Prompt Me

Friendship: Best Female Friend

A smile broke across Daoming Si's face before he even saw her. He could already feel Shancai's presence as he stepped off the escalator and onto the third level of the busy mall. It had been that way since the very beginning; it was as if his body instinctively knew whenever she was nearby and came alive as it prepared for her presence. His heart would beat faster, his hands would grow a little sweaty, and the blood would rush through his veins until he was dizzy with anticipation. She alone did this to him and he wouldn't change a damn thing about it.

Ah Si could feel the adrenaline running up in him - there she was! Shancai's back was towards him and Ah Si had to force himself to not skip his way towards her. Tapping her lightly on the left shoulder and hiding to her right, he grinned as she spun in the wrong direction.

"Hey!" He greeted her playfully, taking in how cute she looked in her light pink jacket.

"You scared me!" Her eyes were wide with surprise as she lightly admonished him.

Ah Si tried not to laugh. Who exactly did Shancai think was going to attack her in this brightly lit space in broad daylight? Besides, he would take them down and slash them in half before they even had the opportunity to think about harming his adorable girlfriend.

"You told me to come here so urgently." Ah Si leaned in playfully. "Do you want to see my singing talent?" He was already feeling sorry for her pretty little ears; singing was regretfully absent among his many talents. He could rap a few lines pretty well, but such music was not befitting of his status so he saved that for the privacy of his own bedroom where only Mr. Liu was privy to his personal singing and dancing escapades. Maybe one day he would share his secret hobbies with Shancai – he would love to get her to loosen up and sing and dance with him! Only after they were married of course; he didn't need to give her any reasons to deny his proposal when he eventually decided to spring it on her.

Ah Si was happily daydreaming about what married life would be like with Shancai in a few years when she suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts. She was concerned about Xiaoyou.

"She's already inside," Shancai said worriedly, her eyes looking in the direction of the karaoke joint.

The smile faded from his lips as Ah Si contemplated the difficult situation at hand. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Shancai's sweet best friend. After all, Ah Si knew his own best friend very well and  Xi Men was not the type to settle down. Xiaoyou didn't stand a chance when Xi Men's preferences ran towards hot, straightforward girls without much intelligence. Xiaoyou was simply too cute and naïve for Xi Men's taste. But as Ah Si stared at Shancai, he found that he was suddenly, uncharacteristically optimistic – if he, the untouchable Daoming Si, had unexpectedly fallen in love with his own cute and naïve girl, maybe Xi Men would be fortunate enough to do the same. Either way, Shancai was a good friend to Xiaoyou, and as Shancai's boyfriend, he would be a good friend to Xiaoyou as well.

"Let's go," Ah Si said somewhat reluctantly, already dreading the sappy, melancholic love songs he was certain to endure for the next few hours. It was going to be absolute torture and he needed to mentally prepare.

Shancai's voice was full of surprise as she asked him, "So you're joining us for real?"

What a silly girl – of course he was joining them. What else did she expect when she called him in the middle of a major Fantasy Westward Journey battle with Lei to come meet her here? This was the type of thing a supportive and loving boyfriend would do, right? Ah Si's shoulders slouched a little bit as he recalled how quickly Lei had turned down his invitation to come with him to meet Shancai and Xiaoyou. When Ah Si had reminded Lei that karaoke involved music, which was Lei's favorite thing in the entire world, the other young man had given him a look of comical horror and a resounding "No." That was it - just "no." And then Lei had fled the room, not even bothering to say good-bye.