Love Business

"Uncle Zee..."

"Yes, bunny?"

"Next week, there will be a Japanese Festival at the nearby primary school..." Shu fidgets for a moment.

"Really?"

The girl nods slightly.

"There's a singing competition. I asked Aunt Mei to sign me up," Shu says. Zee watches her attentively.

"Ah, no wonder you keep singing in class! I heard Miss Wendy complains to Aunt Mei about it," Shu pouts, looking at Zee, who laughed at her.

"Miss Wendy is nosy!"

"You did cause a ruckus in class, missy..."

Shu glares at Zee bitterly. Zee can't control his expression when he sees Shu in a bad mood. Her eyes glared sharply, and her puffed cheeks made her look cute like a pufferfish.

Shu reminds me of Ylang. They share so many similarities.

"Shu, do you want to talk to someone?" Zee asks. The girl nods furiously. Zee takes out his phone and starts a video call.

"You never care to text me before you call, Hia... It's 6 a.m. here!" a girl grumbles from her bed, rubbing her half-open eyes. She rolls over, unbother by her camera streaming her activity in bed.

"Did you sleep late again, Ylang?" Zee shakes his head slightly.

"I finally shut my eyes at 4. It's hard to sleep nowadays, Hia! I got back from the hospital around midnight. Then, I had to finish my assignment and report for morning classes. Hospital again after lunch until midnight. And... repeat... Ugh..." Ylang pulls her black duvet over her head. Shu and Zee could hear her grumbling louder as she murmured.

"What is your job, miss?" Shu asks politely. Ylang finally opens her eyes properly and immediately sees a girl with two ponytails on her head.

"Hia, did you kidnap someone's kid?!"

Zee laughs. Shu stares at Ylang in disbelief, her expression feels familiar. So much so, it feels like she is looking into a mirror.

"No! Uncle Zee is a nice guy! He didn't kidnap me. He adores me!"

"Little girl, you don't know... My brother is an evil person! He might eat you alive later. Does he always buy you snacks?" Ylang asks Shu while grabbing a hair tie from the side table and tying her hair in a hurry.

"Uncle Zee always buys chicken skewers for me..."

"There you go! He purposely force-feeds you so you can get fat, and then he can eat you later..."

Shu looks at Ylang, then her eyes shot in horror at Zee. The man laughs his lungs out.

"Don't worry. Before he could eat me, I'll stab him first!" Shu says, putting a karate chop onto Zee's neck. Zee pretends to fall back, playing along with the little girl's joke.

Ylang lets out a faint laugh while watching Shu and Zee goofing around on the screen. Her heart feels at ease while looking at Zee. She had never seen her brother laugh and smile so brightly before.

"Little girl, may I know your name?" Ylang slowly shows her interest in getting to know Shu.

"My name is Shu, miss!"

"A cute name, but also energetic! Like... Su Su Na Ka!"

"Yes! Yes! Mama gave me that name because she wants me to work hard and never give up!" Shu's response brought a tiny sweet smile to Ylang's face. Shu reminds her of childhood with Zee. Their mother always called them Energizer Rabbits because they kept running around nonstop, all day long.

"What is your mama's name then. Fighting?" Ylang asks. Zee suddenly churned inside.

"Shu! Let's come out and play!"

A boy suddenly appears from behind, grabbing the little girl's hand and dragging her out of the room. Zee watches them disappear with care.

"I can see you feel so relieved, Hia..."

Zee turns his head, looking at the screen. He had forgotten his video call with Ylang when he sent Shu outside from the corner of his eye.

"Who is Shu, Hia?" Ylang asks. Her face slowly grew serious.

"She's my friend's daughter. Why?"

"Someone I know?"

Zee's face turns pale. He looks as pale as a vampire.

"Why?"

Ylang chuckles a bit before shooting a deep gaze that could crack the screen like a sharp dagger.

"That girl... She looks exactly like me when I was a child. So, either you didn't realize it, or did you have a secret child behind our back, Hia?"

"You're talking rubbish again, Ylang..."

Ylang frowns as she rolls on the bed before landing on her tummy. She stares at the screen and studies Zee's face briefly.

"Hia, you call me because the girl reminds you of me, right?"

"How did you know?" Zee sighs, his eyebrows crook upwards.

"She looks just like me. I'm not joking..."

"Because you have a public face, Ylang. You almost look like everyone..."

"Now you dare bashing me! Sutt!"

"You dare cursing your brother..."

"I can curse Pa much more easier than this!"

Zee chuckles. He shakes his head in tiny, even though he kinda agree the claim made by Ylang.

"I'll call you back. I have to go."

"Fine. But, I won't let this slide, hia! Remember that!" Ylang leaves a small warn to Zee before she cuts the call, leaving Zee, standing alone in confused mind.

***

"Welcome, little miss!"

A nice-looking girl greets Shu at the front door of the eatery. Shu raises her palm, and the girl immediately gives her a high five.

"Miss Pan will be here soon. Do you want to wait upstairs or...?"

"I'll wait upstairs, Cé Temp. Oh, this is Uncle Zee, Mama's friend," Zee flashes a wai to Temp. The girl nods slightly.

"You can wait for Miss Pan upstairs, along with Little Miss," says Temp.

"Thank you," says Zee. His eyes lingers around. The eatery is quite pack at this hour as it is almost dinner time. He can't believe Pan would own such a busy eatery like this!  It looks like a good business!

"Looks like the eatery is a hotspot!" Zee exclaims while climbing the stairs with Shu.

"Oh, it's a famous eatery in this area, Uncle Zee!" Shu hops like a rabbit upstairs joyfully.

After a few flights of stairs, they finally arrive at a room. It's a studio room with an en suite bathroom, home theater system, a huge bed, and an executive couch sofa. Outside, there's a small but complete outdoor kitchen and a small vegetable rooftop garden.

"This is nice..."

"We used to live here before Mama bought the house," says Shu. She puts away her bag in the corner of the room before running across and hopping onto the bed.

"Bunny, you'll injure yourself..."

Shu ignores Zee and keeps jumping joyfully on the bed.

"Uncle Zee! Come, join me!" Shu stretches out her hands. Zee feels reluctant, but finally joined the little girl, jumping like a little boy along with her. They shriek and laugh their lungs out until they feel tired.

"Okay, that's enough exercise for today. Go take a shower. Then, we'll have dinner and do homework. Okay?" Zee hops down from the bed, lifting Shu to her feet before gently putting her down.

"Okay!" Shu merrily grabs a towel from the cupboard and run into the bathroom, leaving Zee to clean up the mess they had made.

***

After some time, Zee left the room after ensuring that Shu was already sleeping. The eatery slowly clears out, leaving only some staff who are busy cleaning tables and the kitchen.

He roams around the eatery, only to find a hidden store in the backyard. The store iss separated from the eatery, connected by a cemented pathway. The outside looks clean, suggesting someone used it regularly.

The door had a sign indicating it was a workshop, with a no-entry sign. Somehow, it intrigued Zee to move closer. As he turns the knob, fortunately, the door was unlocked.

The store must be a normal store.

Zee murmurs to himself.

His hand quickly found a switch on the wall to light up the room. When his finger manages to flick the switch, the room lit up, revealing a sight that brought back memories for Zee.

He gasps with his eyes wide open.