Copter's POV

As we started to walk back to the main cottage, I couldn't help feeling envious of Bas. That kid definitely got some spunk. I would never ever be able to find the courage to confess to anyone how I felt especially if i wasn't sure if that person felt the same way about me.

Well, I guess I would be going back to the dizzying world of entertainment in a couple of days without P'Kim ever knowing how I really felt about him.

I tried to get the sad thoughts out of my mind by offering to help P'Tae prepare for lunch. P'Tae gladly accepted my offer and told me which ingredients to cut up.

I took the chopping board and set it close to where P'Tae was standing preparing the main ingredients so that he could supervise me in case I wasn't sure what size or shape he wanted the other ingredients to be cut up.

P'Tae had taken another chopping board and set it down beside mine and started cutting up the eggplants into tongue shaped pieces.

"I'm thinking of making some vegetable tempura out of these and the okra that I picked earlier from the garden," he said.

"That sounds scrumptious," I said, already starting to feel hungry.

We worked together silently for a little while and then he looked behind us to glance at P'Kim who was busy pouring some rice into the rice cooker, and then suddenly he bent to whisper in my ear, "I think Kim more than likes you. Do you feel the same?"

I couldn't help the heat from rising in my cheeks. I wasn't going to admit to P'Tae how I felt about P'Kim. What if he told P'Kim and then P'Kim started to avoid me.

"I don't think P'Kim likes me in the way you think," I whispered back to P'Tae.

"But how do you feel about him?" P'Tae insisted on knowing.

I had to lie, but I could not lie without the telltale blush on my cheeks.

"I look on him as a close older brother," I whispered back again to P'Tae.

I saw a movement from my peripheral vision and saw P'Tee walking out the living room door. I wondered where he was going. Should I have just let him be the assistant cook to P'Tae? But I needed to keep myself busy to shake off the sad thoughts from my mind. We only had two days left to enjoy our privacy and freedom from the scrutinizing and harsh world of entertainment and the sad thought made me wonder how we could make the most out of the short time left to all of us.

I was startled when P'Kim came up behind me to say, "Rice is in the cooker. Anything I can do on this side? You want me to help you cut up the remaining onions?"

"No, it's okay," I said to him, "they're the last remaining ingredients anyway. I might as well start cutting them up already."

I wanted to add, 'besides if my tears start falling I can always make the onions as my excuse."

"Alright, then, just call me if you need additional help. I'm just gonna be sitting by the porch," he said. "By the way, where's Tee?"

P'Tae looked up sharply from what he was doing.

"Yes, where did he go?" he asked, with some anxiety in his usually calm voice. "Can you finish stirring this flour mixture while I go look for him, Copter?"

"Of course," I said, starting to wonder whether the intimate scene I had stumbled upon between him and P'tee yesterday evening meant that they were more than just friends.