It was today when, for the first time, I went out alone with my little cousin, Lu Zhou. He'd always been a truly good and obedient child, never going behind my words when I forbid him to do certain things because he thinks that whatever words flow out of an adult's mouth is law. Some could say that he's too naïve to his age, but it's that exact fact that makes him my favorite little cousin.

We visited the amusement park first. We didn't do much there because we both never had enough courage to take up more than two rides. Every thing was so crazy there, so we decided to leave early after an hour of forcibly playing.

"Han ge, I want to go home. My stomach hurts," Zhou muttered to me, tugging gently at the bottom of my shirt to get my attention.

I stared at him worriedly. "Alright, but we'll have to take bus, ok?"

Zhou just nodded weakly. I picked him up by his armpits and held him as I walked to the bus stop.

As I stepped onto the bus, I noted that it was nearly empty. The only other passenger was a teenage girl who sat hugging her bag. We both took the seat in front of the girl, causing her to tighten her hold on her bag.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I startled you," I apologized to her before completely taking my seat and sent her a small smile.

She nodded stiffly and slightly loosened her grip on her bag. "No, you didn't startle me," she barely whispered in reply.

Our conversation stopped there. I refocused my attention to Zhou and rubbed his shoulder to make him to relax. A few minutes later, he began to fall asleep in my lap, causing me to chuckle.

After my laughter had ceased, I could feel the strong gaze of someone look at me. I sneakily glanced over to the direction of where I felt the gaze and could spot the girl blatantly staring at me. I cleared my throat to awaken her from her reverie. She immediately gasped and ducked her head again.

***

"Han-ah, you should attend this course. I know that your class rank is very high, but you know that you're still wear in some subjects." Again, Mama has prepared another class for me to take in an attempt to keep me at the top of my game. She had even made my favorite dish as a bribing tool.

I sighed at her persistent behavior. "But, Ma—"

Before I could even think of a good excuse, she rose from her chair and walked to the kitchen "Damn it," I groaned.

In the blink of an eye, she returned from the kitchen with dozens of tantalizing dishes in her hands which she placed in front of me, a devious strategy of hers. I looked up and saw the -eating grin upon my mother's face.

I gulped. "Alright, alright. I'll take the course," I said before proceeding place a generous serving of every food upon my plate.

"That's my boy." She patted my head slyly and then went upstairs. I began eating my food but with a grim face. I thought my score was enough or even better than good, but that’s only my opinion.

When finished eating, I immediately rushed into my room and found Zhou asleep in my bed. I smiled at the sight; I hope he was happy after going out with me although everything didn’t go that well.

I walked over to the bed and lay down right beside Zhou.

"Sleep tight, Lu Zhou."

***

"Oh, you're taking this course too?" I asked Yixing, the head of my class, when I saw him entering my new math course.

He nodded with a smile, showing me his lady-killer dimple. "Yeah, I just started today."

"Same here," I replied and smiled back at him.

We took a pair of seats in the very back of the classroom where we sat side by side. My eyes immediately began searching for my school mates around the room, but instead, I found the same girl who sat on the bus yesterday.

As I tried to confirm my suspicions by trying to carefully analyze all her facial features, I saw her pick up her bag and pull it tightly towards her chest. I chuckled.

"What a coincidence," I muttered, shaking my head.