"Did you see a girl passing by here?"

Luhan stood in front of the receptionist and tapped from one foot to the other in nervousness, staring at the clock behind the desk clerk’s counter. He thought Mei would come down to have breakfast with him, but when he had appeared at the restaurant, she wasn't there, nor was she in her room.

“Many girls have passed by here this morning, mister.”

The woman gave him a confused look through her glasses and Luhan returned it to her with the same expression, realizing how vague his description had been. “I mean… a girl with long, dark brown hair, bangs.” He lifted his hand in a horizontal position to his chest to show her the length of the hair. “About 1.65m high and I’m sure she’s wearing a normal shirt and a pair of jeans. Have you seen someone like her?”

The woman’s facial expression didn’t change. She probably got even more confused, but who was he to wonder. He apparently described half of the girls living in China. But he couldn’t give her a detailed explanation either, because there was nothing about Mei’s physical look that stood out.

She had an average hair style, she was of average height and was wearing average clothes—she would probably never catch someone’s attention if she just walked by them. However, although she was not one to stand out by appearance, she had her own charm once she warmed up to people (and Luhan knew exactly what it was like).

The woman at the desk just shrugged, seriously scared that she couldn’t help him since her boss had just appeared right behind her. Luhan was so near to banging his head on the desk in desperation.

Since the night before, something was up with Mei, but he had no idea what it could be. Had he said something wrong? He couldn’t remember if he had mentioned something which could have hurt her besides their bickering of when to leave Shenyang, but he had thought that was behind them since they both calmed down right after.

Sure, Luhan had been a little offhand and cold, but he blamed the lack of sleep. Still, he didn’t know it had been that hurtful for her. She was probably very sensitive, and Luhan was struggling to decide whether he liked this character trait or not. Sensitive girls were dangerous, especially when dating one (which he had experience with) or when spending an immense amount of time with one (just as he was with Mei).

Luhan sighed again, unsure of what to do. He wanted to explore the city with Mei, but without his knowledge, she had decided to go her own path and leave him behind for whatever reason she devised. He was so near to just grabbing his own bag and leaving the hotel, not caring about her anymore since she was old enough to make her own decisions and take care of herself, but it was the desk clerk’s boss whose deep, strong voice broke Luhan’s thought.

He pointed at a note in front of his assistant and her eyes widened, bowing apologetically a few times to Luhan, then to her boss. Apparently, she was new, still in the learning phase.

“Are you Lu Han?” she asked insecurely.

Luhan raised his brows. “Yes, I am. Why?”

She picked up the note, fumbled with the frame of her glasses, and raised her voice to read the note out loud. “I have a message for you from Liu Mei. It says, ‘Have a nice day.’”

Luhan wanted to bang his forehead against the counter again. Have a nice day. That was it? That was all? Nothing more? No mention as to where she went or when she would come back?

Have a nice day, he repeated in his head. What was that even supposed to mean? That she and he needed to go different ways for this time being?

And then a thought dragged itself into his mind, a vague suggestion based on the days they had spent in Shenyang. Was she still feeling guilty because he hadn’t been able to visit the places he wanted to see? Was she now giving him his freedom in doing the things he wanted to do just by running away?

Luhan let out a light chuckle as he shook his head. If that was the case, then Mei didn’t get the meaning of this road trip.

“When did she leave that note here? Do you know in which direction she was heading?”

The woman shook her head and he felt utterly disappointed. He didn’t even need to get his hopes up by chasing after her and finding her in such a huge city where anyone could disappear within a second. The best thing he could do was to go about his own way and wait until he’d meet her later that evening.

“But she asked for a self-service laundry and I explained to her the way to the nearest one.”

Mei stared at the t-shirt in her hand, which was obviously minimized a lot in size. It was still warm and smelled like it just came out of the washing machine. It was Luhan’s shirt, but now it looked like it belonged to a little boy rather than to man.

“I am very sorry for this inconvenience.” The owner of the self-service laundry bowed a few times until his head was on the same level as his knees. “We will definitely pay for the t-shirt.”

Mei frowned and looked at the clothing in her hand. Luhan’s beautiful t-shirt, the one she had been wearing since the day before, was now totally ruined, and once again it had been her fault.

As if it wasn’t enough for her to know that he already found her annoying and that she had ruined his day in Shenyang, she had destroyed his shirt as well. Luhan had been kind enough to endure the coldness during the rain on their road to Tianjin, kind enough to think about her first as he had given her his t-shirt, and now, the only thing she could think about was how she wasn’t able to give any of his kindness back. Their start had begun so wonderful, yet she had managed to turn it into something miserable.

“Here is the money. I am very sorry once again.”

Mei stared at the bill in her hand as she walked out of the shop. When she had left the hotel that morning, leaving behind the note for Luhan, she wanted him to have a good day without her, because apparently, she wasn’t good company being such a burden to him.

She started to believe that Luhan was right in the long run. Maybe, she was annoying. Maybe, he couldn’t stand her, because her presence alone was so terribly irritating. The worst part was that she couldn’t even blame him, because looking back at the things that had happened, she would probably be irked with herself too.

She wanted to give this day to Luhan himself. He was supposed to be happy that she had given him distance. For the time being, things looked better with them being apart.

Mei smiled slightly as she walked along the street.

“I’m sorry, did you see a girl coming here? Long, dark brown hair, bangs, around 1.65m high, wearing simple clothing?”

The owner of the self-service laundry tilted his head, the picture of the girl the boy in front of him was describing slowly forming in front of his sight.

Meanwhile, Luhan looked around in the shop himself, but aside from a few older ladies and some male students, he didn’t spot any sign of Mei. When Luhan had started to search for her in the lobby, she had already been gone for an hour. It was almost impossible that she’d still be here. But if the customers in the shop hadn’t been going in and out much, it wouldn’t be that difficult for the man to remember.

“There was one,” the man then explained with a tinge of laughter coming along with his statement, and Luhan looked at him, confused. “Oh, I am so mean for laughing now, I’m sorry. The girl left not long ago after she had shrunken a t-shirt she had washed. Or better to say… it was the laundry dryer’s fault.” His voice got softer as he thought about the situation before. “She looked really depressed and sad as she saw what had happened. I needed to give her the money back.”

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