"You're leaving again? And you won't be back until late in the evening?"

Chan Lee felt like she was leaving a child in the orphanage. And she didn't even have the experience of having a child at all. She rubbed her face tiredly and looked at him. Mondays really were the worst day of the week.

He really didn't look like the guy who'd be clingy—

But now Xue was pouting, his arms restlessly moving as he tried to keep them at his sides. If he was wearing his robes, the sleeves would have swished right now. His hair even looked messy right now. "I'll be fine and won't open the doors to strangers, but it's really dangerous at night!"

"You don't have to worry too much about me, I'm used to going home late at night." She gave him an assuring smile. At least, what she thought to be one.

"Still…can't I accompany you?" He ran his fingers through his hair, biting on his lip. "I'd be more at ease if I stayed by your side."

"You're not a student, they won't really let you in." She let out a soft breath, his hair was much longer and tangled than hers. But now that she was reminded of it…

"Wait a minute."

She had it somewhere, she looked around her small room before walking over to her closet. There was a scrunchie she used to wear before she had her recent haircut. It was a simple blue hair tie, she found it in one of the drawers. Grabbing a hairbrush, she turned to the man standing in her room. "Alright, sit on my bed."

"H-huh?" Despite his brows raising, he followed her words without much complaint.

If only other people were this complacent, if only she could mould and form them to act as she willed them to be. It was a passing thought as she stood behind him and gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"Your hair is a bit of a mess, so let me fix it up for you." Her fingers ran through his hair like they were nothing but gentle streams of water.  "I guess this is as heavenly as one can get." She began to brush his hair, his tangles dispersing in easy strokes. No shampoo, conditioner or hair treatment could manage to recreate such fineness.

"What do you mean, Miss Chan Lee?" He asked but stayed completely still. 

"O-oh, I'm just a bit envious of your long hair, it's silky smooth. If this is the benefit of being a cultivator, even I'd want to be one." She chuckled to herself as she fixed up his hair.

Chan Lee didn't even need to think of what specific hairstyle, her fingers already pulled his hair up into a high ponytail.

"Oof, well, you could grow your hair longer. I think you'd be pretty." He shifted a bit to look at her with those blue eyes of his.

Chan Lee prodded him to turn away from her, securing the ponytail with one final tug of his hair. "Are you saying I'm not pretty right now?" 

"Y-you are! You're beautiful!" He squeaked.

She felt her lips quirk, "I was just teasing you, I suppose I'm kind of pretty? I might have to thank my ancestors for that...but I'm running a bit late to ponder about that." She looked at his hair and considered her work done. "Alright, your hair is finished. Go check it on the bathroom mirror okay?"

"U-uh, okay?"

"Cool." She sat up and grabbed her bag, "I'll see you later!"

…

Chan Lee walked in the school corridors, yawning softly. She had given Xue her last bowl of instant oatmeal with sliced fruits and even told him where she had her secret stash of snacks. And she hadn't even offered it to Han Jing when he complained about his need for "midnight sustenance". 

All in all, that meant she was eating at the cafeteria. They were a bit overpriced if you asked her, but what could she do? Her stomach grumbled. "I probably should have brought a peach, stupid."

Resounding footsteps clamored in the hallway from behind her. She immediately stepped aside to avoid a collision, but the sounds slowly died down.

"Heey, Lee! You didn't reply to meee!" Zhao's voice rang clearly and loudly.

Chan Lee froze. Have mercy on her! She could feel snide looks from people now on her… why did he have to bring her too much attention? Wait. She could still walk away and pretend it was another Lee. 

She could do that.

"Really? My bad, I must have fallen asleep." She turned to him with a smile on her face.

She couldn't do it.

He tilted his head as the corner of his lips twitched. "What about this morning? I find it impossible that you wouldn't check your phone." 

"I was giving careful instructions to my cousin to not burn the apartment down." She replied with her best blank expression. She really did kind of left Xue some parting reminders.

Don't answer the door for anyone! And I mean, anyone.

Zhao slowly nodded his head. "Huh… I see. Well it doesn't matter, I have my free period right now. Are you heading to the cafeteria or something?"

"Not really. No."

Her stomach betrayed her with a vicious growl.

"Looks like your stomach says otherwise, come on. What do you say?" Zhao grinned and fist bumped her on the shoulder. "It's a great chance to share our thoughts on the chapter too. I could treat you if you like?"

She stared at him, he was wearing a dark leather jacket despite it not being cold at all. He looked like one of those people you'd see in the back of an alley. "Don't you have other friends to ask about this chapter though?" She wasn't one to judge… but he didn't look like the type who'd befriend her for no reason.

Maybe Han Jing was right? What if this guy had an ulterior motive? Her stomach turned queasy. He knew where she lived.

"O-oh! Well…Bo Ling isn't that eager to study, but you look like you study a lot. You sit in front too, you must pay attention a lot?" Zhao rubbed the back of his neck.

Chan Lee sighed inwardly. "A-ah…I see, well, if that's the case." He seemed to be the type of person who wouldn't give up if she declined anyways. "I suppose we can talk for a couple of minutes."

"Alright!"

In one of the corners of the cafeteria, the two of them sat together as an odd pair. Chan Lee ignored the fleeting glances that were sent their way. Instead she focused on the sourness of her orange fruit juice, she eyed the plate of egg sandwiches which were ready to eat. It took all her willpower not to gobble them all up, she was hungry.  Tossing a look at her side, her book was laid up, ready for the discussion.

"So…." Zhao began digging in his backpack, he was situated across from her. He had ordered himself a bottle of milk tea and some bagels...he had a sweet tooth. "Hmm, where is it?"

She raised a brow at him. This was a chance to see if he actually studied or he was just wasting her time. Though a part of her wondered if he'd even bring his book or forgotten it at his dorm. He had been nice to her, even buying her a bag of peaches at market… the least she could do is tutor him. For this time only though. She wasn't that so easy to buy.

"I got it!"

"Good, now let's look at the pre-test questions fi—" 

A pendant was held up to her face.

"What do you think?" Zhao asked, presenting it to her. "I saw this being sold at one of the market stalls, and I thought—hey maybe Lee would like a cute little trinket like this. Do you like it? It's yours!"

"Do you not have a girlfriend or something?" 

"What?"

"Y-you can't just give me a necklace out of a blue." She averted her gaze, staring at the floor. "W-what if I took it the wrong way? I know you're trying to be friendly…" She really wasn't so sure about that really. "But you can't simply be nice or give me things to get my friendship. It doesn't work that way, okay?"

His eyes widened and he motioned at her concilliatory. "Well, I'm sorry if you thought that I was simply trying to buy your friendship—that's not my intention at all! But I do want to help you in my own way…"

"Help me?"

"A-ah! Help you interact more, you're rather quiet eh?" He sheepishly scratched his cheek. "Like I said, you're always sitting in front of class alone. I thought it was because you liked to concentrate...but I don't see you particularly hanging out with anyone. It's like you don't have any friends."

She frowned, not really appreciating his comment. "That's really none of your business." Why was he snooping up on her? She didn't even do anything to him. 

He looked at her with a smile. "Well, let it be my business, then. I'd like to be your friend if you give me a chance… can we start over?" He stared at her hopefully. "I know I may have been a bit too aggressive with my methods, but I really want to be your friend."

She looked at him, hoping that his eyes or even posture would reflect insincerity, amusement or even ill intentions, anything to let her push him away… but there was nothing there except the reflection of a girl cowering away from him.

From everybody else.

Chan Lee tsked and looked at him, "I suppose we did get on the wrong foot… I'm Chan Lee, a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand.

"I'm Hua Zhao, it's good to meet you. You can call me Zhao." He grabbed her hand with a strong grip, shaking firmly. He didn't treat her any differently with any surprising grace or tenderness, though his warm hand enveloped hers.

And they were back at the beginning, an entirely blank state. She'd know better this time.

"Okay, then shall we start with our readings?"

"Will you accept this token of our friendship." He dangled up the pendant with his other hand.

She made a face. "No."

"Pleaseeeeeee?" He pouted. "I bought it for you."

"No." She started to pull away, but his hand still held onto hers. "Why don't you give it to a girlfriend? Or some other close friend of yours?" He had a lot of them, he was popular—last Friday there was that girl in his group of friends who was obviously trying to flirt with him.

"But I really bought it for you, I can't give this to anyone else. So won't you accept it?"

"I told you that I don't want to be given things. It feels like I'm being bribed." She muttered with a frown.

He inched his face closer towards her, "I'll beeeg?" 

"Would you stop that, some people are staring at us." It didn't help that they were holding each other's hands like lovers. This was the worst, she could feel her face flaming. "Let go of my hand, Zhao."

"I'll get down on my knees, Lee~" he sang unperturbed. "Accept my token of friendship." 

"Alright! You win." She grumbled and tugged her hand away from his. "You're not much of a good friend aren't you?"

"Well, I'm still your friend—so I think that's alright." He answered and stood up from his seat, his food still untouched.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed at him, other people were still looking their way. He was more popular than he realized or the people were enjoying the sight.

Zhao motioned for her to give him some room. "I'll help you wear it, now scoot over." 

"I can do that by myself—hand that to me." Not waiting for him to give it to her, she swiped it from his hands and immediately wore it. "There. Are you happy? Can you now sit down?"

"Quite pleased, it looks good on you, Lee." He nodded and returned to his seat. He gave her one of the oddest smiles, his eyes practically twinkling before he drank some of his iced bottled drink.

"Don't flatter me." Chan Lee muttered as she picked up the pendant. Its main design was a small rectangular slab of some stone that had a few etched markings on it. "This looks like some kind of dog tag if you ask me."

"W-what?! No!" He nearly sputtered out his drink.

She bit back a laugh, this Hua Zhao wasn't so bad. Maybe… she looked up to his face. His eyes weren't black but were instead actually a deep shade of brown. "Hey…" 

"Yes?" His cheeks were a bit flushed for some reason.

"Are we actually going to talk about our assignment or what?" she asked.

He laughed, "Well about that… uh, I haven't been really able to look at it."

"I see, and you want some pointers?" She gave him a look. Her assumptions were right.

.

.

.

.

.

Back at Madam Dongxia's apartment.

The rapping of the door wouldn't stop.

"Oi, open up!"

Xue sat comfortably on the bed, staring at the locked door. Chan Lee's parting words resonating in his mind. "Don't let anyone in, I'll be back soon." 

"I know you're in there, dude!" Han Jing's incessant knockings would be a bother to the other neighbors. "Do you want me to bust this door open?"

When she said don't let anyone in… she may have forgotten to exempt her particular neighbor? He wondered if he should let Han Jing inside…

Probably not.

The man would get tired of knocking and screaming. Eventually.