One More Chance | 马嘉祺

CHAPTER 15

The day has finally come for Jiaqi's play. Miaoli eagerly pulled Yaxuan and Mei by the arm towards the theater. "Come on, hurry up!"

Li Mei sighed. "It's too early for the play. They're probably still preparing."

"But I wanna wish him luck!" Miaoli grinned.

"I don't think they'll let us enter the backstage, Lili." Yaxuan softly said.

Miaoli stopped on her tracks. They were already beside the big door to the theater. "They won't?"

Mei nodded. "Soon we'll also be using the theater for our acting class and you won't be able to sneak Jiaqi in."

Miaoli sighed. She then squatted down beside the door. Yaxuan and Mei just looked at her and tried to convince her to just come back later when the play's finally starting.

"Let's just eat for now." Yaxuan persuaded.

"But... " Miaoli muttered. Her two friends can clearly hear the sadness lingering in her voice. "If we come back later, there's a chance that I wouldn't get to sit at the front row."

Yaxuan looked at her and tried to think of a way to cheer her up. He sneakily texted Jiaqi to come outside the theater for a bit. Fortunately, Jiaqi was currently using his phone so he immediately responded to Yaxuan, saying that he'll just wait for the makeup artist to finish and then he'll come out.

After three minutes of Li Mei trying to convince Miaoli to come back later, the door finally opened. The three of them looked at the door and saw Ma Jiaqi.

"Jiaqi!" Miaoli beamed as she energetically stood up.

Ignoring her, Jiaqi turned to look at Yaxuan. "Do you need anything?"

"As you can see we're a bit too early. We wanted to come back later but Miaoli doesn't want the front row seats to be taken. We can't convince her to leave for now."

"I'm already so hungry but this kid is too stubborn to stand up and go." Li Mei complained as she crossed her arms. "The only time she stood up was when you entered the scene."

Jiaqi sighed and looked at Miaoli, who was busy admiring him. He lightly flicked her forehead and it snapped her back to reality. "I'll tell them to get three front row seats reserved for you guys."

Miaoli widened her eyes with joy and smiled from ear to ear. "Really?!"

"Yes."

Due to excitement, Miaoli pounced on Jiaqi and hugged him by the neck as he jumped up and down from joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

This startled the other three. Yaxuan widened his eyes while Mei facepalmed. Jiaqi, on the other hand, tried to hold Miaoli down. His ears were getting red and he could feel his cheeks burning. "Get off me." He struggled to say.

The door suddenly opened behind them. The four of them looked at the person who opened the door. It was the girl from the other day. They all stopped what they were doing.

Miaoli looked at her from behind Jiaqi's shoulders. After recognizing the girl, she subliminally tightened her grip. "Jiaqi, our director's looking for you."

"Oh, I see. Tell her I'll be right there."

"Okay." The girl nodded, glancing at Miaoli. She was about to enter the theater again but Jiaqi suddenly spoke again.

"Oh, and, can you guys reserve three seats at the front row?"

Miaoli, who has been watching the girl, smiled big when Jiaqi heard his request. She looked up at him with so much joy.

The girl just looked at Jiaqi and Miaoli before softly saying, "Yeah, okay." She already guessed that the seats were for Miaoli, Yaxuan, and Mei.

As the girl entered the theater again, Miaoli squealed and hugged Jiaqi even tighter. "Thank you!"

Yaxuan looked at where the girl entered, then looked at Jiaqi and Miaoli. He can hear Jiaqi complaining that Miaoli's strangling him as he tries to push her away from the hug. But Miaoli's just too happy to hear that. She kept thanking Jiaqi as she jumped up and down.

Being the observant person that Yaxuan is, he noticed that Jiaqi was actually trying to hide his smile as he complained. He was also gently holding onto Miaoli's arms to make sure she doesn't get hurt. He even noticed his friend's ears turning red.

"Let's go, Yang Miaoli." Li Mei butted in. She helped Jiaqi in pulling Miaoli away from the hug. "He has to go. Let's just come back later."

She gently grabbed Miaoli by the wrist and started dragging her towards the cafeteria. Jiaqi stayed for a bit to see them off. Miaoli turned and waved at him while she was being pulled by her friend. "Good luck, Ma Jiaqi!"

As soon as Miaoli turned her back around, Jiaqi sighed to himself and put his hands on his hips. Remembering how much his request made Miaoli happy, he smiled to himself for a bit and shook his head, as if it would shake off the thought of Miaoli hugging him.

He finally went back inside the theater to finish the preparations. The girl, Zhao Huafeng, silently watched Jiaqi. She couldn't help but think about who the girl was. She doesn't know of Yang Miaoli's existence. She doesn't know Li Mei and Song Yaxuan either.

"Was that his girlfriend?" She thought as her gaze followed Jiaqi.

"Hey, you've been really quiet since you came back." One of her classmates said, nudging her. "Is it about Jiaqi?"

Huafeng nudged her classmate and signaled her to shut her mouth. The two of them looked at Jiaqi. "Do you think he has a girlfriend?"

"I doubt that." Her classmate said. "He barely even interacts with us girls."

Huafeng nodded to herself, agreeing about what her classmate said. Jiaqi was a calm and collected person, and he rarely talks in class. However, he is not a loner. He has friends, but they're all guys and he's the most quiet in the group.

"But I saw him with a girl just a while ago."

"That's new." Her classmate joked and chuckled.

"Right? She was even hugging him."

Her classmate looked at her with shock. "What?! You're kidding, right?"

"I wish I was lying, but unfortunately I'm not." Zhao Huafeng bitterly smiled.

"But he doesn't look like he has a girlfriend."

"I know." Huafeng sighed. "What is she to him?"

"Why not ask him later when we finally celebrate?"

"But how?"

She shrugged at Huafeng.

Huafeng felt helpless. But it was a good idea, rather than just jumping into conclusions. Her classmate tapped her on the shoulder and left. "Later. I'll ask later."