At the library...
Junhao sits in the quiet library while reading one of his study book. He didn't feel like having lunch today after what happened earlier, which had affected his whole mood. He wasn't able to focus on today's class, and till now he still lacks focus on his study book. On the other hand, he felt hungry but didn't want to see anyone at the crowded cafeteria, by that for the first time, he chose to skip lunch.
Damn, I should have eaten more during breakfast. Junhao thought. For the first time, he regretted not listening to his mom and not eating much during breakfast.
He lets out a sigh and puts his right hand on his head. His head had been spinning like crazy without him even trying to think of something. Even when he's not thinking, the frustration still kills him. He hated the feeling he is experiencing right now, and tries to shrug the thoughts away by trying to escape his mind through his study. Sadly, it hasn't sprout any results.
"Hey, are you ok?"
A signature voice tinkles through his ears, making Junhao turn his head to see the owner of the familiar voice. A low tone with a mix of shyness and softness, Junhao only knew one person with that type of voice, which is Mingyu.
"I'm fine." Junhao smiles while slowly turning his head to continue his book.
Mingyu sighs. She knew too well that Junhao is not fine. He is only trying to look fine with a smile, but his eyes spoke differently. How could someone smile with tears in their eyes and still proclaim to be fine? Just like how could someone say that they are happy in fury? Those are statements Mingyu didn't believe.
Mingyu pulls out a seat next to Junhao. She puts her small tote bag on the table, before opening it and grabbing the chocolate bar Xiaoliang had gave her last night.
"Here, don't skip your lunch." Mingyu hands the chocolate bar to Junhao.
Junhao turns his head to face Mingyu. His vision moves down to the chocolate bar she is holding.
"Dark chocolate?" Junhao raises his left eyebrow, before letting out a small chuckle.
"It's your favorite, if I'm not mistaken," Mingyu says, still holding out the chocolate bar.
"You got that right," Junhao says. "But today, I don't think my appetite is in its best condition."
Junhao turns his vision back to Mingyu. He forms a small smile at her. "Thanks though."
Mingyu sighs. "Junhao, you have to at least eat. You can't go all day without eating."
"I had breakfast," Junhao states.
"And you should also have lunch," Mingyu says, still holding the chocolate bar in her hand.
Junhao turns his head and takes a deep breath. He almost forget that Mingyu has a stubborn side in herself at some points, and he knew that he wasn't gonna debate about a small matter revolving a chocolate bar. That would seem to be silly.
"You remember that I like dark chocolate." Junhao chuckles while grabbing the dark chocolate bar from Mingyu's hand.
"It is your favorite," Mingyu says as she watches Junhao slowly opening the chocolate wrapper.
"Well, thank you for the chocolate," Junhao says, while forming a big smile on his face, yet Mingyu notice that behind his smile, he still looks disappointed.
"Well, no need to thank me. Xiaoliang was actually the one who gave me in the first place," Mingyu says as she starts to recall the moment she shared with Xiaoliang last night. Though they didn't spend too much time together, yet the little moment they shared together already made her feel comfortable. She finds herself feeling in peace with his present, and to her it was all enough.
"So, I thought I shared some with you." Mingyu grabs another chocolate bar from her tote bag. This time, it's an almond chocolate bar.
"One is enough. Besides, Xiaoliang gave them to you, Mingyu," Junhao says as he turns his head to face Mingyu again.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I share them with you," Mingyu says while handing Junhao the almond chocolate bar.
Junhao chuckles. "Won't he be jealous?"
At that moment, Mingyu could feel her cheeks starting to blush a deep shade of red upon hearing the quiet boy's name. Her mind begins to wonder about Xiaoliang. Somehow, she believe that there's no possibility for him to develoup jealousy towards her. Yet, she didn't want to lie to herself, that deep inside, her mind wonders to a small hope of him having more caring feelings towards her that could develoup a healthy type of jealousy.
Mingyu sighs while forming a small smile on her lips. "We're just friends. There's no jealousy involve."
"Well, everything starts with friendship," Junhao says, before taking a bite of the dark chocolate. "Besides, I think he might just be giving you hints through chocolates."
"What hints?" Mingyu asks with a confuse look.
Junhao chuckles. "Hints that he might want to be more than friends."
Surprised but at the same time found Junhao's answer to be just another one of his jokes, Mingyu lets out a giggle.
"Yeah right. Seems like he was just trying to be nice," Mingyu says casually.
"There might be more to it," Junhao says, before he takes another bite of his chocolate bar.
"You also gave me a chocolate bar during our first encounter. There's no difference," Mingyu says.
"Woah...you still remember that?" Junhao sounds surprised at the fact that Mingyu still remembers their first encounter during middle school.
"I was sitting all alone at the cafeteria, when you walked to my table and gave me a chocolate bar," Mingyu says while recalling the first time she met Junhao, which she thought was quite a simple yet cute story.
"Wow, ok. And I guess, at the time you already knew my name?" Junhao asks with a bit of curiousity.
"You were already popular on your first day at middle school. It's hard to not know your name when words had been spread," Mingyu says.
Hearing that, Junhao forms a small laugh, which makes Mingyu forms a small smile. She's glad to see her best friend is starting to smile again, despite the fact that she could still see sadness in his eyes. Junhao is not someone who is easy to feel sad, but when he does, his face betrays his own words when he tries to hide or deny the sorrow. Yet, seeing him looking better now makes her heart feel relief.
"Thanks for the chocolate," Junhao says, before taking the last bite of the chocolate.
"Don't mention it," Mingyu says.
Junhao grabs his bottle of water from the table and takes a quick drink of it. After that, he closes the bottle cap and lets out sigh. Mingyu notice that his face suddenly looks restless, with a touch of guilt written all over it.
"By the way, I'm sorry about what happened," Junhao says all of a sudden.
Mingyu raises one of her eyebrows. She didn't get what Junhao was trying to say. He literally just went through hell knowing that his girlfriend cheated on him with his friend, and here he is apologizing to her who is still asking questions in her head about the full story?
"Umm...why are you apologizing?" Mingyu asks, sounding completely clueless.
Junhao sighs. "I didn't expect Meiling to be the one behind those rumours about you. I am so sorry."
Hearing that, Mingyu slightly widens her eyes. Even though she was shock when she knew about Meiling's involvement, she didn't knew Junhao would still thought about it at the moment when he obviously has other things to think about. From his shattered friendship to his broken relationship, this bitter fact made Mingyu feel terrible for him. She didn't have the heart to see her best friend  carrying so much pain, and to know that he's also feeling bad for her only makes her feel worse.
"Man...I was a damn fool," Junhao says, his voice filled with pain in his tone.
"Junhao, please don't feel guilty about this. None of this is your fault," Mingyu's voice sounded more serious this time, and definetly more confident compare to her usual shy attitude.
"They bullied you terribly, because I was too dumb to see it coming," Junhao says with a disappointed tone.
Mingyu sighs. "None of this was expected, Junhao. We didn't expect any of this."
"But I should have seen it coming," Junhao says, "yet, I was too foolish."
Mingyu sighs. "Everything is in the past now. Talking about it won't change anything."
Junhao stay silent. His eyes shifts down to the table, while trying to think about what Mingyu just said. The amount of frustration is making him lose focus on what's realistic, but as much as he wants to get mad at the current situation, he couldn't deny that what Mingyu said was true, that talking about the past won't change anything about it.
"You're right," Junhao says in a low tone. "But maybe, I actually deserve this."
Mingyu turns her head to look at Junhao with a confuse look, not understanding his statement.
"I don't understand what you just said, but whatever you mean, I don't think anyone deserves to feel a bitter feeling," Mingyu says.
"Not me. After I think about it, maybe I really deserve this pain, after all the stupid things I did," Junhao says, before letting out a sigh.
"If you forgot, I had disappointed a lot of hearts in middle school. Today, I got my heart betrayed. I eventually deserve that," Junhao says, his voice sounded like he was having a moment of regretting something deep in his heart.
Surprised, Mingyu couldn't think of another sentence. She almost thought that she misheard what he just said, but her eyes couldn't lie that she is indeed seeing Junhao, the best friend who was care-free about life, but now is showing a more vulnerable side of him. At the moment, her mind went shock. It's hard enough to see him broken, but seeing another side of him in which she never expected before is definetly too much for her to handle. Mingyu became confuse at the situation with a thousand questions wondering in her head.
"Well, serves me well for being a jerk," Junhao says.
Junhao's eyes starts to water as regret takes over his feeling. Little did he know, Mingyu noticed this which made her feel hurt to see her best friend like this. Being a popular student in school, Junhao was used to having the ladies fall for him back then. The reality of it boosted his confidence, and made him "took the chance"of teasingly playing with what he has. By that, he got the title of "The Casanova" back in high school. Through out his casanova journey back then, Mingyu had witness the ladies being disappointed by Junhao's playful yet immature behaviour. Flirty words, acts of sweetness, and a care-free attitude towards the ladies when they start catching feelings were Mingyu's everyday sight of Junhao with the ladies. However, despite his immature attitude which only ended up disappointing a lot of women, Mingyu had always pictured him to be a nice guy. True, he broke some hearts, but deep down she thought it was because he was too immature to grow up and be clear about how he truly feels. Yet, one thing she always look up to him, is that he is able to understand her silent emotions without her having to say a word. Other than that, he never for once attempted to flirt her, literally because he understands her condition. Junhao has always treated her like a sister, just like Mingyu has always treated him like a brother.
Mingyu sighs. "You're not a jerk, Junhao. In life, we'll disappoint a lot of people, whether we realize it or not."
Junhao chuckles. "Still, that doesn't justify my mistakes."
"We all make mistakes," Mingyu says in a low tone.
Junhao turns his head to see Mingyu who has her vision on the table. From the side, he notice her eyes are filled with concern, while her small lips forms a small frown. Being her best friend for six years, he eventually gained the ability to read her feelings just by looking at her face, even from the side. Despite being fragile, Mingyu was never one to talk about her vulnerabilities to people. By this, when the two started being friends, Junhao had to learn to read her without her saying a word. This was what made them eventually got closer, in which she finally trusted him enough to open up to him about her mental condition.
"You're too understanding, Mingyu," Junhao says while staring at her from the side.
Mingyu turns her head around to face Junhao, which leads them to have eye contact with one another. Junhao notice how her eyes looks restless, indicates that she could be worrying about him now without his concern. He felt a small crack in his heart, feeling more guilty knowing that he had made his best friend worry when he knew well about her vulnerable mental condition.
Junhao sighs. "I'm sorry for making you worry about me."
"You didn't worry me," Mingyu says.
"I know I just did. But anyway, let's not talk about it. There's no use," Junhao says, trying to end the unpleasant topic.
Mingyu sighs. "Ok. Just don't be too restless."
Junhao chuckles as he shyly looks away from Mingyu. "I won't because here you are trying to cheer me up for my stupid doings. Thanks, Mingyu."
Slowly, Mingyu forms a small smile on her face. "No problem."
Junhao turns his head to face Mingyu  who had been staring at him the whole time. The two lock their eyes with one another, slowly letting themselves get lost in the moment. Junhao noticed how alluring Mingyu's eyes are, which looks like the mix of hope with a restless storm. He felt slightly surprise upon the realization, since he never notice this before, despite being friends for six years.
Damn...is it me, or are her eyes always look like alluring stars? Junhao thought.
A few hours later...
After college...
Xiaoliang is going through his locker searching for his book, when he suddenly hears a soft female voice tinkles through his ears. He turns his head to see Mingyu walking over to him. He smiles upon seeing the girl walking over to him, which suddenly brightens his dull mood.
"Xiaoliang! There you are. I was looking for you," Mingyu says as she stoods in front of the tall boy.
"I'm just looking for my book," Xiaoliang says in a chill tone.
"I see," Mingyu says, as her hand reaches the pocket of her jeans. She pulls out the peach enveloup and hands it to Xiaoliang.
"Here, take this," Mingyu says as she hands over the peach enveloup Xiaoliang had left for her last night to him.
"No, please. It's for you, Mingyu." Xiaoliang refuses to take back the peach enveloup.
"It's ok, Xiaoliang. Just take this back. Last night was my treat to you," Mingyu says, still handing the peach enveloup to Xiaoliang.
"Mingyu, I wanted to thank you for the dish. Please, this is for you," Xiaoliang says, still insisting that she should keep the enveloup.
"I was the one who wanted to cook for you. Please, don't mind me," Mingyu says.
As Xiaoliang was about to say another word to make Mingyu keep the enveloup, he hears another female voice tinkling through his ears. The voice sounded like it was filled with confidence. He turns his vision to see Yifei walking over to him, which also made Mingyu turn her head to see Yifei who looks both surprised and irritated at Mingyu's presence.
"Xiaoliang, I've been looking for you," Yifei says while looking at Xiaoliang who looks awkward, before turning her vision to see Mingyu looking down at her shoes.
"Did I interrupt something?" Yifei starts twirling her pigtail while gazing the two with an icy look.
"I was just looking for my book," Xiaoliang tries to answer in a chill tone.
"Oh, I see," Yifei says, before turning her vision back to Mingyu. She starts to eye Mingyu from head to toe, making her feel nervous.
"Well, then I guess we shall go now, since college is done for the day," Yifei says, before forcing herself to form a small, secretive smile at Xiaoliang.
"Yeah, sure. Let's go," Xiaoliang says as he closes his locker.
Hearing this, Yifei walks closer to Xiaoliang and puts her arm around Xiaoliang's arm, making him surprised deep inside.
"Bye, Mingyu," Xiaoliang says in a low tone.
Mingyu turns her head up to see Xiaoliang looking at her with an awkward look, while his right arm is being linked to Yifei's. Seeing this, Mingyu felt an odd sting in her heart, suddenly making her feel an unexplainable type of pain.
Yifei forms a smile of victory as she continues to stare at Mingyu with confidence in her gaze. She then walks away with Xiaoliang in her arm, leaving Mingyu alone with the odd sting in her heart.
Why did I just feel like that just now? Mingyu thought.
To be continue...