Instead of the unfriendly businesswoman who handed us Pookie before, the person who greeted us when we returned him on Saturday was the real owner, the younger sister who was more approachable. She fussed over Pookie, and suddenly, I was a lot less sad than before, knowing Pookie was loved and would surely be taken care of. After saying our goodbyes, Lu Han walked me to the bus stop since it was his neighborhood.

Lu Han was awfully quiet on our way.

I nudged him and raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna cry, are you?" I teased.

I had expected a retort, a comeback of some sort, but Lu Han just sighed and gave a lifeless smile.

My eyes widened in alarm when I realized my remark may not be far from the truth. I didn't think I could handle a crying guy. I looked around for something to cheer him up and found the convenience store we passed before right in front of us.

"Do you want ice cream?" I blurted without thinking, remembering all those times Yoon gave Yoomi ice cream when the latter was in down spirits.

Lu Han looked at me in surprise. He blinked a few times and suddenly covered his mouth with the back of his hand, clearly suppressing a laugh.

"What?" I snapped, the feeling of panic quickly turning to annoyance. I shouldn't have reacted immediately. He was obviously not dispirited.

He bit his lip and shook his head. "I'm sorry. Don't worry. I'm not gonna cry."

I scowled. "What? Who's worrying?" I hurried my steps to outpace him.

"Wait. Yeona, watch out!"

Lu Han's warning came a second too late. A screaming child coming out of the convenience store smacked into me, his ice cream and orange juice splattering and spilling on the front of my shirt. The scream turned to a cry, and to soothe the bawling boy, I went inside the store and bought him another cone of ice cream. He happily went away while I trudged back to where I left Lu Han. He was now sitting under one of the umbrella tables outside the store.

"Yikes. Your shirt just had to be white and that ice cream chocolate. Coupled with the orange juice, it looks just like..." He shook his head and wrinkled his nose.

I growled as I examined the damage. I was busy coaxing the child to stop crying so I didn't really notice the nasty poop-like stain on my shirt. Great, just great.

"You want to change out of that?" Lu Han offered as he stood up and gestured to the direction of their house. "Mei can lend you some clothes."

I pressed my lips together, frowning at him. 

He raised both hands as if in surrender. "I know, I know, but I'm serious. I'm not gonna joke around considering your foul mood." He looked at my shirt again and made a face. "I think that's partly my fault, anyway."

The crease in my forehead deepened. If he was implying that-

"Because I didn't warn you in time," he clarified as if reading my mind. "Not that you were worrying about me or anything." The corner of his lips twitched, and somehow, the repressed smile just annoyed me even more. 

My face must have shown it all since Lu Han immediately schooled his expression to a blank one.

"So..." He cleared his throat. "Let's go?"

The tiny smile he offered was enough to make me realize I was being unnecessarily mean again. There he was, genuinely trying to help, and all I could do was glower at him. Huh, maybe I really was an ice princess.

"Okay," I mumbled, feeling bad about my outburst.

Lu Han's tiny smile stretched to a full-blown grin as if it didn't really matter that I was being difficult and my saying yes was all that did. How he could put up with me was beyond me. We walked in silence, with me stealing glances from time to time in his direction. How did I ever find him hateful before? Lu Han was anything but that. Aside from my initial impression, he was disarmingly calm, unexpectedly chivalrous and... Lu Han's ears suddenly turned red as he met my eyes. I immediately averted my gaze, realizing I was caught.

He suddenly coughed. "We're nearly there," he mumbled, quickening his steps.

I bit back a smile as I revisited my line of thought. He was disarmingly calm, unexpectedly chivalrous, and, most surprising of all, easily flustered. He was a ball of contradictions, and it startled me to realize that I was thinking about how adorable that was.

I slapped both of my cheeks as I hurried to catch up to him. Geez, it was all because he was kind in a situation where I expected him not to be. I really must have no other friends considering how easily moved I was by Lu Han's gesture. It was probably nothing to him.

Lu Han reached their gate first and he stopped outside of it. "I have a confession to make," he suddenly said as I got closer.

I nearly faltered in my last step. "What?"

Lu Han scratched the back of his neck. "The truth is, me inviting you over today was planned. It was just the execution that diverted from the plan."

Oh. That kind of confession. I exhaled. What was I thinking anyway? But more importantly... "What do you mean it was planned?"

"I wasn't thinking about Pookie when we were walking to the bus stop. I was actually trying to figure out how to invite you over without having to embarrass myself."

He still didn't answer. "Why?"

"Okay. This might sound weird, but," he paused, taking a deep breath. 

The suspense was killing me. I wasn't sure if he was doing it on purpose or if he was really just nervous.

He waved his hands around. "My mom wants to meet you." 

That was not what I was expecting. "Why?" I found myself asking again.

This time, a dark look passed over Lu Han's face as he looked to the direction of their door. "Because Mei told her unnecessary things. Tch." As if realizing what he said, he shook his head and gave me a cordial smile. "Nevermind. You don't have to know that." Then he led the way.

Saying that only made me want to know more exactly what Meimei said. I didn't have the chance to ask again because when Lu Han opened the door, a beautiful woman previously sitting on the sofa rose and greeted us.

"You must be Yeona," the woman who I assumed was Lu Han's mom said. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Huh. I've heard that one before. I plastered a polite smile anyway and offered my hand. Instead of shaking it, Lu Han's mom leaned in for a kiss on both cheeks instead. I must have widened my eyes in alarm since Lu Han swooped in and pried his mother away from me.

"Alright. Now you met her so we're good, okay? Uphold your end of the bargain," Lu Han said. Well, more like demanded. "Where's Meimei anyway? We just need to borrow some clothes and we'll be on our way.