15- A Tiring Day

Pan slowly leaves the Auditorium 3 along with Han and Yara; who hangs her hand on Pan's shoulder.

"Pan? Are you okay?" Yara asks her when she suddenly halts in the middle of the BBA building's foyer.

"Am I being too much?" she asks.

"About what? Just now, you mean?" Han asks her back. She nods in tiny, eyes gloomy like a dark cloud floating in the sky.

"Now your confidence wore off, huh?" Han teases her. She smacks the man with her bag.

"But, I get her point, tho!" Yara suddenly speaks up. She looks at Pan and smiles.

"If we learn about something, but we never practice it in real life, it feels like the knowledge we get is wasted," Han lifts his brows, amazed by Yara's words.

"Ooohh.. Master Yara The Philosopher..."

"Well, that's what Pan told us just now. Did you miss that part? Are you sleeping or what?" the girl frowns at her.

"Er.. Maybe I'm too busy feeling shocked?" Han shows them his white teeth.

"You're ignorant!" Yara scolds him.

"Since you fell from the stairs, you change a bit, missy! Are you sure your brain functioning in the correct order?" asks Han. Pan laughs at them.

Yara fidgets for a while. Then, she lifts her head and looks in front.

"I'm still the old me. But, ever since the incident, I thought, maybe I should stop being scared and timid all the time. People sacrifice for me, but here I am, behaving like a loser..."

Both Pan and Han exchange looks. Together, they glance at Yara. The girl, who sandwiches between them looks sullen.

"Yara..."

"What you told us just now is true, Pan! Living on campus provides us with a lot of specialties. But... Out there... That's what we call life!" the girl speaks up full of spirit.

Pan slowly smiles at Yara. She never thought her answer to Ta's question could change someone like this. All she did was tell the truth. Never thought of changing someone's mindset like this.

***

"0818..."

"Senior?"

"So, what do you think?"

Pan's eyes stare at Ta. Her lips lock tight. She's still in aftershock when Ta suddenly called her just now.

Everybody was looking at her as if her answer was a matter of life and death. She could feel the pressure from both sides; the freshmen and the seniors.

I can agree to disagree but it will cause more trouble with them! Pan gushed inside.

"There is nothing wrong if we hunt for the senior's signature. I think that's a good ice-breaking technique!" she finally pours out her opinion.

"But, we have so much to do within the short period. Besides, this is not BBA tradition! This is more like Engineers. We are not Engineers!" one of the freshmen voices out his opinion.

"So, you think only engineers work with people and we don't? Then, who are we gonna work with? Giraffes?"

The answer made the whole Auditorium 3 laugh.

"Public relations is one of the main keys to making a good connection for business purposes. This is the time when we create a branding; us. Getting a sign might sound silly, but if we don't step forward and make the first move, we won't go anywhere," Pan carefully arranged her words so everyone could see the benefits of the signup activity.

"Come on! As if we're not learning that in class! I think the inputs that we retrieve from the PR class are enough to help us in the future. No need to be so shameless, dragging ourselves to these seniors, begging for signs, and making room for them to bully us!" this time, it's a girl from the front row. Pan sighs. She knew, her path was getting harder.

"If we learn about something, but we never practice it in real life, it feels like the knowledge we get is wasted," Pan answered her calmly. "Besides, why are you making a room for them to do dirty to you? This is your time to shine. It's not that we can't negotiate with them at all! It depends on how you put your terms," she continues.

"When you enter the real world after graduating, things will get harder than this. Believe me, if you feel lazy now, you gonna regret it later," Pan looked around her while she spoke.

"So, you told us that you agree with this activity?" Ta asked Pan. The girl halted a bit, then slowly she smiled at him.

"Senior, I believe that you learned about 7 elements of a contract?"

Ta nods.

"I assume when you give your suggestion, it can be considered as an offer, am I right?" asked Pan.

Everyone glanced at each other, trying to understand the meaning of all of it.

"What do you think?" Ta rebound the question.

"It depends. But you have to be careful, Senior Ta..." she gave him a deep stare. "One mishap, and you get hatred for the rest of your senior life," warned Pan.

This time, it's the seniors who exchange looks. Kitty and Lauring smirked at each other while Kim and Seth couldn't hide their shocking face. Bear nodded in tiny and glanced at Zee who gazed at Pan with his stone-cold face.

"Is she always this good, Zee?" Bear whispered to him. Zee glared at him and slowly crooked his lips up. The man chuckled in tiny.

Now, he understood why Zee always looked at her in that way. His eyes glistened and sparkled whenever he saw her.

It's a form of amazement.

"So, what's the deal?" Ta finally spoke up. Pan smirked. She knew Ta won't put his ass in a dangerous spot. If he said it was an order, the freshmen would strike back, no doubt! But, if it's an offer, there is a room for negotiation.

Things will get balanced.

"We will accept the challenge if the seniors are willing to play with rules. Fair game," Pan starts the negotiation process.

To be honest, this is not the first negotiation that she had in her life. She has a business, anyway! Dealing with customers is her daily task. Furthermore, having a daughter like Shu taught her a lesson in negotiation as well!

"Fine. But, you can demand only 3 rules," said Ta. He won't budge as well. Giving them too much room will make them the king of the game.

"Freshmen, three is enough?" asked Pan. They look at each other for a while. After some consideration, they nod.

"Okay, let's make these rules!" said Ta.

"But how?" suddenly Yara asked. The question was indeed essential in this situation.

How to amend rules?

"Okay, how about we list some rules that we think are capable of being used in this program? From the list, choose the best three. Put safety and morality as the top priorities," said one of the female freshmen.

"Agree!" Han put up his hand and grinned.

"Fine. Let's start!"

***

"Moderate. Respect. Friendly!"

Han yells outside the BBA building. Pan shakes her head and smiles.

"I love the tagline. Sounds fun!"

"Thanks to you guys who help as well," says Pan. Yara clicks her tongue.

"Nope! We are the ones who should thank you for the most educated negotiation that we have ever seen in our lives!" Yara puts her hand around Pan's shoulder and squeezes her tight.

"Yeah, I have a genius friend!" Han yells merrily. Pan frowns when he puts his hand around her shoulder as well.

"Ai sutt, don't put your weight on me!"

"Did you just curse me, Pandora!?" Yara yelps. She pulls away her hand, causing her to almost lose her balance. Pan quickly catches her before she falls on the asphalt road, one more time. The three of them laugh together, and Pan softly apologizes to Yara.

"Ahem..."

They stop when a man, out of nowhere, greets them. Pan almost chokes her saliva, while Yara's jaw drops and Han almost stumbles up front.

"Senior... Senior Cray, what are you doing here?" asks Pan.

"I came to return your bike. I asked my friend to fix it for you. Here!" Cray hands out the key. Pan slowly grabs the key from him.

"Thank you," she says politely.

"Can I have more than just a thank you?"

His question makes Yara and Han gasp. Pan still maintains her composure.

"I will pay for the cost. Name it," says Pan. Cray looks away for a second. Then he glances at her with a smile.

"A dinner with me. How's it?" he asks.

"A dinner it is! Here, take our friend! We put our trust in you to take care of her, Senior Cray!" Han pushes Pan towards Cray. She frowns and gives him a sharp glare. Her lips move as she curses him in mute. He giggles and wink at her.

"Shall we?" Cray gives her his hand. She stares at him and nods her head but ignores his hand.

"Thank you," Cray thanked Han and Yara before pursuing Pan from behind. They watch the two slowly disappear from the building.

"Looks like my ship will sail smooth!" says Han. He grins and looks at Yara. The girl shakes her head in tiny.

"You're so delulu!" she spits her words at him.

"You got a problem with that??"

And for that, they start bickering again...