Awkward Encounter

‘HUH?’ Crystal jumps back a little at the sight of Yan, nearly bumping into the table. ‘How did you get here as well?’

Dramatic as always, Yan thinks.

‘We’re just finding somewhere to eat,’ he says, maintaining his composure as much as possible.

‘This is some crazy coincidence,’ she comments. ‘Like what are the chances of not just bumping into each other at the station exit but here as well?’

‘Um… I’m not good at maths. I don’t know.’

For a while, the two groups just stand facing each other, not exactly knowing what to do or say. None of them had really talked to each other before save for some school projects, after all. It’s almost like a standoff, except both sides hold no enmity towards each other, just pure stranger-like awkwardness.

‘Bro, say something,’ Herman whispers to Yan. ‘Aren’t you two like friends?’

‘J-Just give me a bit.’

But Yan doesn’t know how to follow up. Unlike the times spent just between the two of them at Crystal’s place, there’s an invisible burden pressuring him, his eyes darting around to avoid any and all eye contact with the others. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes to mind.

‘So, uh… what did you guys do here?’ It’s Jayden who finally breaks the silence, attempting to break the ice.

‘O-Oh, just hanging out and stuff,’ Angela answers. ‘You?’

‘Same, I guess?’ Herman answers.

This small talk is not working at all. None of them are at ease, least of all Yan, and based on her fidgeting, Crystal as well. One just can’t expect two completely different groups of people to immediately hit it off. Yan notices that Summer is partially hidden behind Crystal, shyly making herself as invisible as possible. Just before at the station exit she seemed so outgoing as well. On the other side, Larry hasn’t spoken a single word, his mouth mumbling seemingly to himself.

Not a smooth encounter at all.

‘Oh… yeah, Cris, didn’t you say you wanna tell Yan something earlier?’ Angela nervously nudges her friend.

For a moment, Crystal’s eyes seem to flicker a bit in shock. ‘U-Um, right… Yeah, I almost forgot.’

All of a sudden, almost everyone’s eyes fall on her, putting her in the spotlight. Yan notices her body twitching a little, as if irked by all the attention pointing towards her. Surprisingly, for someone who seems to always seek attention, she’s definitely uncomfortable with all this curiosity, almost like she wants to run away from all this… just as Yan didn’t want to go to the bookstore before to avoid running into her.

‘Ehem…’ he clears his throat, breaking everyone’s concentration for a moment. ‘Uh, Crystal, you can just—’

‘I’ll just text you about it,’ she interrupts. ‘Anyway, we should probably leave now. See ya later!’ She hurriedly departs, ditching her friends once again. For a second, Yan sees a smile of relief on her face.

‘It was nice meeting you all!’ Realising the situation, Angela quickly nods before dragging Summer to catch up to Crystal.

‘Cris, what were you even about to say to him, anyway…’ Even as their figures fade into the crowd, Yan can still hear their faint voices for a while, at least until he’s pulled to his seat by Herman.

‘What was that earlier about?’ Larry asks. Now clearly a lot more comfortable, he slouches immediately after sitting down, his posture completely relaxed compared to the stiffness earlier.

‘Seriously, that was really, really awkward,’ Jayden says.

‘Blame this man here for barely talking,’ Herman responds, lightly shoving Yan a bit. ‘Bro definitely lost some brain cells.’

‘Bruh, I honestly had no idea what was going on,’ Yan complains.

In that quick encounter, almost nothing was exchanged between the two sides, the invisible barrier too high to cross. A barrier that seemed to not really exist before unless Yan counts his temporary reluctance to go to the bookstore as one. Crystal seemed like her usual self in the beginning, but there was also something off about her. Everything just then seemed so abrupt to even process.

Just then, a notification pops up on his phone.

Crystal: so about what i wanted to tell u

‘Yo, that was fast,’ Herman notes, peeking over Yan’s shoulder to look at his phone.

‘Bruh, could you not?’ Yan shoves Herman’s face away as he clicks into his chat with Crystal, seeing that familiar ‘online’ status below her name.

- so about what i wanted to tell u

- i read the ln u recommended

‘Huh?’ A sound leaks out of Yan’s mouth. Wasn’t she annoyed at my overly long explanation before?

- its SO GOOD

Yan chuckles. All the worries he might’ve had are instantly wiped away. Instead of being weirded out by his intense fervour for a piece of fiction, Crystal had given the book a try… and actually enjoyed it. Everything he was worried about was in his mind. And for once, he’s not alone in the people he knows who also enjoy the book.

- IKR

He types in full caps, something not exactly common for his style. Perhaps Crystal has already influenced him a bit with the limited time they shared.

- but in exchange for that

- i want u to come to the bookstore this saturday

- i have something to show u

All of a sudden, he feels just a bit guilty of himself. Despite the blunders he made, Crystal still made an effort to try the stuff he enjoys. Meanwhile, his experience of trying out stuff that Crystal enjoys lie almost strictly with Hollow Warrior and a few anime episodes. Ok, to be fair, they do take up quite a big chunk of time. However, he didn’t truly, actually try to make it fun for himself. He’s just been passively absorbing Crystal’s hobbies from her preference. Being very different people, it’s only natural he’d be a bit frustrated after a while. He didn’t turn those hobbies into something he would enjoy.

He still hasn’t really made an effort to understand, to read Crystal as a person.

- u good with that?

But it’s not the end of the world.

- yea sure

- :)

Just as Yan is about to put down his phone, another stream of messages appear on the chat.

- by the way

- thanks for distracting everyone for a sec there

- i felt a bit uncomfortable being put on the spot like that

- so really

- thanks a lot

Somehow, his little interjection was noticed. A peculiar feeling of joy rushes up his chest, departing his body as he breathes out a sigh. Still, not letting the happy chemicals get over his head, he simply types:

- npnp

‘Geez, she really noticed,’ he mutters to himself.

‘B-R-O,’ a loud voice suddenly interrupts his moment of joy. It’s Herman, his face practically pressing against Yan’s ear.

‘What do you want?’

‘What’re you eating?’ Jayden asks. ‘We all decided already.’

‘A-Ah, right. What’s there to eat?’

‘Were you even listening, bro?’ Herman says in exasperation. ‘Ok, just for your deaf ears to listen again: we all decided on ordering from the mixian place. Jayden’s doing the paying and lining up, we pay him back later. Which one are you ordering?’

‘Uh… the classic one, I guess.’

‘Four classics then,’ Jayden notes down. ‘Are we sharing the same brain cell or what?’

‘Yeah, the one that Yan lost a while ago while trying to talk to Crystal and her friends,’ Herman remarks.

‘Oof…’ Larry responds.

‘Shut up, Herman.’