Chapter 3: New Found Friends
“TING!!! NING!!! OVER HERE!!!”
I waved frantically to my cousins Ning and Ting as they walked towards me with their luggages. They had come all the way from Singapore to Taiwan to visit me during my study exchange. And I had to go and get them.
“HEY!! OVER HERE!!!”
*Bump*
In my frantic attempt to catch my cousins’ attention, I bumped straight into someone waiting at the gate too! I turned embarrassedly towards the person whom I had clumsily knocked myself into, and started to bow and apologize repeatedly.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! I…”
“No problem, you don’t have to be so apologetic. If a guy can’t even take the impact of a girl bumping into him, he ought to be out of this universe! Cos he won’t be able to survive! Ha ha…”
Hearing the comedic reply, I felt more relieved, and started giggling as I looked up to catch a glimpse of the face of the speaker.
He was a tall, rather well-built guy wearing a loose beige checked short-sleeved shirt with jeans, and short spunky hair. And the guy beside him was also tall like him, well-tanned, with shoulder-length hair, and was dressed in hip-hop street wear.
“Hi. I’m Tianqi. And this is my buddy Ady Jing Hong, you can also call him by his nickname Ah Di.”
“Hi, nice to meet you guys. I’m Ying….Hang on…”
Seeing my cousins walk out of the gate and searching aimlessly for me, I started shouting and waving at them from where I was standing again. Oblivious to the duo whom I had just met. But after some time my cousins finally noticed my desperate antics and started walking towards us. So I turned my attention back to the duo.
“Ha ha ha…”
The duo started laughing.
“What’s wrong? What are you guys laughing at?” I asked curiously.
“Ha ha ha… Are you ALWAYS so mindless of your own image in front of others?” Ah Di asked, in midst bursts of laughter.
“Erm… I don’t understand? Well, I am ME. And I don’t like to be wishy-washy, and act cute and sweet in front of others! Especially in front of guys! So disgusting! Still don’t know why guys LURVEEE that??!! …Erm …Why do you ask?” I blabbered.
“Ha ha ha … You’re REALLY different… Ha ha ha…” Ah Di managed to blurb out his answer amidst his growing laughter.
I made a skeptical face.
Different.
Next they’re gonna say that I’m tomboyish, not-lady-like, etc, etc, etc… Typical.
“Ha ha… Ah Di…you’re such a failure…ha ha…see you’ve made our new-found friend angry already…ha ha… Don’t worry Ying, I find you very cute indeed! Ha ha…” Tianqi interrupted the awkward break. And when he said the last sentence, he placed his arm around my shoulders and gave me a firm hug.
“…No…ha ha…not in a bad way… in a refreshing way…” Ah Di started becoming more serious as he tamed himself down, seemingly in an attempt to prevent me from misunderstanding his intentions.
“Hi cous!” choraled Ting and Ning. They had finally reached us, and we started giving each other hugs as I haven’t seen them for a pretty long time already. Being all along in Taiwan on exchange for almost half a year already.
“Er… Ying, you aren’t gonna ignore us already cos of what Ah Di said are you?” Tianqi asked, interrupting our short display of affections. I turned around.
“Oops… sorry… I’m so blur. Okay cous, this is Tianqi and this is Ah Di. Don’t ask me anything cos we’ve just met each other, and I don’t know anything about them at all…” I blabbered the intro out, while they exchanged handshakes.
“Ha ha… you make intros sound so funny…ha ha…Anyway we’re here to fetch our buddies whom are returning from their school vacation trip… And look they’re out too! OVER HERE!! TORO! JUN!!” replied Tianqi, as he gestured for his two friends to join us.
“Ok guys, this is Ying, Ning, and Ting. And girls, this is Toro and Jun.” Tianqi introduced all of us, and we all exchanged handshakes.
Then there was an awkward silence, cos no one knew what to do next. Until…
“GRRRRR….”
Ah Di’s stomach had started growling with hunger!
Everyone started laughing.
“Erm… Well thanks for the subtle hint Ah Di! What do y’all think of getting a bite at the airport restaurant before we set off?” Tianqi suggested.
“Come, let us get your luggages for you. We can share two trolleys.” Toro suggested.
“Well that’s a good idea. Then you girls won’t have to carry, push or pull anything! Ha ha… Toro, Jun, you two can handle it ALONE hor?” Tianqi joked.
So Toro and Jun were left to push the trolleys with the luggages. And feeling embarrassed, Ting and Ning offered to help them out, i.e. by walking beside them with a hand on the trolley handles!
After a sumptuous and enjoyable feast, Ah Di ate a large pizza, a plate of spaghetti, and a bowl of soup! All the others just ate half of his quantity!
Gosh… and to think Ning and Ting only had a sundae each, and I only had a cup of mocha frappuccinos…
We had a good time chatting, and when it was time for us to part, we all exchanged contacts and arranged for another gathering at my hostel during the weekend.
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