Mr. Cinderella

-4-

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Billkin couldn't stop cursing as he rushed back to the Science Faculty to search for Bright and Pavel. Since it was lunch hour, he quickly dashed to the canteen of that faculty and huffed in relief when he finally found them at their usual table. "Guys!" He shouted in panic.

Bright immediately lifted up his face when he heard the familiar voice while Pavel had the whole body turned around, watching Billkin with his face scrunched up.

"Oh my god, guys! Thank God you're here!" Billkin said, as he threw himself on the bench and breathed in and out repeatedly to replace the depleted oxygen before he could speak to his friends.

"What's going on, Billkin? Did someone die?" Pavel said in a teasing manner. He turned back facing the table and started eating his pad thai.

"No one dies yet...but..." Billkin mirrorred Pavel's action and faced Bright who seemed quiet than usual. Maybe Bright hadn't getting over the deed he had done last night. He understood. But what he was about to tell them, might not sit well with Bright too.

"But what?" Pavel asked in anticipation.

"But one of us will if he finds out." Billkin uttered, staring at Bright who seemed agitated by the news. Bright might have noticed that he was directing it to him.

"Yah! Stop going around your words! Just tell us what the hell is going on?!" Pavel demanded in frustration. He didn't like to be kept waiting. It was making him furious.

"It's about Joss." Billkin finally began to spill what he wanted to relay to them.

"Joss?" Bright's head perked up when the name was mentioned. "What about him?"

"Haven't you two heard about what has been going on around campus?"

Both Pavel and Bright shook their heads profusely.

"Well, he is searching for his Miss Cinderella!" Billkin revealed.

"Cinderella?" Bright's brows knitted as he spoke. "Why Cinderella? Who is she?"

Billkin snickered at his friend's stupidity. "She is you, Bright."

"I don't get it. I mean, why am I related to Cinderella?" Bright was still blurred about it. He couldn't connect the dot yet, because his brain was in a mess ever since he kissed Joss last night.

"Aaah...I get it! It's because that high heels! You accidentally left one last night, right?" Pavel reminded Bright who looked lost.

"Err....yeah...so?"

"Don't you read Cinderella story?" Billkin was frustrated. Bright was taking it too slow to understand.

Bright didn't respond for a while. It seemed like he was in a deep thinking. It took him around five minutes to finally register the whole matter into his brain. "Owwhhh...."

"That's it? That is the only thing you can say?" Billkin gaped. "You still don't get it, do you? Joss is using that heels to find its owner. He is trying to find his Miss Cinderella."

"Good luck with that." Pavel laughed. "He won't find it unless the quest is changed to find his Mr. Cinderella."

Bright swallowed. "Did he find someone who fits?" He started to feel agony. If someone did fit the heels, than his mission had turned into a disaster. Joss would never know that it was him who kissed Joss. But he didn't deserve to feel sad. It was him who wanted to hide the real him from Joss. This probably was his karma for not being truthful about his love.

"Not yet. At least not that I know of. However, he has been going from faculty to faculty just to have every female in this University to try it on. And right now, he is on his way to this faculty. The last one on the list." Billkin announced to his friends. "Aren't you going to do anything about it?" He asked worriedly.

"What do you want me to do? Tell him to stop? You know he won't listen to me." Bright responded in grimace.

"I'm not talking about stopping him. Well, I mean...I sort of want you to stop him from looking for her anymore because it's you."

"Are you suggesting that I should speak the truth, telling him that it was me?" Bright asked, wondering if that was what Billkin wanted him to do.

"Yes!"

"No way, Billkin. No fucking way! I'm not that brave! Why should I go through all the trouble of becoming a woman if I can tell him straight to his face?"

"But...are you truly okay with it if someone actually fits the shoe? I mean that glass high heel? You do realize what will happen when it does? You will lose him for real. There is no turning back. You have to let go what you already have in your grasp." Pavel stated the consequences of not doing anything about the matter.

"You love Joss. You need to come clean to him." Billkin added. "Because from what I heard, he has fallen in love with the woman he kissed last night. And he is going to search for her and make her his forever. I believe it has something to do with the pact he did with his boys. Although I'm not sure what it was, but he is going to woo that woman to be his lifetime soulmate. So, are you really going to let Joss be with someone who is not you, the one who kissed him last night?"

Bright sighed. "Listen to yourself, Billkin. You said, Joss has fallen in love with that woman. What makes you think he will want to proceed with his mission on finding his soulmate after he finds out that the woman was me? Do you think he will reciprocate my feelings? Do you think he will accept the fact that he had kissed his own friend who apparently from the same gender as he is?"

"We don't know until you give it a try, Bright." Pavel interjected. "You have come to this extend on making him knows your feeling, shouldn't it be wise to reveal yourself to him as well? Joss will be hurt if later he finds out that the woman was you. And he will be pissed if he realizes that he has been deceived by his friend. Have you ever think of how he feels?"

Bright lowered his head.

"Well, whatever your decision is, you better make it fast. Because here come Joss...." Billkin announced when he saw Joss.