3 Chapter 3: No.

After bumping and meeting the Shen siblings for a few days in a row, Qiao An started to accept the fact that she couldn't ignore the siblings anymore. So, she resigned to her fate and opened up her heart and mind for them.

As Amy Shen gets closer to Qiao An, Qiao An did invite her to her house. But she only asked Amy Shen, Shen Jun Shan was not invited because Qiao An thought that it would be weird to invite a male friend to her house.

It wasn't as if she hated the opposite sex; it's just that Qiao An doesn't really mingle with a man. Even though Shen Jun Shan is her friend now, she was not comfortable to have a man in her house.

That weekend, Qiao An and Amy Shen were having girls time in Qiao An's house. Qiao An volunteered to do manicure and pedicure for Amy Shen. The nails done by Qiao An was so pretty that Amy Shen was impressed. To repay her, Amy Shen asked Qiao An to have lunch at her house.

Both women entered the house with a broad smile on their face. Shen Jun Shan was watching television in the living room when he saw the happy girls.

"Getting your nails done prettily. You want to show it to someone?" Shen Jun Shan had an ex-girlfriend who liked to get manicure and pedicure. After she gets her nails done, she would show them to him every time. From there, he had the impression that whenever girls get their nails done, it is because they want to show it to someone.

Qiao An was not as awkward to the siblings anymore, so she sat a few feet away from Shen Jun Shen.

"Why should we? Can't we paint our nails because we want to? Do we need to have someone as a reason for that?"

Shen Jun Shen moved his eyes from the screen of the television. He saw that Qiao An was truly happy when she looked at her nails while smiling. Shen Jun Shan thought that Qiao An looked quite pretty when she smiled.

"You know An; you should smile more. It makes you look.." Shen Jun Shan wanted to say 'prettier', but when he saw that Qiao An looked at him confusedly, he changed it "a little bit friendlier".

Qiao An looked at her surrounding as if she's looking for something. "Are you talking to me? Did you just call me An?"

Shen Jun Shan laughed loudly. Confused Qiao An is so cute. He didn't reply to Qiao An and let her think whatever she wanted to.

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A few days later, after school, Qiao An went to the town library to find an old reference book. She couldn't find it online, so she tried her luck in the town library. It was around lunchtime when Qiao A arrived at the town, so she decided to have lunch first before going to the library.

Qiao An went into a restaurant called Moon and Star Restaurant. She likes it there because it was not crowded. The food from the Moon and Star Restaurant was a bit pricey, so the place was not very crowded. Qiao An did not care about the price; she did not want to make eye contact with strangers.

Coincidently, Shen Jun Shan came into the restaurant with his university friend, Wallance 15 minutes earlier than Qiao An. They were having lunch after their collaboration meeting. Wallance was joking about finding a girlfriend in City L so that he will have the motivation to fly frequently to City L from City K.

Shen Jun Shan jokingly trying to set up Wallance and his sister because he did not know a lot of single girls in City L. Wallance declined straightforwardly saying the Amy Shen was not his type – and that, Amy Shen scared him for no other reason.

To support his decision on not wanting to be set up with Amy Shen, Wallance described his ideal type to Shen Jun Shan.

"I like someone beautiful. Someone quiet and someone…someone like.." Wallance looked around, and his eyes landed on a girl who entered the restaurant. "Someone like her"

Shen Jun Shan had his back towards the entrance of the restaurant so he couldn't see the people who entered the restaurant. He turned around and saw that Qiao An walked in quietly with her head held up high. She did not look around and only focused on walking to the table directed by the waitress of the restaurant.

Shen Jun Shan turned to face his friend and smiled. "Why someone like her?"

"Did you see the way she walked? She walked as if she owned this restaurant. She didn't look at people, so confident. Also, she's pretty. But, she looked familiar though" Wallance craned his neck to look for the girl he saw just now.

Shen Jun Shan smiled, but he didn't tell Wallance that he knew Qiao An. Wallance was right about two things. One, Qiao An is beautiful and two, she is quiet. For the third one, Shen Jun Shan did not know whether Qiao An was confident or if she was trying so hard to avoid having eye contact with people around her.

After Shen Jun Shan and Wallance finished eating, Shen Jun Shan asked Wallance to follow him for a surprise. Wallance was tempted, so he followed Shen Jun Shan.

"Hi, Qiao An. You have a business in town?" Shen Jun Shan greeted Qiao An who was sipping her hot coffee leisurely. Wallance was surprised to know that Shen Jun Shan knew the girl who is his ideal type.

Qiao An looked at Shen Jun Shan and then she took a glance at Wallance before she put down her coffee. "Yes, the library. I want to find an old book there".

"Oh, this is my old friend, Wallance. And Wallance, this is my friend, Qiao An. We went to the same high school, but she's the same age as my sister" Shen Jun Shan introduced the two of them. Wallance was quiet for a while.

"You look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?" Wallance felt as if the girl in front of him was familiar, but he didn't know why. "Uhm… this might be sudden but can I have your number, please?"

Wallance gave his best smile. Women usually gave their phone number if he smiled handsomely as he did right now.

Qiao An looked alternately between Shen Jun Shan and Wallance. Then she said "no" – with a solemn tone.

Suddenly, Shen Jun Shan recalled his memory about Qiao An.

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Ten years ago.

Shen Jun Shan received a note slipped in his English textbook. Someone asked to meet him at the back of the laboratory building. When he arrived, a popular girl in his grade came out and handed him a pink envelope.

Shen Jun Shan did not have to ask to know that it was a love letter. Shen Jun Shan was not interested in being in a relationship with the girl, so he rejected her. After Shen Jun Shan refused her, Shen Jun Shan saw that the girl was staring at something behind him. When he turned around, he saw the nosebleed girl.

Nosebleed girl was staring at them blatantly before she turned around quickly. Shen Jun Shan excused himself too since he wanted to go back to his class.

The next day, Shen Jun Shan was called to the staffroom. When he arrived there, he saw that the nosebleed girl was there too.

"Is this the boy you saw behind the laboratory building?" The discipline teacher asked the nosebleed girl. Shen Jun Shan did not know why he was called to the staffroom, but he did not want to question the teacher at the moment because the teacher was furious.

"No". The girl answered thoughtfully while shaking her head. After that, the teacher asked him to go back to his classroom.

One word from the girl and Shen Jun Shan was dismissed without even knowing why he was called in the first place.