Realistic or Modern 1x1 With sleepingdaydreamer 2.0

[Ta Min]

Rule #5 of the girl code: Do not date, touch, flirt with, or even think about the brother.
Too bad no one told Mei.

(Between Ta Min & lostwanderer )

* this is a reboot, for the original go to this link; Realistic/Modern - 1x1 With sleepingdaydreamer *

*the letter*
Hello Zack. Zackeyyy. ZZ. Or my favorite, Cupcake. Not exactly Zack related but I think it describes you quite well. Sweet on the inside and out. Haha, anyway, if you're reading this I'm already back in America and you're still in France. If not, then bad Cupcake. Put the letter back! Haha sorry if this is bizarre but I haven't done anything like this before. It's literally 2:00 a.m, six hours until I have to get up and head over to the good ole cafe with you for some breakfast and I'm really tired. Then again, this is probably the only time I'd have enough courage to do this in the first place. So this letter will be all over the place.

I want to start off with saying thank you, thank you for being such a wonderful person, and thank you for being so nice to me. Even if we've only known one another for a short amount of time, I'm going to miss you like crazy. I just wanted you to know the past days we've spent together have been some of the best days of my life. I've had so much fun. If I could stay with you I would, but I don't think I could stay in France or ask you to leave. Alas, it was not meant to be. Maybe we'll meet again one day.

Still, I will miss you (I know I've said this before..). And I'm sure you'll miss me *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* (I feel like I'll regret this in the morning...) so I gave you this cute picture of us taken by that semi-creepy guy who was wayyyy too interested in us, but he did take a nice picture. We both look great. Oh, I also got you a necklace that I hope isn't too girly with our initials carved into it. Ya know, just a little something so I don't disappear.

It is now currently 3:00 a.m and I think I might pass out but I just need to say one thing. I really like you. You're funny, kind, and just an amazing person. Your wonderfulness scares me, I know you'll be gone in a day or two and I'll probably never see you again. But because you're going to read this once I'm gone let me say one more thing. You're honestly one of the best people I've met and it's a shame we don't live closer to each other. I'm sure if we did I'd say some really cheesy pickup line and you'd be mine. Or at least that's how I'd imagine it going. I would probably end up loosing my courage and making a fool of myself. That was more than one thing and I should stop now or I'll start crying and reveal even more embarrassing thoughts. Once again, thank you. For everything really.

Love,
Mei ^-^

p.s, stay out of trouble while I'm gone! Oh! Also... I'll miss you! < 3​

 

[Ta Min]

Almost every Friday night for the past four years of Mei's life she's done the exact same thing. She spends the night (or entire weekend) at her best friends house. Plain and simple. Packing the same things every single time. Her stuffed elephant, Nelly, her old but ever so comfy pillow, and exactly three different types of candy, generally whatever was currently the girl's favorite and a random one for them to try and see if they like (oh, and clothes).


Around four p.m she was ready to set off, her bag was packed and everything. Arriving at Cyrille's house in less than fifteen minutes (she might've sped a little bit) she wasted no time and got out of her car. Hopping up to the house, she smiled, looking at the familiar building. Glancing down at herself she flicked off a piece of lint on her elephant onesie. Which she wore as some type of tradition. Just then, a car drove by, slowing slightly as if to make sure they were seeing properly. She couldn't blame them for doing so in all honesty. She was a nineteen year old woman dressed in a onesie with a worn pillow adorned with a faded cloud themed case wrapped around it, she knew she looked absolutely bonkers.


Knocking on the door, she rocked back and forth on her heels waiting for Cyrille to answer, wondering what they would do this time around. She was hoping they could watch a movie, a good one if possible. For the last year or so the only things she watched were 'The Office' and a few other random Tv shows, never really having the time to sit down and watch a movie. Unless of course you counted that one time in France when she watched a movie with Zack. It was fun, albeit scary seeing that it was of the horror genre. A sad smile crossed her face as she thought about it, but she soon pushed the memory out of her thoughts. She couldn't afford to look sad. Tonight wasn't about Zack. It was about Cyrille.

 

[lostwanderer]

After numerous failed attempts in the past few months, the girls were finally having their sleepover and Cyrille could barely sit still from all the excitement rushing through her. She had been keeping herself busy with preparations and making sure everything was perfect. It was, after all, their first one in such a long time, because even though they promised to bond over the winter break, they weren’t able to foresee what could have happened. They didn’t expect that Mei’s mother (or Auntie Laura for Cy) would take her family out to Paris for the holidays. Although she felt saddened by it at first, she kept it all in stride and made her best friend promise to tell her every detail about the trip. And tell her, she did. They video-chatted almost every other day during the break, in order to make the most out of the stories, so she was up to pace with what has been happening around her, but it was still not the same.

With that, she took the chance to look at her handiworks. The movie player was set on standby with the logo bouncing around the screen, bean bags poised to face the flat screen, the speakers filled the living room with Selena Gomez’s voice, the fridge and cupboards were lined with drinks and snacks they could munch on later and she had changed into a pastel blue dinosaur onesie. Basically, everything was well accounted for... except for one more thing that she failed to consider before setting the date for their sleepover.

Her older brother, Nathaniel, came home from studying overseas two days ago and she didn’t know about it until she saw a message over on Facebook with a tracking number, an estimated time of arrival and the words ‘See you in a few hours’, complete with a picture of him, about to board the plane.

It was a little too late to cancel on her friend, not that she would even consider it in the first place. She figured she wouldn’t let anything get in the way of their sleepover and so help her, she would do anything to make sure it pulls through, even if it means keeping him around for tonight.

Nathaniel casually held a can of Pepsi in one hand, popping the tab open before taking a gulp of the dark cola as he was sitting on the couch. He looked back to her, biting on his knuckle and fighting the urge to laugh at her childish attire, to which he disguised with a slight cough, “So... what’s with the get-up? Are you going to replace Baby Bop?” He asked, gesturing to her onesie with a playful look. She whacked him with one of the throw pillows, making him chuckle. “No, my best friend’s coming over for a sleepover tonight ever since college started and it’s been kind of our tradition to wear onesies.” She explained, softly glaring at him as if challenging him to laugh, to which he just raised his arms in surrender. “I see, and let me guess, you want me to keep myself scarce during her stay, right?” He smiled with a raised eyebrow. “Pretty much, unless of course, you’re willing to get a make-over.” It was now Cyrille’s turn to giggle when she saw her brother’s sour face.

It was then they heard a knock on the door and Cyrille got all antsy again. “Oh, that must be her now. Ahh, did I leave the oven running? Was the—” She stopped when Nathaniel placed a hand on her shoulder, “Relax, shortie. I got it from here. Go check on the kitchen, just to be on the safe side.” He then stood up and began to make his way towards the door, as Cy went to the kitchen. He peeked out the peephole, seeing a pair of grey, floppy ears of an elephant, ‘Yeah, this is her friend, alright. If that silly outfit wasn’t a dead giveaway, I don’t know what is.’ He thought to himself, moving away from the peephole before unlocking the door and opening it wide enough to reveal the person outside, “Hey, you must be our guest for tonight. Cy’s currently in the kitchen, tending to something for the moment, so why don’t you come on in?” He couldn’t make out the face with her hood but didn’t think much of it, stepping away from the door to let the visitor in.

 

[Ta Min]

Mei listened to what he had to say, curious to who 'he' was and why he was at her best friends house. He certainly didn't sound like her dad or look like him either. He appeared to be quite young, but then again, she didn't get a good look at him. Once he was done, she looked up at him with a beaming smile, but more to be friendly than anything else. "Alrighty, I'm Mei by the way." She said in her usual happy tone, before walking inside. "Oh that rhymed!.. or, I don't know, I'm not very good at rhymes." She added as an afterthought, sounding somewhat sheepish towards the end. After she stopped talking, as to not embarrass herself any further, she finally decided to get a good look at the person she was speaking to.


As soon as she made eye contact her entire face fell slightly and she, in a way, stared at him for a minute or two before she managed to carefully place a smile back onto her face. "Uh... I... Zack?" Clearly looking for something to say. Eventually she simply decided not to and closed her mouth. Knowing that whatever came out would be be so much more worse than silence. Casually turning away from him, she took that time to try and process what exactly was going on. Why here? Why now? Just... why!?


Nothing in her entire realm of thought could come up with a reason for him being here. A small part of her wanted to give him the biggest hug in existence and another wanted to cry. All of the hurt came rushing back just as quick as all of the joy. It was all quite unfortunate. Biting her lip and absentmindedly playing with the silver charms dangling from her wrist she was quick to catch herself and almost completely erased the storm of emotions resting plain as day on her face once Cyrille walked into the room. Replacing it with something much more positive.


While Mei was somewhat gifted with the ability to 'change' her mood in a matter of seconds on the outside she would still be a little unstable for a few minutes until she managed to calm herself down. It was something she's used since she was young. Flashing an excited smile she pounced on Cyrille and wrapped her up in a tight hug, sighing happily as she did so.

 

[lostwanderer]

Nathaniel casually sipped on his cola and upon hearing the familiar name, his mind immediately flew back to the girl he met in France during the break, though he chalked it to mere coincidence and so he quickly dropped it. He glanced to the elephant-clad girl, taking in her stature and connecting her to the stories his sister mentioned in passing. He found it weird that Cy never fully described her or at least given him a mental image to go off with, but he never had no real issue with that, so he paid it no mind. He chuckled slightly at her comment, shaking his head in thought and returning a small smile.

However, when she finally lifted her head enough for him to see her face, he felt like somebody punched him in the gut, as his hand tightened over the can. "Mei, how... what, I..." He murmured, unable to form a sentence as he placed a hand on the back of his neck to awkwardly scratch it. Even after three months, he could still vividly remember what she looked like as if he saw it yesterday and it would seem she remembered him, just as well. He felt a lump forming on his throat when she uttered his name, his face fell somber like he wanted to say something else but stopped himself. Instead, he just settled with a sad smile, looking at anything but her.

Thinking back, he realized that he might be seeing more of her this season, especially now that he knew that she was his sister’s best friend and that made him feel a mixture of emotions that didn’t quite sit well in his stomach, the most prominent one being guilt. He was torn on wanting to hold her and closing the door on her face, considering how they ended things that winter. He wasn’t even sure what started the fight in the first place but one thing’s for sure, he had hurt her and he can’t forgive himself for that. His mind flew when he noticed she was picking at something on her wrist, recognizing it to be the one he gave her for Christmas which made him cling to the slightest hope before she seemed to have noticed him looking. He glanced at her face to gauge her emotion, barely catching the remnants when she walked past him to go to Cyrille. He gritted his teeth to stop himself from doing something stupid, letting go of the door to allow it close on its own.

The younger Evans sibling took a step back to balance the two of them when Mei practically jumped at her as she welcomed her friend with open arms, hugging her back just as tight, “Aww, I missed you too, booboo.” She said in a slightly childish voice, gently patting her on the head with a giggle. They stayed in this position for a little bit, all the while sending a silent request for her brother to leave over her shoulder, to which he acknowledged by silently stalking off to the direction the kitchen. However, curious at his sudden change in mood, she made a mental note to ask him about it later on.

Upon arrival, he went straight out the backyard and practically slammed the abused soda can over to the trash bin, making a pair of cats scamper off. He ran a hand down his face, taking a deep breath as he tried to calm the storm stirring in his eyes. He didn't expect that he would get to see Mei ever again and to think that she was closer than he could have ever thought was just a bit too much to handle, even for him. "Ah, fate, you are a cruel mistress and one sneaky bitch." He grumbled under his breath.

 

[Ta Min]

Mei's heart wrenched slightly, seeing that he couldn't even look her in the eyes. Then again, she understood what he was going through. Looking him in the eyes again was more than she could handle at the moment too. If she did, it might just rip her apart from the inside out. It seemed that every single time she looked at him she the awful words they threw at one another bounced around in her head. She regretting all the hurtful things she said and was stung by all the things he said in return. While she knew that people tended to say things they didn't mean in the heat of the moment, it still hurt - a lot, and she wasn't quite ready to forgive him, or herself for the matter.


"I'm so sorry we didn't really have a chance to meet up this year! But we'll make up for it this summer!" Clinging to her friend like a life line, she slowly let herself relax. Something about Cyrille always reassured her that everything would be okay. Finally letting go, she noticed that Zack was gone and easily picked back up on the excitement she lost a few seconds ago. Even though he was still lingering in the back on her mind.


"So, ready to get started!? I brought the candy as well as a new one to try. It's kind of a candy, but not really. My roommate told me about it, I hear it's really good but I've been waiting to try it with you. It's called pocky, I got the chocolate covered ones." She said, her words tripping over each other as she rushed to say what she needed to. "Anyway, I'm going to go put these up then we can talk game plan?" She said smiling.


Walking into the living room, she neatly arranged the boxes of candies/sweets on the coffee table in their usual places. Upon seeing the beanbags, a rush of happy memories washed over her. She remembered how much she freaked out when she first saw them, in her mind, they were the coolest things in the world. Then again, at the time she also thought that black eye liner and lipstick were also absolutely amazing. After a second or two of reminiscing she walked back to her friend and started up talking once again, "I was thinking we could watch a movie, I've been dying to see a good one for the longest time!"

 

[lostwanderer]

Once he calmed a little and got a slight grip of his bearings, Nathaniel dropped the hand from his face and leaned against the wall with a soft sigh. From where he stood, he got a good view of the painted skies and the setting sun, which reminded him of the Parisian view during his afternoon walks. It was a beautiful city, with a rich cultural heritage and the overall scenic atmosphere were something straight out of a postcard. In the middle of his musings, he was suddenly reminded of the encounter that started it all. His friends wanted to go out to celebrate the beginning of the break so he decided to come along. On their way to the cinema, he noticed a girl who looked wonderstruck by the pieces of history scattered around the city but he didn't give her much mind then, since people like that often just come and go. Never would he have guessed that he would encounter her again in a cafe near the apartment he stayed at.

Just when he was about to reminisce, the weight of what he did made him stop. He shook his thoughts off, opting to throw a blanket over that for now. He can't fully let out how much it affected him, especially when in the presence of his unusually perceptive younger sister who would stop at nothing until she has found out anything. If the look he felt burning on the back of his head a whole ago had anything to say about it, he had a feeling that Cyrille would ask about it once she finds a chance to do so. He ruffled his hair in slight frustration, he wasn't ready for that kind of confrontation yet so he decided to avoid the two altogether and made his way up to the fire escape instead.

Cyrille reveled in the hug, missing her friend's company after about a year of only being able to communicate through video chats, calls and messages. It simply wasn't the same as being with her in person. "It's okay, I understand. College life isn't as easy as they make it out to be, but let's not think about that for now. All that matters is that at least we're here together now and we wouldn't have to think about school for a while." She smiled widely at Mei when they pulled away from each other. Counting down to the days before summer, she had a lot in store for the two of them and so, she couldn't wait to get started on them.

"Heck yeah, I was born ready!" She cheerfully replied, laughing all the while. It would seem that she wasn't the only one who was hyped about all this as her eyes landed on the treats that was laid down on the coffee table. She picked up a box of Pocky, looking curiously at the writings on it, "Hey, I've heard of this too! One of the people from my class would either bring a box of these babies or those chocolate mushroom things and it would be practically passed around the room. I assume they're just that good." She shrugged with one shoulder.

She nodded at the prospect of watching a movie, depositing herself onto one of the beanbags as she opened the box and tore the packaging containing the biscuit sticks, offering it to Mei first before she took a piece for herself. With that, she picked up the remote on top of the player and pressed a button on it, revealing folder after folder of movies. She placed the Pocky in her mouth, casually scrolling through the folders with a thoughtful expression, "Hmmm.. Where to start... What are you craving for? Action-adventure? Fantasy? Comedy? Horror? A musical, maybe. Now that I think about it, I believe it's your turn to pick the movie, since I picked Doctor Strange last time." She held the end of the biscuit stick and started to nibble on it, glancing over to the wall clock by the kitchen, "Or do you want to discuss this over making dinner?" She tilted her head in question.

 

[Ta Min]

"Yeah, we have the entire summer to do stuff together." Mei said, smiling broadly at her friend. She wished they spent more time together during the school year but both of them underestimated the work load they would get. Still, there was no room for regret since they were together now. And, like she said earlier, they had an entire summer of fun to look forward to. Go to the local Amusement park, see the fireworks Memorial or Labor Day, go swimming, maybe even go on a trip this time. She had a part time job throughout the school year so she had a bit of money saved up.


She nodded, glad that Cyrille wanted to try them too. She remembered that one time she brought chocolate covered bugs and Cyrille absolutely freaked out. Taking the treat offered to her she simply stuffed it into her mouth without hesitation "Hmmm.. not bad." She said, liking the overall taste. "We'll have to try more of the flavors, I think I saw cookies n' cream, and strawberry. They looked pretty good too." Quickly finishing the sweet, she reached for another one and decided to take her time eating this one, savoring the taste.


"Might as well discuss it now. I already have something in mind. My cousin watched this movie called 'Boss Baby' and he said it was absolutely hilarious. Given, he's twelve, but he's mature for his age." She said, chuckling quietly to herself. "I brought it with me just in case." She said, digging in the bag still hanging from her shoulder until she found the DVD. Waving it in front of Cyrille, she giggled. "Oh, what're we having for dinner?" She asked, setting her bag down on the ground - lifting the strain from her shoulder.


Making her way to the kitchen, she casually leaned against the counter and looked around the familiar room. Although, it was drastically less messy than she remembered. Last time she was here food was everywhere, as well as papers and other random things.

 

[lostwanderer]

Once he stood in front of the fire door, Nathaniel pressed a series of numbers onto the keypad affixed underneath the door knob, to which it responded with a soft bell and a click. He then twisted the knob and let himself in before closing the door behind him with a long beep, engulfing himself in darkness. A few moments later, a dull glow illuminated the room, as he descended the metal staircase leading to where the rooms were. He pushed the glass door open into the hallway and made his way straight to his bedroom to plop on his bed. He lay motionless, staring at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes with a soft exhale through his nose, his hand landing on his chest. He opened his eyes as he took something out of his shirt, a small silver ring hanging off from his necklace and held it against the light. It held no design and was much too small to fit on his finger, but what made it special was the engraving on the inside. He just looked at it and remained quiet, his eyes fading into a cloudless sky as he sat up, letting it fall in between his fingers with a soft sigh, 'How am I supposed to go downstairs now? I should have taken my chance and gone out for the night, but instead, I was stubborn and chose to stay. At that time, I saw nothing wrong with that but now...' He shook his head to rid himself off the thought, 'No... I'm not going to do the blame game. I had my faults too, I shouldn't push everything to her.' He frowned, standing up to take his towel from the back of the door as he decided to go to the bathroom to take a shower, taking into consideration that the girls might need to use it sometime tonight so he went ahead to avoid any more unexpected run-ins.

Cyrille began to think about the things they could do over the break, the mere thought of it made her giddy. While on the subject, she may or may not have already booked a flight for the two of them without mentioning anything to her friend yet but now that she thought about it, she was having second thoughts of going altogether since after all it was a little too out of the blue. On the other hand, if she decided to go along with it, she lowkey hoped that her friend wouldn't take it out of proportion. (Especially since everything has already been paid for and all that's left for them is to board the plane.)

She continued to nibble on the biscuit stick in her mouth, acting none the wiser as she hummed in agreement to her friend's comment. "Wonder if they have green tea flavor though, 'cause that seems to be a hit with foods nowadays." She thought aloud. "Or better yet, two flavors in one." She tilted her head with a slight shrug, tapping a new biscuit stick on her chin before popping it in her mouth.

"Oooh, that sounds promising." She chirped with a giggle. "Well, I trust you and your cousin's choice so I'm game for that." She smiled, gently plucking the DVD from Mei's grasp and flipping it to read the synopsis on the back with a thoughtful expression. After skimming through it, she placed it down on the coffee table, moving to stand up.

"Hmmm.. I was thinking of making pineapple teriyaki chicken. My roomie made some for the welcoming party and they were delicious, so I figured maybe I could replicate it for tonight, using the recipe she emailed me, of course." She explained, gathering the top part of her hair on the back of her head before she fished out a thick black barrette from her pocket and clipped it into place, as she walked to the kitchen. "I dunno what to make for sides though, so I'm open for suggestions."

She passed Mei as she opened the fridge to take out a baking pan covered in foil, containing the marinated chicken. She had already prepared it beforehand, as per the suggestion in order to infuse the flavors more. She placed the chicken in the preheated oven and set the timer for 20 minutes, when a thought crossed her mind, which made her laugh, "I just realized that the last time we were here together was probably during our going away party." That time, they decided to throw themselves and a few of their friends one last party before they went off to college. They had the house to themselves so they played doozy games, did karaoke, cooked a lot, binge watched a bunch of Pixar movies... it was like their last day of being kids before they were expected to face reality as young adults.

 

[Ta Min]

"Hmmm, I'll have to find that out." Mei said, continuing to eat away whilst listening to her friend continue talking about the biscuits. "Yeah, maybe strawberry and chocolate together?" She mused, knowing that if such a flavor did exist she would buy dozens of them and in all likely hood, eat them all in one sitting. By herself. In the company of her cat. She had a thing for chocolate and strawberry flavored things. Heck, for the past fifteen years, every Christmas, she's gotten a giant case of chocolate covered strawberries. It was tradition. A yummy tradition for the matter.


"Sounds good," She winked playfully, looking forward to the movie. She enjoyed lighthearted comedies. Whenever she was sad and/or angry she always binge watched her favorite comedies and animated movies. Some of which being, The Internship, She's The Man, Shrek 1 and 2, any Disney movie, The Bee Movie, The Lego Movie, Lego Batman, and an abundance of other silly movies. All of which she's seen time and time again.


"Yeah, that was a lot of fun... is it weird to say that I kind of miss high school? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to go back - lord no - but some parts were really fun." She said, smiling. Her favorite part of high school was hanging out with Cyrille, Joseph, Grace, and Matthew - her ex boyfriend. They were all so close but she's only kept in touch with Cyrille considering that Joe's studying abroad, Grace has changed a lot and not a person Mei wants to be around anymore, and she doesn't talk to Matthew for obvious reasons. Towards the end of senior year when she and him were trying to figure out what to do with their relationship after dating for three years, he cracked under the pressure and cheated. She never was able to forgive him. She trusted him and he just threw it away like it was nothing.


"Oh! I'll be right back, I'm going to go and drop off my stuff in the bathroom." Leaving the kitchen, she opened up her bag and rummaged through it. Pulling out a clear plastic bag full of her toiletries, she headed up the stairs and to the bathroom. Humming the soft and familiar tune of, 'Do You Hear The People Sing' quietly to herself as she made her way through the house she's spent countless days in. Turning the silver handle she stepped inside of the small bathroom.

 

[lostwanderer]

Cyrille lightly hummed in response, as she began to picture in her mind the various possibilities for Pocky flavors, a soft smile tracing her face. She liked to define herself to be willing to test out things, as long as it was within reason, though she had a fleeting feeling that her friend seemed to think otherwise, as shown when Mei brought chocolate covered maggots, which she felt was just to tinker with her nerves. Admittedly, those weren't as bad as one might think, but it's not something you would actually go out of your way to eat, especially if you can't get it out of your mind where it came from. She quickly shook the thought off, slightly feeling something was scratching at her throat and her stomach.

She breathed a sigh in relief when her friend agreed to the food choice, smiling brightly at her. "You think it's good now but wait 'till you try it." Admittedly, it has been quite a while since she had watched anything because throughout the term, she either had her face in front of a textbook or she was burning midnight oil on her designs. She was enjoying what she was doing but to be honest, it was a bit taxing on her end. It was a wonder she still got enough sleep from all of it, thanks to having her classes start in the afternoon and living in a dorm a block away from school. Her only way of destress was her kickboxing classes during the weekends and coming home from there to collapse on her bed. Being used to solitude has never been any more convenient.

"Nah, I don't think it's weird at all, I kinda actually miss it too and its general chill vibe. No responsibilities and just being silly teens without a care for the world. Four years of seeing the same faces, being with your group of friends... And now plunged into a whole new place, it's just soothing to find something familiar." She thoughtfully smiled. She was kind of an outcast before, jumping from clique to clique and sitting quietly, until Mei decided to pull her out of her shell and take her for the greatest ride of her life where she met people she never knew she can even become friends with... However, like everything, it had eventually met its end as they drifted away. She had a taste of it during the party and initially felt sad about it, especially for what her old friends had become, but she eventually came to accept it, especially since the silver lining was still out there. At least she still had Mei and that's what matters.

She waved her off with a giggle and checked on the chicken if the pineapple had caramelized yet or not, when a thought crossed her mind, "Should I have told her about Nat?" She murmured softly, lingering on the idea for a little bit before she shook her head, "Nah, it's probably no big deal. That guy's pretty much a hermit crab, anyway. He probably isn't even upstairs and if he was, he wouldn't go out of his room." And with that and seeing that the pineapple had barely changed, she quickly dismissed the thought, blowing on the stray lock of hair that fell on her face as she sat down in front of the oven like a curious cat.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel came into the bathroom, finding it (thankfully) unoccupied and closed the door behind him. He slightly bowed his head and grabbed the cloth on the back of his neck, pulling his shirt off his body in one fluid motion which revealed a black dragon in between his shoulder blades before balling it up and tossing it over to the laundry basket. From the corner of his eye, he caught his reflection on the sink but didn't pay much mind to it as he unclasped the necklace around his neck, slowly letting it trickle into his palm with the utmost care and not wanting to tangle when he heard the door jangle. He sighed and closed his hand over the necklace, "Cy, wouldn't it be common courtesy to knock--" He started to say as he began to turn around, his eyes slightly widened upon the realization that it was in fact not his younger sister at all which made him pause for a brief moment before he caught himself and put on a small, lopsided smile, "It's you." He softly said, almost gingerly as though he didn’t know what to say as he gently tightened his grip on the necklace.

 

[Ta Min]

Mei smiled, fondly recalling the memories of their 'youth'. "Yeah, everything was so much easier back then. Can't say I don't miss the general vibe of it, still, we have a lot more freedom now. Not that I know what to do with this freedom now that I have it." She chuckled, the first week of college she was completely and utterly lost. Without most of her schedule and necessities taken care of she really had to pull it together. It was a struggle at first but she eventually got into the groove of things. After that, everything worked out just fine.

After hearing Zack's voice, the spirited little tune was cut short and Mei silenced. A few seconds of painful silence passed between the two as she slowly took her time choosing her next choice of words very carefully. "It appears that way," shooting him a crooked grin, she kept her eyes on his face - which was a feat in its own sense. That's when she realized two things, one being that she had barged in without knocking, another being that he was shirtless. Face exchanging its original creamy complexion for a bright red one. Quickly covering her eyes like a child who just saw something they weren't supposed to, she managed to say, "Ah! Sorry, I forgot to knock. I'm not used to anyone but me and Cyrille being here..."

While she was aware of how silly she looked with her hands covering her eyes, it was the only solution for this situation in her opinion. It kept her eyes from going where they shouldn't and hid the alarming shade of red her face was becoming. "I just came here to drop off some stuff," Mei explained. All she wanted to do was run away yet something kept her firmly planted onto the ground. Growing tired of holding her hands up in front of her face, she reluctantly lowered them, once again meeting his gaze. This time, however, she was hopefully a little bit less red.

 

[lostwanderer]

Cyrille rested her chin on her knee, tinkering with her phone as she glanced at the chicken in the oven from time to time. She had received an email from the agency regarding the process of their trip and the itinerary. Having not asked what her friend thought about her plan, she decided to file it away for later when her friend comes back and so, she went to read her other messages when she came across a particular message from when Mei was in France with her folks. She scrolled through it, rereading their conversations from back then.

As brief silence engulfed them, Nathaniel took it as a chance to actually look at her, taking notice of how she seemed somewhat different from how she was then. Gone was her free-spirited disposition, leaving behind her guarded expression, to which he couldn’t help but to be a little sad about as she spoke to which he just slightly tilted his head without another word, keeping his lopsided grin.

When his eyes landed back on her flustered face, he thought that she had caught him staring at her and was about to apologize, but then he noticed her line of vision and slowly followed it, ‘Oh right, I kinda don’t have a shirt. Whoops.’ He scratched the back of his head, glancing away as he waved off the apology, “Nah, it’s cool, I understand. It’s my fault for not checking to lock the door.” He played off with a light chuckle as he bent down over the laundry basket to pick up his shirt and pull it over his head, all the while finding it pleasantly adorable that she covered her face like a little kid, therefore making him smirk a bit in amusement as he slid his arms through the sleeves before pulling down the shirt over his torso. He tried to smoothe out the creases but it was to no avail so he let it be.

Upon her explanation, he slightly bit his lip, perhaps to keep from teasing her, “Ah, that makes sense. In that case, I’ll get out for a moment and let you take care of your business here.” He placed his hands inside his pocket, shrugging with one shoulder. He was tempted to ruffle her hair, just to mess with her, but thought otherwise and walked out the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Once he was out, he took a deep sigh with a frown, gently hitting the back of his head on the door as he looked up to the ceiling, ‘Acting like nothing’s wrong... Just how much of a masochist am i? Idiot.’He thought to himself.

 

[Ta Min]

Much to her relief, when she removed her hands he was once again fully clothed. Shirt and all. Letting the redness die down from her face, she simply nodded along with what he said. Once he closed the door behind him, she collapsed against the wall, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. While the two had just had what seemed like a light conversation Mei knew better. She couldn't entirely confirm it but what with his lopsided smile and all she wasn't sure if he was completely o-kay despite his seemingly happy and friendly words. She could however confirm, that without a doubt, seeing him again, as well as talking to him caused her heart to squeeze in her chest just a little bit.

Not wanting to make him wait outside for too long, she quickly put away all of her toiletries. After her bag was empty and everything in place, she took a deep breath and opened the door. "It's all yours," She said, putting on what was hopefully a genuine smile. "Uh, I better get back to Cyrille. See you around..." Brushing past him, she walked down the hallway and glanced back once before rushing down the stairs only to stop at the bottom. Knowing that she looked a little bit off she took another minute or two to gather herself before making her way back to the kitchen.

"Heyyy Cyrille! Did I miss anything?" She asked, messing with her friend light heartedly.

 

[lostwanderer]

Nathaniel crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stood beside the bathroom door. He was somewhat relieved that he managed to reel in his emotions and play it off but on the other hand, he couldn’t shake off the sour taste in his mouth. The semblance that they were okay, albeit partly a ruse, relieved a part of the weight on his chest, however as cordial they might have been, they could only avoid the tense atmosphere between them for so long before they snap from the pressure. Looking back, it was the kind of thing that got them into this mess in the first place. At the thought of it, his eyes slightly darkened and fell empty as he clenched his hands into fists. He gritted his teeth and clicked his tongue, just as he heard the door click open.

He dropped his arms and turned towards her with an unreadable expression as he glanced at the floor for a moment before giving her a furtive smile, “See ya, Mei.” He murmured as she brushed past him. He walked towards the bathroom door, his hand on the knob when he decided to look towards her retreating figure, only to find that she glanced back at him. Something stirred in his eyes before he made his way back inside the bathroom, this time locking the door behind him.

He checked his pocket to make sure the necklace was still there, safe and sound, before shrugging off his clothes and turning the shower on its coldest setting.

Immersed in her reading, Cyrille let out a surprised squeak and almost dropped her phone when her friend called her attention. She let out a deep breath in relief when no mishaps occured as she turned to face her friend with a small smile, “Heyo, welcome back to the world of the living. You didn’t really miss much, unless you wanted to watch the chicken.” She giggled, “Which reminds me, I think we should get started on the sides ’cause the chicken’s halfway there.” She stood up, straightening up her onesie and pulling it slightly open to let in some air.

 

[Ta Min]

"Awe, dang it! I can't believe I missed watching the chicken cook!" Mei joked, moving to stand next to Cyrille and playfully lean over her shoulder in an attempt to see what she was reading. Unable to see it, she backed off as her friend stood up.

"Ah, right, right. What were you thinking? Rice? Vegetables? Bread?" Wandering over to the counters, she waited for a response. While she was happy to be with Cyrille and was trying to give her all of her attention, something still bothered her. That thing being Zack. He was the last thing she wanted to, or needed to be thinking about, yet here she was thinking about him. It was just so hard not to. In all honesty, a few months ago, he was the only thing on her mind. The difference being that, back then, she enjoyed thinking about him, and right now, she wanted him to disappear from her mind. It was all so complicated and was starting to make her head hurt a little bit.

Snapping out of her trance-like state, she turned to Cyrille and said "Huh?" Completely missing what she had been saying. Get it together Mei. Tonight is about you and Cyrille. Not Zack. Just pretend he's not here...

 

[lostwanderer]

Cyrille laughed a bit at her friend’s silliness as she placed her phone inside her pocket, gently patting it down to make sure it was safely tucked in. She was starting to pick up a light, sweet scent wafting from the oven, therefore affirming her thought that the chicken was halfway in the making. She pulled down her hood and opened her onesie a bit more to reveal a light blue shirt with a bright yellow rubber duck on the chest area.

“Hmmm.. I was thinking of keeping it a bit simple with buttered parmesan baby potatoes and green salad, since I personally think that the chicken doesn’t really call for anything too fancy.” She made her way to the fridge, trying to remember the things she got from the market this morning. Originally, she was planning to go alone and just bring the car around, but her brother wanted to tag along with her, saying something along the lines of exploring the city to refamiliarize himself. Not one to say no, they went there together.

She opened the fully-stocked fridge. checking on her prospects, “What do you think? Do you have anything in particular you want to make for tonight?” She paused for a bit, waiting for an answer, but after a short moment, all she got was silence so she decided to peek over to her friend, looking a bit dazed. She tilted her head in confusion, “Mei?” She tried to call out but to little to no avail so she plucked a grape from the bunch and flicked it at Mei, aiming at her friend’s cheek, “Hey, you alright? You still with me, boo?” She asked, mildly concerned.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel just stood under the stream, emotions constantly stirring in his eyes. After their fight, he badly wanted to forget the girl, but try as he might, he just couldn’t bring himself to erase her from his memories. As much as he wanted to book the next flight home and go on a wild goose chase to explain his side, pride and a tinge of nerves stopped him from doing just that. That doesn’t mean he could keep acting nonchalant about the whole ordeal. He figured he would have to tell her everything sooner, though he had no idea how she will take it and honestly... that scared him more than anything.

After a long while, he realized his situation and quickly cleaned himself up, before turning it off and stepping out of the shower. He began to dry himself off with the towel, eyes shifting towards the sink where he usually placed fresh clothes but upon seeing none, he clicked his tongue with a frown. 'Crap... I forgot to get some clothes earlier...' He wrapped the towel around his waist, taking the necklace from his shorts and fastening it around his neck before dumping his clothes into the laundry basket as he went out the bathroom to go to his bedroom.

 

[Ta Min]

Mei jumped slightly was something cold hit her neck, looking down she saw that it was a grape. "Ah! Sorry, I zoned out for a bit is all." She answered, smiling apologetically. Shaking her head, she said, "I don't really have a preference, potatoes and a green salad are good with me." Determined to get out of, what she called 'her funk', Mei made her way over to Cyrille and the fridge. As the two picked out the ingredients, Mei decided to engage Cyrille in some small talk in an attempt to ease her mind a bit. The last thing she wanted was to worry her friend with something that she shouldn't be worrying about.

"So, anything exciting happen while I was gone?" She asked, glancing over at her as she washed any remaining pesticides from the potatoes. Even though they had been communicating frequently for the past few months, she still didn't know everything that was going on with her. Vice versa, she knew she shouldn't, but Mei's been keeping quite a bit from Cyrille. It wasn't that she was trying to hide stuff from her, she just wasn't ready to talk about it yet. It was all too fresh.

After everything was thoroughly washed, she picked up a knife and began carefully cutting. "This is smelling great," She commented casually, almost slipping and cutting her hand. As bad as it sounded, while away at college, Mei cut (as well as burned) herself several times in an attempt at cooking. She never meant to, she was just an awfully clumsy person and always freaked out when cutting up fruits and/or vegetables. If it weren't so painful, she would think it quite funny. Except, it did hurt and was annoyingly common.

 

[lostwanderer]

Cyrille smiled softly at her friend, waving off her apology as not to mind. Once her friend said she didn't mind her choice, she went and took out the necessary ingredients to make the green salad, leaving the buttered potatoes to her friend, in order to make things quicker. She washed the vegetables she needed, all the while indulging her friend in small talk. Somehow, she felt like there was something kind of off with Mei, but couldn't place her finger what so she decided to file it away for now.

“Hmmm... exciting how?” She paused what she was doing for a bit to glance at her friend with a doe expression. “If you were asking for things here in our little neighborhood, well... You know nothing interesting happens around here very much.” She shrugged as she began to separate the lettuce leaves, taking away the ugly-looking ones and putting the others in a big, glass bowl, “And college is a place filled with zombies and apart from parties and mayflies,” Insert eye roll here. “People generally mind their own business so nothing much to report there either.” It wasn't that she was trying to skirt around details, she genuinely didn't know what to tell her until a thought crossed her mind, “Oh wait, I forgot to tell you over our last video chat, I may or may have not won tickets for four to go to Santorini this summer but that shouldn't be such a big deal, right?” She casually said, picking up a carrot and began peeling it with a peeler as she peered over to what Mei was doing, “Also, be careful with that knife, I experienced a few mishaps with that one before and it was not pretty.” She added with a slight laugh.

Nathaniel quickly got dressed when he got to his bedroom and hung his towel on the rack before he plopped down on his bed with a light sigh. Glancing at the clock on the side of his wall mounted television, which told him it was nearly time for dinner, he decided to check if he could find something interesting to watch on the television while he was at it, eventually settling on a crime show for the meantime.