The words hung in the air between them on the neon-drenched street, fragile and full of promise. "I wanted you to see me." Panda’s heart had done a somersault. For a breathtaking second, she saw it all—the shared lunches, the rescued missions, the quiet way he always had a tool or a handkerchief ready. It wasn’t just professional partnership. It was… more.
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But then, a delivery truck backfired. The moment shattered. Bam Boo’s courage, a delicate and newly built thing, retracted. He flushed a deep crimson, adjusted his glasses, and stammered, “I—I mean, for the Ministry’s efficiency! Better teamwork! We should… we should get back to the office and file the report on Marie.”
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The spell was broken. The rest of the walk was a masterclass in awkward silence. Did I imagine it? Panda wondered, stealing glances at his profile. He was just talking about work, right? He’s always so literal. A part of her, the part that bravely faced down zombie hordes, felt a strange pang of disappointment.
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Bam Boo was screaming at himself internally. You idiot! You had it! You were so close! Why did you say ‘efficiency’?! He mentally calculated the statistical probability of recovering from such a conversational disaster. The results were bleak.
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The next morning, they arrived at the Ministry of Amorous Affections to find it eerily empty. Not just quiet—empty. The perpetual hum of the coffee pot was silent. The tick of the official love-clock on the wall was frozen. Outside the window, a songbird was suspended mid-flight.
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They were stuck. In a time loop. And they were the only two people in it.
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The first reset was confusing. The tenth was frustrating. By the hundredth, it was a bizarre, shared intimacy.
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Panda’s Thoughts:
Okay, this is… an opportunity. We’re literally the only two people in the world. If he was going to say something, now would be the time. No interruptions. He’s the guy! He should make the move! I can’t just confess to my own assistant! What if I misread everything? The professional embarrassment! I’ll just… be extra encouraging. Maybe if I smile more. Or trip and he’ll catch me. That works in the rom-coms we show people.
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Bam Boo’s Thoughts:
This is a sign. A terrible, paused-in-time sign. She’s my superior. I can’t just… declare myself. It’s a breach of protocol. What if it makes everything awkward and we can’t work together? I’d never forgive myself. She’s so brilliant and vibrant. She must realize how I feel eventually, on her own. My job is to be patient and supportive. Always supportive. Maybe if I fix the plumbing again. She was impressed by that on loop forty-seven.
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And so, the dance continued. Panda would “accidentally” spill her tea for the fiftieth time. Bam Boo would already be there with a towel and a mumbled “allow me,” but would say nothing else. He would build her a magnificent, Rube Goldberg-like device to streamline her paperwork, hoping she’d see the love woven into every gear. She’d praise his ingenuity, then wait for him to say something, anything, personal.
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They were two souls orbiting the same unspoken truth, each waiting for the other to exert the necessary gravitational pull.
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The breaking point came during loop number… well, who was counting anymore? They were trying to brainstorm a way out.
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“Maybe we have to… I don’t know, resolve unfinished business?” Panda suggested, looking pointedly at him.
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“Unfinished business…” Bam Boo mused, staring fixedly at a wall chart on emotional vulnerability. “Yes. That seems logical.”
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They sat in more silence.
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Suddenly, Panda’s eyes widened. “Bam Boo! That’s it! Their unfinished business!”
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She pointed out the window. There, frozen in the act of placing a complex temporal-spell device on the Ministry’s doorstep, were two familiar figures: the Cynic-Zombies they had pacified weeks ago. Their eyes glowed with a new, petty malice.
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“They’re not trying to destroy us,” Panda realized. “They’re trying to make us miserable! They’re hoping we’ll get on each other’s nerves, argue, and break our partnership! They’re weaponizing unresolved romantic tension!”
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It was the most diabolical zombie plot yet.
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The revelation was a bucket of cold water. They were being manipulated by zombies who understood the corrosive power of things left unsaid.
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They looked at each other, and the absurdity of it all finally broke through.
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“I was waiting for you to say something!” they blurted out in perfect unison.
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A stunned silence followed, and then… laughter. Real, genuine, relieved laughter that echoed through the silent, frozen office.
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“You were?” Panda asked, her eyes shining.
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“Since forever,” Bam Boo admitted, his shyness melting away in the face of the ridiculous truth. “I just… I made you a songbird. In my workshop.”
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“And I’ve been trying to get your attention by being clumsier than usual!” Panda confessed.
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The moment they both stopped waiting and simply acknowledged the truth, a sound filled the air. It was the tick of the love-clock. Then the hum of the coffee pot. Outside, the bird finished its flight.
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The loop was broken. Time snapped back into place.
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Back in the flow of the world, surrounded by the sudden noise of a functioning Ministry, they stood still, looking at each other.
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“So,” Panda said, a slow, beautiful smile spreading across her face. “About that unfinished business…”
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Bam Boo smiled back, a confident, easy smile she had never seen before. “I believe the guy is supposed to make the first move,” he said. “And it’s long overdue.”
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The zombies’ plan had backfired spectacularly. They hadn’t created discord. They had created the perfect, pressure-free, endlessly patient environment for two people to finally realize that the person they were waiting for had been right beside them all along. And as they finally, properly, talked, they both privately thought that maybe, just maybe, being stuck in a loop together hadn't been so bad after all.
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and then Add to home screen.