“Time to make use of this day,” murmured Henry to himself.

If he said that he wasn’t nervous when he was dialing Zhou Mi’s number two days after their encounter at the station, it would be a lie. It wasn’t everyday that he asked an older, extremely handsome, but also adorably shy policeman-to-be out. And it wasn’t like this supposed date was just a fling for Henry, he was genuinely interested in Zhou Mi.

The phone kept beeping and Henry counted in his head. One signal. Two. Three, four. Is he still at work? Is he busy? Doesn’t he want to talk to me? Henry lost count of the beeps, his imagination starting to suggest the weirdest scenarios, when-

“Hello?”

“Wh- Zhou Mi-ge! You picked up!” Henry exclaimed, thrown off balance by the voice on the other end.

“Well,” Zhou Mi answered, sounding amused, “You called.”

“It’s just you didn’t answer for a long time and- ah, whatever,” Henry shook his head, “How have you been, gege?”

“You saw me two days ago, there’s little that could change since then,” Zhou Mi answered, clearly startled by the question, “but thank you, I’m doing fine.”

Henry could feel his face heating. That was not the right way for the conversation to go. “That’s good! Err… about our coffee, remember, ge? How about Friday afternoon?”

There was a moment of silence and Henry crossed two fingers of his free hand behind his back. Please, say you’re free. Please, say you’re free.

“Friday afternoon is fine.” Thank you, gods, Henry thought with relief. “Maybe 5 pm?” Zhou Mi suggested. “I should be ready by then.”

“5 pm,” Henry repeated, wondering what on Earth happened to his timid Zhou Mi that he suddenly took the initiative and set the time for their date without any hesitation in his voice. “Can we meet at the entrance to the zoo?” he suggested, “I know a really nice place near there, we could go there together.”

“Oh, the zoo!” Zhou Mi exclaimed cheerfully, “I live close by. It will be great. So I guess… see you on Friday?”

No stuttering, no sheepish murmuring... Where is the Zhou Mi I know? “Y-yes, see you! Oh, and thanks, gege.”

“Bye!”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Something’s not right, thought Henry, scratching the back of his neck after lowering the cellphone from his ear.

***

Zhou Mi was sitting on a bench under a large maple tree and - Henry had to admit - he looked stunning. His asymmetrical bangs rested on his forehead, covering slightly his left eye. His long legs were clad in tight, dark green pants and he was wearing matching brown jacket on top of the nice plain shirt the color of which Henry could never name, but which somehow reminded him of his mom’s delicious cheesecake. As Henry got closer, Zhou Mi looked up and his face glowed with one of the most beautiful smiles Henry has ever seen. It reached his eyes that sparked gleefully and it stretched his mouth into a lovely grin.

“Hello, Henry! You’re here!” Zhou Mi greeted him, getting up from where he was waiting for Henry and took a few steps closer. Before Henry could even blink he was being hugged by Zhou Mi. What the heck is going on?

“Err… Hi! Y-you look amazing, ge. Good to see you. S-shall we go?”

Great. Now it is me who acts like a shy teenage girl.

“Of course! After you, Henry!”

The café Henry chose was about ten minutes from their meeting place. They walked in silence, which made Henry feel quite panicky. He searched for the right topic in his head, wishing to start a conversation, but nothing came to his mind. Zhou Mi, however, seemed to be quite comfortable with the situation. He wore a gentle smile and kept looking around, evidently enjoying the nice weather and the surroundings.

When Henry stopped in front of their destination, Zhou Mi clapped his hands and beamed. “Oh, I was here once! I loved the place then, but I didn’t have the opportunity to visit it afterwards,” he patted Henry’s shoulder, “It’s great you took me here!”

Henry laughed, “No problem! I’m glad I could remind you of this place. I come here quite often with my friends. They serve delicious bubble tea, you know.”

They entered the small café and Henry made his way to one of the free tables, but Zhou Mi grabbed his elbow and he turned around abruptly, surprised by the action.

Zhou Mi smiled a little apologetically and asked, “How about we order something to go? I like bubble tee a lot, maybe… It’s so nice outside, it’s a waste to stay in!”

Henry nodded. “You’re right, why not? We could go to the zoo, would you mind?”

Zhou Mi jumped in excitement and Henry felt his heart fluttering at the sight. So it’s still the same cute Zhou Mi, he thought.

“Oh, that’s what I wanted to suggest!” Zhou Mi said, “But I was afraid you’d laugh at me, you know, because it’s kind of a kids’ place? I love animals so much!”

“I can tell,” Henry chuckled, “so, what would you like to drink?” He asked, pulling his wallet from the depths of his bag.

Zhou Mi shook his head, wide-eyed, “Oh no, you tell me, I’ll pay! You’re a student and I have a job, so-“

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me I’m just a kid,” Henry murmured, feigning offence and shuffling his feet awkwardly.

“No, I meant- it’s fair this way. I Zhou Mi smiled and leaned closer, putting one arm around Henry’s frame and rubbing his side, clearly meaning to comfort the younger, but it did little to calm Henry. Instead, his face flushed red because of the close distance between them, he felt a wave of heat flushing over his chest and Oh God, he smells heaven, Henry thought.

They held their cups full of delicious, cold beverages and strolled around the zoo, pointing at different animals, cooing at lovely tiger cubs and laughing at playing chimps. They went to the reptiles pavilion and Zhou Mi gave Henry an opportunity to laugh at him when the elder let out a small shriek when they stopped in front of an Indian cobra’s vivarium and the snake suddenly raised his head and flicked its tongue at the men. They chatted about Henry’s plans for the future connected with the violin (Zhou Mi might have forced Henry to promise him he would play for him some time) and generally had a really good time. Something clicked between them in a way Henry didn’t experience in his past relationships (so what there were only two of them?) and he hoped this date could be a beginning of something bigger, more significant.

Still, Henry couldn’t stop wondering about that one little thing and he decided there was no other way to know other than just to ask straightforwardly. As they were passing giraffes’ exhibition, Zhou Mi snapping pictures of the animal picking up its ear with its unbelievably long tongue, Henry cleared his throat and asked,

“How come you can act so confident today? You know, when a couple of days ago you were all blushing and avoiding looking at me like the plague, ” he asked, furrowing his brows a little.

There was a small giggle. They walked for a while in silence, Henry not tearing his eyes away from Zhou Mi, waiting for explanation. “I knew it would be eating you,” Zhou Mi answered, putting his phone in the back pocket of his jeans, “Ok, so let me tell everything from the start.”

“I’m all ears! Let’s sit here while you talk, hmm?” Henry pointed at a low, wide, painted black wooden bench, adorned from both ends with cute armrests shaped like panda heads, which faced the exhibition of the real, big and fluffy pandas.

“So, you know who I am. I work for the police,” Zhou Mi said, directing his gaze straight into Henry’s awaiting gaze.

“Well, that’s not the reason for you to act like an immature shy girl,” Henry teased.

“Yes, but… You know, I was supposed to fine you for your ‘wrongdoing’,” Zhou Mi made quote marks in the air, “not to hit on you on our first meeting.”

“You wanted to hit on me from the very beginning?” Henry asked, startled.

Zhou Mi laughed sincerely, showing his white teeth and tilting his head back and Henry could have drooled a little. “Why yes,” he answered, “You are cute, you know.”

Henry averted his eyes. “If you say so…” he mumbled, “Thanks, I guess.”

“Well, back to the story,” Zhou Mi continued, “When it turned out you were a mischievous little brat and had the courage to play with an authority by giving me your own …” Henry huffed. “Your own PHONE NUMBER, I thought I would play along. I called you from my private phone, so we kind of exchanged our numbers by then and when you visited me at the station I was truly intending to quit the act at some point, but then you blurted out that you want to take me out, so I agreed and opted for telling you later, namely today.”

“So it was you that made fun of me for all this time?” Henry asked with disbelief, yet smiling widely.

“I admit, I tricked you a little. But-“

“No, it’s really okay,” Henry interrupted, “I really, really prefer this side of you. You’re really far more… approachable like this, really.”

Zhou Mi grinned ,“You realise you just used the word ‘really’ like, a thousand times?”

Henry leant closer and placed a small peck on Zhou Mi’s cheek. “I really don’t care,” he whispered. “Would you like to repeat this some time? The date?”

Zhou Mi looked Henry deep in the eyes and then… one of the pandas a few meters away from them decided to spoil the atmosphere (literally) by farting loudly.

They both burst out aughing and Zhou Mi wrinkled his nose adorably. “In a less smelly place? With pleasure.”

“Will you take me for a ride in your police car?”

“Not so fast!” Zhou Mi exclaimed. “I don’t have one on my own. But one day, when you break some rule again, I might actually consider it.”

“That’s a stupid rule, not letting the cyclists ride across the pedestrian crossings.” Henry pouted.

“But you’ll respect it in the future, will you?” Zhou Mi made a stern face.

“Yes, officer!” answered Henry and gave Zhou Mi a big hug.

Yes, things could work between them.