Young Ming was a typical 16-year-old girl, juggling with the ups and downs of adolescence.
She had long black hair, glasses, and a passion for red pandas. She also had a great passion for making food. Ming's mother, Wu, was a woman of discipline and tradition. She had very high expectations for her daughter and wanted her to succeed in life and academically.
Wu was known for her very strict parenting style, which she believed was crucial to mold Ming into a successful and responsible adult like she was; Withholding, light on praise, and heavy on expectation.
One morning, Ming woke up and had transformed into a red panda! When she saw Ming's panda, Wu's disapproval was very perceivable in her look of disgust and stern tone. Ever since Ming transformed into the red panda, Wu started to become more controlling of Ming.
She would keep Ming in the house when she didn't have school to hide her away from everyone. While Ming was home, Wu would also have her clean around the house, do chores, and cook.
Wu would tell Ming how disgusting her red panda was and wouldn't even let Ming have any friends unless they were ''strong'' in her eyes.
Ming felt crushed, trapped between her mom's expectations and her desire to be her true self.
Ming was sitting by herself, face buried in her hands as she cried. Tears streamed down her face. Her heart was heavy, burdened with all the strictness and high expectations from her mom Wu, who always seemed unreachable.
She felt so disgusted by herself, especially her red panda. It seemed like the red panda was a curse and it only worsened their relationship.
Why did everything have to be so hard? Why couldn't Ming make her mom happy? Why couldn't she be good enough for her? All these thoughts twirled in Ming's head and she cried harder.
Unbeknownst to Ming, a young boy named Jin happened to be strolling around. Jin had short black and like Ming, wore glasses. was known for his charming smile and adventurous, joyful spirit. He couldn't ignore the sadness that was in the air.
It tugged at his heartstrings, urging him to follow the sadness to its source. And so he did. As Jin followed it, he found himself approaching a young, crying girl. His eyes widened in surprise.
As he approached her, Jin could see her tear-stained face and her eyes red, as if she had been crying for quite some time. His face softened and he knelt next to her. ''Hey,'' he said in a soft voice. ''Are you okay?'' Ming side-eyed him, still crying. ''I-I'm so disgusting, I'm a gross red monster'' She sobbed.
Jin's eyes widened a bit more. How could Ming say something like this about herself?
''Hey, hey, look at me..'' He said, his voice soft and reassuring.
Ming gave him a side-eye.
''I know I've only known you for not long, but... you aren't any of those things. So, please, don't say those things...'' in paused for a moment, his face turning red a bit. ''I think you're beautiful...'' Ming snifflled and wiped her tears.
She looked at him shyly. Jin grabbed her chin and gently titled her head so their eyes would meet. He then pulled her into a hug. Ming's eyes widened. But she was surprised. She didn't expect him to react to her situation like this. But she gladly returned the hug and embraced him.
As they hugged, Ming's red panda ears and tail appeared. She let out a soft gasp. Jin gently stroked her red panda ear. ''Your ears are very cute,'' He said in a warm voice with a gentle smile. Ming laughed a bit and a smile started to form on her face.
''MING LEE!'' A voice shouted. Ming whipped her head to see her mom storming over to the two. Ming's heart sunk.
''M-mother!'' was all Ming could say as she watched Wu go towards them.
''Are you trying to embarrass me?! What will everyone say about this?!'' Wu said angrily. ''What on earth are you doing with this boy in that state?!''
Jin hesitantly slipped away from the scene. He cast one look at the scared Ming. ''Bye...'' He whispered and waved at her.
Dinner was filled with soup dumplings, scallion pancakes, char sui, and congee. The two sat at the table. The tension was thick in the air. Mother and daughter ate silently, not bothering to make conversation or even look at each other. Ming picked at a dumpling on her plate as she nervously toyed with the food. There was an awkward silence.
Wu finished up a dumpling and finally broke the silence. ''I cannot believe what you did today, Ming,'' She spoke, wiping the edge of her mouth with a napkin. ''Showing your panda to some delinquent boy. You made an absolute fool out of me. You made a fool of the whole Lee family bloodline.''
''I-I'm sorry... mother...'' Ming said silently as she looked down at her food, not wanting to meet her mom's angry glare. Her eyes were teared up and her voice was shaky as if she were about to break down crying any second.
''No. No more excuses. I told you you aren't to see anyone or show them your panda,'' Wu said as she stood up. ''Since your hair is such a distraction, we'll just have to cut it all off.''
Ming's eyes widened. ''What! N-no...mother...!'' She gasped. ''Y-you can't cut my hair!''
''Don't you dare talk back to me, young lady! There's no way you can be with a boy like that delinquent! You know our family history! Only strong men can defend against the red panda! Especially yours, Ming!'' Wu yelled in a cold tone as she jabbed her fingers in Ming's chest. ''It has always been this way since our revered ancestor Sun Yee up to your late father!''
Wu pulled back slowly from Ming. Her eyes never left Ming. She spoke in a calm but still fierce and cold tone.
''You'll only hurt that boy. End it now. Or I will, Ming.''
Tears slowly ran down Ming's face. Her own mom had banned her from seeing probably the only person that actually cared for and loved her. She couldn't believe what was happening. She felt a surge of energy run through her body and she trembled.
Ming had reached her breaking point.
''No...'' She said in a cold voice.
Wu raised an eyebrow. ''What. Did you say?'' She said. ''I said no, mother!'' Ming shouted angrily. ''I won't let you do this anymore! I get to make my own life choices!''
A big cloud of pink dust appeared everywhere. Ming transformed into a [i]kaiju-sized red panda.[/i] Her red fur stood on its end and her eyes glowed red. The room shook as Ming's giant panda form stood tall.
''I won't let you control me anymore!''Ming let out a roar filled with anger and swiped her giant paw at her mom. A scream filled the air and Wu fell back on the floor. Ming breathed heavily, staring down at the wounded form of her mom.
Blood trickled down Wu's face as she held her hand there as an attempt to ease the bleeding. Wu slowly removed her hand and looked at her face. An ugly scar lay across her left eye. ''Ming...'' Her voice shook.
She poofed back into a human. Ming stared down at her trembling hands, that had blood on them. Her mom's blood. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what she had did.
She had hurt her own mom. Ming broke down crying at this realization.
''I'm sorry, Mother...''