Xiaoting immediately reached for her phone and dialled her father as soon as she stepped out of the store. She explained everything to her father.

Bring it here

Her father's words made her stop in her tracks. Did he not hear what she said? She tried protesting but her father assured her he would handle it. Xiaoting trusted her father and made her way to the Shen manor. 

It was close to nightfall when Xiaoting arrived. Her father was waiting for her at the front door. He took the box from her hands and disappeared into his study. Xiaoting tried following but was stopped by her father’s bodyguards. They acted on her father’s order to keep Xiaoting away from his study. It was then they heard a light boom from inside the room. Xiaoting rushed past the bodyguards and called for her father

“Don’t come in!”

Xiaoting’s hands were on the door handle. It was locked. There was sparkling smoke? coming out of the bottom of the door. She could hear her father swearing inside. She banged on the door, “Dad! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine dear! Everything is taken care of! *cough* Damn that Choi!”

Xiaoting breathed a sigh of relief. The house and the door was still intact so her father had managed to disable to bomb somewhat. At least no one was hurt. If it wasn’t for Yujin’s warning, it would’ve been a lot worse. She reached for her phone and sent Yujin a quick text saying everything was alright and thanked her for the warning. She owed her big time.

 

 

---

 

 

The next day rolled around and Xiaoting was on her way to campus. She was a little early today. Wanting to somehow make it up to Yujin, she decided to buy her some flowers. After spending the night looking up flowers and their meanings, she decided on a bouquet made out of yellow lilies, blue hyacinths and zinnias. Yellow lilies to say thank you. Blue hyacinths to say I’m sorry. Zinnias to say I missed you.

“A little lover’s spat?”, the florists asked while making the bouquet. 

Xiaoting blushed at the question. Of course, the florist would know what the flowers Xiaoting chose meant. She stammered out a quick no.

The florist chuckled at Xiaoting’s response. She finished the bouquet and handed it over, “Well, I’d say you did a great job picking out these flowers to apologise. They should be lucky to have you”

“No, I’m the lucky one”. Xiaoting paid for the flowers and headed to campus.

As she approached the main  campus building, Xiaoting glanced at the bouquet in her hand. She hoped Yujin would like them and forgive her. To her surprise, Yujin was already by the entrance. Xiaoting called out to the girl. Yujin whipped her head to the voice calling her and made a mad dash. Yujin all but threw herself onto Xiaoting, crushing her into a tight hug. Xiaoting barely managed to catch the girl and keep them steady from tumbling to the floor.

“You’re okay”. Yujin’s voice came out barely as a whisper. 

Xiaoting returned the hug and rubbed circles down Yujin’s back. “All thanks to you”

When the two finally separated, Xiaoting handed over the bouquet in her hands. She saw the girl in front of her blush. It was cute. “I got this for you to say thanks for what you did. And, to apologise for how I acted these couple of days. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry”

Yujin accepted the flowers but shook her head. She dropped her eyes. “No, it was my fault. I should’ve asked how you felt first”

Xiaoting furrowed her eyebrows. This was unacceptable. Yujin had done nothing wrong. The girl had nothing to apologise for. Xiaoting stepped closer to Yujin and held the girl’s elbows. “Hey, you don’t have to apologise. I liked-”

“GET A ROOM YOU TWO!”

The pair turned around. Chaehyun and Dayeon were staring at them and so were the rest of the school. That’s right, they were still in front of the whole damn campus. It completely slipped Xiaoting’s mind. Xiaoting grabbed Yujin’s hand and led them to Yujin’s next class. She glanced at the girl following her. Her face was as red as a tomato. Xiaoting’s own face was probably the same. When Xiaoting opened the classroom door, she was glad no one was there yet. She shut the door behind her and pulled Yujin in for a hug. 

Yujin leaned her forehead on Xiaoting’s shoulders. She wanted to disappear inside Xiaoting’s jacket. She couldn’t believe the spectacle they made in front of the whole university. “That was so embarrassing”

Xiaoting couldn’t help but laugh at their situation. It was embarrassing but she didn’t mind. She sort of liked the idea of everyone knowing there was something going on between them. The two stayed like that until the bell chimed. Classes were about to start in 10 minutes. 

“See you at lunch?”. Xiaoting tucked a lock of hair behind Yujin’s ear.

Yujin nodded and shooed Xiaoting away. She didn’t want the latter to be late. Their classes are at opposite ends of the campus after all. 

Xiaoting was about to leave. She turned around and planted a quick peck on Yujin’s cheek. “Now, we’re even”

Xiaoting left the room, leaving behind a dazed Yujin. She couldn’t wait for lunch.

 

 

---

 

 

After that day, everything went back to normal for Xiaojin and their group of friends. The eldest two have been showering each other in affection. Not that they weren’t before but now they were more touchy feely, much to their friends’ dismay. 

“No offence you two but those two look more like a couple than you do”. Mashiro looked at the Chaeda pair while pointing her palm to Xiaojin who were too busy comparing nails. She was pretty sure it was just a reason to keep touching each other's hands. To her sides, the younger half of their group all nodded in agreement. 

“They’ll get together eventually. At least they’re not fighting anymore”. Hyyih was glad that the two sorted things out. She didn’t like seeing them apart and down like that. She’d take clingy over affectionate Xiaojin over fighting Xiaojin any day.

“Let’s go to the night festival on Friday!”. Hikaru jumped up and down in excitement. The others started to agree one by one except Yujin.

Yujin gave an apologetic smile, “You guys go on without me. I have to accompany my father on a business meeting” 

The kids of the group started to whine and complain.

“Come on guys. Don’t make Yujin unnie feel bad. Let’s spam her with lots of pictures and have twice the fun in her place”. Xiaoting patted Youngeun’s head who was sitting next to her. It was a shame Yujin couldn’t join them but she was going to graduate soon. The eldest would have a lot more responsibility than before. The others probably sensed this too and wanted to spend as much time with Yujin before she got busy. 

Xiaoting’s suggestion brightened the mood back. They started to come up with ‘missions’ to do on Friday and Yujin would have to guess what they had to do based on the pictures they sent. It was chaotic and absurd but that was just the way they liked it.

 

 

---

 

 

Friday rolled around and Yujin was sitting in a car with her father on their way to a business gathering. She was on her phone, checking the group message for pictures her friends had promised. The first was of course Hikaru’s, she had a huge burger in her hands. The next picture was her opening as wide as possible to get a bite. The next was her disgusted face and showing the contents of the burger. It had cheese in it. Yujin smiled. No wonder Hikaru didn’t like it.

The second one was Hyyih. She sent a picture of her, Yeseo and Youngeun each with a custom candy in hand. Hyyih got herself a heart. Yeseo got a bunny and Youngeun got a flower shaped one. 

The third one was Mashiro. The picture she sent was of Dayeon holding a very tall ice cream cone. The girl in the picture looked excited to get a bite. But the next picture she sent was a blurry picture of Dayeon staring at her ice cream on the ground and Chaehyun hunched over  pointing at her girlfriend. Yujin could already hear Chaehyun’s laughter and imagined the look of disappointment on Dayeon’s face.

Xiaoting was missing from the pictures. Yujin guessed the girl was either too busy getting everyone in control or was off doing something interesting herself. She still had to guess everyone’s mission. The penalty was to treat whoever she got wrong to some bubble tea, a drink they all enjoyed. Yujin had no clue what ‘mission’ these girls were doing. Pretty sure they were just messing around and had forgotten about their ‘mission’.

The car had stopped. Yujin put her phone away and exited the vehicle with her father. They entered the venue and the attention was on them. Yujin could recognise a few familiar faces in the crowd. They were her father’s loyal companions and business partners in the underground world. No one in the right mind would expose themselves as part of the mafia to the public. The story her father made was that he ran a security firm. It would make explaining why there are firearms and other weapons around the house much easier should they ever be caught. Thankfully, the time never came.

Yujin saw something or someone disappear behind the crowd. She squinted her eyes to get a better look. Her eyes widened in realisation. It was Xiaoting. She was sure of it. She couldn’t mistake that figure for someone else. It was one that she had been watching closely for the last year. She had to stop her father from spotting Xiaoting. She bided her time and waited for a chance.

When Yujin saw Xiaoting walk towards the back of the room, She excused herself from her father and went after the girl. The girl was right in front of Yujin with her back to her. At this distance, Yujin couldn’t be more sure. Xiaoting should have been at the festival not here in the same room as her father. Yujin pulled Xiaoting aside to a secluded corner. She saw how offended the latter looked before her face lit up in recognition.

“Yujin? What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same thing. Why are you here?”. Yujin glanced around, making sure she wasn’t in her father’s line of sight.

“I came with my dad. He said he was meeting a friend here”

“Oh no. My father is also here. One of us has to leave before something happens”. 

Xiaoting agreed with Yujin. She too didn’t want to put Yujin in danger. But dread started to sink in when she saw her father approaching them. “I don’t know if we can anymore”

“So this is where you were. With Choi Yujin”

Yujin was startled by the unfamiliar voice. She turned around and faced who she figured was Xiaoting’s father. She flashed a polite smile, “Hello, sir”

Xiaoting’s father nodded at her. He glanced between the two and turned around. “Now that you’ve found each other. Follow me”

They were caught. The two had no choice but to follow now. Xiaoting’s father led them to a private waiting room and asked them to sit down while they waited for Yujin’s father. Yujin complied and took a seat on one of the long couches. Xiaoting’s father sat on a single couch at the opposite end. While Xiaoting just chose to stand by the wall behind her father.

Only silence filled the room. Yujin was nervous. She was stuck in a room with the head of their rival mafia gang. There was no telling what could happen. At the very least, Yujin didn’t want to be a burden for both her father and Xiaoting. She would find a way out of this mess, as she always did.

Xiaoting saw Yujin fidgeting in her seat. The girl had her legs crossed and her arms on the couch at either side of her body. She was bouncing her legs, a habit whenever she was nervous or in deep thought. Xiaoting decided to take a seat next to the girl, sitting a little closer than a friend would but still left some space between them. She put her hand on the couch. Her little finger brushed against Yujin’s and settled on top. Xiaoting let Yujin intertwine their fingers. Whatever was going to happen, they had each other’s back. They”ll protect each other. 

“I see you’ve met my daughter, Shen”. Yujin’s father’s voice broke the silence in the room as he entered. He stopped in front of Xiaoting’s father.

Xiaoting’s father got up from his seat. Both men were face-to-face now. “I found her with my daughter, Choi”

“I see you received my present. I can still see it in your hair”.

“Your little pranks are getting out of hand. It took me a whole day to clean up”

“Tch, that’s nothing compared to what you did last time. My whole car smelled like death because of you!”

“Well, I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t purposely clear out my favourite coffee!”

Xiaoting furrowed her eyebrows. These two grown men were talking about pranks they’ve pulled on each other like some teenagers. She couldn’t understand the direction the conversation was going. She thought her father hated the Chois and vice versa. She looked at Yujin and the girl was as confused as she was. The latter’s face was asking her if Xiaoting understood what was happening. She shook her head and decided to speak up. “Hold on. What is going on here?”

Both men stopped their squabbling and cleared their throats, pretending like nothing unusual had happened.

“Ah right. I guess it is time to formally introduce you. Xiaoting, this is Choi Chungho, my sworn brother”. Xiaoting’s father put his arm on his supposed brother’s shoulder.

“Yujin, meet Shen Jianyu. The least handsome man in all of China''. Yujin’s father nudged the man next to him with his elbow.

“You mean the most”

Yujin couldn’t believe whatshe was hearing. She had believed in a lie her whole life. “Aren’t the Shen and Choi rivals?”

“Oh we are dear”

Yujin was caught off guard. The Shen head had called her ‘dear’. “But why are you brothers then?”

“What's wrong with a little sibling rivalry? Besides I personally send him distractions to keep him in check”. Yujin’s father nudged the man by his side. 

“By distractions you mean childish pranks”. Xiaoting’s father nudged back a little hasher. 

“Which you started by the way”. Another nudge

The two men explained to them that they had been childhood friends. The Shen and Choi were quite known at the time but things weren’t so peaceful. So the two decided to grow in power and help each other keep other gangs in check. The fights that happened between the Shens and Chois were usually just them messing with each other. 

Yujin’s father explained to his daughter that the box he tasked her to deliver was a glitter bomb. There was still some glitter nestled in Jianyu’s hair. If you really pay attention, you can see it sparkle under the light. The glitter bomb was pay back for the stink bomb planted in Chungho’s car. It smelled so foul. The worst part was the scent had latched on the seats. Chungho had to deep wash his entire car to remove the scent. 

The two fathers separated from each other and took a seat on opposite single couches. They asked one of the servers to pour them some drinks. 

Jianyu twirled the drink in his hand. “It was a low move to involve our daughters”

“The two were bound to meet anyway”. Chungho waved his friend off. 

“I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did. How dare you raise your daughter like that. Mine is completely head over heels for her”. Jianyu pointed at Yujin accusingly, making the girl in question beet red. 

“Dad!”. Xiaoting wanted to disappear. But if she does, who knows what else her father is going to say. She glared at her father, warning him with her eyes to not say more. 

“You talk about my daughter. Look at your own! Buying her a bouquet after a fight. She was all smiles that day!”

“How did you know!?”. Yujin turned to her father, shocked. Her father did see her come home with the flowers in hand but she didn’t tell him who she got it from. She underestimated her father. 

“You might be my brother but I will not hand over my daughter”

“Ha! Who said I will!”

“Are you saying the Shen name is not good enough?”

“You refused the Choi name first!”

It was a relief that there’s no bad blood between them but both girls were drowning in embarrassment. They looked at each other and mutually agreed to get away from their fathers. The pair decided to go to the balcony for some fresh air. They stood side by side enjoying the cool night air.

“So… that happened”, Xiaoting started.

“I can’t believe how embarrassing our fathers are”

“I can’t believe I thought our family hated each other. If I had known, I’d get to know you sooner” 

“Same here. I guess I don’t need to worry about my father finding out about us”. Yujin grimaced at her choice of words. She was getting ahead of herself. There was no ‘us’. They haven’t even talked about their little cold war. 

Xiaoting was quiet for a moment. She turned to the girl next to her, “Yujin, What are we?”

This was it. It was now or never. Yujin's heart was thundering. After a deep breath, she said her piece, “I don’t know. But what I know is that I like you Ting. Maybe more than you know. I don’t know if you feel the same way but I understand if-”. 

Yujin’s words were cut off when she left something soft on her cheeks. She whipped her head around and saw Xiaoting’s face inches away from hers. The girl was smiling, grinning even. 

“I like you too. I thought that was obvious”. Xiaoting raised her eyebrow. She wasn’t as affectionate as Yujin was. She definitely doesn’t go around kissing her friends’ cheeks. Her affections were reserved only for the girl standing in front of her.  

“You missed”

Before Xiaoting could process what the girl said, Yujin had cupped Xiaoting’s jaw and pulled her down for a kiss. Xiaoting was surprised at first but she couldn't help but smile as she returned the kiss. Words couldn’t express the feeling of kissing Choi Yujin. It was an electrifying experience. Her whole body tingled. Her stomach was doing flips. This was a feeling she could never forget. 

They stayed like that for a few seconds before Yujin stepped back with cheeks all rosy. Xiaoting wanted more. She pulled Yujin closer by the waist and the latter circled her arms around Xiaoting’s neck.

“Before I forget, you look beautiful tonight”, Xiaoting kissed Yujin, her now girlfriend, again on the lips. The girl looked absolutely stunning tonight in that sleeveless black dress.

“You should look in the mirror”. Yujin gazed at Xiaoting lovingly. She almost couldn’t believe Xiaoting felt the same. They stood there for a while, enjoying each other's embrace. But their moment was broken when they heard squabbling from inside the room.

“My grandchild will bear the Shen name!”

“No, Choi!”

“Shen!”

Yujin was worried that her face might be permanently red at this rate. With a sigh, Yujin leaned her forehead on Xiaoting’s shoulders, hiding herself. They just started dating and their fathers were already arguing about grandchildren. 

Xiaoting hugged the girl in her arms tighter, “As much as I’d like to kiss you all night, we should go stop them from being so embarrassing”

“Let’s go deal with our hopeless dads”. Yujin broke the hug. With hand-in-hand, they entered the room and scolded their fathers. That night was a night she could never forget. 

 

 

---

 

 

Extra:

Eight girls were gathered at Kep1er. They were going to decide the fate of who would get the privilege of getting treated by the eldest who was running late. At least they were supposed to. Yujin and Xiaoting had other plans. They knew who much the other girls liked teasing them about getting together. As far as they knew, she and Xiaoting were still friends. So, it was time for a little surprise. It was their turn to mess with them.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late”. Truthfully Yujin wasn’t late. She was just waiting outside at the park, waiting for the others to arrive before she and Xiaoting started their little show. 

Some of the girls started throwing complaints. Yujin mumbled apologies and took a seat, on Xiaoting’s lap. That quickly made the others shut up. The confused faces on their friends were a sight to see. Yujin could feel Xiaoting shaking slightly, trying to hold in her laughter. She pinched the girl’s thigh to keep her in character. 

 Xiaoting cleared , “Everyone’s here now. Let’s start!”

Since Xiaoting bailed on them, as Hikaru said, they decided that she would join Yujin’s team to guess their mission. The seven girls started talking about the fun they had at the festival and the stories behind the pictures they sent. Xiaoting would catch some of them looking at her and Yujin with confused faces. Her response was to circle her arms around Yujin’s waist and hug her from behind. This was fun plus she gets to be as clingy as she wants. Double win for Xiaoting.

In the end, Yujin and Xiaoting only got Mashiro’s mission correct. They only got hers correct because Mashiro sent them an unusual video of her dancing in unison with an inflatable tube. Judging by how the girl was burying her face in her arms, the others probably forced her to. The other six were sneaky. For example in Youngeun and Hyyih’s selfie, they could see a tiny Yeseo going ┌( º □ º )┘ in the background. It completely threw them off but it made finding them all the more hilarious. 

Accepting their defeat, Yujin noted down everyone’s order, even Mashiro’s as thanks for keeping the kids in check that night. Dealing with six overactive teenagers was not easy.

“This is going to take a while to order”. Yujin went over her note. Seven customised bubble tea drinks is a tall order. The store wasn’t crowded so at least the employee wouldn’t be judging her too hard.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take half”. Xiaoting gave Yujin a little squeeze and showed that she also had a note of her own.

Yujin turned around and thanked her girlfriend. She gave a look and Xiaoting nodded. Time for the finale. Yujin leaned in and kissed the girl she was sitting on. They stayed like that for a good few seconds and the whole table was silent. Yujin could imagine the surprise on their friends' faces. She got up and pulled Xiaoting along by the hand. She took a glance back at the table. All their friends had their mouths open and eyes wide. A wink thrown their way brought them back to reality. They started getting rowdy again, some complaining at the PDA, some happy for them and some curious when they started dating. The eldest two laughed at them and stuck their tongues out. Today was going to be fun.