Flower among the thorns

Lesson 20

Yibo 

"Okay, the meeting room is set up for the meeting with the student committee of Sakura Academy, let's be there in 5 minutes time," I commented as I glanced at the rest, stopping my eyes at Cheng Cheng, " You, " I pointed at him, "Act properly in front of others got it?" Cheng Cheng waved off my concern and said, "Yeah, I know don't worry. I won't throw my face in front of other girls." I certainly hope so.  

Minutes after we entered the room, a knock came from the door and I walked forward to open it, only to be greeted by the short jet black hair girl whom I've met on the street. What sheer luck to be working with this rude person. She on the other hand doesn't seemed to recognise me and greeted me curtly as she walked in with the rest of the girls behind her. Sigh, let's just hope this collaboration will work well. The girls sat in the opposite row from us and the short black hair girl face had an angry scowl as her eyes met with Yuxin who was bending her head down trying to hide herself from plain view. "Yuxi, are you alright?" Kun asked with a worried tone as he placed his hands on her shoulder. 

YuXin 

This is it, this is my doomsday. How could I forget that Jiaqi jie jie is from Sakura Academy, no wonder the name of the school is so familiar to me. Right now I am trying to avoid making any eye contact with her.. How am I supposed to get out of this? "Let's introduce ourselves before we discuss the agenda of today's me-" Yibo senior announced and Jiaqi jie jie cut him off, "Sorry, before we begin, I'd like to have a word with this guy over here," she pointed towards me and I glanced towards Kun's direction to see a glare on his face. "What business do you have with Yuxi?" he asked in a calm tone while his expression turned dark. Shucks, is a world war 3 about to break out in here? 

Jiaqi jie jie replied coldly, "The matter is mine.. and I believe that Yuxi here would agree with me." I squeezed Kun's arm lightly and nodded, standing up to follow Jiaqi jie jie out of the room. Sigh, I shall just leave my fate to heavens. Once we were at a more secluded area, Jiaqi jie jie, grabbed my arm tightly and rambled, "Do you have something to explain to me Yuxin? What on earth are you thinking to be coming here in a boy's school trying to impersonate Yuxi?? Whose idea was it?!" 

I cringed my face at her berating, "jie jie, don't be so worked up.. it's just a temporarily solution.. Once we find Yuxi, I'd be returning back to my own school." "Where the hell is that Yuxi anyway, why didn't you ask me to help find him? I've got connections around here," she raised her voice in agitation. "I'm sorry Jiaqi jie jie, but we have no choice..."  Sighing, she smoothed my hair, "Yuxin, I'm not angry at you, it's just seeing you in your short hair and wearing this boys uniform makes my heart break. Let me talk to your mom and solve this." 

My brain immediately flashback to the last time Jiaqi jie jie had a "talk" with my mom. Things turned out so ugly that it became a yelling match between the two of them as Jiaqi jie jie tried to reason with my mom over the bias treatment between me and Yuxi. In the end I had to pull Jiaqi jie jie away with all my might before a cat fight broke out. "No no no, please don't find my mom," I begged Jiaqi jie jie, pulling out my poor puppy eyes, pouting as I tugged her shirt. "Jie jie, I am doing okay here, really."  Upon seeing my expression, she frowned and pulled me in for a hug, "You know I can't win against your puppy eyes. Sigh, don't you dare keep anything from me again." She pulled away from the hug and pinched my cheeks lightly as I smiled at her. Phew, luckily I managed to avert this incoming crisis. 

Kun 

"Hi guys, I'm AnQi, the vice chairperson of Sakura Academy," the girl batted her eyelashes at me flirtatiously as she introduced herself. I, however, was not in the mood to entertain any of that and gave her a curt smile before turning my attention to the door, waiting for YuXin to return. Who's that girl that summoned her out just like that? I hope everything is alright..

A few minutes later, both the girl and YuXin stepped into the room, breaking the awkward silence engulfing the room. My eyes trailed with YuXin as she sat down and she gave me a light squeeze on the shoulder with a comforting smile, "Everything is okay, don't worry." Seeing her relaxed expression, I nodded and ruffled her hair slightly with a smile, "thats good, we can commence the meeting proper now shall we?" I looked at Yibo who nodded and started the introduction.

AnQi

I eyed the boy sitting opposite of me, checking his side profile out as he engaged in a conversation with the petite looking boy sitting beside him. This is my type of guy, if he is my boyfriend I'd garner more fame in the school, I smirked.

"Hi, my name is Cai Xukun, I'm the vice chairperson of our student committee," he greeted us with a polite smile. Great, then we'd be working closely together. Smiling, I extended my hand towards him for a handshake, "I hope to work with you, closely," I lingered my hands longer than usual, looking at him seductively. He however, took no notice of it as his expression remained the same. Playing hard to get I see, I'd definitely get you.

"Alright, let's get down to business. I've come up with some ideas according to our  plan for a pop up cafe store near our school district to raise the funds. Recently, the butler and maid cafe theme is the rage so we are thinking of following this theme to attract the crowds," Yibo said as he flashed the PowerPoint slides.

****

" Cai Xukun, can I have your number so its easier for us to contact each other? " I handed my phone over to him as he glanced at me with a look of hesitation before taking it." S-Sure... If it makes this collaboration effort easier." Sweet, first step done." Thank you," I purposely brushed my hand against his as I took back my phone, flashing him a flirtatious smile.

YuXin

Ughh. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the cloyingly sweet attempts from AnQi trying to get Kun's number and a wave of uneasiness set in as I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms seeing Kun typing his phone number into her phone while she bat her eyelashes at him seductively. Sigh, guys prefer this kind of girls don't they, the long hair goddess with cheerful persona.

"Let's go back," Kun wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he said goodbye to AnQi while Jiaqi jie jie squinted her eyes menacingly at Kun upon seeing his action. Drats, better go before she reach her threshold. "Y-Yeah, let's go back. I'm hungry already," I looked at Kun and pulled him along hurriedly.

****

"Kun, what do you think about AnQi? She seemed like she's interested in you, sneaking glances at you throughout the meeting," I asked in an inquisitive tone.

He tilt his head towards me and smirked, "why are you looking at her during the meeting? Don't tell me you're interested in her?" I slapped his arm lightly, "Of course not, I'm just asking. Ahh, forget my question, let's go for dinner." I walked off to the cafeteria as Kun started giggling. Why am I so concern about whether he likes AnQi, that's none of my business.

"Hey the girls from Sakura Academy are really top notch beauty, don't you agree?" Cheng Cheng exclaimed excitedly while shoving my arm lightly as we sat down at the cafeteria with the other guys. "H-Huh? Haha yeah.." I replied half heartedly, focus my attention on the bowl of soup in front of me instead.

"Especially the chairperson, Xu Jiaqi, just one glance from her I feel like she has hooked my soul away." Hearing Cheng Cheng's obsession with Jiaqi jiejie I clamped my lips together to stop myself from smiling. You're going to have a tough time asking her out.

Suddenly he turned towards me and asked," How come she asked you out for a chat before the meeting? Do you know her?" I sputtered my soup out at his sudden question. "Ah.. Haha, uhh she's my cousin actually.." I replied and Cheng Cheng's face lit up like a happy puppy. "But don't tell me to introduce her to you.. I'm not doing that." For your own good.. Cheng Cheng's face fell as he began sulking. "Girls like guys who can make his own move, court her on your own if you want respect." Kun said calmly, trying to appease Cheng Cheng.

"Alright, I'm going to use my personal charm to win her heart" Cheng Cheng said in a determined tone. Well if you want to court death then I can't possibly stop you..