“DEATH CARD means a new beginning…”

Charlie’s brows furrowed at the fortune-teller’s readings on Shen’s card. “I didn’t expect that she can be easily fooled by this kind of scamming techniques,” he whispered and hide in the corner when the two women went out of the tent. “Where are they going now?”

Charlie followed Shen’s taxi cab that brought him to a place that reminded him of the busy marketplace in Hongkong. There were different vendors everywhere and crowded with people buying anything that they need. After he parked his car in a nearby food chain parking lot, Charlie finds them in the crowd. And, because their school uniform was like in Japan, he easily saw them in public.

“But your card didn’t say if it was really Sir Yohan,” Charlie heard Roha told Shen. “What if it’s a different person than you’re just about to meet?”

He smirked. “And, why she’s assuming that it was the professor?” He watched the woman’s reaction to her friend’s contradicting statement.

“I won’t let that happen,” Shen said. Charlie can see the determination in her face, and he wanted to laugh out loud because of it. “I will make sure that the only man for me is Sir Yohan.”

“What a spirit,” Charlie said, suppressing to laugh. “She’s really crazily in love with that professor, huh?”

When the two started walking towards the line of vendors on the church’s corner, Charlie followed them. He’s starting to have a feeling that this Shenaida is up to something evil. She was rejected by the professor when she confessed her love for him, but she doesn’t even look a bit broken-hearted. Instead, she looked as if she was challenged by the professor’s reluctance. And that made Charlie got curious about her.

He saw the two-woman stopped in front of a table, Charlie walked faster, but a man suddenly bumped with him even if there’s enough space on both his sides. The man apologized and walked past him. Charlie then continued walking towards the two witches.

“This kind of woman should be stopped with her plans,” he said, watching Shen talking with the old woman, the vendor of the bottled products. “And, what are those bottles?”

Charlie took a step closer to them so he could hear their conversation. When the old woman took out a small unlabeled bottle and showed it to Shen, Charlie’s suspicions risen.

“It’s proven and effective,” the old woman told them. “If you mixed it to a man’s drink, he’ll instantly fell for you. Love potions from Capiz Region are known to be effective with lifetime effect.”

“Lifetime effect?” Charlie repeated with furrowed brows. “Is she planning to lure the professor using that dirty-looking liquid in a bottle?”

Charlie’s stomach churned up with how the so-called potion was made flashed in his imagination. He shook his head and focused on Shen’s next move. And, when she took out her wallet and paid the love potion, that’s when Charlie intruded. He snatched the bottle from the old woman and raised it on his eye level.

Shen looked up at him and immediately got shocked to see him. Charlie smirked at her as he waved the bottle. “So this is your evil plan, Shenaida?”

“Hey!” Shen tried to snatch back the potion from him, but he raised it higher. “What the hell?!” She pushed him, but he didn’t budge. “What the fuck are you doing here? Give it back to me! That’s mine!”

But Charlie refused to lower his hand. “You’re going to use this just to make the poor professor fall in love with you? You’re that desperate to make such lowly moves like this, Shen?”

The woman pressed her lips together as she glared at him. “I don’t need your opinion, you bastard!”

“That’s three,” he said, brows furrowed. “No one has cursed me. I won’t let you passed with that, Shen—”

“I don’t care, asshole!” she said and jumped to reach the bottle from his hand. But too bad for her five-foot height. He’s several feet taller than her with his six-foot built. “Give it to me!”

“Do you think I’ll just let you do your plans?” Charlie asked her with furrowed brows, holding the bottle up to his head.

“It’s none of your business!” Shen shouted. “Why are you doing this, huh? Whatever I want to do in my life, you are out of it! We’re not even friends. You don’t have a right to tell me or stop everything that I would do! And what are you doing here in the first place? Did you follow us?”

Charlie was caught off guard. Even himself, he really doesn’t understand why he has to follow them and meddle in their business. He should be out of this, but he doesn’t know why he felt he had to stop Shen in her plans. The reason why? He doesn’t know.

“Isn’t he Charlie Yun? The commercial model?” one of the passers-by stopped and looked at Charlie. “Oh my gosh, it’s really him. He’s so gorgeous.”

Charlie started to feel uncomfortable, which worsened when he remembered that he forgot to wear his face mask. He lowered his head and avoided the eyes of the people around them. While he’s distracted, Shen suddenly snatched the bottle from his hand and ran with Roha. He was left getting surrounded by the crowd…

__________________

“SHEN, we shouldn’t leave Charlie. What if he can’t get away with his fans?” Roha pulled her to stop.

“Then, serves him right,” Shen said, repeating the same words that Charlie used to taunt her in the class. “And, it’s not our obligation to protect him. He wasn’t even our responsibility because first of all, we didn’t invite him to go with us. He just appeared here and meddled with my business.”

“I know, but Shen…” Roha trailed off. “I just pity him. Did you see the fear in his eyes when somebody from the crowd recognizes him?”

“Roha, it was his fault,” Shen insisted. “He’s aware that he’s a celebrity, but he went here without anything to cover his face.”

“So are we just gonna leave him behind?”

Shen’s brows furrowed, then remembered how Charlie’s expression suddenly became dull when he was recognized. His looks became bothered and weak. Shen looked back at where they left him. The crowd is now starting to gather around him.

“I never thought that I will soon save an enemy,” she said and ran back towards Charlie. She squeezed herself in between the crowds and doesn’t care if her uniform wrinkled or lost a button. As soon as he saw the man, she called him. “Charlie! Take my hand!”

The man looked at her. The scared expression that she saw on his face broke Shen’s heart. She reached for his hand, and when he held on to her, Shen used all her strength to pull him out and ran away from the crowd.

This is the craziest thing that Shen has ever done in her twenty-years of existence.

***