mental note to self | meteor garden [REVAMPING]

05 | 花

Yuxin purposefully strode through Ming De's corridors. On the outside she was the picture of grace, but inside? Oh, she was absolutely fuming.

Following pointed fingers and the telltale sounds of commotion, she finally found exactly what she was looking for. Or rather, who she was looking for.

"Teng Tangjing!" she cried, arms crossed and brows knitted together in a frown.

Jing stepped out of her embrace with Lei, smiling rather nervously in an attempt to placate her.

The spectators of the reunion had broken into hushed whispers at the sight of six of the university's most influential seniors standing together. The murmuring only amplified as Ming De's so-called goddess hung her head sheepishly, looking like a child about to be chastised by her mother. Or, in this case, best friend.

"How dare you come back without telling me! I could have picked you up from the airport or something! Can you imagine I had to find out from my professor that my best friend in the whole world was back in town after months of being away? The nerve." Yuxin had to tamp down the childish urge to stomp her foot.

Jing had looked genuinely scared right until the "best friend in the whole world" part. After that, she was all smiles again, knowing that Yuxin wasn't really angry with her.

Huffing, Yuxin pulled her into a hug. "I missed you, you absolute bitch," she muttered.

"I missed you too. It was meant to be a surprise." Jing mumbled her apologies, hugging her back even tighter. Yuxin wasn't sure how that was even possible, given her own vice-like grip.

When they finally let go of each other, Yuxin caught sight of the snickering faces of F4 over Jing's shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at them and pointed an accusing finger. "Did you four know about this?"

None of them dared to meet her gaze, each studying a different spot in the corridor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Luckily for them, Jing linked her arm through Yuxin's before she could chew them out for keeping the secret, suggesting dinner as compensation. At the mention of food, they all excitedly gathered to finalize the plans. The crowd started to disperse.

At the other end of the corridor, Shancai could feel her heart, a heavy stone in water, sinking lower and lower. The girl Xinhui and Baihe had showed her was even more beautiful and elegant in person. Watching the six seniors interact, it was becoming increasingly apparent to her that Lei was surrounded by girls in a whole other league. She scolded her heart for even daring to hope.

Beside her, Chen Qinghe still had no idea what was going on.

‒∙◇❀◇∙‒

That night's dinner was all old memories and exchanged anecdotes.

Everyone was laughing boisterously, expensive wine adding a glow to their cheeks and relieving the stress from their shoulders. Well, almost everyone.

Yuxin had observed that something was off about Lei the entire evening. The others hadn't seemed to take notice of the fact that his typical quietness was without its usually accompanying good humor. He didn't laugh when they teased Si, his lips didn't curve into a small smile when one of them made a terrible joke. He was barely touching his food, non-dominant hand balled into a tight fist on his lap.

The others were too busy laughing over Ximen's story about a disastrous first date (which involved a mop and some chickens) to notice Yuxin brush her fingers over his now white knuckles under the table.

Having caught his attention, she raised her eyebrows, a question.

He pursed his lips and shook his head slightly.