It was a peaceful Sunday morning. Xia was back at her countryside house. Luli was in her kitchen sitting on one of the stools before the counter, a very rare sight since she is almost always out of town for work. While the former girl was moving in the kitchen with slight grace as she busied herself in front of the stove, the latter looked laid-back and relaxed as she sipped on a cup of tea. The kitchen was filled with a soothing noise of oil bubbling away at the croquettes in the pot on the stove.

“Why did you invite me here today?” Luli asked as she put down her cup of tea.

Xia looked back at her friend over her shoulder with a playful glare, “Can I not invite my friend for a meal and a chat?”

Her best friend laughed, “But is it though?” she looked her Xia playfully as she took another sip from her cup.

“Yes it is!” Xia responded with a pout as she fished out the croquette from the pot.

“Where is Aunty Zhao?” Luli looked around the kitchen, seeking a familiar silhouette.

“She’s probably in the garden, weeding the veggie patch or something,” Xia replied casually, “since the last gardener left, she has not found someone yet.”

“What happened to the last gardener?” Luli asked with a frown.

Xia chuckled as she put the plate of hot croquettes on the table between the two of them, “He was doing very well, until he turned out to be Kris Wu.”

Luli’s jaw dropped, “No way!” Xia giggled and nodded. “Tang Xia, do you know how many girls would kill to be at your place? How did that story happen though? It sounds like a horribly written fanfic.”

Xia laughed before explaining the story from start to the end to her friend.

“So, you are now his lawyer?”

Xia nodded, “Yes.”

“And I presume that you have something going on for him?”

The lawyer smiled gently as she looked down at the table, “Yes.”

Luli frowned at Xia, “I don’t like this.”

“Why not?!” the lawyer friend protested, “you’re my best friend. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

The journalist shrugged, “It just doesn’t sit well with me. You dating your client is just… unprofessional.”

“But I didn’t know he would become my client until I was hired by him! I have to pick the work the firm assigns me, you know!” Xia interjected, knowing how Luli has always been a straightforward woman.

“Xia…” Luli spoke softly, “You know that he’s like super famous. Didn’t you say you like peace and quiet? You should know that his fan club is really, really crazy. I don’t want you to go through everything that the crazies cause. What if they throw eggs at you?!”

Xia started laughing at her friend’s ridiculousness even though she knew that her friend had a point - the journalist had always been one of the sanest and most logical person out of the two, even though Xia was supposed to be that one since she’s the lawyer. Luli was now glaring at her for laughing over the concern. “I’m sorry - ahem - I have never actually met his fan club. I try to keep away from him though.”

“If you ask me, I’m against your relationship,” Luli blew on her already cold tea with a slight frown.

Xia was annoyed that Luli had a point and a valid one too.

~~~

“Kris Wu, do you have any comments regarding all the articles that have been published recently?” a mic was shoved in front of him just as he was leaving for his acting classes. Kris sighed. It had been something expected for a few weeks already. Kris Wu put on a slight, somewhat uncomfortable, smile and mumbled ‘No comment’ before boarding on the van that was already waiting for him.

Once he got onto the van, he sighed after looking at the group of reporters gathered at the entrance of his apartment complex. It had been a common sight ever since a news publishing company has decided to dig up his past relationship with the girl he was currently in trouble with. He couldn’t say anything since everything was true and his company had decided to let this matter take its course since he had became pretty much a lost cause. A lot of people now see him as an irresponsible person and his image had taken a major blow.

He sighed as he picked up the tablet to see what was the hot topic on him. As expected, it was another story of the past relationship between him and his ex-girlfriend, including their secret yet sweet escape to America. Heaving another sigh, he put the tablet away, hoping that the ground would swallow him alive.

Since he had not been doing any work, he decided to focus on studies. He had taken up acting classes and accent coaches to prep him for whatever roles he wanted to accept for the future. He also picked up painting, ironically since drawing skills could rival a 5 years old and still lose, to distract himself from thinking about all the bad things that had been happening to him.

On top of everything, he had not seen Xia for several weeks since they do not have a reason to. She would only meet him during the days when they had to meet up for his case and on the days when Kris and his legal team had to go in for mediation with opponent lawyers.

Life had not been easy for him. It had been crushing.

~~~

Xia found herself unwinding on a Friday night in her living room lounge, with a book opened on her lap and huddled under a thin blanket. Aunty Zhao had excused herself to go visit her relatives in another town for the day and Xia was alone in the house that evening.

It used to be a bliss when Xia was alone in the house in the past. However, something didn’t feel right. It felt like something was missing and Xia couldn’t figure out what. She had been reading the same page of the book over and over again for some time. In the end, she gave up and went into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat for dinner, which was something Aunty Zhao left for her in the kitchen. Once the microwave rang to remind her that the dinner had been reheated, Xia took it out and sat on the stool to eat her dinner, which she picked at. In the end, she ate about half of her dinner, felt guilty as she scraped the leftovers into the bin and decided to take a walk in the garden to tire herself out.

The garden was well-lit at night, thanks to all the little bulbs the landscape designer installed around the garden. She smiled as she walked past all the flower patches. The grass felt cool against her exposed feet, despite wearing a slipper. There was a slight breeze blowing around and Xia tightened the shawl around her as she didn’t want to catch a cold.

Some time later, an intense beam of light flooded her vision just as she was about to . She looked in the direction of the light and squinted, wondering which neighbour would have such bright headlights installed. Then, she retreated back into the main house.

She went up to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, changed into her pyjamas before hearing the front door knob click.

“Welcome back, Aunty Zhao. I have to tell you some-” she stopped her sentence midway standing on the last step of the staircase, surprised at the one who entered through the front door. It was Kris, standing tall on the rug in the narrow foyer. He didn’t say anything but slowly walked towards her, his eyes sad and empty, even though his facial expressions couldn’t be read. Something in her chest constricted at the sight.

Kris slowly walked towards her, stopped in front of her - their heights equal as she was standing one step above his level. Then, without saying anything he leaned on her right shoulder. Her head instinctively leaned to the left to give space to him and her arms automatically went to his shoulders, gently enveloping them in a loose hug. She patted his back, “Kris, is there anything wrong?” she spoke softly.

He shook his head before wrapping his arms around her. Xia’s distrusting side told her that he was lying but she decided to not further question him. He took a deep breath and snuggled up against her more, his face resting in the crook between her neck and the shoulders, “You feel like home.” He mumbled.

At that moment, for the longest time since she was back in the house, did Xia realised that everything felt suddenly right and comfortable.

~~~

[Author's monologue:] First of all, hello. How is everyone doing? I hope you all are healthy and happy.

Secondly, I am very sorry that I had not been updating for a long long time. I keep having personal issues pop up and it kept me busy. So, I am very sad to say that the further updates will probably be very, very slow. This includes all the other stuff I had continued writing because I have seen a few names popping up in the other ongoing fics so this is a collective announcement.

Nevertheless, I hope to see you guys again soon. Very soon. I really missed writing.