Author’s POV:

Entering the grocery store, Kris and Jessica stood there awkwardly. They didn’t know where to start. The items on the list Mommy Wu gave them was only a notepad long, but Kris didn’t seem to remember where all the items were in the store, as he hasn’t stepped a foot in China in who knows how long, let alone remembering the interior of a supermarket. What made it even worse was that the store doesn’t even have signs to tell shoppers where certain items are.

“Guess we’ll just have to walk around.” Kris shrugged.

After grabbing a cart, the two made their way towards the left of the store first. Jessica glanced down at the list in her hand, silently thanking Mommy Wu for writing in English instead of Chinese.

Just when she took her eyes off the paper, Jessica was met with a smiley-faced female employee who was handing out samples of a certain drink on a tray. The woman started to speak with a big smile on her face, making Jessica stare blankly at her. Jessica couldn’t understand a word the lady said, as her speech was quick and most of all, in Mandarin.

Jessica opened , but immediately bit her lips. She had forgotten for a quick second that if she spoke Korean, people would not know a single word she would be saying. A worried look came across her face, giving the confused employee an apologetic look. Jessica glanced up at Kris for help, for which he did save her.

“Sorry, she doesn’t speak mandarin.” Kris told the lady politely in mandarin.

The woman nodded and instead, lifted the tray up to Jessica, signaling her to take one of the sample cups. Taking one shyly, Jessica smiled at the lady, which the latter gave a gentle smile back.

Walking on, Jessica shared her sample with Kris. Soon, they found an aisle for sauces. Turning the cart, they glanced at the grocery list before scanning the shelves. Wanting to make the process easier, Jessica thought of an idea.

“I’ll look on the other side of the aisle.” She flashed Kris a smile before heading further down the aisle.

Jessica’s eyebrows furrowed as she focused on reading the jar labels. It made it a bit easier for her since the labels had an English translation underneath the Chinese title. She silently thanked food corporations for their international shipments.

A worker nearby saw the inspecting Jessica and went ahead to ask her if she needed any assistance.

“Miss, is there anything specific you’re looking for?” The male employee questioned politely in Mandarin, unaware that Jessica was not Chinese.

Jessica spun to the side to face the man, blinking a couple times. “Uh…” she quickly tried to recall the mandarin she had previously learned. “Erm…”

“Do you speak English?” The worker suddenly switched to fluent English, after noticing her struggle.

The expression on Jessica’s face brightened up with relief. “Yes! Yes, I do! Oh gosh, it’s a relief someone understands me now!”

The male worker chuckled, “I guess you’re here for vacation?”

Jessica nodded her head with a smile, looking happy, as someone outside of the Wu family can understand her in China.

“I don’t think it’s very wise choice to be travelling to a country where you can’t communicate with locals.” The worker raised his eyebrows in amusement. “I’m Michael by the way.” He extended out his hand.

Giving him a small smile of embarrassment, she then introduced herself. “Jessica,” she replied, shaking his hand.

“What are you looking for?” Michael kindly asked.

“Well,” Jessica handed him the list Mommy Wu had given her and Kris. “I actually need all of the items on that list.”

Looking through the list, Michael nodded his head. “No problem, I can help get these for you. Most of them are actually in this aisle.”

Raising her eyebrows, Jessica was thankful. “Thank you, it’s quite difficult to find things in this store.” She scrunched up her nose.

Michael nodded, agreeing with her. “It’s the customer’s usual complaint.” He glanced up from the list to grab a jar of sauce off the shelf. “So, what makes you travel here to Guangzhou?”

“I guess I wanted to see what this place was like. I also wanted to meet some people too.” Jessica grinned, holding the jar Michael just handed to her.

“Without even knowing a single bit of mandarin?” Michael’s amusement came back. “You’re quite something.” He grinned at her.

Keeping her vision on him, Jessica couldn’t help but think that the worker was quite like Kris with the teasing and tone of amusement.

Jessica’s lips formed a pout. “I was learning…but then I just forgot everything when I stopped looking at the book.”

Michael started to chuckle, “Cute.”

Looking up, Jessica stared wide-eyed at him. Did this so-called stranger just call her cute? Her lips formed a frown, as it wasn’t right unless that word came out of Kris’ mouth. She didn’t like the fact that she was being called cute by something she just got herself acquainted with. Did the guy think she was single? She’s going to have to set him straight.

“I think you have something wro-” Jessica began trying to tell him that she was currently in a relationship, but she was cut off.

“There’s a strand of hair in front of your eye. It’s bothering me…” Michael’s hand reached out to her face.

Jessica’s eyes widened while her head backed away from his hand. Suddenly she didn’t feel so comfortable being near this worker that could understand her.

His hand was suddenly grabbed, stopping it from advancing towards Jessica’s face.

“Excuse me, I don’t think you should be touching my girlfriend.” Kris’ voice deadpanned, glaring at the guy.

Michael’s hand immediately retracted, his eyes wide as he looked up at Kris. Blinking several times, he looked at Kris, studying him. It was as if a light bulb flashed above his head, as Michael jumped up with a gasp and his eyes built with excitement.

“GEGE!” Michael called out to Kris.

Confusion filled the couples faces, as they were genuinely lost. Glancing at each other, both Kris and Jessica were giving each other a look of puzzlement.

Kris tilted his head as he looked back at Michael. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I know you.”

A frown appeared on Michael’s face. “Gege, you don’t remember me?”

Kris stared at him with a blank expression. He didn’t recall a boy around twenty years old being close to him, other than the EXO boys.

“I’m your cousin, gege! Remember when we always played basketball together in the schoolyard in elementary?” Michael blinked at Kris. “Here, I still have a photo of us from years ago.” He fished out his cell phone and started to look for the picture. “Look!” he passed the phone to Kris, showing a picture of two young boys. “This was the day before you left to study in Canada. You left me, gege! I had no one to play basketball with!”

Just as Kris’ eyes landed on the picture, his eyes widened in remembrance. “Zhiqiang.”

Michael’s face lit up, nodding his head excessively. “You remember me!” he suddenly embraced Kris in a huge brotherly hug. “Gege, I was supposed to see you later tonight!”

Kris chuckled, ruffling his hair. “You’re pretty tall now. How come you haven’t come to visit me when I came back years ago?”

“Work and school.” Michael shrugged. “Gege is still beating me in height, I see?”

Jessica stood there awkwardly, playing with the jar of sauce in her hands.

Wrapping his arm around her waist, Kris brought Jessica forward. “Zhiqiang, meet Jessica, my girlfriend and don’t try to touch her so abruptly this time.”

Michael gasped, “Whoa, auntie wasn’t lying when they said that you brought a girl back! A cute one too…” he added playfully, earning shove from Kris.

“This Zhiqiang, my younger cousin. I haven’t seen him in ages.” Kris introduced.

Jessica smiled and bowed, extending out her hand towards him for a second time, meeting him much more personally this time.

“I prefer Michael instead,” Michael half whispered. “Nice to meet you again Jessica.” He gave his eye smile, as he shook her hand. “You’re still very cute.”

Kris clicked his tongue, a signal for Michael to back off. “Stop trying to flirt with my girlfriend.”

Michael crossed his arms, “Maybe she might like me more than you. After all, I am practically a second YiFan. A slightly younger and advanced version.”

“Hm, a dumber one too.” Kris added, making Jessica giggle.

“Hey, just because I fell behind you academically during our school days together, doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.” Michael retorted.

“Right, says the last ranking one in the class.” Kris continued to reveal his horrible school record.

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