A week later...
After joining the team, Xiali had been spending a lot of time with the boys' training, despite Winwin not knowing about it. She only told him that she quit her job at the bar, but didn't tell him about her training with a gang.
At Ming University...
Xiali and Lucas are sitting in class listening to the lecture, when they hear the sound of the door opening, leading the whole room to have their attention to the person who enters. It's Ten.
Ten walks over and sits next to Xiali. "Hey, sorry I'm late," Ten says with a bit of a worried tone.
"No worries," Xiali says with a smile, finally feeling better that she is able to see her boyfriend sitting next to her.
Lucas starts glancing at the couple who is now smiling at each other. He felt a weird feeling in his chest running around and making his heart feel hurt. To him, it's funny how he was disappointed too much that Ten arrived to college today when he was getting some time with Xiali. Somehow it makes him feel....jealous.
A few hours later...
At the cafeteria...
"So how's your training?" Ten ask.
"Good. My shooting is getting way better, as well as my fighting skills," Xiali says with a confident tone.
"Well, you have to thank the boys for that," Ten says with a small smile.
"I have to thank you too, Ten! You also trained me well," Xiali says, before taking a sip of her orange juice.
Ten chuckles. "But I haven't had much time to train you these past few days. My apologise."
"Hey, don't sweat it. I understand you have family matters. Family comes first," Xiali says.
Ten turns his vision down at the table upon hearing Xiali's words. He did told her that his dad had been calling him a few times lately, but he never tell her the reason, or did he tell her that Minnie was also involved. She doesn't even know he has a soon-to-be-fiancee, which he still struggles to find a way to tell her without hurting her. Just the thought of it already hurts him enough.
Just then, Ten's phone starts vibrating, signaling he has a message. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and see a message from Minnie.
"What time will you be here tonight?" - Minnie.
"8 PM? I still have some college work to finish with my friends." - Ten.
"Ok. I'll wait for you." - Minnie.
Ten puts his phone back in his pocket. He starts to feel anxious at the thought of tonight, in which he have to spend the night with Minnie and leave Xiali. He feels guilty for Xiali, but again he have to keep his promise with Minnie.
"Ten!" Xiali calls his name with a rather curious tone.
"What?" Ten ask as he came back to his sense after zoning out thinking about having to meet Minnie tonight.
"You seem to be rather quiet," Xiali says, making Ten nervous. He is afraid that she'll sense something is up.
"Oh, sorry. Maybe I've just been thinking too much." Ten laughs nervously.
Xiali smiles. "No worries. Just don't stress too much."
"Yeah," Ten says, still trying to hide the fact that he's nervous.
Meanwhile, Lucas and Hendery are sitting together near the corner of the cafeteria as they discuss about their mother rushing them to succede with the plan.
"Mama's furious," Lucas says with a sigh. "I'm a failure, Bro!"
"Don't say that, Ge! She already send us more men. Now all we have to do is just kidnap her I guess, if making her fall in love is impossible," Hendery says.
"At least we need to wait until that jerk isn't near her," Lucas says, as he glance at Ten with a sharp look. "Xiali doesn't know that he's dangerous."
Hendery chuckles. "She doesn't know that WE are dangerous, Ge."
Meanwhile...
Kun and Jungwoo arrives at an abandoned building where they suspect one of the stalker to be, after trying to hack his location through the computer. He is known to be one of men who attacked Ten at the gas station.
"I understand," says the man through the phone.
A man with sunglasses in a black suit is having a silent phone call with someone near an abandoned building.
"Let's go. Be careful!" Kun says.
"Ok," Jungwoo says.
The two guys starts walking silently to approach the man. They quickly attack him from the back of his neck, before putting a small handkerchief on his face, sending him to a deep sleep.
40 minutes later...
The man wokes up in a dark empty room with hands being handcuffed, his legs being tied together, and his body being tied to a chair.
"Where the hell am I?" the man screams in fury. "Come out you jerks!"
Just then, the door opens revealing a small ray of light shining into the dark room. Kun, Jungwoo, Xiaojun, Yangyang, and Shotaro walks inside the dark room to approach the man on the chair.
Yangyang flicks on the light so they could get a good look of the man on the chair.
"Speechless I see?" Yangyang says as he walks over to the man with a sharp look.
"What do you stupid kids want? Let go of me now or you're all gonna regret this," the man says with fury boiling up inside of him.
"Shut up!" Yangyang kicks the man to fall off the chair before aiming a gun at his head. "We know what you did, Sheng!"
"So you know my name?" the man says with a small yet evil chuckle. "Pity of me. But my boss isn't gonna let you get away with that."
"Tell us right now, who is your boss?" Yangyang ask in fury.
"Oh, and if I tell you, you're still gonna kill me? Yeah right. I'm not telling," says the man, Sheng, with a mocking tone.
With fury, Yangyang shoots the man without any hesitation. He was furious enough at the man that he couldn't wait any longer to end his life.
"Let's get this done!" Yangyang says as he turns around to face his friends.
A few hours later...
After college...
Xiali is waiting for Ten outside of college. He told her he was gonna get some books first from his locker. As she waits outside while scrolling through her phone, a familiar male figure approaches her, surprising her from behind.
"Hey!" Lucas says as he grabs Xiali's shoulders and turns her around to face him, making her to stare at him with a surprised look. "I hope I didn't surprise you."
"You kinda did," Xiali says with an awkward look.
"Well, I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me? I miss hanging out with you," Lucas ask as he tries to give her his puppy eyes look.
Xiali lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Lucas. But I still have some work to do after college."
Lucas's smile soon fades upon her rejection. He felt like a bullet just hit his heart, which is weird to him since he never expected that feeling to come. He was only suppose to see her as the target. Why is he starting to develop other feelings?
"Ok. I got it. But just remember! If one day you happen to have time, I'll always be waiting," Lucas gives her a half-hearted smile.
Xiali nods. "Sure."
Lucas turns around and walks away with the a heavy feeling. He felt like a failure that he wasn't able to get Xiali in his hands, but other than that, it actually bothered him that she doesn't feel even a little bit attracted to him, when he's starting to question his own feelings towards her.
As Xiali watches Lucas walk away, she suddenly feels a firm hand touch her shoulder. She turns around and smile at the sight of the person.
"You ready to go?" Ten ask with a sweet smile.
"Sure," Xiali says as she smiles back at him.
Ten and Xiali walks away from the college building and heads to the parking spot. They enter the car and drives off.
6 PM...
At Han's Car Service...
Yiren stares at Winwin as she watches him cleaning her car. Since he hasn't have much time with her lately, she thought about finding an excuse to meet him at his work place.
"I see that you've been busy," Yiren says in a low tone.
"Yeah. I've been trying to finish my college work lately," Winwin says as he continues to clean Yiren's car.
"I see," Yiren says in a restless tone.
Yiren starts to remember about the night she shared with Winwin at Tzuyu's party. Though she thought it was gonna be the night that could get them closer, she was sad to accept reality that it didn't. In fact, Winwin only grew further from her these past few days for no reasons. Though Winwin never made it clear about their relationship, Yiren was quite safisfy with what they were, while hoping for what she wants to come true. Besides, he always had time for her, so seeing his change of behaviour makes her question about what's really going on. Other than that, she was starting to think that there might be a third party involved.
"All done." Winwin walks over to Yiren who was staring at the ground.
"Oh, ok." Yiren opens her sling bag, but Winwin stops her as she is about to pull out her wallet.
"Woah, no need, Yiren! It's on me," Winwin says as he stops Yiren from pulling out her wallet.
"It's ok. Besides, Luhan's gonna get mad if I came here for free car wash," Yiren states.
"It's not like that. Just leave it to me," Winwin says.
Yiren stares at Winwin's eyes with mixed looks. She didn't understand why after all the times they spend together, he still hasn't fall in love with her despite his kindness already making her fall more for him. It hurts her enough to say it to herself, that the guy she loves doesn't feel the same way.
"Winwin," Yiren says with a disappointed look.
Winwin widens his eyes upon hearing her say his name. "Yes?"
Yiren takes a deep breath. "Do you think it's possible for you to fall in love with me one day?"
Her question made Winwin shock. He wasn't expecting to hear that at this moment, and he hasn't prepare any answers. He knew well that Yiren had been crushing on him for a while, but he never imagine her to asking him this question today. He is speechless.
Winwin stares at Yiren with a speechless look. He didn't know what to say to his good friend, but from the looks of her eyes, he already knew he had disappointed her.
"I care for you, Yiren," Winwin says as he gathers his courage.
"That's not what I want to hear," Yiren says. "Is there someone else?"
Winwin stood in silence as he tries to hide the fact that he is starting to question if he did feel something towards someone else lately. The only person he's getting closer to lately is Xiali. Winwin thought for a moment that there's no way he could have fall in love with his step-sister. Or at least, that's what he thought for a moment while still questioning himself.
"I'm on my own," Winwin states in a casual tone.
At the boys' house...
6:30 PM...
"Alright, that's good!" Xiaojun says as he is teaching Xiali self-defense.
Xiali continues to try and fight Xiaojun as they practice. She is getting a lot better thanks to him and the boys. She strikes out a high kick which almost hit Xiaojun's face.
"Ahh..careful," Xiaojun almost screams.
"Sorry," Xiali says with an awkward tone, realizing that she almost kick Xiaojun's face.
The two continues with their practice, when Yangyang enters the room. He starts to observe Xiali who had gained a lot better with her fighting skills. He is happy to know that she is getting better in protecting herself.
"Oh, Yangyang," Xiali notice Yangyang standing near the door.
"Hey! I just wanted to tell you guys that dinner's ready," Yangyang says as he turns his vision from Xiaojun to Xiali, giving her a warm smile. "We're having seafoods tonight!"
"Ah good, I was starting to get tired," Xiali states as she sits down on the floor while wiping the sweat on her forehead.
Xiaojun lets out a small chuckle. "Then let's go!"
Yangyang, Xiali, and Xiaojun walks to the dining room to see the boys preparing the dishes on the table.
"Hey, Baby!" Xiali walks over to give Ten a kiss on the cheek.
Ten looks at Xiali with a warm smile. "Hey, Beautiful!" Ten says, before he gives Xiali a quick kiss on the lips. "How was training?"
"Good," Xiali says. "My skills are getting better."
"Glad to hear that," Ten smiles.
"Ok, guys! Come on and let's start dinner," Jungwoo says.
"Ah...yes, Hyung!" Yangyang pulls out a chair to sit next to Xiali.
Through out dinner, Ten had been helping Xiali with her seafoods, making the others to look at them in awe, except Yangyang, who is anxious at the sight of the couple being cute to one and another. It's been hard for him to accept the fact that they are a couple now. But again, he thought about how happy Xiali had been, and so is Ten. Yangyang didn't have any other option then to be happy for the two people he cared about.
Times flies, and everyone finish their dinner. Ten looks at the time and realize that it's 7:45 PM.
Damn...I'm late!
Ten thought as he looks at the time on his phone. He quickly grabs his car keys from the table. He walks back to Xiali who is having a cup of tea in the dining room.
"I'll be out tonight," Ten says, before planting a quick kiss on Xiali's cheek. "Goodbye."
"Huh? Where are you going?" Xiali ask in confusion.
"I have something to do," Ten says, before he rushes out of the door.
That was weird. Xiali thought. "Where he is going anyway?"
"We don't know," Xiaojun says. "But it's really weird."
Xiali starts to think about what Ten would be doing in the middle of the night. It made her a bit worried inside. She hope he is ok.
"Hey, you ok?" Yangyang ask as he approaches Xiali who is sitting still in the dining room.
Xiali turns her head to look at Yangyang. "Yeah."
Yangyang takes a seat next to Xiali. He turns his head and see that she looks anxious.
"Hey! We were wondering if you guys wanted to go with us to The Season's Market?" Jungwoo ask in a chill tone
"What's that?" Xiali ask with confusion. She never heard of "The Season's Market" before.
"It's a festival market held for 7 days," Yangyang says.
"Ah..I haven't heard of it before," Xiali states, having no idea about it.
"This is actually they're first time helding it," Yangyang states. "Would you like to come?"
"Sure," Xiali says as she turns her head to look at Yangyang with a smile.
Yangyang smiles back at her, before turning his head back to face Jungwoo and Shotaro. "Count us in."
"Awesome!" Jungwoo says. "How about you guys?" Jungwoo turns his head to see Kun and Xiaojun on their laptops.
"We're gonna do some more research regarding the stalkers. Hopefully Sheng's phone could lead us to find the mastermind," Kun says as he continues to focus on his laptop.
"Thanks for offer though," Xiaojun says casually.
"Ah, ok. We'll be back in a few hours. See you guys later!" Jungwoo says as he leads Shotaro, Xiali, and Yangyang out of the house.
"Bye!" Kun and Xiaojun says together.
8:30 PM...
At The Season's Market...
The four adults arrive at the festival market. The decorations are pretty festive with ornaments of all seasons from spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They start walking along the market looking through the various items that are sell, from foods to souvenirs.
"Ah look at this," Jungwoo stops at a souvenir stand. He happens to see a doll wearing a floral pink dress, representing the spring theme. "It's so cute."
"Ah, is Hyung thinking about a gift for his girl?" Shotaro ask in a playful tone.
"Ah, stop it, Shotaro!" Jungwoo says as his cheeks turn red at the thought of his beautiful girlfriend. Yangyang and Xiali just stood while trying to hold their laughter at Shotaro's playful joke to Jungwoo.
"But seriously, Bro! Karina noona is gonna love it." Shotaro smiles at the sight of Jungwoo holding the doll.
Xiali stood with a surprised feeling after hearing the familiar name that tinkles her ears. She didn't know Karina and Jungwoo are together now. It was surprising to hear.
"Wait, but this is also nice," Jungwoo says as he spots a pair of yellow summer sandals.
"Hey, Xiali," Yangyang says as he turns his head to see Xiali spacing out.
"Oh, what?" Xiali ask.
"I'm gonna go look around while hunting for some snacks. Would you like to go with me?" Yangyang ask. "Knowing that Jungwoo could take a long time deciding on a souvenir." Yangyang adds with a small chuckle.
Xiali lets out a giggle. "Sure. Let's go!"
"Xiali and I will be looking for some snacks. We'll meet up with you guys later!" Yangyang says.
"Ok. Have fun!" Shotaro says, while Jungwoo continues to look for more souvenirs through out the stand.
Yangyang and Xiali starts walking around as they observe every stand. It feels kind of awkward for them to be walking together right now. It almost feels like a date. Though deep inside Yangyang knew that it is impossible for Xiali to see him more than a friend, he is happy enough to have some alone time with her tonight, just the two of them exploring the market.
The walk is filled with awkward silence, until the two of them spots a jianbing (Chinese crepes) stand.
"Oh look! They sell jianbing!" Yangyang drags Xiali to the stand with excitement.
Xiali's heart skips a beat while being dragged by Yangyang, giving her flashbacks of their childhood memories where they used to drag each other during playtime. Looking at the guy dragging her now, Xiali knew that her best friend's inner child never change.
You're always such a child, aren't you, Yang? Xiali thought as a small smile slowly forms on her face.
The two stops at the jianbing stand where Yangyang ordered a total of six jianbing. After a few minutes, the lady in the stand gives Yangyang his orders.
"Thank you," says Yangyang to the lady in the stand.
"Here you go!" Yangyang hands Xiali her jianbing with a smile. She smiles back at him.
"Thanks," Xiali says as she grabs the jianbing from Yangyang.
The two friends starts walking around again, when suddenly Xiali spots a familiar figure from a distance near the ice cream stand. She recgonize this guy too well since she had seen him everyday. She walks closer to get a better look, but she is left beyond surprised by what she saw.
"Xiali, what's wrong?" Yangyang ask as he notice his friend is staring at something with her eyes widen.
Tears starts to fill Xiali's eyes as she feels a sharp blade just stabbed her heart. She couldn't believe what she is seeing. More than that, she couldn't believe the guy she is staring at is really him. The guy she tried not to believe that it's him.
"Yangyang....that's Ten.." Xiali stares at the guy with tears in her eyes. He is holding hands together with a girl with long black hair. The sight of them broke her heart.
To be continue...