Hua Ze Lei walked without hurry, he knew Jing would not be at the party yet and facing Ah Si required more energy than he was feeling at the moment. He could hear the music coming from the beach and was not looking forward to the crowd and noise, he would have preferred to stay in his room with Jing. Lei had come to a decision and wanted to let Jing know how he felt, finally he would say those words that he hoped would change their relationship forever. The years without her had felt endless and he didn't think he could face being away from her again.
Lei reached the party and looked around, he didn't recognize anyone there beside F3 not that it mattered, he was not one to socialize and he had F3 as friends, that was enough. He scanned the crowd and was not surprised to see Ximen and Meizuo dancing and having fun. His gaze moves on to the chairs and again he's not surprised to see Ah Si sitting down looking both angry and bored. Lei smiles to himself and walks over to the empty lounge chair next to Ah Si he sits down and turned to look at his friend but he's ignoring him again. Lei sighs and thinks not for the first time that coming on this trip was a mistake. Ah Si needed time to cool off and seeing each other while he was still angry was not going to help.
Lei sat in silence and stared straight ahead but he was not seeing the dancing crowd in front of him, instead he was recalling the scene in the cafeteria. Lei still did not know what had made him get involved and defy his friend. What he did know was that F4 had never encountered a girl like Shancai and he had to admit to himself that she had piqued his curiosity enough to look out for her around campus. He could not figure her out yet and her mix of strength and vulnerability made him want to protect her from Ah Si's hot temper. Lei just never thought he would do it so publicly. He knew Ah Si would never intentionally hurt her but he could be too much to handle at normal times and now with his emotions getting the best of him Lei decided enough was enough, Shancai did not deserve Ah Si's jealous wrath, and that's what it was, jealousy. Ah Si may not know it yet or was denying his feelings but he liked Shancai of that Lei was certain.
It would be nice if he could explain to himself why he had chosen to get involved, after all he had told Shancai he would stop going to the rooftop after running into her there, but not only had he found himself returning to the roof but he had been pleased to see Shancai there. He thought back to the night he ran into her in the street. The memory of Shancai making him laugh earlier that day still on his mind, he had not being able to stop himself and told her how cute she had been and without thinking had kissed her cheek . Lei was embarrassed about it now, he didn't know what had made him do that and he didn't want her to get the wrong idea as there was room for only one person in his heart and that was Jing.
Lei was also having a hard time understanding Ah Si attraction for Shancai, she was not his type at all, not that he had a type since he'd never been in a relationship, but the girls Ximen introduced him to at the clubs were usually alike so Lei figured that's what Ah Si liked and Shancai did not fit that mold at all, she was neither tall nor model-looking perfect.
Lei was going over this in his mind when Jing walking towards him filled his vision, looking beautiful as always and he felt at peace for the first time since arriving at the party but then his eyes fell on the girl walking just a step behind her and it took him a second or two to realize it was Shancai. Lei suddenly felt his peace interrupted by a skipping heartbeat. Of course he knew Jing was helping Shancai dress for the party that's the reason they had arrived separately but he had not expected what he was seeing, while Jing was beautiful Shancai glowed with an inner beauty because she herself did not realize how pretty she looked.
Lei heard Ah Si mutter something to Meizuo about not exaggerating how Shancai looked.
He wished Ah Si would take a page from his book and learn to stay quiet sometimes. Lei makes eye contact with Jing and she smiles and walks towards him leaving Shancai standing alone.
Why isn't Ah Si standing up and going to Shancai? Lei wonders but he does not want to start something with Ah Si that could ruin the night so he concentrates on Jing and tries to ignore everyone else. After a while Jing excuses herself and walks towards the bar, as he watches her go, he sees Ah Si finally get up and start to walk up to Shancai and he can see the apprehension in her face from where he's sitting. There seems to be a countdown going on making everyone excited but he had not paid enough attention to know what would happen in the next few seconds. All Lei sees is a girl running and crashing into Shancai and then the lights are gone and darkness falls on the beach.
Lei realizes what is going on and knows the lights will come back in a few seconds to reveal lovers stealing a kiss. The party area is awash in light again and he sees Shancai on the floor, on top on Ah Si kissing him. And for the second time that night Lei feels his heart flutter for
the briefest of seconds as he looks on at the scene in front of him. He is not sure why this turn of events should matter to him so he remains silent and hopes Ah Si will not make the situation worse, but of course that's too much to ask as he immediately embarrasses Shancai by blaming the kiss on her and pointedly asking if that was her first kiss? Anyone with eyes could have told him the answer to that and Lei had seen the girl run into Shancai prompting her to fall forward onto him. But all this he keeps to himself as he can't get himself involved with whatever is going on between those two, he has a night with Jing ahead of him and he has been looking forward to this for the last three years.
Shancai is looking at him but he does nothing to encourage her so she quickly turns and runs out of the party, leaving Ah Si behind with a smile that Lei doesn't remember ever seeing on his friend before. Just then Ah Si turns and meets his gaze and when the smile becomes a smirk, Lei is certain their fight will come to an end soon. He turns to Jing who is holding out her hand to him and he takes it. As they are walking back to their villa and he holds the hand of the woman he loves his mind wonders how Shancai is at the moment, but he quickly shakes his head to clear it and he turns and smiles at Jing all the while ignoring his heart which had again skipped a beat at the thought of that strange girl.
