A week later, I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t live like this.

“Zelo, we have to go grocery shopping. We’ll starve at this rate.” Zelo looked up from his bowl of cereal crumbs.

“Alright, alright. We can go after breakfast.”

“If that’s what you want to call it.” I went upstairs to get ready.

An hour later I was playing while waiting for Zelo in the living room.

“You ready to go?”, a voice said from the doorway. I looked up to see Zelo wearing a plaid shirt over a white tee, jeans, a newsboy cap and glasses. I couldn’t help but stare. Cute boys who knew how to dress were my weakness. Especially if they looked good in glasses.

“What is it? Think I look hot?”, he said quirking an eyebrow.

“No.” Maybe.

“You do realize we are just going grocery shopping, right?”, I said trying to kill that thought.

“Yeah this is just a casual outfit.”

“Whatever. Let’s just go.”

“The store isn’t that far actually. Let’s walk.”

“Sure.” Great. A chance to scope out the area.

The store was only a twelve minute walk. I grabbed a cart and started to head towards the produce.

“Here. Let me do that.”, said Zelo as he took over pushing the cart. As we wandered through the store I kept getting ideas for dishes I could make, Before I knew it, the cart was almost full.

“You know we could always come back to the store like next week, right?”, Zelo said.

“I can’t help it. I like having options.”

“Well you have enough options for like a month.”

“We-” I had to stop myself from saying that between the two of us and our appetites this food would be gone in no time. As if I thought I would be here long enough to eat all this food.

“Well it’s not even that much. A lot of it is just all this junk food you’ve been trying to sneak into the cart.”, I said instead.

“You noticed, huh?”

“I don’t know how you’re so tall when you don’t even eat properly.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just have you cook me wholesome meals, then.”

“I thought I was a princess, not a maid.”

“Oh? Do you actually like that name?”, he grinned.

“What? No. Of course not. Let’s go checkout.”

When we got home, I started to head upstairs after putting away all the groceries.

“Hey, princess. Do you want to watch Step Up with me?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never watched it before.” I said hesitantly.

“Never?! We need to fix that right away. It’s a great movie.” Zelo sounded apalled. I hesitated for another second.

“It’s better than being cooped in your room and we can even make popcorn. There’s buttered and chocolate drizzled.”

“..can we have both?”

“Is that a yes?”, he said hopefully. I didn’t answer. Instead I walked over to the couch.

“Where’s the popcorn? This movie better be as good as you say it is.” We settled in on the couch with our bowls of popcorn and Mochi. I found myself engrossed in the movie. I became invested in Tyler and Nora. The dance scenes were great especially when they combined different dance styles. I had a special appreciation for dancers, since dancing was one of things I found the hardest to do. Before I knew it, the credits were rolling.

“Well, what did you think?”, Zelo asked eagerly.

“I actually liked it. I liked Tyler and Nora as characters. They weren’t dumb and seemed like actual people. The dancing was awesome, too.”, I admitted. Zelo’s face brightened.

“Exactly! This was one of my favorite movies growing up. It inspired me to be a dancer when I grew up.” At the last part, his eyes turned sad. They spoke of a sadness and loss deeper than the ocean. That look was as familiar to me as the skyscrapers in Hong Kong. Almost against my will, my hand rose to cup his cheek.

“Does this life make you happy?”, I asked.

“It’s too late for me.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“It doesn’t matter how I feel.”

“Everyone deserves a chance to be happy. Even people like us.” We stared at each other for a minute. Then, I realized I was still cupping his cheek. I pulled my hand away.

“I’m hungry. I’ll make you a great meal since you showed me a great movie. Just wait a bit.” I said as I stood up to go the kitchen. Before I left, I heard him whisper a thank you.

An hour later, dinner was ready. This was the first time I actually cooked a real dinner for both of us. Before we only had food that was fairly easy to prepare or take out. I decided to go all out. I made a Chinese style dinner with roasted duck, lemongrass spare ribs, baby bok choy, and sauteed green beans with shrimp in a black bean garlic sauce.

“This looks and smells great!”

“Of course, I made it after all.” I said half-jokingly.

“Thanks for the food.” He said before he dug in. He looked so happy eating my food. I felt a warm tingly sensation in  my stomach. Oh no.

After dinner I hurried upstairs to call Sunny.

“Hello?”

“Sunny, I’m in trouble.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need to leave. Soon.”

“I thought you were going to wait it out. Lull them into a false sense of security and everything.”

“I’m running out of time. I-I think I’m falling for him. If I wait too long I won’t want to come back.”, I admitted.

“Is that really a bad thing?”, she asked softly.

“If only I wasn’t me and he wasn’t him. I can’t lose anyone else to this life. It’s nothing but pain. You know better than anyone else what this life means to me.”

“I know. I just want to see you happy.”

“I will be.” Sunny sighed.

“Alright. So we have a few contacts in the city. I’m sending their information to you. They can help you.”

“Thanks Sunny. Anyway, how are things in Hong Kong?”

We stayed up talking until 2 AM. I missed her and Hong Kong so much. Soo I told myself. I'd see them again soon.