Before The Meet

Roulan furrows her eyebrows at what the guy said. She was about to ask what he meant by his words when someone clung onto her.

"Let's go?"

Huiqing appears beside her with a wide smile, her eyes sparkling in the process.

Roulan's frown quickly turned into a smile before she nodded and looked at the bagger, who quickly bagged everything and signed the receipt.

"Please come back again."

He said this, bowing down to Roulan and Huiqing. The two women went out of the supermarket, with Huiqing still clinging to Roulan.

"You two seem to be talking about something serious."

Huiqing said, remembering the expressions of the bagger and Roulan. The taller woman smiles and shakes her head, holding the plastic bag more securely.

"Nothing; he's just telling me a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

Huiqing looks at Roulan, waiting for her answer. The taller sighs as to answers Huiqing's question.

"Oh, is it something he's afraid for others to say?"

Huiqing saw how Roulan reacted to her question. Seemingly not wanting to answer her, she decided to ask another one to not force Roulan to speak.

The taller woman looks at her before she forcefully removes Huiqing's arms from her right arm and puts her arms around the smaller woman's shoulder.

"That's their problem; we shouldn't interfere with it."

Huiqing nodded, leaning her body more onto Roulan's.

-

The day went on as usual, with Huiqing and Roulan teasing each other. The two enjoyed their lunch inside Roulan's apartment.

As Huiqing volunteered to do the dishes, Roulan lay down on the couch and slowly dozed off to sleep.

Of course, Huiqing saw her state, but the smaller couldn't help but smile widely upon seeing the innocent-looking face of Roulan.

Even though the taller promised they would binge watch her favorite series in her apartment, she accidentally fell asleep waiting for Huiqing to finish.

Huiqing didn't know what to do, but she lay beside Roulan, holding her so she wouldn't fall off the couch.

Upon waking up from the nap, which took them an hour and a half, Roulan continuously apologized for what happened.

"Huiqing, I'm so sorry for what happened."

Roulan said, flashing her apologetic look as she held both of Huiqing's hands. The smaller girl smiles before removing her left hand from Roulan's grip, patting the other in the process.

"Hey, it's fine."

"But still, I promised you that we'd binge-watch your favorite, but I'd have to ruin it because of sleep."

"We could still do it now."

Huiqing proposed. Roulan would love to go to her apartment and spend the night there because, for sure, Huiqing wouldn't let go of her, but she has plans for the evening.

Maybe someone planned her evening.

"I'd love to, but I have something to do in the evening."

Roulan said, her head looking down on her lap as she couldn't keep her head up because of embarrassment.

Huiqing's smiling face falls flat at what Roulan said. She sighs and nods, understanding Roulan.

"That's alright; there's still next time."

Huiqing's face went back to a smiling one. The two continued their hangout until, eventually, Huiqing needed to go back into her apartment.

Roulan wants to bring her back home so she'll know that the girl got home safely, but Huiqing insisted that she just go home by herself.

Roulan didn't have any choice but to agree as Huiqing dropped a list of reasons for her not to drop her home.

As Huiqing hails a cab, Roulan watches her enter it and waves at her.

Huiqing pulled the window down and smiled widely.

"We'll still hang out, right?"

Roulan puts her arms behind her as she nods, her lips twitching into the widest smile she can manage.

Huiqing sent her a flying kiss before the cab drove away. With her action, Roulan couldn't help but blush a deep shade of red.

She sighs in the process.

"I'm acting like a teenage girl who got teased by her boyfriend."

Roulan's face twitched into a frown upon hearing herself say that.

"Eww, did I just say boyfriend?"

She quipped before going back into her apartment building, scolding herself for what she said earlier.

-

Yanmei still couldn't get the picture of Roulan and Huiqing together when the latter told her she loved the smaller girl.

She couldn't help but feel angry at Roulan for making her feel like an idiot for proposing something she knew Roulan wouldn't do.

But she couldn't help but ask her for that, as she wanted Roulan for her.

Even just a little percentage, at least.

Though she wouldn't probably share the taller with someone she doesn't know at all.

Heck, even if she knew the person, she wouldn't do it.

Because once she marks someone, it's already hers.

As Yanmei went inside their mansion—because she spent the night at Guang's place complaining about Roulan's attitude—her heart dropped upon entering her room and seeing a dress laying on the bed.

She throws her purse on the bed before going out towards her father's office, where she saw him going through a lot of paperwork.

"What's that doing in my bed?"

"Don't you like it?"

"No! Why would I? Am I going to that stupid engagement of Peizhi and I!?"

Yanmei lashes out, her eyes becoming red in the process as she's trying to stop herself from crying.

Shihong looks up from the papers calmly before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Tell me, how can you say it's Peizhi?"

"Who else would you arrange for me? No one, right?"

"Oh, Princess, you'd love who it is."

He said this before smiling widely and going back into the papers as Yanmei took the chair in front of him.

"How can I trust you?"

He stops for awhile and sighs, nodding his head as Yanmei squints.

"You can trust me; this one's real."

"No, you've been telling me that since what? I was 3?"

It's true, Shihong has a lot of broken promises, and he also messes up a lot of her trust.

There was one time when he promised that their family would go on a cruise ship, but he never came because he was busy with his business.

Also, when Yanmei witnesses her mother and father getting into a fight, her mother would love for the illegal business to stop.

But of course, Mafia is like a part of his life already.

"Trust me for this one."

"You've had that a thousand times, and yet I couldn't seem to trust you right now."

"Princess, this one is real, I promise."

Shihong said, looking at his daughter with his truthful eyes.

Yanmei held eye contact to see if Shihong would give up and tell her the truth, but her father resisted and continued.

In the end, she sighs and looks away, nodding in agreement, indicating that she's accepting her defeat.

"Fine, if this is fraud, you'll have to buy me a penthouse and let me get out of this hellhole."

Shihong smiles widely with a nod, his eyes glistening in the process as he can't help but see his daughter in a wedding dress.

"You'd love this one and thank me for what happened."

Yanmei squinted before she pointed her fingers at him. She was about to say something when she closed her mouth and retrieved her hand.

"Ok, I'll trust you for this one."

She stands up and walks towards the door, holding the knob before she turns around. Shihong's eyes continue to follow her.

"Don't mess it up."