
Liam stopped moving. He remembers Mika mentioning his name before, but his jaw still dropped down before he managed to regain some of his composure. "Uh.."
"Don't question it, Liam."
"Sorry."
Liam is curious. No, he's very curious. He remembers what happened at midnight at the restaurant; First, why did she seem cautious giving the handkerchief? Second, why was Andre staring at Liam like he was planning to kill him?
"So, Liam.." Mikayla takes away the awkwardness when she spoke once again. "You and Austin?"
His eyes move down to the table, and he lets out a sigh before he says: "We, uh.. We broke up, Mika. He cheated on me."
"I.. I see. I'm sorry."
More and more awkward silence lingers around the table for minutes. It's so awkward that at this point, they are both thinking deep inside, that maybe.. Maybe there's just no hope for their friendship anymore.
"So.. How are things going for you and your family, including Andre?"
"Good."
"..."
Crickets.. Crickets.. They both feel it—They both feel the tension around them. They both want to keep talking, but they don't know what to talk about. 'This is.. very.. awkward,' the two thought to themselves.
"Oh, right. Michael says he misses you. You should come over tonight." Mikayla informs him with quite an enthusiastic tone.
"Sure. I haven't talked to Mike in a-"
"Michael."
"He lets me call him Mike, though."
"Michael."
"Yes, Ma'am."
After his shift that day, Mikayla picked him up. The two arrived at night, with little to no words between them. They simply drove and that's it.
Once again, they finally park in front of the house then head inside.
Like the first time he entered this house, the first thing Liam notices is Michael eating on the couch while watching TV, except this time he's eating chicken fillet.
"Liam!" Michael quickly gets up with his plate on his hand while his voice echoes around the living room.
"Really, Michael? You're not going to say 'Mika!'?" Mikayla giggles slightly. "I saw you yesterday, Mika," Michael answers.
The two friends walk closer to Michael. As they were about to take seats...
"Liam?" Theresa calls his name from the indoor balcony. She walks down the staircases with her husband Arthur; "What are you doing here?"
"Good evening, Ma'am, Sir. I came to hang out with Michael," he responds after bowing his head to the siblings' parents.
After dinner, Mikayla heads to read in her room while Michael and Liam play video games in Michael's room. Mikayla closes the door behind her before collapsing onto the bed. A small smile forms on her face at the thought of spending some time with her best friend once again, even if it is just for a short amount of time. After taking off her jacket and shoes, she lies back down and turns on her side.
After a while, she goes to Michael's room to take Liam away. "Liam. There's something I need to show you—it's about your shift at Kokoffi. Hurry."
Hearing this, Liam hurries to Mikayla. He unconsciously follows her to the garden, far from anybody.
"Mika..?"
"I can talk to you about anything, right?"
"You can talk to me about anything, Mika."
Hearing this, she loses her composure and starts tearing up. She decides to take a deep breath, before she looks down and says: "I like you.."