"HYAAAAAA!"

Thank goodness for all those years of wushu, XuanMei thought to herself.

She had already sensed a presence following her from the moment that she had rounded the corner. Although, oddly enough, she hadn't heard her attacker's footsteps, she had immediately reacted upon feeling the hand tap on her shoulder. Now, she had one leg spread across her attacker's torso and one arm holding down the wrist of the hand that had touched her. 

Of course, this meant that her face was only inches away from her attacker's.

She peered cautiously at his face--or at least what she could see of it. Most of the attacker's face was covered with a cloth that had been elaborately wrapped around his/her head. The only uncovered part was his/her eyes, so really, she was only peering cautiously at his/her eyes.

And such huge eyes they were!

Staring back at her, they blinked a few times, and she was irritated to see that the person with the huge eyes also had beautiful, long eyelashes. She'd have to find out what mascara this attacker used! First though, she'd have to find out how he/she had managed to so silently sneak up behind her.

"You should be glad that I'm in a generous mood today," XuanMei scowled. "Why did you attack me?"

"Mmtttkkkooomm."

She rolled her eyes and, using her free hand, pulled hard on the attacker's cloth mask. It ripped off unsurprisingly easily (XuanMei was a very strong girl, after all), unveiling the face of one of the most beautiful boys that XuanMei had ever laid eyes upon.

"Listen up, pretty boy. I'm only going to ask you once more: why did you attack me?"

"I need to cover up. The air might not be safe."

"Yeah, that's why I'm all covered up," she responded, tossing the piece of cloth onto the street.

"But you're not..." he said, puzzled.

"Precisely. Now answer the question."

"I barely even touched you," the boy said calmly. "You're the one who attacked first."

"That's a lie," she scoffed, tightening her grip around his wrist. She was slightly surprised to see that he remained unaffected by it; almost everyone whom she had ever grabbed with even half of the strength that she was exerting on him now would already be squealing in pain.

"Oh, really?" 

She didn't like his playful tone. Here she was, at the top of her game and totally in control, but he was talking to her as if he had the upper hand right now.

"Look who's on top of who," he continued, smiling.

She had to suppress a smile. It was almost like instinct that the corners of her lips were curling up. His smile only enhanced his beauty, and facing such beauty, she--as much as she hated to admit it--felt almost powerless. 

"Well, you're the one who followed me first," she retorted. She shifted her weight to her other leg, pulling her leg back over his torso. With a grunt, she yanked him up to his feet. 

"Sorry," he laughed. "I couldn't help it."

Even his apology sounded charming... 

"It's just that your hair is such a strange color. I wanted to touch it."

"Um..."

This was one of the few moments in her life that XuanMei was speechless. He seemed so harmless--not at all what she had been expecting. True, she knew that it was somewhat uncommon for young girls in that area to dye their hair purple (in fact, she was the only one that she knew of with that hair color), but nobody had ever actually tried to touch her hair before... She immediately snapped to her senses when she noticed that he was reaching out to touch her hair.

"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?"

She let go of his other wrist, stepping back before his fingertips could brush against her hair.

"I already told you..." He looked somewhat confused, but also slightly amused, as he continued to speak. "I wanted to touch your hair."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can just go touching it," she responded, self consciously brushing her hair behind her shoulder.

"Why? I don't mean you any harm."

"But I don't even know you," she said, exasperated. 

"Oh. I'm LuHan."

He smiled a friendly smile at her, creases forming beneath his huge, sparkling eyes.

"So... may I touch it?"

"No, LuHan, you may not," XuanMei responded, pursing her lips. Was this really happening? Did this pretty boy really follow her just so that he could touch her hair? 

"You seem upset."

"I'm not."

"You sound upset."

"I'm not."

"Do you want to touch my hair?"

"What?" 

She stared at him, dumbfounded. He tilted his head to the side, staring back at her.

"I said, do you want to touch my hair then?"

"No... Why would I?" she asked, confused. There was nothing particularly special about his hair. It was a dark brown color, the same as most of the boys in school.

"Just to make it fair."

"Fair? What do you me--LUHAN!" 

His reflexes were fast; despite all her years of wushu training, she was still unable to step back fast enough for her hair to escape his hand's reach. He grabbed a tuft of purple hair, rubbing it softly between his fingers, a delighted look on his face.

"LUHAN! Let go of that girl's hair!" a voice bellowed.

They both turned their heads to the sound of a voice. Another boy with a cloth mask similar to the one that LuHan had previously been wearing was standing in the middle of the street, his arms folded across his chest.

"Kris! Look! She has purple hair!" LuHan exclaimed gleefully. He held up a few strands of XuanMei's hair, as if Kris couldn't already see that her entire head of hair was purple.

"Yes, yes, I see."

Although they couldn't see Kris's face, he sounded exasperated. He made his way over to them.

"Sorry to bother you, Miss," he said to her, sounding truly apologetic.

"Um... It's okay. He just... wanted to touch my hair."

It sounded strange even to XuanMei--and it was her lips that those words were coming out of! Kris didn't seem bothered by it though. As if this happened all the time, he nodded understandingly and then turned his focus to LuHan.

"Time to go."

"Already?" LuHan asked, pouting.

"Yes. Now let go of the nice girl's hair and let's go."

"Alright, fine," LuHan sighed, his hand falling to his side. He smiled brightly at XuanMei. "Thank you for letting me touch your hair!"

"Anytime...?" 

"And don't forget to pick up your mask!" Kris told him. 

XuanMei watched, stunned, as LuHan reached out his hand. His mask, which she had thrown aside to the street earlier, suddenly flew into his palm. She raised her eyes from the mask to his face, and stared blankly at him. Questions filled her mind.

How did he make that mask move into his hand? How did he walk so noiselessly earlier?? What mascara does he use???

LuHan winked at her, and she felt a blush immediately rising to her cheeks.

"I hope that we can meet again some day, Girl With the Purple Hair!"

And once again, she found herself stunned as Kris placed his arm around LuHan and they flew into the skies.

"Li XuanMei, do you really expect me to believe that story?" 

XuanMei smiled sheepishly at her teacher.

"Well, it's true, so...yes...?"

"The next time you're late, at least try to come up with a more believable excuse."

"But--"

"DETENTION!"