Beijing, China Summer Year 1999     One day, a little boy sneaked out from their mansion and decided to take a walk around the nearby neighborhood. He does this usually as he thought that it was really boring in his house.   As he was walking along, he heard a loud barking of a dog and also a faint shout.   "Someone's in trouble!" He quickly ran to the scene and saw an angry dog barking furiously to a little girl.   The little boy searched for a stick around and spotted one near a trash can and grabbed it. He went to them slowly and stood in front of the little girl.   "Here, boy. Come here." He tried to coo it but the dog just barked more. The little girl gripped his shirt tightly and started crying. "Stop crying." He whispered with his soothing voice. The little girl looked up to him and nodded but still tears were falling from her eyes. The little boy just smiled at her and returned his attention to the dog.   He swayed the stick and finally, the dog's attention was diverted to it. The little boy smiled. He continued swaying it and with all his might, threw it far away from them. Luckily, the dog did run to the stick and the two were able to hide themselves at the nearby playground.   "Are you alright?" The little girl nodded and smiled.   "Thank you very much for saving me!" He chuckled.   "Are you still scared? Come on! I know something that will make you feel better!" The little boy chirped and started walking away. The little girl just looked at him with a confused face but decided to follow him. After a few more walks, the little boy stopped. "We're here." He beamed and the little girl checked where they were; at an ice cream parlor and she smiled widely.   "I love ice cream!" She exclaimed excitedly and the little boy chortled at her. He bought two chocolate ice cream cones and they went back to the playground and sat on the swing.   "It's yummy, right?" He asked. The little girl nodded and smiled.   "Thank you for this! You made me happy." She flashed her toothy smile at him and the little boy couldn't help but blush. He just found it so cute. "You're my savior!" She declared and the two just laughed.   "By the way, my name is Luhan. What's yours?"   "Oh!! My name's-"   "Luhan! There you are!! You made me so worried about you. Come on, we need to go home. Your father will get angry if he finds out you're outside."   "But mama. I'm still with my friend." Luhan started to whine. The older lady smiled apologetically to the little girl and looked back at her son.   "Lu, I'm sorry. We'll play with her again next time. Alright?" Luhan could only nod at her and began to walk away. He looked back to the little girl and waved sadly. She smiled and waved back.   "Visit me soon, Mei mei!" The little girl was surprised that he called her younger sister but she didn't mind. After all, he never got the chance to know her name.   "I will, Luhan ge!" She shouted back. Luhan and his mom entered the car and started driving away.   Ever since then, the two would meet at the playground every afternoon and would play to their hearts content. Luhan never asked again about the little girl's name as he already got used to calling her "Mei mei" instead. For little Luhan, Mei was his first ever true friend and he treasure