Present Day

Yue wakes up with the sun shining in her face. She looks over to see the 3 TFboys sprawled out on their beds. Xiao Kai was sleeping with his leg over Yuan Yuan who was wrapped snugly in his blanket like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Qian Xi was on the edge of the bed almost falling off but still sleeping soundly like a baby.

Yue gets up and goes into the bathroom to wash up. What should I wear today? Yue thinks to herself. And I wonder where we are going.

The weather looked like it was going to be on the warmer side, so she decided to wear a light grey tunic with white flower patterned lace on the shoulder and throughout the sleeve. She paired it with black leggings and a pair of simple flats.

Just when she finished applying her makeup, she hears a knock on the door. She opens it to find Luhan standing in the hall.

“Morning!” He says. “Are the boys up?”

“They’re still sleeping” Yue replies. She sees Tao and Lay come out of their room.

“Still sleeping?” Tao says raising his eyebrow. “Not anymore” He says while walking over to wake the kids up.  “Rise and shine!” He shouts while clapping loudly before yanking the curtains wide open to let the sun flood into the room.

Xiao Kai gets up immediately. Yuan Yuan sits up and rubs his eyes. Qian Xi is still sleeping. Lay walks over to him.

“Qian Xi, wake up buddy” Lay whispers softly. Qian Xi slowly opens his eye to see Lay’s smiling face. Qian Xi smiles back.

“Well, Xiao Kai and I are heading out” Tao announces while signaling for Xiao Kai to hurry up and get ready.

“What? We’re not going together?” Yue asks surprised.

“We decided to split up into groups. You’re with me and Yuan Yuan today.” Luhan says. “We’re going to West Lake.”

“Really?” Yue’s face lights up. “I’ve always wanted to go there! Well, it’s the main reason I chose to come to Hangzhou.”

Luhan grins, giving Yue the “I know” look.

…

Luhan, Yue, and Yuan Yuan take the bus down to West Lake Park. The bus was crowded and people were bumping into Yuan Yuan. Yue had to hold onto him to keep him from being pushed over, but when the bus started moving, she almost falls over. Luckily Luhan notices just in time and grabs her by the waist and pulls her close to his body.

When she regains her balance, Luhan immediately pulls his arm back and blushes.

“Sorry” Luhan says clearing his throat. “Natural reaction *cough*”

Yue smiles shyly.

When they finally arrive at West Lake, the first thing Yuan Yuan notices are the boats drifting majestically across the lake.

He tugs at Yue’s shirt. “Can we ride those?” He asks pointing at the boats and looking up at Yue with puppy eyes.

“Of course, that’s the only way we can get to Moonlight Pond, it’s hidden deep within a small island in the middle of the lake” Yue replies smiling at Yuan Yuan, whose eyes instantly light up. He’s so adorable. She thinks to herself.

“I’ll go buy some tickets,” Luhan says.

“My mom…or I guess you in my timeline…she never had time to take me to places like this.” Yuan Yuan suddenly says while staring at the lake.

“I’m THAT busy in your future?” Yue says surprised.

“This is the first family vacation I’ve been on since we went to Taiwan when I was 6.” Yuan Yuan replies.

“Let’s go!” Luhan says running over holding the tickets in his hands.

The boat sailed smoothly across West Lake. Cutting through the lily pads with pink and white flowers that were floating on top of the water’s surface. When it finally reached the island at the middle of the lake, the driver anchored it right underneath a giant weeping willow tree, whose braches were just long enough to lightly dip into the lake.

They stepped off of the boat and started walking towards the Moonlight Garden at the center of the islet. Walking past the bushes that blocked their view, they finally see a glimpse of the 3 ponds mirroring the moon filled with Koi fish and connected by 3 arching bridges. There were several pavilions, each with a poem carved in stone.

“Wow, you picked a wonderful place” Luhan says in awe with his eye sparkling as they scanned the entire garden.

“Thanks. Nowadays all you need is the internet to find places like these.” Yue laughs. “Yuan Yuan, would you like to feed the fish?” Yue asks, remembering that she had saved some crackers from breakfast.

“Yeah!” Yuan Yuan replies excitedly. “There are so many!”

While Yuan Yuan is feeding the fish, Luhan and Yue slowly walk along the path connecting the arching bridges.

“Looks like we have similar tastes” Luhan says.

“What do you mean?” Yue asks, turning to look at Luhan.

“This is definitely my favorite kind of place.” Luhan replies staring down at the pond and the floating lily pads. “Whenever I’m stressed from celebrity life, I like to close my eyes and imagine I’m in a place like this. It’s nice that I’m actually here now.” He turns and looks a Yue with a warm smile.

Their eyes meet for a moment, but Yue looks away feeling butterflies in her stomach. He soooo good looking. She thinks to herself taking a deep breath trying to calm her nerves.

Luhan notices that Yue is a little tense, so he reaches over to gently hold her hand.

“Come on, we have more to see” He says leading her over to a spot underneath a pavilion. “Yuan Yuan, come on over. I want to tell you a little piece of history.” Luhan shouts over to Yuan Yuan who was still feeding the fish. He skips over happily.

Words carved into the rock:

The beauty of West Lake can only be compared to Xizi.

“What’s Xizi?” Yuan Yuan asked confused.“Well, first of all, it’s not a what, it’s a she.” Luhan explains. “Xizi was one of the four most beautiful women in ancient China. Think about it. Over the span of 5000 years, there were only four woman who were said to be the most beautiful, and she was one of them.”

“Yeah, and legend says that if West Lake were a person, that person would be Xizi. Or in other words, West Lake is the incarnation of Xizi herself.” Yue adds.

“Wow, she must’ve been really pretty then” Yuan Yuan says in awe.

Luhan, Yue, and Yuan Yuan spend the entire day discovering the many wonders of Moonlight Islet. They bought lunch from the many vendors selling freshly cooked food near the boat docks, and spend the afternoon walking around the flower gardens. They decided to have dinner on the top floor of a restaurant in the middle of the island that looked like a pagoda. As expected, the view of West Lake near sunset was unbelievably gorgeous.

“Today was amazing” Yue says while they were eating.

“It sure was.” Luhan agrees. “And not just because of West Lake.” Luhan grins.

After they had dinner, the 3 walked back down to Moonlight pond to see the 3 pools mirroring the moon at night. They find a good spot to sit underneath a weeping willow tree. Yuan Yuan was tired from the long day, so he took a nap with his head resting in Yue’s lap. Luhan sits next to Yue and leans back against the tree.

“You know what EXO song would be perfect for this?” Yue ask.

“Moonlight” They both say together before simultaneously laughing.

Luhan puts his arm over Yue’s shoulder and she rests her head on his chest. He then begins to softly sing Moonlight while they both gaze at the refection of the moon in the pond.

You take a bath under the moonlight that spills down


I have never seen before an expression so captivating

Frozen into a picture, at the end of my line of sight

You stay there forever…

Clear skies after the rain is your pretense, always smiling at me is your strength

Your white fragile shoulders, gently shaking with sadness, I’m telling you

My heart is an open window, you can put down everything and lie down in peace

I will hold you in a warm embrace until the sun rises, following the light from the moon, you continue to wander looking for tomorrow