It was already midnight, and Ruolan really didn’t want to be here, but she had no other choice. She had a presentation to finish, and it simply couldn’t wait any longer. It was due tomorrow. With a sigh, she pressed a finger to ring the doorbell and then took a small sip from her cup of coffee. Stifling a yawn, she stared at the door and waited.

After about another minute or two, Yifan finally came to answer the door. Swinging it open, he stuck his head out and pinned a hard glare on the girl standing before him. “Midnight?” he sneered. “Really? You couldn’t come any time sooner?”

Ruolan wanted to sneer back, but for just one brief moment, all she could do was stare stupidly at him. Even with his messy hair and swollen, bloodshot eyes, he somehow still managed to look good. Damn.

Ruolan gave a hard blink.

Coming back to her senses, she pushed past him as she stepped into his apartment. “Well, why don’t you try having classes back-to-back from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon and then go to work for another six hours straight? Just be thankful that I even came at all!” she snapped back at him, shoving a cup into his hands. “And here’s your tea, by the way. You can thank me later.”

Yifan stared down at the cup as he shut his door. “Is this even—”

Ruolan rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s oolong. Brewed with ten percent cooled water. Made just the way you like it.” Then under her breath, she added, “So goddamn picky.”

Yifan took an experimental sip and then gave a satisfied nod. “Ok. So you  remember.”

“Hm,” Ruolan mumbled before moving on to head into his living room. “So are we working in here?”

“Where else, genius?”

Ruolan shot him an annoyed glare. She sighed. “Just hurry up so we can start working. I want to get this done as soon as possible.”

“Believe me. I do too. After all, the quicker we finish, the quicker you leave my apartment.”

Ruolan scoffed as she sat down on the couch and dropped her bag. “You think I want to be here?”

Yifan shrugged as he moved to sit beside her. He smirked. “I don’t know, but from the way that you were gawking at me just a moment ago, I’d say that you don’t particularly hate being here.”

Ruolan felt her cheeks flush as she narrowed her eyes at him. “In your dreams, Yifan. No one was gawking at you.”

Yifan chuckled and gave another small shrug. He picked up his laptop from the coffee table and flipped it open. “Okay. Whatever you say.”

“Just get to work,” Ruolan grumbled as she pulled her own laptop out from her bag.

Without another word exchanged, the two got down to business. Their eyes locked onto their screens, and their hands typed away at their keyboards, punching out bulleted lists and fancy statistics. They were going to get this presentation done.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.