I'm serious it's not. Really.

The next couple months were relatively calm for Emily. Work was going well - she even got to meet Fan BingBing - and her Skype calls to Rachel were less ranting about Yifan and more excited gushing about how much she’s learned in class and at her internship.

One night, Emily was up late studying when her stomach started growling. Sluggishly, she stalked over to the little fridge in her room and opened it to find it empty of everything but energy drinks. Sighing a little, she pulled a sweatshirt over her pajamas and slipped on some comfy shoes. She grabbed her wallet and room key and slipped out the door.

The campus was quiet except for a few late-night runners and people like her, looking for food. A couple people were standing by the vending machine, but Emily wanted real food.

So, she left the campus and made her way to the little 24 hour convenience store just down the street. She walked briskly, not wanting to stay out on the streets so late at night in such a big city.

Emily let out a relieved sigh when she stepped into the slightly flickering florescent lighting of the convenience store. A bored student was scrolling through his phone at the counter, but other than that, there was no one else in the building. The student barely looked up at her when she entered, so Emily just politely nodded at him and went about her business.

She grabbed several cups of ramen as well as a few granola bars. She spotted some of her favorite snacks and grabbed several of those as well. And finally, because she had a sudden craving, she grabbed an ice cream cone out of the freezer section.

The boy at the counter raised an eyebrow at her selection of groceries, and she gave him a look that said she had three papers due this week and she was only two pages into each of them. He nodded in silent understanding and threw in a free pack of gum.

Emily thanked him and made her way back outside. She had just opened her ice cream and started it happily, when she heard voices. Several people were making quite a racket behind her. Startled to hear it so loud at night she turned around just as someone came sprinting around a corner and crashed straight into her. She toppled over with the force of his weight and landed hard on her bottom.

The person managed to catch himself before squashing her beneath him. He froze above her and seemed to be staring at her for a few moments. Emily couldn’t see his face because of his hood, and she was starting to freak out. She was just about to shove him off her and run away when the voices behind them grew louder and shriller.

The guy snapped out of his stupor and stood up, grabbing Emily’s free hand - she somehow still had a firm grip on her ice cream - and pulling her up with him.

By now Emily’s voice had recovered and she started to say, “Hey! What’s your problem? Let me go! I don-” but the guy dragged her back into the convenience store and clamped a large hand over .

By now, Emily was thoroughly spooked and she started to struggle. The guy at the counter must have gone into the back as he was nowhere to be seen. The more she struggled, the tighter the man’s grip on her waist became. He pulled her closer so that her back was pressed against his chest. He held his breath and ducked behind some shelves as a group of girls and people with cameras dashed past the store.

When their voices died down, he finally released his grip on her. At the same time he was loosening his grip, she elbowed him in the stomach to make him let go.

“Oof. What was that for?” he said, indignantly.

Emily didn’t even dignify him with an answer and brushed the imaginary dust off her pants before starting for the door. She was ready to be back in her dorm, under the covers, with a bowl of instant ramen. She’d recognized the voice of the guy who man-handled her and was seriously starting to question her luck.

Of all the people to run into her in the middle of a late-night run to the convenience store, why did it have to be him?

She didn’t even want to think about how strong his arms were or how broad his chest was. And his hands totally did not smell nice at all. She also didn’t want to think about how well she fit into his embrace. She was tall, so his height was perfect for her. He’d held her so securely, as though nothing could pull her away from him. She was just starting to think that maybe if she’d known it was Yifan from the beginning, she wouldn’t have been so scared, when a hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her backwards.

“Why do you keep ignoring me?”

Also a relatively short chapter but things are finally getting interesting *cackles*