Mei didn’t know whether she’d be too late to talk to Luhan because he had already made a decision or whether she’d just jump awkwardly into those two ex lovers‘ conversation. She preferred the latter, because even if it was rude and impolite, there was still a chance that she could change the situation; that she could prevent Luhan from doing the wrong thing. And the wrong thing was to get back with his ex girlfriend.

For the first option, it was the one she couldn’t influence, because the outcome was already set. If it would come down to the first option, she just hoped that Luhan would go with his heart.

(And his heart unknowingly referred to Mei.)

Mei jumped from one underground to the other one just to be at the café as fast as possible. She knew that Lin would fly back to Beijing after their conversation… but what about Luhan?

And suddenly, she was afraid. Afraid that, from one moment to the other, he would drop their plans, their road trip, and decided to follow his ex back to the town they left two weeks ago. He would pack his bags, leave Mei there and drive all the way back to Beijing, passing all the streets and cities they had been visiting. Like… he was going back to the start, where everything had began with them – this time, just without her. And with that, she would be totally erased out of his life, leaving no impression on him at all (she thought). Once he’d go back, none of the shared adventures they had would be important anymore because his new aim would be following his girlfriend to be with her in the end – not making memories and having fun with Mei.

Was Mei okay with it? Absolutely not.

That was why she was running until the air was blown out of her lungs, until she had struggles with breathing and until her legs would almost give in. She bumped into people, jumped the lights and jumped queues. It was absolutely not Mei’s manner but she didn’t care at all at that moment. All she could think of was just having Luhan with her a little longer.

For once, Mei allowed herself to be selfish. She wished to have Luhan by her side for much, much longer. And she got embittered that she wished Luhan wouldn’t return to Lin, because she would lose everything she just gained – wonderful person, creating a wonderful friendship with her.

For once, Mei also allowed herself to be envy of someone. (She started to envy Lin.) Because in comparison to her, Mei couldn’t take Luhan for granted. At all. In just two weeks, she would have to let him go. And what would happen afterwards couldn’t be foreshadowed by anyone. She would lose Luhan to his friends, or Lin or someone else.

(But Mei didn’t want to let go.)

She believed that only one person could be important to someone at one time. And for now, it was Luhan. Not Ren. Luhan. She wanted to stay with Luhan.

Mei ran and ran and ran. In the end, timing was everything.

(But this time, her timing was wrong.)

“Mei, you’re here?”

When she turned around the corner, Luhan was already standing in front of the café, pulling out his phone in the moment he saw her running towards him. She was exhausted, tired from the lack of sleeping and her legs were weak; but when she saw Luhan, all of the pain vanished instantly. He was still there. And he was certainly without Lin.

“I--, I thought you… might…” Mei inhaled deeply, trying to make her breathing regular, “I thought… You—“

Yeah, what did she even think? How could she explain to him what actually got her there that early in the morning, although Luhan promised to come back and pick her up? It was fear that he would leave her. And it was suspense that made her breath caught. But she couldn’t tell him anything of it. So Mei remained silent and breathed in and out quietly in hope that she could come up with an answer which wouldn’t give him the impression of her being a stalker who was too depending on him.

But it was Luhan stretching out his arms and suddenly pulling her into an embrace which made her heart skip a beat. He shifted her towards his body, his arms wrapped around her middle and his chin lying on her head.

“I’m happy that you’re here.”

At that moment, Mei wondered whether she was dreaming. To be exact, she lost focus for a few seconds. For the past hours, she had prayed for Luhan’s happiness, hoped that he wouldn’t do the wrong thing in search for what made him happy – but never had she thought that it would be her whom he was happy with.

(Luhan’s happiness came, when he was with Mei.)

“Otherwise you wouldn’t have such an effect on him.”

Why did she realize what those words meant just now?

It was the effect that made his face light up suddenly, put a smile on his lips and cause his heart to flutter, because he was so glad. Luhan was so filled with bliss just because he was with Mei again. And Mei captured this moment. His words, his touches, his scent, his smile. Instinctively, she clutched on the fabric of his shirt, moving a little closer and just stayed there with him, like she could stop the time and live in that moment a little longer.

“Me too,” she answered, “I’m happy, too.”

Mei reminisced that she believed only one person could be important to someone at one time. At that moment, it surely was Luhan. And for Luhan, it was Mei.

Together they went to Yuyuan Garden, located in Anren Jie, Shanghai. It was finished in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty named Pan Yunduan. “Yu” in Chinese meant “pleasing” and “satisfying”, and this garden was specially built for Pan's parents as a place for them to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age.

Mei and Luhan were very amazed and pleased as well when they went in, the lingering feeling of one another’s touches still surrounding them. They enjoyed their tranquil and happy time, walking through the garden.

The Garden occupied an area of 20,000 square meters. The pavilions, halls, rockeries, ponds and cloisters all had unique characteristics. There were six main scenic areas: Sansui Hall, Wanhua Chamber, Dianchun Hall, Huijing Hall, Yuhua Hall and the Inner Garden. Each area featured several scenic spots within its borders.

Upon entering the garden, Luhan and Mei encountered a rockery, which was called the Great Rockery. With a height of 14 meters it was the largest as well as the oldest rockery in the southern region of the Yangtze River. On the top of the rockery, one could get a bird's eye view of the garden.

“Luhan, let’s go up there!” Mei grabbed his arm and wanted to drag him away, but as soon as she saw Luhan’s shocked face and his widened eyes as he encountered the rock, she withdrew her hand. (She had totally forgotten…)

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Mei waved it aside and smiled apologetic. “Then we can go to the Cuixiu Hall. It is said we can find curio shops there.” But when she turned around to walk into the different direction, it was Luhan who held onto her wrist to prevent her from leaving.

“It’s okay. I can go with you,” he replied and shrugged. (Inwardly, he tried to shrug away his nervousness. He didn’t want to seem weak in front of Mei.)

Mei furrowed her brows and stared at Luhan inquiringly. “But you’re afraid of heights. Remember when we were at the Ferris wheel in Tianjin? You got me scared as well back then! I don’t need to go up there. There are still other spots to discover, so…”

Luhan let her wrist go and shook his head in response. “It’s really okay. I want to go up there with you. How am I ever supposed to overcome my fears if I don’t consider facing them?”

“But it’s not as easy as you might think of, Luhan. Your phobia wouldn’t go away immediately.”

“I know. But you’re with me, right? So it’ll be definitely easier.”

Luhan had never thought of overcoming his phobia. Ever since he found out that he wasn’t able to climb something high, he tried to avoid such places as much as possible. Ever since he found out that he was afraid of heights, he never tried to face his fear. For Luhan, it had always been easier to run away from things than to confront them. (All his life, he had always chosen the easy way.)

Luhan remembered when Lin tried to get him on that panorama restaurant for their first year anniversary. The evening ended with them grabbing food from McDonalds. Lin was devastated back then, and even if Luhan had been sorry, he was so glad that he could avoid eating on the 75th floor.

(But why was it that he wanted to climb the rockery with Mei now?)

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