The Undecided Lover

Chapter 1

Tee's POV

The final part of our commercial shoot had just ended, and as I watched the camera men putting away their equipment, my peripheral vision noticed P'Tae quickly moving towards the door, without a by-your-leave to me.  I have to make excuses for his lack of manners towards me.  His childhood sweetheart Nancy has been pestering him with texts during the shoot, asking him how much longer she has to wait before he is free to meet up with her.

I slowly make my own way towards the door, wondering whether Copter or Bas is free.  I know that they have their own individual schedules, shooting their own commercials so I'm prepared to spend my free time all by myself.

I walked to my car while sending a group text to Copter and Bas.

"Are you going anywhere?"  I turned around to see who was talking to me. Whaa...why is P'Tae in the same parking lot as me???

"I'm planning to hang out with Copter or Bas, if anyone of them is free.  I was just about to send a group text to them,"  I informed him.

"Oh, and you weren't planning to ask me, huh?" his voice sounded irked.

"You seemed in a hurry to leave after the shoot, so I thought you were on your way to have a dinner date with Nancy,"  I felt a bit offended that he seemed to be accusing me of being thoughtless towards him.

"I had to call back my mom because she texted me, asking if I wanted to spend my free day tomorrow with her and the rest of the family," he explained.

"What about Nancy,"  I asked.

"I made some lame excuse not to see her tonight because I'm too exhausted to listen to all her whining and griping," he replied unconcernedly.

If I were a woman I would never get involved with this thoughtless and inconsiderate dickhead, I told myself.

My phone sounded twice in quick succession to alert me that I was receiving replies from Copter and Bas.

"Excuse me," I said to P'Tae as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Not finished shooting.  Looks like this will take all night."   from Bas.

"I'm in my mom's car right now.  She picked me up to attend my sister's birthday party."  from Copter.

"Okay," I group texted them back.

P'Tae watched me as I pocketed back my phone.  "So can I hangout with you guys tonight?" he asked.

"They're both not available,"  I informed him, "just as I expected."

"Let's just hang out together then," he offered.

I have to think fast of an excuse not to hang out with him.  It's already bad enough that his close presence is an excruciating torture to me.  I have to keep smiling throughout the shoot, presenting a facade of careless indifference as we lightly touch each other's arms or wrist or drape an arm on each other's shoulder.   All the time my poor heart is savoring every moment with him even though I know it's all for the benefit of the camera, and that at the end of the shoot we will both be going our separate ways.

Every moment of the shoot is a mixture of pain and pleasure to my poor infatuated heart.  I have to get some relief and lick my wounds in the privacy of my apartment.

"Well?" he prodded.

"Actually..." I started to formulate a good excuse in my mind.

"I know what," he said, interrupting my sentence, "let's hang out at my place.  The shelves of my fridge is filled with bottles of your favorite brand of beer and I have several food containers of dishes that my mom dropped off this morning just before I left for the shoot.   You know that my mom is a very good cook, right?" he added for good measure, as if he wanted to clinch the deal right here and now.

I wanted to ask him how he found out what my favorite brand of beer was, but did it matter for me to know really?  I thought miserably.

Before I could decline his offer, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me to where his motorcycle was parked.

"Wait," I said, "I can't leave my car here.  Why don't I just follow you to your place?"

"Fine by me," he shrugged.

Truth be told, I did not want to sit behind him on his motorcycle and especially, I did not want to be holding on to his waist during the trip to his place. His nearness would only be a bittersweet experience for me.