Where Do Morning Talks Lead To? [oneshot]

Where Do Morning Talks Lead To?

It was a quarter to seven, yet the sun could barely touch the ground as it is a cloudy morning in Shanghai. The streets are crowded with people and vehicles. Everyone's paces are like ants in a busy colony. It's the usual Monday morning after all. If people can skip Mondays, they would. It's the start of the week and most people despise it. People couldn't just stop what they're supposed to do amidst the pandemic situation. They can't, even if they want to. Not everyone can afford to feed themselves in their everyday lives. Not everyone is lucky. Not everyone is living a comfortable life. This is how people wake-up to start their day, to work hard in order to survive. Well, this is what Zhao Xiaotang was pondering while she was watching from the window on the 27th floor of their condominium. She was in sonder, realizing that each person is living a life as vivid and complex as hers, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it. Her mind can go on and on to the thoughts like a loop. She has to stop entertaining her thoughts for now. So she pulled herself out of her ocean of thoughts. She shut the curtain and dragged herself to the kitchen to make some coffee. She turned on the electric kettle, and then leaned on the island table as she waited for the water to boil. The room was so quiet that she could only hear the bubbles that had started to rise in the electric kettle. She examined the room and realized that IQIYI gave them a pretty big and decent place to stay for three members each. Although it's not as big as her house, it's ten times better compared to the living condition they had when they were in the dorms during their trainee days in Youth With You. She thought that maybe the production didn't have enough money during the show because they might have allocated most of the money for The9's condominium unit. "Not bad." She thought.

The sound of a switch flickered as the water was boiled. Xiaotang straightened up to get a mug in the cupboard. She reached for the small container and opened a sachet of instant coffee. She poured the hot water in the mug and stirred the coffee. She always likes the smell of coffee. It soothes her. She looked at the clock and it was 7:11am. They don't have a schedule for today. She's glad that she can finally rest for that day after all the photoshoot they had yesterday. Not that she dislikes busy schedules, she enjoys it a lot but it also drains her afterwards. Not to mention her zealous fans following her everywhere she goes. She's really thankful to them. She can't thank them enough with words. She remembers the time when she only had one or two fans following her before she was training in Youth With You. And now wherever she goes, some people can recognize her. She thinks it's good and bad at the same time. It's good for her career, and bad for her privacy. But she had thought she chose this path. But there are times fans cross the line. It's also inevitable to encounter those kinds of fans along the way. Especially since she has just started her career as a girl group member. There's no other way to do it but to adapt to her new lifestyle. She has to.

She sipped her coffee and burned her tongue. It was too hot for her. So she blew it as she walked back quietly to her room. She doesn't want to make any unnecessary sound as her roommates are still asleep. She opened the door to her room as quiet as possible. It was dim. The light couldn't penetrate much through her dark colored curtains. Her room was the biggest among the three. It has the biggest comfort room with a bathtub, biggest wardrobe, and a balcony.

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A few weeks before deciding who's going to get which room; they had to do a draw lots. Xiaotang was shouting for joy, luck was on her side when she picked the biggest room. Yu Shuxin whined when she got the smallest room.

"What the heck?! I got the smallest room!" Yu Shuxin felt defeated and threw the paper on the coffee table. They were having their draw lots in the living room. It was a big living room. It was so big that you could hold a party.

"What do you mean small? It's just the same as mine." An Qi replied to her.

"It's smaller by a meter!"