Glimpses

The Pants

AN: For Lindy (DramaLindy) and Ev (evfabricando), a tribute to #Cafaub Week

Just a little bit of background to this story:
So over on Lindy's Instagram account (@everyoutfitonmeteorgarden2018), a particular pair of pants which Si wore in several pivotal moments in the drama, especially in the iconic bus-chasing scene were boggling us for a long time. We had since established that the clothing choices for the drama were not randomly chosen by coincidence, and that every outfit had indeed a hidden message. It was puzzling because one side of the pants said "Love", but no-one knew what the other side said, and that remained a mystery for months until about a week ago when the brilliant evfabricando finally cracked the code and solved the greatest mystery of Si's pants. And what she discovered was mind-blowing, because the message on the pants was indeed the message of Meteor Garden 2018 in a nutshell.
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Daoming Si felt his whole body paralyse with shock as he watched Shancai get onto the bus, and with Lei, no less. His insides screamed with protest but he was powerless to do anything as the doors of the bus closed behind her.  He had lost her for good, and she was never coming back. The bus engine revved as it prepared to continue its journey.

The rumble of the bus seemed to bring him back to earth as his feet suddenly found motion. How he could he possibly let her leave with Lei? His confession to her just before she boarded the bus replayed in his mind as he began to run after the bus. He could never let her go, he had said he was prepared to chase her to Mars. If he couldn't even chase after a bus, let alone Mars, he may as well eat his words.

He screamed her name as he ran, "Shancai!! Shancai!!!" and at one point, he actually ran on par with the bus. He could see her through the window, tears streaming down her cheeks, avoiding to look at him, trying to shut out his desperate screams.

Si ran until his body gave way and he could run no further. He was no match for the bus at it picked up its pace and rumbled down the street. He was flailing and he just could not go on. He finally stopped running as his whole body screamed in pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling in his heart. She was gone. She was really gone. His feet were numb as he turned to walk away, and he could barely put one foot in front of the other.

Suddenly, he heard a voice cry out in the distance, faint but distinct. "Daoming Si! Daoming Si!!" There she was, running towards him. He felt like he was dreaming, was it really her or just a hallucination? Her tiny body came hurtling towards him and she flung herself on him. He was so weak that his arms could barely catch her. "You came back," he whispered into her hair. "Why did you get off the bus?"

"Itwasbecauseofyourpants," came her muffled voice buried in his chest. He bent his head lower to catch what she was saying. "Hm?" "Itwasbecauseofyourpants," she said again.

Si pulled away slightly. "What did you say?"

"IT WAS BECAUSE OF YOUR PANTS!"

"My pants??" he asked her incredulously. "Why??"

Shancai drew a deep breath. "Because it says "Love" on one side, for obvious reasons, and the other side says "Cafaub".

"I still don't get it."

"Cafaub" means "forgive" in the Hmong language. And I know that because my grandma was part Hmong, and she used to speak a few words to us when we were younger. So your pants say "Love" and "Forgive".

Si looked at her, stunned, but silently thanking his lucky stars that out of the dozen black skinny jeans in his closet, he had chosen that very pair to wear today.

"So now I'm telling you that I love you, and I forgive you. And that's why I got off the bus. Will you forgive me too, for running away?" Shancai looked at him timidly.

She received no answer as Si reached out to crush her against his chest, his lips capturing hers in a lingering kiss. "I'll take that as a yes" she murmured against his mouth, pulling him tighter against her.