DAHLIA - Xu Minghao

Chapter 6 - Summer Comes to an End

     "Just let your heart speak,
And the darkest light will soon burn bright again."

***

Days passed, and Meilin started talking more in the group. She and Jisoo also grew very close, spending a lot of time together. He introduced her to Jeonghan, someone Meilin immediately took a liking to. The two best friends were the sweetest, but also the most mischievous people she had ever talked to. Because not even a full day after they started talking, Jeonghan was pulling pranks on her. And Meilin thought her friends back in Beijing were mischievous.

One person she hadn't talked to yet, despite being attached at the hip with his best friend, was Minghao. For some reason, every time she wanted to talk to him, something interrupted.

One night, when he and Junhui came back from the company, somewhere around one o'clock, Meilin was already sleeping by the time they entered the bedroom. The boys were talking in hushed voices as they carefully crawled over her legs to their own respective beds.

"You know, she's really nice." Junhui whispered, unknowingly waking Meilin up.

"I'm sure she is, but not to me. I'm one of the only ones she hasn't talked to yet, and she keeps throwing me dirty looks. I don't think she likes me very much." Minghao answered, and Meilin thought for a moment. She didn't mean to give him dirty looks, but when she heard the things he said, she couldn't always stop herself.

"Well, it's not like you're particularly kind to her, either. You keep talking behind her back." Junhui retorted, a little louder than he meant to. Seungcheol sleepily murmured something from the lower bunk, but Meilin couldn't make out what he said.

"Yes, but she doesn't understand me, so it's different."

Meilin sighed, turning her head to look at the boys. "Shut up." She hissed in Chinese. "I'm trying to sleep." Oh, Minghao shut up, all right. His jaw dropped as he looked at her, frozen in his spot. "Thanks." Meilin said, turning her back to the boys once again. Junhui laughed softly, ruffling her hair before he laid down as well, pulling the covers to his chin. Meilin shivered at the gap it created, the cold air of the room hitting her exposed back. Junhui shuffled closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards him so she could put her head on his chest.

The last thing Meilin heard before she dozed off again was Minghao groaning into his pillow, fully aware of how much he screwed up.

The next morning, the first thing Meilin saw when she woke up, was Junhui staring into her soul.

She screamed.

And immediately, Seungcheol was standing next to her bed, worried out of his mind. But Meilin was now laughing. She shook her head and wiggled herself out of Junhui's arms, climbing down the ladder quickly.

"Sorry, I tend to forget he sleeps with his eyes open. It looks scary when it's the first thing you see upon waking up." Seungcheol chuckled, following her out of the room, to the kitchen. There, they found a nervous Minghao, who was clutching a cup of tea to his chest as he stared out the window.

"Morning." Meilin greeted, causing him to jump up in surprise.

He stared at her with big eyes, observing her for a moment before he snapped out of it. "You really speak Chinese?" He asked her, and Meilin just nodded, grabbing a bowl and pouring herself cereal. She wasn't looking at him, but she head him sigh softly. "I'm sorry, for the things I said. I really am."

Meilin looked up at him and smiled, making her way over to the counter to grab a spoon and milk. "It's fine, I don't blame you, don't worry about it. It was kind of funny, actually, hearing you say all that stuff, thinking I had no idea." Minghao grimaced, turning away from her again.