When They Met

The next morning Song Ren woke up feeling lightheaded. She stirred out of bed and walked towards the kitchen without dressing out of nightwear. Each member of the Song Family preferred cooking over letting any of the helpers do it.

Her mother and father had left the country early in the morning again to who knows where. They traveled often since Song Jinyi and Song Jun turned eighteen. She thought that this is what older couples tend to do after all of their children have grown.

Song Ren cooked some eggs, mushrooms, vegetables, and brewed some black coffee. She cooked several dishes out of habit for her siblings when their parent's left the country.

After placing all the dishes on the kitchen island, Song Ren drank out of her coffee mug while looking out at the green yard through the window. She did not expect someone to sneak up behind her.

Song Ren dropped her coffee mug and the glass shattered as Su Feng startled her. Alarmed, Su Feng immediately went to grab the broom and dustpan.

He began to wipe up the glass shards and grabbed a rag to wipe up the coffee spill. Su Feng did not seem to notice one of the shards and it pierced across the tip of his finger. Instinctively, Song Ren reached out as soon as she saw blood. She grabbed his hand and tended to his wound.

She ran his finger through water to remove the blood. She let go and went the compartment reaching for a bandage. She cut a piece and tied it around his finger and secured it with a pin. "It wasn't deep but I wouldn't risk getting your wound dirty," she said.

While Song Ren was tending to him, she never looked at him once. But when she realized he did not say a word, she finally glanced at him. His gaze was scalding.

She wondered why he stared at her so intensely. After recognizing the little gap between them, she did not realize how close their bodies were. His golden hair appeared to be wet from his shower and it fell across his face beautifully. She took a step back, extending the gap between them.

After a moment of silence, Song Ren awkwardly asked, "Would you like to eat something?"

Su Feng slowly nodded and watched as she walked behind the counter and adjusted a plate for him.

Su Feng recalled a time in senior high school when he first met Song Ren. He spent his middle school years hearing about the eldest daughter of the Song family. Su Feng was someone who fooled around with other kids, skipping school, and spending money recklessly. He was naturally good at tests but he still performed poorly due to his lack of class attendance.

His parents always compared him to her. The heiress was a good girl who did well in school. He couldn't believe it. Most of the rich girls he knew were spoiled and arrogant. In Senior high school, he transferred to her school in order to meet the smart and elite daughter of his father's rival.

When he attended, he could not join the same class as Song Ren because of their differences in grades, and he had no inclination of what she looked like. The girl kept a low profile.

It was around the mid-autumn festival when he first heard her name. Su Feng purchased a hazelnut milk tea with a group of friends before he heard a girl call out, "Song Ren!"

He saw her back and followed through the crowd but it was large and the gaps were too narrow. He left his friends who called out his name but he did not listen.

He kept walking through the gaps but lost her.

He noticed some students selling mooncakes when he asked for a sweet bean pastry. A group of girls from his school approached him. Although he did not court anyone, he did enjoy the attention from girls.

He then caught a glimpse of a young woman behind the girls who flirted with him. He could not understand why but when he saw her, he could not tear his eyes away.

She was a dark-haired beauty with waist-length black hair that swept behind her shoulders. She walked straight and confidently and he composed himself believing she was walking towards him. When she approached the stand, she asked for a sweet bean pastry to the employees.

Su Feng glanced at her but she did not spare one in return. Some of the girls tried speaking to him, but he desperately wanted to ignore them. Politely, he collected his sweet bean pastry when he heard someone say, "Xiao Ren, which flavour are you getting." Su Feng stilled.

"Sweet bean," she said gently with a small smile.

The crowd was large, and because he rarely attended school events more approached him. He tried to squeeze through before Song Ren left, but one of the girls grabbed him when he crashed into someone and the drink spilled on her.

Song Ren was covered in milk tea, her hair matted to her shirt. She glanced at her uniform and the ground. She picked up her sweet bean pastry and pouted. She then asked the student for a new one and exchanged it.

Song Ren then ate the pastry in two bites and walked away nonchalantly. Su Feng wanted to laugh but he did not dare. The girl was more upset about her fallen pastry than the mess of her uniform.

Su Feng stood rooted to the ground when she left. He felt utterly foolish. He did not expect himself to look so uncool, but more importantly he did not expect her to be so pretty. She barely acknowledged him which surprised him even more, but he knew that he wanted to get to know her.

And now, six years later, he still can't tear his eyes away from her. But it was still the same as the before, the distance between them was still large.