Push Her Buttons

She walked slowly over to the table and sat across from Hue Chi. Under the big night skies full of shining stars, there was not a single soul awake but two people sat there, about four feet apart from each other.

"Um... What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

"Probably the same as you are?" Hue Chi replied.

'Tsch... What a pain! He asks me to sit but refuses to give me a proper answer when I ask him a question. Great.'

"I'm here because I can't sleep and need to walk off my wakefulness."

In a low manly tone, Hue Chi replied, "Same here." It was true. He couldn't sleep after the dream so he decided to change the environment by walking around.

Yu Sha hated his way of talking. She found him hard to believe. What happened to that girlfriend of his? She thought, and her thought manifested. "By yourself?"

"Should I be with someone else?"

"Um... well, why didn't you ask your girlfriend to walk with you?"

Somehow Hue Chi couldn't help but love seeing every part of her reaction. "Which one?"

Yu Sha slammed her hand on the table. 'Bastard!' So, he had more than one girl? What did girlfriend mean to him anyway? She already did not like his attitude the last time, but she didn't think he could be an enemy of womankind.

"Pfft... hahaha." Prince Hue Chi laughed aloud at an infuriated and annoyed Yu Sha.

He was supposed to get mad at her for calling him a bastard. No one had ever dared to call him names or raised their voice at him but somehow, her reaction amused him and made him forget everything else.

She was bewildered at the way he laughed. Was he kidding? Or was he being serious? She would have a hard time figuring out if she were to. She was very gullible in that area - talking to men and discerning what was real and what was not.

"You're... you're kidding right?" she stuttered as she attempted to get her answers directly from him rather than giving herself a headache in finding out on her own.

He finally stopped laughing and turned to her. "Kao Sheng is just the daughter of my father's colleague. There is nothing more than that between us." He quickly and swiftly cleared his relationship with Kao Sheng.

She leaned back in her chair. "Hmm... it certainly didn't feel that way from her vibe."

"Could you have fallen for me?" He looked at her as he inched his handsome face closer and winked at her. He implied that maybe she had fallen in love with him, at first sight, to be able to sense that vibe from Kao Sheng.

Attacked by his charm, it took her several seconds to pull herself back. She flaunted her hair. "Oh please, I am yet to find a man who could move me. What makes you think that seeing you for a day could make me fall for you?" She chuckled as she waited for him to speak.

"Hmm... I see. I thought you are a shy person but you certainly don't talk like one."

That was the phrase she spoke while she was at the banquet. She studied him for a brief moment when she failed to know where he could have possibly heard it. She did not remember seeing him at the banquet. Could Lue Han have told him? "I'm shy at heart. That just means I don't often initiate conversations with new people. Once you get to know me on a personal level, I'm pretty chilled... and maybe a little crazy."

"Uh-huh... I can see that - the crazy part at least." He giggled, earning a glare from her.

"Ugh..." She was frustrated at the fact that he quite well knew how to push her buttons. She stood up, turning to him. "Well, nice talking to you, Mr. Hue Li. I have to get back since tomorrow will be another long day."

He rose on his feet as well. "Let me walk you back."

"Oh, it's okay. You should get some rest too. I'm sure you're here to oversee us in Lue Han's stead."

"Hmm. I'll be here till the end of next week and Lue Han will be here next month."

"Okay, then." Yu Sha bowed slightly and excused herself. She made her way towards the stairs and noticed that he was also following behind her. She turned around before she hit the steps and clarified. "You don't need to walk me back."

"I know. I'm also going back too. Why don't we go back together?" he asked.

She thought for a moment. It seemed a harmless idea.

"Okay." She agreed to walk back to their rooms together. She watched her steps down the stairs for she did not want to trip on herself and look like a fool since all the lights were off.

He slowly followed behind and unconsciously smiled at the back of Yu Sha who seemed to be taking extra precautions going down the stairs.

"I'll catch you if you fall," he said, with a smile that reached his eyes. He had been smiling a lot lately and had always refused to agree with his heart that popped up Yu Sha's image as the reason for his smiles but it looked like, he wouldn't be able to stay in the denial mode for long.

She stopped at her place. "I don't trust you."

"Haha... Do I look that untrustworthy?"

She continued down to the last step. "Yes, you reek of suspiciousness."

Huh. He frowned slightly at her statement. She seemed like she had something against him the whole time they sat together. She was constantly attacking and accusing him as if he had done her wrong in the past. "On what basis?"

She stopped and turned around. "Just think. Last time you and your girlfriend came by. You didn't say anything and kept staring like a creep and now, you are talking to me like everything is normal. The change in personality is a little hard to get used to."

"So, you are jealous?"