You and Jackson took the train to the city making small talk on the way. You noticed he always seemed so alert, poking his head around, taking in all his surroundings. You giggled silently at his quirkiness. He looked like a little boy on a travelling adventure. Once you had arrived at the station, you tapped his shoulder and told him we had arrived. The first stop was the Opera House.

“This is the Opera House. They hold special concerts and performances here”

He nodded and took his phone out to take pictures.

“Do you want me to take one for you?” you said noticing that he was taking selfies.

“Yes please”

The next stop was the Harbour Bridge.

“This is a bridge that you can climb.”

He stared at you blankly and suddenly started laughing.

“Thanks captain obvious.”

You glared at him jokingly. “Shut up ~ I’m sorry I’m not a top notch historian”

Jackson’s attention diverted the the gigantic, creepishly smiling face in the distance.

“That’s Luna Park which is the local amusement park,” you informed him.

“Can we go there?” he said excitedly.

“It’s a little too far since its on the other side of the waters. Maybe next time. You’re here for a month aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Well then I guess its a date ~”

A bit taken back by his sudden proposal, you nervously laughed it off.

“Let’s take a photo together!”

Before, you could respond to tell him that you weren’t fond of taking photos, he grabbed your arm and pulled you next to him. He hung his arm around your shoulder and posed a V sign. *click*

“Miya~~ smileeee!”

You let out a hearty laugh and smiled at the camera.

After showing him around the beautiful city of Sydney, he started whining “I’m hungryyy”

You laughed and shook your head. “Fine let’s go eat now”

After strolling around the bright lit streets, you found a restaurant near by called ETAF Cafe & Restaurant. You walked in and asked for a table of you. The waitress gave you a table near the windows. You thanked her as she left the menus on the tables covered with a pale lavender coloured fabric. You and Jackson looked over the menus for a couple of minutes deciphering what to eat.

“What do you want to eat?” you asked him.

“Hmm, I can’t decide. Can you choose for me?” he pouted.

The waitress walked over to our table and asked “are you ready to order?”

“No not yet. Sorry.”

“There’s a couple special tonight. It’s a two course meal. Only $30 per person.”

“We’ll get that then,” Jackson jumped in to say.

“Okay. Thank you very much. Your food will be here shortly.”

“Hey, why did you order that?” I hissed at him.

“Why not? Because we’re not a couple?”

You blushed.

He chuckled.

“Ahh don’t worry. We’re a friend couple. Okay? ^^ If you don’t say anything and I won’t of course, no one will know,” he winked.

You sighed in agreement.

“So what made you choose to come to Australia for your student exchange?” you asked.

“Nothing in particular. Just heard that this university had a good reputation.”

“Ah okay. Then what about HKCA? Why did you join?”

“I didn’t really choose actually. They just told me I just to go to this club and said I could meet some really nice people. They were spot on about that!”

You smiled.

“What about you? Tell me about yourself?” he rested his head on his hand and stared at you with those glistening eye, waiting for you to answer.

“Well… I was born in Australia, went to school here for my entire life. My parents are of Hong Kong background which is why I can speak cantonese. That pretty much sums me up. I have a pretty boring life,” you answered in a mundane tone.

“Come on,” he urged, “there must be more than that. Do you do any sports? What is your dream?”

“I was a gymnast for many years. I used to want to become a gymnast at an international level until… until I injured my knee,” you didn’t want to, but you began to tear up. The rims of your eyes watered up and your vision became slightly blurry. You wiped away the tears with the edge of your sleeve. “Sorry,” you apologised.

“No don’t worry. You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”

But you continued anyway. 

“After surgery, the doctors said I could never do flips anymore because that would put too much pressure on my knee. At first I was so devastated I cried for days and days. But slowly I came to the realisation that I couldn’t do anything about it. So I diverted my interest into fashion design. One day I want to design clothes to celebrities like Korean idols and open up my own shop,” you took a slow breath to calm yourself down.

He looked at you with worried eyes and reached across the table and softly patted your hand to comfort you.

“Let me tell you a story too..."