Luhan was sitting happily at the table. In front of him was placed a slice of strawberry shortcake he had ordered for breakfast along with a mug of hot chocolate. But it wasn’t the cake nor the hot cocoa he was happy about. It was the shirt he was wearing. The one given by Mei because she felt guilty for making his old one shrink, and he couldn’t do anything but accept it gratefully (though he kept it to himself that the shirt wasn’t his best one and not the one he liked the most). It was the thought and the gesture that counted.

Mei’s cheeks were colored as she saw him flaunting and sitting there with a wide smile on his face. She was touched that he liked it, because buying him another one was the least she could have done, though it was a little too embarrassing that he showed it off. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but Luhan somehow made it one. Although he didn’t say a word, she could see in his eyes that he liked her seeing him like this and probably did it on purpose.

“Okay, stop,” she said as she happened to look up at his face again. “It’s nothing special.”

“Well, for me it is,” he said like a little kid and Mei puckered her lips, not saying anything anymore until Luhan brought up a map of Tianjin to change the topic as he saw how unsettling she slowly became (and he didn’t want her to be annoyed of him). She apparently wasn’t fond of teasing.

“Where do you want to go after breakfast?” Luhan asked and spread the map in front of them.

Mei suddenly forgot her embarrassment, because since the day before, there was a special place she wanted to visit. Yet, she still had in her mind that Luhan himself wanted to visit the Ancient Culture Street and she didn’t want him to back off once again. For that, she kept quiet and just shook her head.

“Nowhere special. We’re going to the Ancient Culture Street together, okay?” She smiled, but deep down, she felt how much she actually wanted to visit Beining Park, where there were ponds, shrines, trees and blossoms that were supposed to bloom very colorfully in the summer time. She wouldn’t reject visiting the Ancient Cultural Street and she wouldn’t mind going there, but her heart always dragged her to where flowers and trees were, where everything bloomed because her heart would bloom as well.

Luhan smiled and folded the map together again, putting it away. He took his fork and broke away a mouthful of cake which he chewed pleasurably. He was amused over Mei’s reaction and he was asking himself when along the way did he get so good at reading her facial expressions? Was it because he could see through a façade, or was it that he could see through Mei only? (Or was it simply just because they spent so much time together?)

“No, we’re not,” he stated as he was done with chewing. During the whole time, Mei was observing him, because he didn’t say anything in return. “We’re going to do what you want to do today. So let me guess. There is a special park you want to visit, right?”

Mei’s cheeks reddened a bit as she felt what it was like to be caught. Actually, she had always thought she was able to keep a straight poker face because she never wanted to bother people with her own business. When people had problems, she didn’t want to burden them with her own, making them feel worse.

When her grandmother was occupied with the shop, she didn’t want to bother her with a bad grade she got. She promised herself she would work harder, bearing down the tears. When her father was coming home from a stressful day at work, she didn’t want to bother him with the burn she got from cooking. She promised herself she would take more care of it, bearing down her pain. When Ren was busy with his studies, she didn’t want to bother him with her burning desire to see him. She promised herself she would wait, bearing down her loneliness.

All the times before, it had worked perfectly. She could always make people happy with the simple strategy of just hiding her sadness, pain and loneliness. It was enough for her, even if she’d suffer. Her whole world could be held in balance like that. One breakdown and it would break, so she had never dared to go that far.

How came that Luhan could look through this now when no one had been able to do so before?

“No,” Mei shook her head eagerly, attempting another try. “We’re going where you want to go.”

Luhan blew wind through his nose like he was biting down laughter. “But it’s not what you really want.”

“What I really want is not bothering you anymore,” she said strongly. “So we’re going to the place where you want to go.”

“But I wanted to go to the traditional market yesterday and we went there, so today is your turn.”

“But I lured you into a gondola although you’re afraid of heights!”

“But I can surely see that this is not what you really want.”

“What I don’t really want is being a burden, so…”

It was unsolvable. Luhan didn’t want Mei to come with him, because he knew it wouldn’t make her happy to the fullest and Mei didn’t want Luhan to come with her, because she knew it wouldn’t make him happy to the fullest. Both of them were willing to go with the other, but both of them didn’t want the other to come with them as well.

“Hey,” Luhan said after a while. On their plates, there were only crumbles left and the hot cocoas were already drunk out. “How about we separate for today?”

Luhan lent Mei his camera for they had not taken any photos of their trip since the day in the Botanical Garden. He wanted her to capture everything in pictures (except herself of course, because he remembered her ‘phobia’) and show them to him later, which she would gladly do. They would meet each other at 6 p.m. in the Ancient Culture Street to go get dinner and until then, there was more than enough time for Mei to explore the whole park.

Both of them awkwardly agreed to do so after Luhan’s offer, which was totally against their expectations. They had been together since day one and didn’t know it any other way, but what options did they have left when they couldn’t come to a conclusion?

Maybe it was better that way. Being separated for a day.

People tend to annoy each other, no matter how good they are at getting along with each other. Even best friends need their distance sometimes. It had nothing to do with themselves or their relationship. It is just how human beings tend to be like. It is human.

“Take care of yourself, okay?” were Luhan’s last words before he walked in the opposite direction of hers and somehow, she felt her heart getting heavy when she lost his tracks.

It was new, being without Luhan, walking around in a city without Luhan by her side, exploring everything without Luhan. Yesterday, it was the same situation, yet it was very different because yesterday, she didn’t want him to be with her. Now she actually did.

Mei stood in front of Beining Park—alone. She sighed and shrugged over the slight feeling of emptiness she had been carrying since she left the hotel and tried to enjoy the day. Beining Park could elevate to a shrine status, because now, in the summer, the trees and different flowers bloomed in many colors, mostly red, yellow and white. There were tulips, mostly,