What are you doing here?

Layla was behaving all normal around Zou Haoran or rather she was trying not to show any awkwardness around him when he was blatantly staring at her. It was getting harder for her to ignore with every passing second.

"You want something?" She asked feigning innocence. Somewhere in her mind, she knew the answer.

"Why did you send me that text?"

Her face flushed for a second. "I already explained yesterday." She reminded him of the following text she sent him. 'Why he's asking something I've already told him.'

"Ahem, right." He could feel the awkwardness in his mood too.

Only he knows how much disturbed he was yesterday all because of her message.

Yesterday, he was reading the report submitted by his bodyguard when his phone produced a notification sound that he had set specifically for some special people.

He picked his phone and checked the message and saw an unread message from Layla. He clicked on it only to see three absurd words without any explanation or anything else.

He was confused, shocked. He had no idea how to explain his current mood. But what he didn't notice was that he wasn't angry.

At first, he felt that she played some kind of prank on him. On a second hand, he thought maybe… maybe she meant to send it to someone else which he himself felt the most impossible thing, given her personality and the rumors he has heard. Thoughts after thoughts were disturbing his mind.

He was tempted to ask her the meaning behind her message. Thus, after thinking a lot for some time, he decided to call her directly. He also thought for the answer he would give her if she were to tell him that her message was genuine. But before he could proceed with his plan, his phone again produced that special notification tone.

He saw it was her text. He opened it to see what actually she sent him this time.

'Would it be a prank?'

'Or would she say that it was a mistake. She meant to send it to someone else.'

'or... it was the truth...'

But none of his thoughts matched to the reason she sent him. She sent an explanation to him telling him how they were playing truth and dare, and how she had to send such a message to a guy, her friends wanted her to.

She also wrote that she was sorry for her actions. 'So, I wasn't a part of a prank but of a game.' He was relieved that he didn't jump to any conclusion and didn't call her sooner, yet somewhere in his mind, he was a little disappointed.

He had never felt his expressions change so much in a day. Layla's explanation was the terminator of this incident but what she didn't know was that she caused something; something inside him which would take what kind of shape in the future.

…

Like the evenings of the last week, it was another busy evening for Layla. She was working in the shop, as usual, ignoring others like a quiet girl one could only imagine her to be.

As she passed by someone, she was stopped by him. "Sis…" That boy called her again.

She turned to look at him. Last time, she was in hurry and couldn't neglect her work any longer. Thus, she ignored him. Yet, today he was here again stopping her. She wondered whether he would complete his sentences today or not.

Without wasting any time, the boy blurted out, "Please, help me, sis."

She looked at his lowered head. "Can you wait for me to finish?" she asked, unsure what else she could say at this moment. She was busy plus people were watching, it would be better to talk later.

Hearing her question, he nodded in agreement.

Without saying anything else, she moved away and resumed her work.

…

Zou Haoran was waiting for Layla so that he could 'coincidently' bump into her. He had read the information, his bodyguard gathered. And, he came to know that she was working part-time in a shop in this area. He wanted to know and see the expression she would make, a lie or maybe the truth she would say. Whatever it was, he was looking forward to it.

He waited and waited, he realized that she was still not here, on the road. He wasn't sure how long he should wait. When he was all confused about his next step, Layla came walking on the road.

She was a little lost in her thoughts. She didn't even notice a bike was heading her way.

"Good evening, vice-prez. We meet again today."

She almost jumped, hearing someone talking to her. "What are you doing here?" she asked looking at the 'ghost' who popped out of nowhere.

He smiled ignoring her frowned expression. "Riding my bike, of course."

She pursed her lips in silence. 'That's not what I mean. Forget it.'

"What are you doing here, Vice-prez." He asked her feigning a clueless yet a little curious look.

"Going hostel after working a part-time job in a cafe." She said without hesitation. To hide a lie, countless lies are needed to be told. And, for her, it was something that was hard to hide. Thus, she was honest right from the start.

Surprise was visible on his face.

She thought that her statement was quite a shock for him to accept. She waited... waited for him to pass his judgment. What she didn't know was that he was surprised because he never expected her to tell him the truth at least without any struggle. He was hoping for a little drama, some entertainment from her. But she did something he thought of the least.

"It's getting late. Do you want a ride?" He asked. There was no change in his tone, the way he was looking at her. He wasn't affected as if he was not the person who showed his interest in her matter moments ago.

She was surprised. She never thought that he won't judge her when they were clearly different from each other. Like in school, they might eat together yet their meals express the gap between them quite clearly.

"M-Maybe you could give me a ride for some distance." Before her mind could tell her to reject, those words left her mouth.