I do not own any of the characters. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any plot similarities to other FF and stories/movies are coincidental. Character thoughts in Italicized, and Bold for emphasis. Blue underlined are hyperlink to photos of item described.

“Gui Er, do you remember what I said a while back, about how I might be the one who will travel when you are back here in Taiwan?”

“I remember, why do you mention it?”

“I got an offer to be the field PD for 'ET travel'. I don't know if I should accept the job or not. If I do, it means I won't be in Taiwan often for the next year or two, since I would be traveling to different parts of Asia and Europe with the film crew and cast, only coming back one to two weeks in between each segment for edits and equipment maintenance.” He explained carefully, while nervously playing with her fingers which were loosely locked with his.

“If you are hesitant because you are worried about me, don't be. I completely stand behind Godfather's insistence for you to take the offer. This opportunity is the closest you'll get to doing your dream post-grad job. It is my turn this time to support, to trust, and to wait for you Aaron Yan.” She assured him, removing her hand from his to give him a light touch on the cheek before turning to leave the room.

“I had a feeling you would respond like that. Hey, Wu Xiao Jie?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.” He whispered as he hugged her from behind, nuzzling into the nape of her neck, his lips lightly skimming the soft bare skin beneath her earlobe.

“Feeling sentimental much? I thought I had become the sappy one, but I take it back, you still steal the show. I love you too, Yan Xian Sheng. Now hurry and get back to your boss about taking the job.” She giggled after he twirled her around and gave her a grateful kiss on the forehead, then ran off excitedly to call his superior to report his final decision.

“I got the job!” He hugged Gui excitedly as soon as he got back from the call.

“Congrats Ah Bu! Hey, since you are going to travel, will you make it back for George and Annie's wedding? You are Geo ge's best man after all. What about Beatrice and Ming Wei's wedding?”

“GeoAnn's is next month and I will still be in Taiwan then since this season is still in pre-production. BeaWei's is in June, so I can't confirm at the moment. If Godfather pulls some strings with the director – which I am certain that if he won't, Godmother would – it is possible I can attend.”

“I have a dance tour with my crew Hey-Girls the week of Bea's wedding, so it would be nice if you could go. At least one of us should be there to support the couple since we are her god-siblings!”

“I'll talk to the director to see if I can get that weekend off or work from Taiwan somehow.”

“Speaking of Geo and Annie's wedding, did you secure the details of his bachelor party?”

“I thought we were going to keep those details a secret, since you are bound to reveal them to Annie, who is probably going to tell George. We agreed not to ask each other about the bachelor and bachelorette night.”

“It was worth a shot. Mister Yan, I trust that you will stick to both agreements on this subject.”

“I know, no excessive drinking and no strippers. Same goes for you, Miss Wu.”

“Noted. I should get going, you have to report in early to the station tomorrow.” She gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek and rose from the couch.

“I can drive you back.” He offered, softly grabbing a hold of her wrist and rising to walk her towards his front door.

“I'll be fine, besides I drove my own car. Go get some sleep.”

“Call me when you get home.”

“When have I ever not done so?”

“You haven't, I know, I trust you can get yourself home safely, its just a precaution.” He gave her one more kiss at the doorway before seeing her step inside her car and pulling out of the driveway.

For the rest of the month, the couple did not have much time to themselves between work and their two best friends' wedding festivities. In the moments they were alone, they talked about Aaron's impending departure and how they would maintain their somewhat long distance relationship again; only this time with minimal arguing, because it wasn't entirely a new situation for them. One aspect of his new work circumstance in particular was quite alarming for Gui, and although she knew Ya Lun was going to be faithful, some part of her could not help but feel unsettled. And so, she decided to voice her concerns, to get them off her chest once and for all. While Aaron was glad she chose to be honest with him, he thought she could have picked a better time, for they were in the middle of George and Annie's rehearsal dinner.

“Ah Bu, can we talk about what you told me the other day, regarding the newest addition to your crew, the ones you will work the most closely with?” She asked with a hushed voice as the wait staff set down the appetizers.

“Gui Er, must we do this now?” He carefully replied in a low whisper as George who sat to his right, stood with a glass in hand, ready to make a toast.

“Yes, its the only time we have before you leave for Japan. Tomorrow is definitely not an option since we will be busy the entire day with the actual wedding.” She carried on rapidly, before giving the groom-to-be her full attention.

“To my dear friends and family, thank you for preparing this wedding alongside Annie and I for the past year. I speak for my bride and myself, when I say we could not have come this far without all your support and concern. So this dinner is for you all and hope that you will enjoy yourselves tonight and be energized for the big day ahead of us.”

As soon as the glasses clinked around the tables and the appetizers were set down, Aaron resumed previous conversation with his girlfriend.

“So, what do you want to discuss, concerning my new job arrangements?”

“I know I should have said something when you first told me you would be working with Dream Girls for this entire production, but I barely had time to process it and now that I thought about it some more, I don't have a good feeling about this.”

“Gui Gui, you know I will be professional. Its not the first time I've worked with female artists or idol groups.”

“I know, but before, it was just for one day to one week, at most two weeks. This a a whole new type of collaboration. Its going to be a whole year or longer, and you won't even be in the country most of the time! On top of that its Dream Girls, currently the hottest girl group in Taiwan!” Their soft voices became increasing louder with each relay of thoughts, causing the surrounding conversations to become hushed. Noting the sudden silence around them, the pair excused themselves from the table so they would not disturb the other dinner guests. Once they were in a more secluded area, Ya Lun expressed his suspicions freely.

“This isn't about the girl group at all is it?”

“...”

“Gui Er, come on, be honest with me. I need to know so I can properly reassure you.”

“Fine, you said before that Tia Lee was your ideal type and good wife material! You also said if you didn't already have me, Puff Kuo would be the perfect girlfriend figure. How am I suppose to let you travel all around the world with them over the course of two years with no questions asked?”

“When did I- You heard all that? Then you should know, that was just for fun, and doesn't actually mean anything.”

“I did hear and I do know, Yan Xian Sheng. But its not like I can just unhear it all, you know?”

~[FLASHBACK]~

“Hey, Field PD Yan,out of Dream Girls, who would pick to be your ideal wife, your perfect girlfriend, and as a one night stand?” The bored segment producer asked Aaron during lunch break.

“I don't know if it is appropriate for me to answer, because I do already have a close to perfect girlfriend.”

“Come on, its all hypothetical, entertain us! I am sure Gui Gui won't mind.”

“Alright, you guys better not go telling on me to Gui Er, if anything, I want to tell her myself.”

“Got it Yan, man, she's got you whipped.”

“Not even! If must chose, then, Tia as a wife, Puff as a girlfriend, and Emily as as the one night stand.”

“Bold choices, PD Yan. I chose the same. Fight me!” The young man joked.

Aaron laughed at his co-worker's playfulness and went along with it.

“Hey everyone! I brought some dessert! Why are you all looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face? I admit, I had some on the way here.” The staff tried to hold in their laughter as they looked from Ya Lun – who was somewhat shocked – to his seemingly oblivious girlfriend who just burst in with several cake boxes in hand.

“Its nothing Gui Er, I will tell you about it later at home. Its just that we sealed the deal with Dorian Entertainment, so Dream Girls is going to be the face of our travel show.”

“No way, Dream Girls as in the most awesome girl group in Taiwan? That is amazing! How do you feel to be working with such famous and gorgeous women for so long?”

“Is this a trick question, which no matter how I answer, I will somehow offend you?”

“Not really, even I would be stoked to work with them.”

“In that case, yes, we are all very exited.” Aaron answered in a heartbeat missing his girlfriend's subtle eyebrow raise and the flicker of jealousy in her irises.

“Hmm, good for you guys.” I knew it, he is a typical guy after all. I can't blame him. I would be the same if I got to work with Big Bang.

“Gui, you okay?” I don't know, is she angry with my answer? I can't blame her though. I would be the same if she said she will be traveling with Big Bang for over a year.

~[FLASHBACK END]~

“Why did you pretend not to hear everything? You were clearly okay with it back then.”

“I could not put you on the spot in front of your co-workers. So many things came up after that day, I had to put off this talk, until now that is.”

“How considerate of you.”

“Are you being sarcastic with me right now? I am legitimately anxious, not because you would do anything to betray me and our relationship, but because I have no idea of how the girls would act around you. In case you didn't already know, it is really easy to fall for you Yan Ya Lun.”

“Normally I would be flattered, only cause this is coming from you, Wu Ying Jie. I am a little offended that you don't trust the fact that I have never led anyone on, in the time we were together.”

“Oh you have no idea.”

“What do you mean? Its not like you don't have guys around you that I could be concerned about. If you are so worried, you should have disagreed when I was still considering taking the job.”

“I am not trying to make a big deal of things right now, I just wanted to tell you how I feel, before we are apart and this blows up while you are on the other side of the world. You know that I support your dreams like you support mine, so how can I ever stand in your way? I am happy for you, really, its just its hard to know that you will be surrounded by such extraordinary ladies all the time.”

“Gui Er, there is really nothing I can say except, you gotta trust me. Yes, Dream Girls are literally every guys dream and I am just a guy too. But I would never want anything more than a good work relationship and pure friendship with them, because I love you, only you.” He pulled her into a solid embrace, hoping to convey his steadfast love for her.

“I love you too, Ah Bu. Now that I expressed and came to terms with everything, I am feeling hungry.” She returned his hug, pressing her ears to his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat, realizing that his heart beats in rhythm with hers -- no matter where he is or who he is with. She felt a weight lifted of her shoulders, ironically, as he rested his chin on it, before lifting his head to give her a gentle kiss on the temple. He felt a warmness settling throughout him as she pulled back, smiling at him, her eyes filled with unwavering faith.

“Hopefully they saved us some food.” He remarked lightly, his arms still around her waist as they walked.

“If not, we can always get...” Gui looked at Ya Lun knowingly.

“... a midnight snack from Miss Cherry's noodle stand. You sure about that though? I thought you wanted to avoid eating after 9 PM so look your best in the bride's maid dress.” He finished her thought with a pleased grin.

“Its only 8:30 right now.”

“By the time we get the food it will definitely be past nine.”

“You win. I guess we will just starve.”

“I can't have that, Gui Gui, you need to have the most energy tomorrow! If you melt down, I won't make it past the ceremony!” Annie commented after hearing the end of the pair's conversation as they returned to their seats, while filling their plates with the remaining on the table.

“I hope my dress will still fit, this might be worse than the noodles we were going to get.” The maid of honor whispered to the best man after smiling helplessly at the mountain of food before them.

“If worse comes to worse, just trust that everyone will be focused on the bride, at least everyone aside from me.”

“Way to ease the situation. Better question, how am I suppose to eat all this?”

“Is anything wrong? Did you want to order anything else?” The bride asked with concern.

“No! This is plenty!” The troubled couple exclaimed simultaneously, immediately digging in before Annie could have the chance to add to their pile.

After that bumpy night, the wedding ceremony went smoothly. Ya Lun and Gui could not be happier for their newly-wedded friends. At last, came the event every single lady was waiting for, the bouquet toss. Our maid of honor was not expecting to get pushed along with the mass of unwed women towards the backward facing bride. She much less expected the bouquet would land right into her very hands followed by a roaring cheer and a myriad of questions.
“So when is the wedding?”

“Did you and Aaron finally have 'The Talk'?”

“Are you glad to be next in line?”

“What about children?”

She could only smile politely and respond with deflective, general answers like:

“We'll let everyone know when its going to happen.” or “All in due time.” or “We are still in the talks.”

Aaron who saw the whole commotion, found himself in a similar situation; except he got many "atta-boy" looks and random pat on the backs, to which he could only nod and smile to. At the reception, after all the speeches, toasts, and dancing, when things finally began to slow down, the formerly busy couple had an opportunity to address their previous situation at the ceremony.

“So, I see you caught the marriage baton.”

“I did. What were you planning to do about it?”

“We did talk about this, before my job opportunity came up. As things are now, a wedding isn't exactly the first thing on my mind.”

“I agree. I would like to be able to travel around with my crew without having the pressure of long distance marriage planning.”

“Don't get me wrong, I do want to marry you Gui Er, eventually.”

“We are still on the same page. I want to marry you too, Ah Bu, someday. Back to present talk though, is everything set for Japan?”

“Yes, the filming crew arrived this afternoon and I will be heading over tomorrow morning with DreamGirls.” He gave her a careful look as he mentioned his latest work partners.

“I am fine. Trust me, totally cool.” She replied, rolling her eyes playfully at his doubtful gaze.

“I will call you as soon as I get settled into the hotel.”

“Sorry I can't send you off.”

“I understand, you and your crew will do great tomorrow.” He gave her a quick kiss for encouragement, one which she returned with equal zeal.

The mature couple continued their relationship amidst all the traveling done on both ends, international for Aaron, while local for Gui Gui. Never skimping out on phone calls, video chats, messaging and the occasional physical meet ups, which trust me, was literally quite physical most of the time they were together. Needless to say, they were doing well and the long distance arrangement was not a challenge for them, until Gui Gui received a rather peculiar gift, in the the mail one day in June. A wedding invitation, not addressed to her, for a wedding which she already RSVP'ed 'no' to due to conflicting work schedules. Along with a photo of who seems to be her boyfriend and a beautiful star – the one and only Tia Lee – in a somewhat intimate position. The photo would have been a glaring concern to her two or three years ago, but after four and a half years of dating – two of which were long-distance –with plenty of arguments and reconciliation in between, Gui Gui's first instinct was to laugh at the supposedly “compromising” paparazzi capture, and her second was to call her boyfriend to report yet another inside joke in the making, due to this “gift”.

“Gui Er, did the photo make it to Taiwan already? I can explain.”

“The one with 'you' and Tia, yes. Someone you and I both 'know' quite well made sure I got it.”

“Its not me, in the picture. I know it looks like me from the side, but its Tia's celebrity boyfriend who just so happens to look like me. The press caught them on a date, and got the wrong idea. Secret Santa sure likes to meddle in our relationship.” Ya Lan laid out every detail with a distressed voice.

“I know. I can tell. You never had the habit of putting your hand directly on my when we kiss. Unless, its different with your ideal type...” Gui replied with a teasing tone, instantly lightening the conversation.

“Haha very funny. It to be the center of the media attention, especially as a civillian. I could not even leave the hotel or open my curtains, until we barely contained “the dating” scandal by revealing the actual identity of her boyfriend, with both their agencies' approval.”

“I do have one concern though. Why is it that I got a wedding invite to Beatrice's ceremony – and not one adressed to me but rather, for Tia?”

“I was going to tell you about that actually. Tia and Bea are good friends and she was going to the wedding with her boyfriend, but he has an important issue to deal with on the day of, so Bea asked me for a favor. I have not gotten back to her yet because I need to discuss this with you first, only Secret Santa kind of beat me to it.”

“What is this favor?”

“Tia attends as my plus one, or I attend as hers, rather. Basically, I pose as the boyfriend in question. The press is going to be there and if she doesn't attend with her boyfriend, more rumors will spark about a break up. That will be negative publicity for our show. Our main PD and director is going insane with the aftermath of the reveal, so we really don't need more speculations around our production.”

“So if that is the case then, you, Yan Ya Lun will miss Bea's wedding? What about our God parents? They were so exited to have you there.”

“I just won't be there in name. They got word of the situation and they were fine with the arrangements, surprisingly. If it makes you uncomfortable, I will decline.”

“I guess this will be my wedding gift to them. Hand-holding is as far as you will go Mister Yan. If I could have it my way, there wouldn't be any physical contact between you two; but that won't make for a believable 'dating-status'.”

“I doubt anyone can top your generous wedding gift, Miss Wu. I promise, strictly hand-holding and only in front of a camera. I won't even interlock our fingers.”

“Okay, no need to be that detailed. I trust you will do the right thing.”

“I will be back in Taipei for a week after the wedding.”

“I will be in Kaohsiung for that week, with my crew.”

“I really miss you, Gui Er.” I really love you.

“I know, me too.” I love you, too.
The photo found its new home in Gui's trash can, but she felt bad after awhile. After all, she must acknowledge Secret Santa's efforts and thier accurate assumption of what her reaction would be. Eventually said note, invite, and photo were stored into a box with the rest of the gifts Gui recived throughout the years. 

Gui Gui Wu,

Trust is when you were unphased at this suggestive photo of who seems to be your boyfriend and another woman. It is when you choose to confront your lover without accusations nor doubt that he has betrayed you. Trust is like an invitation you already replied to, no reminders needed, because your answer is set.

~Your Secret Santa~

Beatrice and Ming Wei's wedding went off without a hitch, and no one suspected the faux "celebrity couple", to everyone's delight. Turns out, one person did top Gui's wedding gift. It was none other than her boyfriend, who gifted the bride a pair of glittery pearl white pumps – which she had set her eyes on since her engagement, but could not get, since they were sold out the day of their release. After the wedding, GuiLun's dating routine when back to normal – as normal as it could be with their never ending job arrangements – for the remaining nine months the travel show was in production, or so they thought. Life seemed to have a different plan for the 23 year old dancer and 24 year old field PD. They were to have their first unexpected taste of parenthood, although not directly, we must clarify.

“Ya Lun! We are going to be god-parents!” Gui reported excitedly after running into the arms of her boyfriend who was back in Taiwan temporarily, after full month abroad.

“Wait what?” I must have heard wrong, we never got that far! Aaron pulled away rapidly, alarmed at the word “parents”.

“I said we will are going to be god-parents! George and Annie are expecting! Ni Ni is three months along.”

“That's great news! Is she still going to be in the Philippines? Long-distance marriage seems hard enough, parenting sounds impossible if they will be 1,452 km apart.”

“She applied for another position back in Taipei as soon as she confirmed her pregnancy at the OB-GYN. I am really excited, here I have a sonogram, isn't he or she just adorable?”

“It looks like a peanut.”

“Don't be rude! He or she will be a very cute baby.”

“How would you know that?”

“I trust my gut.”

“The only thing I trust about that, is its signal currently sounding out.”

“What signal?”

“The one that says you're starving. Let's go get some brunch.”

Aaron brought Gui to a classic Taiwanese breakfast diner, one which they frequented often during their undergrad days. 

“Hey, they serve peanuts here.”

“Aaron Yan Ya Lun! I thought you would have some sense and maturity now that you will be a god-father. Maybe I have too much trust in you in this regard. You will be a bad influence to this child.”

“I was trying to make you laugh. Come on, be real with me, it just looks like a peanut at this point. Peanut could be a cute fetus name.”

“Run that by George and Annie. You will definitely regret it.”

“They won't know if you don't say anything.”

Gui ate her meal in silence after giving her kid-like boyfriend an irked glare, maintaining her quiet sulk all the way to the expectant couple's home.

“What happened?”

“Hard to say. I cracked a joke she thought was not funny and I have gotten the silent treatment ever since.”

“Gui we have the perfect pet name for the little guy.”

“You can tell the gender already?”

“No, but we have pretty good feeling Hua Sheng* is a he.”

Aaron laughed aloud at the name the married couple came up with, eventually Gui joined in, her previous irritation melting away, while George and Annie looked confused.

(*A/N: Hua Sheng is the Chinese term for peanut, apart each word have meanings of their own. Hua is flower and Sheng is life.)

“I looked at the sonogram and commented that he looks like a peanut, but Gui got angry, implying I broke her trust as a fellow god-parent with my lack of maturity.”

“I got mad not because you called it a peanut. I was annoyed that you brought it up during brunch and it ruined my appetite. I could not unsee the coloration.”

“Sorry. Does that mean we won't be eating there ever again?”

“Not until our peanut turns into a peach, I assume. We actually started to call him 'Hua Sheng' because of how Ni Ni revealed her pregnancy to me.” George joined in with a joke to prevent the couple from starting another full blown argument.

“You must hear the story Ah Bu, it was really sweet.”

“One day when I came home from work, she handed me a flower and told me to count its petals, then she handed me a book and told me to find the page number the amount of petals correlate to. Naturally, I went along, since she always did random experiments on me, in order to get ad pitch ideas for her work.”

“I circled the words 'new life' on the page as indicated by the petals. I still remember the surprise and joy I saw his face when he finally put the two and two together.”

The four friends continued the rest of the afternoon in conversation catching up and gushing in excitement for the bundle of joy soon to be joining their circle.

Aaron received a small bundle of his own that very night, one which he shared with his girlfriend almost immediately, by pure coincidence.

Aaron Yan,

Someone once said: “trust is like an eraser, it can erase all types of doubts in our minds, but don't forget that it gets smaller after each mistake.” Luckily for you, the trust you have and receive is like a putty eraser. It is mold-able, stronger with each use, and can be added to with more of the same eraser.

~Your Secret Santa~

“Hey Ya Lun, do you happen to have any erasers, I messed up on my latest choreo chart.”

“Perfect timing, Secret Santa just gave me one.”

“Why is it so squishy, do you have any normal ones?”

“Hold on. I will find one.”

“Never mind, this works.”

“I assume you will crash here tonight?” He remarked eyeing the sprawled out papers on his living room floor.

“Yes, because your place is closer to the studio and I could really use the extra sleep since I have to stay up fixing these formations.”

At the sight of his pajama-dressed girl siting on the carpeted floor surrounded by papers left and right, running a hand frustratingly through her freshly washed hair, twirling a pencil in her fingers – a habit she has when she is in serious planning mode. One unerasable thought ran through his mind, not one he would speak aloud at that very moment, but it was one that altered his life plan from that moment. I want my life to be just like this, and not in five years from now. I want her by my side, permanently, sharing the trivial and major things in life together. I want to be able to argue over sonograms and whether or not our future child looks like a peanut or a peach. I want to marry her.

“I will leave you to it. Good night Gui Er. Don't stay up too late.” He gave her a usual kiss before heading to bed. The next day, Aaron and Gui's life really did go back to “normal” – at least for Gui who had no idea of the surprise Aaron was planning during the entirety of those six months – only with some more baby talk sprinkled into their everyday conversation, until the long awaited day. The birth of their god son, and coincidentally the day Ya Lun returned to Taiwan indefinitely, as the filming overseas is concluded and his project enters post-production. Simple, yet meaningful words were exchanged that night between the new god-parents, who were finally ready to enter this new phase of life together – in more ways than one for Aaron.

“Thank you, Yan Ya Lun.” For upholding my trust in you.

“You're welcome, Wu Ying Jie.” Trust me, its my pleasure to be home, where you are, for good.

Secret Santa also entered a new phase in their final plans to help the couple towards the beginning an even newer chapter in life, or so they hoped, only things never really go exactly as planned.