Yifan is beginning to understand why some people turn superstitious with age.

Under any other circumstances he would be laughing at this whole Friday the 13th business, calling it straight out bull. Those like his best friend Luhan have always half amused, half crept him out with the way they always blindly believe in signs and destiny. On the other hand, Yifan has always called himself the master of his own fate; it is not in his nature to acknowledge such abstract ideals as luck, either. Everyone gets what they deserve to get and what they have earned, is what he has always claimed - at least until now. Because today the higher power is working really hard to make him a true believer.

It all started when of all days, he just had to oversleep for his morning teleconference at work and his secretary had no choice but to reschedule for a much less convenient Sunday night, which meant that Yifan would have to forget about his relaxing weekend gym routine and instead stop by the office to ensure that New York still knew who their most reliable retailer was. He made it to work just in time for his lunch with Yixing, Wendy and Luhan, but despite all his warm feelings for his friends, seeing them only put him in an even more sour mood. Yixing and Wendy had gone straight from skinny love to becoming engaged to be married in what felt like five seconds and despite their utmost attempts to give him their attention, they couldn't help but send each other lovey-dovey looks. On his left, Yifan also had Luhan, whose ongoing affair with some Korean entrepreneur - based entirely on and coffee - has been making him the worst version of himself, with the way the Chinese man was whining and complaining, whole still remaining positively lovesick. Yifan came back to the office with a headache. And on top of all that, as much as he just wanted to just go back to his flat and sleep for a thousand years, he still had to get himself together and attend his father's birthday gathering, which would probably drag for hours. 

Yifan doesn't see his parents often - ever since he formally took over the CEO position at their family's company, they have been travelling between his native Guangzhou and Canada, where his mother's part of family is from. That doesn't really leave them much time to stop by Beijing to visit their only son, which suits Yifan just fine. He loves his mother a lot, but he much prefers to hear her on the phone every once in a while, where he can quickly cut her off before her overbearing personality gets too much. Yifan's relationship with his father is even more complicated. Every time they are put together in one room, they inevitably begin testing each other's patience. Nothing that Yifan ever does seems to be enough for Wu senior, and quite frankly, his son has had it up his ears.

But it's not every day that one turns 65 and when his mother called to ask him to help book a nice restaurant to celebrate with family and a few of their closest friends, Yifan couldn't really refuse. Now he is deeply regretting his choices. For one, he has completely forgotten just how far away from his workplace the restaurant really is. It takes more than 40 minutes before he manages to even get out of the traffic on the main high way. One more semaphore and I'll be there, he chants to himself, one eye on the road and another on the clock on the car's main panel,  ticking his precious time away. His father won't be happy. He has specifically said that he has an important announcement to make this evening.

It all happens in a split second - one moment Yifan is pressing the brake to slow down on the red light blinking ahead of him and the other he's crushed into the back of a red cabriolet in front of him that has abruptly stopped. His Mercedes nearly bounces back, with shocked Yifan behind the wheel.

He sees the driver of the red car turn around and it's a petite woman who looks anything but pleased. That's rich, Yifan thinks to himself briefly, considering that the accident is her fault to begin with. She takes off her sunglasses, shaking her light brown locks out of her face and gets out of the car, stopping near the boot of her vehicle to assess the damage. Yifan is quick to join her.

'What was that? Have you no idea how to properly stomp on a brake pedal? You're not alone on the road.' Yifan says, frustrated. She just gives him an unimpressed once over, before looking back to the source of their trouble. 'Listen there, lady. You can't just ignore me. We need to call the police and the insurance company. Hey!' He nearly shouts, impatient, before the woman bothers to look at him again.

'I have no idea what you just said to me, but you're lucky that I don't have time to deal with this right now. The damage seems to be minimal so I'll let this slide. I'm already late for my meeting.' She responds in English and directs herself towards the driver's seat without another glance. Yifan is rendered speechless. 

He eventually moves, though, catching her just as she shuts the door. 

'What the-! It's a freaking Mercedes, it's going to cost a fortune to even paint the bumper. And it's your fault. What kind of driver are you even?!' He switches to English as well, adamant to not let her off so easily. She puts her sunglasses back on before turning to him one more time and starting the engine.

'You should have watched the road more carefully.' She bites back, annoyed, and sets the car in motion. 

'You can't just leave!' Yifan's voice turns high pitched, trotting behind the vehicle, his hand still on the door.

'Watch me.'

'What a witch!' He shouts after the moving car. 

' my !' He hears her shout back before the car turns right and disappears behind a building. Yifan kicks his front tyre for good measure, groaning frustrated.

The curse of Friday the 13th has never been more real.














He arrives ten minutes late, still in foul mood. Thankfully, his car isn't severely damaged and Yifan is still able to drive but a visit to the mechanic is in order. He's mad at himself, though, because in his rage he failed to take note of the cabriolet's plate number. He parks in the first available space that he can see and rushes to the restaurant hall, adjusting his tie on the way. 

Everyone is already there, conversing with one another and creating the typical buzz of a full room. There are way more invitees attending than Yifan imagined as he passes through rows of chairs half bent, trying to make himself as small as possible. He still catches his mother's scolding gaze from across the table when he finally slides into the chair next to his father. He clears his throat awkwardly, looking around. At his family's table there are a few more guests, clearly his parents' close friends. Some faces seem familiar, some don't, but he still nods respectfully every time he catches somebody's eye. That is, until he spots the person seated next to his mother. 

The witch that responsible for his accident is there all right, merely rising an eyebrow when their eyes meet before looking away to something more interesting happening on her phone's screen. Yifan immediately turn red, fuming mad, he wants to scream at her shamelessness, but he is not exactly in the position to.

'So nice of my son to finally join us.'

His father's booming voice easily captures the attention of the other tables and suddenly everybody quietens. Yifan's attention snaps back to his father and the younger has the decency to lower his head in apology. Even if he were to explain the reason for his late entrance, his father would never understand.

 'I've always been a man of few words, so I'll just get straight to the point. Thank you all for joining us today to celebrate my humble self. I still plan on living for a very long time, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal,' The crowd bursts into a lazy laughter. '-but my wife insisted, so here we are. But more importantly, before you all get comfortable and start toasting, I will give you something to actually toast to. My only son, Yifan, will be soon getting married.' Yifan chokes on the wine that he has been sipping and nearly spits it on the white tablecloth. 'To our close friend's daughter, the lovely Jung Suyeon.' A similar to Yifan's sound of choking comes from across the table. For the first time since Yifan laid his eyes on the girl, he sees some real emotion in her expression. Unfortunately, if her eyes could kill, he'd already be lying under the table. 











'Mother, this is ridiculous! I'm a grown man, you can't do this.'

'We just want you to be happy, honey. I haven't seen you with anyone since you slit up with that German model.'

'That was three years ago and I caught her with somebody else's in -'

'Don't be vulgar.' His mother scolds lightly, not really upset, taking out a packet of cigarettes from her purse. Why not add to Beijing's pollution while they are at it.

'…So what makes you think that it's a good idea to marry some California Barbie instead? She doesn't even speak Chinese.'

'She speaks English just fine. She's a native Korean, so it might give you an opportunity to finally learn a bit of the language. Just look at how much business your friend Yixing makes with that skill alone.' Yifan doesn't feel like adding that business is not the only thing that Yixing will be making from now on with his recent engagement to Wendy. That would, however, only further prove his mother's point.

'I have interpreters for that. I'm sorry, mother, but you will have to cancel that announcement. I honestly have better things to do than to deal with spoilt princesses.'

'You!' Yifan turns around only to see Suyeon charging at him, her manicured finger threatening to stab him in the eye. 'Tell your father to cancel this wedding. This is all a big misunderstanding. I do not intend to get married anytime soon.'

'Honey, relax. Your parents think that it's a good idea for you to settle down. Our Yifan is a nice boy.' Yifan's mother switches to English, putting a hand on the girl's arm in what means to be encouragement.

'Mother, I am not a boy and I agree with Suyeon - there is no way that I will marry her. Not now,  not ever.'

'It's Jessica.'

'What?' Yifan looks at the blonde dumbly.

'My name is Jessica, not Suyeon. This is not Korea and anyway, that name sounds completely archaic.'

'...as I was saying,' The man eventually recovers and decides to just ignore her for the sake of his own sanity. 'I have no time for marriage now.'

'When will you have time, then?' Yet another voice joins them - this time, it's Yifan's father with who looks like the girl's parents. 

'How can you ask such questions out of the blue. You didn't give me any choice, heck, you didn't even let me know beforehand.'

'You wouldn't have come here if you had known.' Yifan's silence is the only confirmation. 'Your mother and I were also arranged but we turned out to be happy. All I'm asking you is to give this match a chance. I won't be blackmailing you into anything, but I just want you to consider it as you would any other potential partner. Unless you already have somebody?'

'Well, not exactly, but-'

'Then you lose nothing by trying. Give this an earnest chance and if you two don't like each other after all, I won't press further. Your mother's conscience will also be clear. We just don't want you to be alone.'

'I'm perfectly fine on my own.'

'Your grandma looked so happy. You should have seen her face.' That shuts the young entrepreneur up. No blackmail, he thinks sourly. What about emotional blackmail? That also counts. He can't say anything to that - his grandmother doesn't have more than six months to live, it's been their family's open secret for some time. Should he get married, she might not even be there anymore.






 

'Look, I don't like it any more than you do. Plus, I'm still furious. You’ve damaged my car and left me behind on the road.'

'It was your fault. You crushed into my car first.'

'That's not what-' Yifan takes a deep breath. His patience is running thin. They'd decided to meet for coffee the day after the birthday dinner and having waited for more than 20 minutes, Yifan really thought that the girl simply blew him off, but she does appear eventually, looking both unimpressed and unapologetic. 'That's not what's happened. But regardless, I've given this arrangement some thought and I think it's not bad. We could just pretend we met a few times and decided to call it quits. My grandma happy, our parents satisfied, we go on with our lives.'

'I agree.' Suyeon - or Jessica - affirms, taking Yifan by complete surprise. He expected some serious opposition. 'I've argued with my parents all evening about this. If it helps me get them off my back, I'm willing to go with it for the time being. I'll be in China for a while and it won't be as easy to avoid the topic as it was back when I was away in California. If enduring your presence means that they can shut up about it, I'm willing to take the chance.'

'I'll have you know that I am a very pleasant man to be around.' Yifan refutes, getting agitated. 'It's you that we may have a problem with. What's with all that hostility? We are on the same boat. I'm not responsible for what is happening to you now.'

Jessica sighs, finally picking up a spoon and leisurely mixing the contents of her coffee cup.

'I suppose you're right. As long as you don't try any number on me, we're cool.'

'Why would I try anything? I barely know you. Not everyone is an animal, you know.' Yifan replies offended and the girl in front of him only sighs again. 

'So what do you propose that we do?'

'Let's exchange numbers for now. It might be necessary to meet every now and then to keep the charade going, perhaps with our parents too if the necessity calls for it.'

'I suppose you're right.' Jessica only repeats, before typing her digits into the man's iPhone. 'So... what should I call you?'

'What do you mean?'

'My parents keep calling you Kris but your parents call you by your Chinese name. Which one should I use in case I actually need to act like I'm close to you.' She elaborates nonchalantly. 

'Yifan is fine.' The man rolls his eyes. 'Nobody has called me Kris since I graduated collage ten years ago.'

'OK,  then... Yifan. I'm already late for my massage. I guess I will see you in some distant, undefined future.' She puts on her sunglasses - the action which has quickly become synonymous with her presence in Yifan's head - and stands up from the chair.

'Have a good life.' He replies, resigned. He guesses that he will just have to swallow those two hundred dollars that he paid this morning for the damage that she caused to his car.








In the next few weeks, Yifan sees very little of Jessica. Once for a lunch date with their parents, which is nothing if not awkward. They try to put their friendliest faces for show, but it's pretty obvious that they have little in common and don't really desire to know anything about each other. Their parents don't lose hope yet, blaming it on their own presence at the table and wish for the best. The second time, Yifan invites Jessica for coffee per his mother's request. They exchange brief pleasantries and spend the following hour, each deep in their own work. In the end, they reluctantly take a happy looking selfie as a form of proof that they actually did meet.

Yifan has some basic information about his supposed fiancée, courtesy of his secretary's diligence. Jessica is a creative director in one of the retail clothing brands with headquarters in California, recently looking to expand on the Asian market. As a young and unattached employee, she was a natural choice for the transfer, Yifan muses when he finally has the time to open her file. It feels a bit stalkerish, to be learning all of this behind the girl's back, but she won't give him the time of day and honestly, Yifan just wants to know whom he is dealing with. While she does seem to have a bad case of a potty mouth, but she looks generally harmless. Apart from that car accident, what the was that, his expression turns sour and he promptly closes the folder.

It's yet another Friday night and Yifan is out with a bunch of his friends, relaxing and drinking a cocktail in their usually frequented lounge bar. There aren't that many people around, not yet anyway, and the conversation is lazy between them as well. Luhan is busy texting, something that he has been doing quite often, consulting Wendy every now and then about the Korean vocabulary used in his messages. Yixing and Zhoumi are discussing a new professional prospect, turning to Yifan for opinion a couple of times. Wendy's friend Sooyoung and her scary looking boyfriend are dancing to a slow tune in the corner. Yifan closes his eyes briefly; he literally just wants to take a deep breath and not think about that hard week that he's just had at work. 

But Fridays don't seem to agree with him.  

From the corner of his eye, he spots the petite brunette enter the establishment and he almost groans internally. But Jessica doesn't notice their group at all. She takes a seat at the bar, her back to Yifan, and after what seems like an strained conversation full of pointing and hand movements, she manages to order a drink. From then on, she hardly moves - with her head on her hand elbow prompted on the table, she sips her drink from time to time, lost in thought. 

'Yifan.' Yifan breaks the long stare he's been giving the girl and turns to Wendy and Yixing, both looking at him expectantly.

'What's happened?' Yixing wants to know.
'Huh?' 

'Is that somebody that you know?' Wendy probes again.

'Oh, it's just.. it's that girl that my parents set me up with. Jessica. I just noticed her sitting over there.'

'Why don't you go and talk to her? Or maybe invite her over to sit with us?' Wendy suggests and Yifan scoffs lightly.

'Now, why would I do that? That woman ruined my Mercedes and didn't as much as apologise.'

'Maybe she just had a bad day that time? Have you never had one? She’s probably embarrassed of what she's done but is too proud to admit it.'

'You yourself said that she'd just moved all the way from California and doesn't even speak the language. Look at her - that girl is all alone. The moment you and her met, you've become responsible for her, whether you like it or not.' Yixing adds and Yifan seriously hates his friend's life philosophies, because they usually sound right and make Yifan look like a petty and stubborn person for refusing to follow them.

'You're a good guy, Yifan.' Wendy's reassured look seals the deal. Damn those mushy couples that literally finish each other sentences, Yifan scoffs one more time for good measure but eventually stands up from their booth and gingerly makes his way to the bar.

'Fancy seeing you here.' He says lamely. His flirting game has never been particularly strong. Not that he's trying to flirt, but it still feels as awkward as it must look to the outsiders. The girl turns to him and only then did he realise that she's in fact cried. 'You're crying.' He adds and immediately chastises himself for being stupid. You don't want to further embarrass a person who's just showed you their weakness. It seems, though, that Jessica doesn't really care.

'Oh, this?' She lightly taps around her eyes with her fingertips to dry away the wetness. 'I'm what you would call a sad drunk. The moment I as much as touch a glass of wine, all my past mistakes come back to haunt me. All the more when I'm alone.'

'Oh.'

'Small world. What are you doing here?' She asks, taking another sip of her drink.

'It's a popular hangout among my friends. Some of us are here tonight to relax after the long week. Would you like to, uh, would you like to join us?' He offers. The suggestion is sincere although still awkwardly phrased. Yifan has no idea how to deal with Jessica outside of their business like schedule. 

She turns around to where the man is pointing and upon seeing four pairs of eyes observing them from afar, she sends his friends a small smile and nods in greeting. 

'Maybe some other time. I hope I'm not being rude.'

'Oh, not at all.' There is a moment of silence, before he adds, surprising even himself: 'Mind if I sit here for a moment?'

She regards him curiously, before removing her handbag from the bar stool to make space for him.

'What are you drinking?' 

'Hell if I know. All I wanted was on the beach, but the bartender doesn't speak any English. First he pointed at the door, and later gave me some interesting cards.' She passes him the card, sliding it across the bar surface with her index finger. 'Am I right in assuming that he took me for a high class e?'

'He probably thought you were looking for that kind of company.' Yifan admits, a small smile playing on his lips. She mirrors his expression. 

'In the end I pointed to the first bottle that I saw behind the counter and that's what I ended up with. It's very yellow,  but I'm trying not to think about it.'

'How about I buy you a drink?' Yifan says, gesturing at the bartender.

'All right.' She agrees easily. 

'How come you ended up here?' He asks when they reach a lull in the conversation.

'I live close by. I don't trust myself with this city yet, so I come here often to relax. Managing a completely new branch is a lot harder than I thought. Some of the local employees took my promotion the hard way. I actually don't know what bothers them more - my Korean ethnicity or my American passport.'

'Or maybe the fact that you can be a real .' Yifan adds before stilling, mortified. He can't believe that he just said it out loud. 

To his surprise, Jessica bursts out laughing.

', I'm sorry. I don't know what's got into me.'

'I don't mind. I am a when provoked. I appreciate the honesty, though.’ She sighs in a sleepy manner. ‘Have you ever tried being a young woman in a position of authority? Not that easy. Either you toughen and it up or you're out.' Her response remains light. She's more amused than anything.

They raise their glasses in a silent toast and finish their drinks in a amicable silence.

'I better go. I don't want to get too drunk tonight. Say hi to your friends for me.' She picks up her stuff.

'I'll take you home.' He quickly offers, surprising even himself. Yixing 's chivalry is getting to him.

'There is no need. I live very close.'

'I insist. It's not safe out there at this time of night.' She regards him for a moment before sending him another one of her amused smirks.

'If you say so.'

'I'll let just let the guys know that I'll step out for a moment.'

When they meet at the door, it occurs to Yifan for the first time just how much shorter she is from him. Even in heels, the top of her head barely reaches his shoulder. He knows that he's exceptionally tall, even for a man, but being used to dating tall people, he finds the new situation interesting.

They cross the street in silence before stopping in front of Raffles Beijing Hotel two minutes later. 

'This is me.' She says and Yifan gapes. 

'You still live in a hotel?' He asks in disbelief. 'Hasn't it been almost a month since you moved here?'

'Yeah, well. My company was supposed to find me an apartment since I can't exactly do it on my own, but it's been hectic in the office and my assistant has more important matters to tend to. They are still paying for this room, so I don't mind.'

'It's not the same as your own place.' Yifan frowns. 'I'll help you find some open offers. That's the least I can do.'

'Oh, no. I wouldn't want to trouble you.'

'It's no trouble. I speak Chinese and I can help you find a good and safe place to live. I insist.'

'You insist a lot.' She smirks again, but this time warmly. Then she nods.

'I'll call you when I have something.' She nods again and enters the hotel. Stopping at the threshold of the front door that the concierge opened for her, she turns around. 

'You're a decent guy, Wu Yifan. I think I may reconsider compensating for your car's damages. Good night.'

And while it's certainly not the best compliment he's ever heard, something in the girl’s voice has Yifan grin stupidly all the way back to the bar.

A/N: I'll post part 2 after the weekend :)