Innocuous (YiZhan/ZhanYi)

Chapter 7 A Fleur de Toi

The first three months had been the worst, he had lost his appetite and basically his will to do anything. Only his sense of duty towards his family had made him get up every morning and go to work. He had lost a lot of weight during that period of time.

Later on, he had just kept going by inertia. After some time, his mother had coerced him to attend social functions using his sense of duty towards his family as leverage, and he just grew accustomed to it, but he didn't enjoy them at all.

So the mere thought of courting Lulu looked like an impossible task for him. She was a very attractive woman, but she did not appeal to him. However, fate seemed to decide for him without considering his needs and wants, and soon enough their shared social engagements brought them together in several occasions.

Navigating high society parties, where the average age of the attendees was around ten years older than you, was not an easy task for any of them. So they decided to take refuge in one another at such events. Finding out that they genuinely enjoyed each other's company was a pleasant surprise for both of them.

It was at one of these parties where Lulu took the initiative and invited him for a cup of coffee the next day.

"Have you realized that we never really talk at these events, Yi Bo?"

"We are not supposed to talk here, I call this fake socializing. You don't really socialize with anybody, but you're supposed to talk to everyone."

She couldn't contain her laugh, "You're hilarious. Do you know that?"

"I've been called many things but that," he deadpanned.

"It's the face. You always look so serious," she stated playfully.

"Well, I'm serious about my commitments," he said matter-of-factly.

"Like attending boring parties out of obligation?" she went on.

"Exactly like that," he said smiling.

"You know, I'd like to be your friend Yi Bo," she told him, looking into his eyes.

"Aren't we friends already?" he questioned, with just a touch of irony in his voice.

"Don't jest. I want us to be real friends, the sort that know each other and actually care for the other person."

"Oh, that kind of friends," Yi Bo said with a smirk on his face, really amused.

"Yeah, what do you say?" she asked looking at him with big innocent eyes, and he was disarmed.

"Of course," he answered softly, extremely moved by her sincerity.

"So do you have time for a cup of coffee tomorrow afternoon?"

He checked his agenda on his cellphone and he indeed had some free time the next day.

"Is five o'clock good for you?"

"It's perfect!" she replied giving him the address of her favorite coffee shop.

The rest of the function he managed to actually relax a little bit and didn't suffer so much with the stiff environment.

He arrived to the venue the next day, and Bo was pleasantly surprised the coffee shop was actually a cozy place in the middle of a busy street and not a super luxurious place for chic people. She was already waiting for him at a table. Waiving at him, she caught his attention.

They greeted each other and Yi Bo sat down and ordered himself a cup of black coffee. A deluge of memories invaded him, he remembered the time he invited Zhan for a cup of coffee after accidentally meeting him outside Professor Han's office. Zhan, everything came back to him every time.