The next day...
8:10 AM...
At Huang University...
Mingyu's POV...
I enter the massive college building, while carefully studying my surroundings. Some of the students still have dirty looks at me, which I assumed came from the rumours. Well, that's not really the scariest part. What I'm most afraid is that Jing Jing will suddenly attack me again. What happened yesterday still got me traumatized. I even brought extra clothes in my bags, just to be safe. I wouldn't want to bother Junhao again. Speaking of Junhao, I also brought the clothes I borrowed him yesterday in my bag. I'll be returning it today.
I grab my phone from my bag and search for his contact. I haven't seen him since I enter this building, so I thought about just calling him. After finding his contact, I call him and waits for him to pick up the phone.
"Hello!"
"Junhao, where are you? Have you arrive yet?" I ask him through the phone.
"Yup. Where are you?" he ask me.
"I'm heading to my locker," I answer.
"Ok, I'll head there now," he says.
"Ok," I say, before hanging up the phone.
I continue walking through the hallway, while trying to ignore the glances at me. I still have no idea about where did those fake rumours come from, but one thing I surely hope for, is that hopefully it won't get worse. I eventually reach my locker and see that Junhao is already waiting there.
"Hey, what's up?" Junhao ask.
"I just wanted to return your clothes," I say. I open my bag and pull out his clothes which I had folded.
"Here!" I hand him the folded clothes.
Junhao smiles as he grabs his folded clothes from my hands.
"Thanks, but you didn't have to return it so fast," Junhao says.
"It's ok. I already gave you enough trouble yesterday," I say, feeling guilty that I gave him so much trouble yesterday.
"Ah, don't mention it. You know that I got your back," Junhao says. He gently gives me a friendly pat on my shoulder.
I smile at him. I feel grateful to have a friend like him who is always there to help me out and protect me, despite the amount of weakness I carry. To me, it's a miracle that Junhao didn't see me as a burden. A lot of people often sees me as shameful and pathetic. It's no surprise that Meiling had fallen for him. If he wasn't like a brother to me, maybe I could have fallen for him as well.
"Well, I should go to class," I say.
"Yeah. You don't want to be late," Junhao says, before letting out a small chuckle.
I nod at him, before walking away from him and heading to class.
Meanwhile...
Yifei and Xiaoliang are standing near Yifei's locker. Xiaoliang told her that he had consider to accept the offer, after unfortunately losing his job at the restaurant.
"Glad to hear that you finally consider it," Yifei says as she puts her hands on her hips. "You don't need anymore approval since you're already approved."
"What? Really?" Xiaoliang ask with a surprised tone.
"Yeah. My dad trusted me enough. I don't need his approval," Yifei says.
Surprised at what he just heard, Xiaoliang just nods at the girl who is now smiling happily at him. It's pretty obvious that she looks really happy after finding out he agreed to take the job. Deep down, he's curious about her other intentions, since he finds it a bit odd that she chose him out of all people. Nevertheless, for now it didn't really matter to him on what's her intentions, since he only needed the money.
"After college, drop by at my house and we'll discuss further. Your first day starts tomorrow," Yifei says.
"Ok," Xiaoliang replies casually.
At class....
Meiling stares at the lecture with a sleepy look. She's thankful that she is seated in the backseat, otherwise the lecture will probably notice her lazy gaze today. It's not everyday that she shows up in class with no spirits and zero energy. Growing up in a family with strict rules regarding education, Meiling had been taught to put her education above everything, including her life, and herself. With that, she didn't have much time to go on dates during high school, which had lead her to a couple of failed relationships. Yet, after attending college, she is thankful enough that her parents actually gave her some free time to do whatever she wants during weekends, as long as she spends her weekdays studying and going to bed on time. Last night was literally the first time she broke the rules, and the first time she got scold for going out on a weekday night. By that, she didn't get much sleep since she had to listen to her parents constant nagging, and is now at a point of almost dozing off in class several times.
"Baby, are you ok?" Junhao ask from the right side of her seat.
"Yeah, just sleepy," Meiling states, before yawning again for the several time.
"Did you had a hard time sleeping last night?" Junhao ask.
"Yeah," Meiling says casually.
Junhao starts staring at Meiling from the side. He thought she must have had a hard time sleeping that she showed up sleepy in class. He starts to wonder if he was the reason that she had a hard time sleeping, since she expressed how upset she was at him for focusing on Mingyu more than her yesterday when he drive her home. He felt guilty for upseting his girlfriend.
Meiling notice that her boyfriend seems to look flustered. She turns her head to look at Junhao with a confuse look, making him to turn his head to look at her.
"What?" Meiling ask him.
"Nothing," Junhao says while trying to hide the guilt in his voice.
"Just, don't study too hard. You should have plenty of rest," Junhao adds.
Meiling's sleepy eyes slightly widens at the gaze of her boyfriend. Though often times he triggers her jealousy with his attention towards Mingyu, he would always make it up to her in the sweetest way, which includes suddenly appearing outside her house (and window sometimes) for a surprise study date. Meiling had told him about her parents strict rules of studying, and she was surprised that he didn't mind and instead wanted to study with her as they spend time together. This was one of the reasons why she had got more attracted to him. He is the only guy who wanted to make an effort despite her situation, when all her past relationships ended because the guys refuse to understand her situation, therefore they chose to leave her, which eventually leads her to having trust issues in relationships, and also jealousy problems.
Therefore when she met Junhao, she was amazed by his efforts in the relationship. It's as if she knew that she had chosen the right guy this time. The realization of it makes her feel guilty about what happened between her and Liqiang last night, in which he doesn't know.
"Meiling?" Junhao ask as he stares into her lost gaze.
"Umm..what?" Meiling ask.
Junhao forms a small smile at her, before turning his vision down. Though they had been dating for quite a while now, he still couldn't help feeling his heart racing every time he stares into her eyes for too long.
"Just take some rest after college," Junhao says.
Hearing this, Meiling forms a small smile at him while giving him a nod.
A few hours later...
At the library...
Xiaoliang's POV...
I place my lunch box on the table. I open the lid and reveal two zongzi (Chinese sticky rice dumplings) inside. Since Grandma told me last night that she craved for zongzi, I decided to wake up earlier than usual and make some for her. Surprisingly, she actually thought that the zongzi were ok. At least, that's what she said to me, though I still think that there is something missing. I remember when my mom made zongzi back when I was very young. Back then, I always thought that her zongzi were the best which I've ever tasted, even till now. My mom was an excellent cook back in the days. She did it all out of passion and her love for cuisines. It's sad that I wasn't able to spend more time with her, and learn more about her passion for cooking.
"Hey!"
I was just about to eat my zongzi, when I hear a familiar soft voice. I turn my head up to see Mingyu standing in front of my table, while holding her lunch box in hand.
"Hi! Are you ok?" I ask her.
"Yeah. I'm just gonna have lunch," she answers, before pulling out an empty seat to sit next to me.
Mingyu opens her lunch box. Looks like she brought steamed buns today. She grabs a bun and starts eating it, which reminded me on how she often shares her food with me. She is indeed a caring girl.
"Mingyu.."
She turns her head to face me. She has some chocolate stains on her small lips after eating the steamed bun, which I thought looks really cute.
"What?" Mingyu ask, with her signature soft voice.
"So, I brought this for you," I say as hand her the zongzi from my lunch box.
"Ah, it's ok, I already brought my lunch," she answers, not wanting to accept the zongzi.
"I made plenty at home, that it's gonna be too much. Besides, I wanted to thank you," I say.
"Thank me? For what?" Mingyu ask. She sounded clueless.
"For sharing your lunch with me. That's why, I also want to share mine with you."
Mingyu almost drop her jaws. She widens her eyes before slowly turning her head to look away from me. I noticed that her cheeks are starting to blush like a strawberry. As funny as it sounds, but I found her to look adorable when she blushes.
"You don't have to thank me. I'm just trying to share with you. Besides, we need a lot of energy if we want to focus in class," she says.
I smile after hearing her statement. Her shy yet caring nature seems to be the most fascinating thing about her, yet some people labeled it as her weakness, and by that used the perception that she is "weak" to bully her, and even planned to do dirty things to her. What Liqiang said yesterday really got me furious that I ended up punching him in the face. I swear if that time some students didn't try to seperate us, he would end up in the cemetery. I hate anyone who take advantage of people, even the thought of it already fills me with rage. Honestly, I don't get it how being shy and anxious can be labeled as "weak". Though I haven't known her for too long, yet her character already speaks that she is a strong woman. Even after going through hard times such as her parents divorce,getting bullied at school, and eventually got accused of false rumours at college. Even after all the trouble she's been through, she is still a caring person.
"Look, just give it a try," I say with a smile as I hand her the zongzi again.
The girl gaze at me with a restless look, before finally reaching out to grab the zongzi anyway. I could tell she starts to feel restless when I suggested her to give it a try, yet I only did it because I just want to share it with her.
"Thanks, Xiaoliang," she says in soft tone.
"You're welcome, Mingyu," I say, while feeling glad that she finally accepted it.
"But you're also gonna have to try this," she says as she takes a bun from her lunch box and hands it to me.
"Ah, I already have the zongzi," I say.
"I'm not gonna try the zongzi if you refuse to try the bun," she says as she stares at me, yet I could see her eyes look nervous all of sudden. Damn, does this always happen every time she tries to talk to someone? Does she have anxiety disorder? I mean, not that I am accusing her.
Looking at the girl sitting beside me, I couldn't help to form a small smile without her concern. I'm happy that she actually showed up here to accompany me during lunch. Her presence give a me happy feeling inside, despite the fact that I think happiness is difficult thing to find. Yet, it's fascinating how a quiet girl can make me question my own thoughts. Maybe, feeling ok is not that hard to reach. Maybe it's a simple thing.
"Fine," I say as if it was the only thing to say. I don't feel like I have a choice at this point.
She smiles. "Good."
Mingyu takes a bite of the zongzi. Her eyes slightly widens after the first bite, which seeme to be a signal that she likes the taste of it, or maybe not. Nevertheless, I decided to ask her whether she likes it or not later. For now, I'm just gonna let her finish her lunch as I also finish mine.
Minutes passed and we eventually finish our lunch. Mingyu grabs two tissues from her pocket and hands one to me. As she starts to wipe her small lips with the tissue, I couldn't help but gaze at her silently. The more I observe  the little things about her, the more I find her to be more interesting.
"So, how was the zongzi?" I ask her after I use the tissue to clean my mouth.
"It was delicious," she answers before putting her tissue away.
"And how was the bun?" she ask.
"Delicious," I say.
Mingyu turns her head to face me. Our eyes meet and it didn't took long for her lips to form a small smile. I smile back at her.
"Thanks for the zongzi," she says with a smile.
"No problem. But I still think that it's missing something," I say.
"It's already good though," she says.
"Yeah, but I wanted to make it better," I say, still trying to figure out what was missing.
Hearing this, Mingyu forms a small, heart-warming smile at me. Everytime she smiles I feel my heart feeling peaceful. Looking at her somehow reminds me of the younger version of me. Back when I was a child, there were times I felt down because my relatives would often underestimate me for losing my parents and instead living with my grandma. Yet, thanks to my grandma's constant support, I eventually learn to ignore their harsh words, and instead motivate myself to do better,and hopefully one day I can prove them wrong.
Despite the similarities of feeling down in the dumps since we were younger, somehow Mingyu looks more anxious, when I was more insecure in my childhood. I got fascinated with her more after she told me that she is into pyschology. I think it just proves that she's not willing to give up on reducing her anxiety.
"By the way, thanks for the bun," I say as I stare into her deep chocolate eyes. Studying her eyes, I noticed that her eyes shows anxiety as well. Yet, slowly I could feel the comfort that is rising and reducing the anxiety.
Ok, that was a bit weird though. I didn't know she could suddenly feel comfortable. But well, that's a good thing and I should be happy.
"You're welcome," she says, before putting her lunch box back in her bag.
We decided to spend the rest of the lunch hour talking in the library, where there's no one to interrupt our quality time.
To be continue....