Ya Se walked into the home of the Cai sisters that night. He held a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates as he entered. He greeted Yun Han who told him where Wu Xiong was. He thanked her and went to their garden.

Wu Xiong - who was sick - was wrapped in a blanket as she sat on a bench in her garden. She sniffled as she looked at the stars. She sighed. She was feeling a little upset. Ya Se had been spending a lot of time with Yu Yan lately and even though she knew Ya Se loved only her, she missed him. They saw each other all day and ate together at lunch time with Yu Yan and Yun Han but she hadn't had much alone time with him lately. They hadn't gone on many dates either as Ya Se had spent his free time with his brothers investigating the yi neng muggings. She also worried about him. She was worried that he would get hurt whilst investigating and he didn't allow her to join him because he knew it was dangerous. She was worried sick and missed him a lot.

"Will I spend the new year alone?" she asked herself, sadly.
"May I spend it with you?"
Wu Xiong turned around to see Ya Se. A big smile found its way onto her face, "Ya Se!" she beamed. She jumped up from her blanket, letting it fall to the grown, exposing her banana patterned pyjamas, and threw her arms around him. Ya Se smiled and once she had let go of him, he brought out the flowers and chocolates from behind him and presented them to her, "May I have the honour of spending new year's eve with Miss Wu Xiong?" he asked.
Shyly but with a big smile, Wu Xiong nodded. She took the flowers and buried her head into them, inhaling their fresh scent.
"Can I eat them?" she suddenly asked and Ya Se couldn't help but laugh.
"If you want to," he chuckled.

Wu Xiong sat back down on the bench and lifted her feet up and Ya Se wrapped her blanket around her. "Ya Se, I thought you were going to the New Year countdown concert at Taipei 101 with Da Dong and Xiao Yu." she admitted with a small smile.
"How can I leave my girlfriend behind?" he asked her, "If she's sick of course I have to take care of her. Besides, I want to celebrate with you. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
Wu Xiong giggled before putting her head on Ya Se's shoulder, "I missed you," she whispered.
Ya Se smiled and wrapped his arm around her, "I'm sorry, I missed you too," he replied as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

After snuggling with each other and looking up at the stars for a while, they two sat in each other's embrace for a few moments of silence. Wu Xiong then suddenly spoke up, "Ya Se, I'm scared," she said.
"Why?" he asked her.
"I don't want to lose you," she explained, "I'm scared that the situation with the yin neng muggings will get worse - I'm scared that you'll get involved trying to be the hero and get hurt."
Ya Se's lips curled upwards and he hugged his girlfriend tighter, "You don't have to worry about me, Wu Xiong. You're over thinking."
"But you got into an accident the other day," Wu Xiong retorted, "How can I not worry about you when I'm not with you?"
Ya Se didn't reply.
"Ya Se, promise me something," Wu Xiong continued.
Ya Se looked at her eyes, "What is it, Wu Xiong?"
"Promise me that you'll tell me everything and ask me for help - include me in your missions and don't leave me out of your plans." she replied and Ya Se's face fell.
"How can I protect you if I put you in danger?" Ya Se inquired.
"I want to be with you, Ya Se!" Wu Xiong replied, "I'm not weak, Ya Se. I want to fight with you and help you. I want to protect you too! So promise me, please?"
Ya Se sighed and then nodded, "Okay, I promise."
Wu Xiong brought out her hand from her blanket and held out her pinky finger, "Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise," Ya Se promised as he wrapped his pinky around Wu Xiong's and then connected their thumbs.

Ya Se then looked at his watch to see that it was almost midnight. He stood up, "Wu Xiong, wait here," he instructed before quickly rushing off to get something. When he returned, he his something behind his back. "Wu Xiong, close your eyes and count down with me, okay?" he told her.
"Okay!" Wu Xiong covered her eyes with her hands and then the two began counting down from 10.

As soon as they reached 0, several fireworks ripped through the sky and burst into fountains of vibrant colours. "Happy New Year, my dear Wu Xiong!" Ya Se exclaimed and he held out two sparklers in front of him.
"Wow, Ya Se!" Wu Xiong beamed as she admired all the pretty colours in the sky, "It’s beautiful!"
Ya Se smiled and handed her a sparkler. The two began waving their sparklers around and danced in the garden under the starlit sky that was popping with fireworks.

"I love you, Wu Xiong," Ya Se whispered into her ear before pressing his lips against hers.
 

~*~*~

Xiao Yu and Yu Yan had gone to Taipei101 with Da Dong and An Qi to watch the countdown concert and fireworks. Xiao Yu and Yu Yan had planned to stay at home but as it was An Qi's last night in Taiwan they decided to join her to celebrate the New Year.

"Guys, let's get New Year fortune cookies!" An Qi exclaimed as she pointed to a stall that was buzzing with customers.
"Fortunes? I've had enough of fortunes for one day!" Yu Yan huffed.
"I agree," Xiao Yu added, shuddering.
Da Dong gave them weird looks, "Come on it'll be fun!" He grabbed both their arms and dragged them off to the stall.

As they waited in line to get their fortune cookies, the four chatted amongst themselves. "Why are we getting fortune cookies? Those things are faker than actual fortune tellers!" Yu Yan whined as she kicked around a pebble.
"But it's fun!" An Qi replied, "Don't you want to know what the coming year will be like?"
"No, I have no interest." Yu Yan answered, "And I won't be able to read the fortune anyway."
"We can read it for you," Da Dong said before he turned to Xiao Yu, "Hey Xiao Yu, don't you think it's a fun thing to do especially on new year's eve?"
"It's a waste of money," Xiao Yu admitted quietly as he still had not forgotten the fortune teller from earlier on.
"Ha!" Yu Yan smirked, "Even Little Fish is on my side."
"Xiao Yu~!" Da Dong whined and shook him by his shoulders, "Why are you being like this?" he sulked playfully.
"What if you get a negative fortune, where's the fun in that?" Xiao Yu asked.
An Qi shook Xiao Yu as well, "Xiao Yu, don't act like Yu Yan!" she laughed.

"Hey, do you have a problem with the way I act?!" Yu Yan snapped.
An Qi smiled, "Xiao Yu, don't be pessimistic! It's a time to be happy!"
Wang Da Dong put an arm around Yu Yan, "Yu Yan and Xiao Yu are starting to act like each other, they're like a couple!" he joked.
Immediately, both Yu Yan and Xiao Yu burst out into a fit of coughs and gags. They both turned around, facing away from each other.

"Eh? Are you two okay?" Da Dong asked.
"Why would you say such rubbish?" Yu Yan barked, pushing his arm off her.
"I was only joking!" he protested, "Don't bros joke around with each other?"
"Ah, it's our turn!" An Qi piped up as she went to the front of the line.
Wasting no time at all, she bought four large fortune cookies and handed them out to her friends.

Da Dong then looked over at a group of people who were tying their fortunes onto a black string, "What are they doing?" he asked.
"Any bad fortunes you get must be tied onto the black string so that the bad luck doesn't follow you," An Qi explained as she bit into her cookie.
Xiao Yu brought out the strip of paper in his cookie, "So it's a superstitious thing," he muttered.
"Let's share our fortunes!" An Qi suggested as she read hers aloud, "'You will have to accept changes in your life to have a smooth and successful career.'" She pouted, "Aw, this one's boring. It's like the average fortune!"
"Didn't I say it was fake?" Yu Yan questioned.

Xiao Yu looked at his fortune slip: 'When Love gives you its arrow, take the shot or Regret will take its shot at you.'
He blinked several times and reread the sentence over and over again to see if his eyes were just playing with him. When he confirmed that his eyes weren't deceiving him, he sighed and remembered his fortune from earlier that day. Even a stupid cookie is giving me a similar fortune to that fortune teller, he ripped up his fortune slip, in disbelief.

"Hey Xiao Yu, what did you get?" Da Dong asked and Xiao Yu shrugged.
"It was an unlucky fortune," he lied, "Something about being defeated by hardships - I don't know, I didn't really read it."
"Xiao Yu, fortunes aren't things to be taken lightly," An Qi piped up, "You should have tied it to the black string!"
Xiao Yu smiled, "It’s okay, I'm not a superstitious person," he answered.

"Jiang Yu Yan, let's see your fortune!" Da Dong turned to Yu Yan.
"I ate it," she answered bluntly.
"You ate the cookie?" An Qi asked and Yu Yan nodded, "Where's the fortune?"
"I told you, I ate it." she shrugged.
"What? You ate the cookie whole?" Da Dong asked, dumbfounded, "Paper and all?"
Yu Yan stuck her hands into her pocked and shrugged, "Yeah, so?"
The other three sweat dropped at Yu Yan's casual attitude and couldn't help but laugh.

An Qi tiptoed beside Da Dong, trying to peep at his fortune. “What does it say?” she asked.

“‘I’m a little fortune and you have just destroyed my home. Look after me or you’ll have bad luck for ten years!’” he exclaimed before An Qi erupted into giggles.

Xiao Yu looked at his watch and noticed that it was five minutes to midnight. "Jiang Yu Yan," he whispered, looking over at the other two out of the corner of his eye, "Come with me."
Yu Yan turned to him before he grabbed her wrist and quietly led her to a quiet corner.
"What?" she snapped at him.
"Hold out your hands," he told her.
"I can't be bothered with your games," she muttered as she held out her hands.
Xiao Yu placed a small gift bag in her palms, "Happy New Year, Yu Yan," he said, cheerfully.

She blinked and held the bag properly, "What's this? It's not another bagel is it?" she questioned, uninterested.
"It's an MP3 player," he replied, bringing it out of the bag and placing it in her hands.
"What am I supposed to do with it?" she asked.
Xiao Yu smiled and plugged in the earphones before putting a bud into each of her ears. He then took her free hand and placed a finger over the switch, "This is the button that turns it on or off," he explained before moving her fingers to the play button, "This button plays the music," he then moved her fingers to each and every button and told her its function.

"Why'd you get me this?" Yu Yan asked slowly.
"You listen to me play piano every day after school-" Xiao Yu explained.
"How do you know?" she cut him off.
"-so I thought you'd like it if you could listen to piano music wherever you are and whenever you want," he continued nonetheless.
Yu Yan listened to Yi Gen Ren Liu Lang playing on her new MP3 player and she felt something in her stomach flutter. She was touched by Xiao Yu's actions which had been so considerate. She closed her eyes and listened to the song. Though it was a sad song, it felt like a happy one because she was in a good mood. A smile blossomed on her face, "Thanks, I appreciate it," she said.

Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat when he saw her smile and his heart pounded. "It's my pleasure," he replied, "I'm happy that you like it."
"But," Yu Yan paused, "I didn't get you anything for new years."
"You didn't need to," Xiao Yu replied, "I willingly wanted to buy you something, not just because of new year's eve."
"Weren't you talking about new year wishes the other day?" Yu Yan wondered, "What's your wish?"
Xiao Yu turned his back to her, "To be friends with you," he answered as he looked at the crowd counting down to the New Year.

Yu Yan smiled and walked up to him. He looked at her. She walked in front of him and took his hand and shook it, "Ding Xiao Yu," she began as the countdown neared 0, "I, Jiang Yu Yan, acknowledge you as my good friend."
Xiao Yu's eyes widened in shock as the countdown reached 0. "Happy New Year!" Yu Yan beamed, yelling with everyone else.
Xiao Yu felt his breath hitch in his throat and he gulped. He felt some sort of sensation in his heart after being accepted by Yu Yan and seeing her smile so brightly.

Fireworks exploded in the sky and showered everyone in a rainbow of colours. Xiao Yu looked at Yu Yan's face that was lit up by all the different neon colours and he felt his heart pound even more. He felt his breathing become uneven and he became nervous. He gulped as he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her illuminated face that was painted with a rainbow of flashing lights. Oh God, what's happening to me?
 

~*~*~
 

As everyone enjoyed the concert, Yu Yan slipped away from the crowd silently. She then brought out her fortune from her pocket. She had lied about eating it but that was because she didn't want her friends to see her fortune. "Oi you," she grabbed a random man by his shirt.
Terrified, the man looked away from Yu Yan who glared at him. "Calm down, I won't bite you. Just read me my fortune," she snapped and shoved her fortune slip in his face.

Scared, the man nodded and quickly read the slip to himself before reading it aloud, "'You will experience calm before the storm. Cherish the peace you have now because you will need to risk everything for an unlikely happy ending.'" The man looked at Yu Yan's face that had turned dark and cold. "Uh... Classmate, you should tie this on the black string..." he said nervously.
"Bullsh*t!" Yu Yan exclaimed as she grabbed the fortune and tore it up, "Absolute crap. Stupid fortunes are a bunch of lies to mess with people."

Yu Yan clenched her teeth and she sprinkled the torn up pieces of paper on the floor, Why do I feel like this fortune is the most accurate?

Suddenly, an explosion shook the ground. All the flashing lights out. The music stopped. Screams resounded in the air.