"HEY, WAKE UP."

I start rubbing my eyes with my hands. And as I do that, various cars parked around us appear in sight.

"Wait, what time is it?" I ask him.

"Almost midnight. I guess."

He's been driving by himself all the way?

What the heck is going on with me?

"Did I sleep for a long time?"

"You fell asleep when we're talking."

I groan. I'm annoyed to myself.

 

"Sorry." I sigh. "Something happened yesterday, so I kind of couldn't get a proper sleep—"

"It's cool, though. You seemed really tired." He grins.

"Let's just go to our room."

Our room??!?

"Wait, you rented one room, only?"

"Umm, yes?" He tilts his head.

"It's not like we haven't been in the same room anyway."

"We clearly haven't." I glare at him.

"Wait, don't say that we actually did that night?"

"Y-yes.... but not like what you're thinking. I was on the couch. I never did anything without permission from the other party—" He suddenly pauses, then gulps.

 

You're making me feel more uneasy, mister. Spill it.

"Listen, the room is like a tiny apartment, so you'll not feel like it's only one room." He gets out of his car.

He mutters, "I'm a good guy, chill." He takes out my backpack and his travel bag, then starts walking to the hotel.

 

What if, I'm not worrying about you, but myself.

Wait, what?

---

This is seemingly a 6-starred hotel, or more. Has a 7-starred hotel been invented today? Sorry, I'm clueless about many things. I don't think I can afford a room for myself here. Even the cheapest one.

Literally everyone keeps on greeting Xiao Gui with, "Enjoy your stay, Mr. Wang." And they're all bowing to him—or us, because I'm walking right beside him.

I don't think regular customers get this kind of treatment.

Don't say he owns this place.

---

"Hey, I'll just sleep outside." I tell him.

"Are you kidding? There's no bed outside!" He looks worked up.

"Dude. I'm talking about sleeping on that couch." I'm eyeing the couch nearby.

So the room he rents really resembles a fancy apartment, and it's definitely not tiny. It has its own kitchen, living room, bathroom and of course, bedroom. But too bad, there's only one for each. Well, obviously?

"You're the girl, remember? I should be on the couch. Anyway, no buts."

" you." I roll my eyes. "I'm well aware that I have no butts going on, but you really don't have to say that out loud." I squint.

He starts snickering like he's coughing.

"I said, no buts. B-U-T-S." He bursts into laughter.

I walk to the couch and drop myself on it.

"You're not going to change your clothes?"

"Why should I?" I scoff.

It's a lot of work if I have to change my clothes before sleeping in trips. I'm talking about packing more clothes then having more laundries later at home.

He lets out a heavy sigh—really heavy that I can hear him from here.

"I feel like I'm having a sleepover with a guy. Boring."

"Shut up. Just give me one of the pillows."

I get off of the couch.

"If you dare tricking me to go inside, I'll seriously perform some ing physical assault on you!"

"I'm looking forward to that!!" He yells.

 

Wait that doesn't sound right.

---

"AAAAARRGHH!!!!" I'm not groaning, but . He just threw the pillow to my body, right on the stomach.

I drop myself to the couch, curling, eyes pressed. I can't seem to stop the s, and he notices it.

He walks to me. "Hey ugly, what's up?"

He looks genuinely concerned.

But sorry I can't give a because I'm busy. I try to breathe slowly, hoping my body will feel more relaxed and somehow adapt to the pain.

"Hellooo?" He asks in an overdue tone, while lightly shaking my arm.

"No--thing..." I bite my bottom lip.

I'm clearly not in the proper condition to talk, you see?

"Just go back to your bed, please." I mumble.

"You sure?" He blinks few times.

"So now is it your hand, your stomach or.... your chest?"

 

"GO BACK TO YOUR ING BED!!!" I scoff.

"Uh.... alright. Scream if you need me, ok?"

I sigh.

"Yea, yea, thank you. Go." I mutter.

And he finally leaves.

---

This ing stomach is still hurting me. I'm trying to breathe through my mouth, so I won't moan loudly and sound like I need Xiao Gui.

It currently feels like the pain is mad for being buried for too long, so now it wants to show the world that it's still there, and that it doesn't deserve to be buried anymore—pray for my logic.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Just in time, my phone buzzes for some texts from Yuxi.

Yuxi: In case you and him are in the middle of something and you don't want your hand or your stomach to interrupt, the doctor gave you some blue pills to prevent the stomach from acting up. Remember, blue for stomach, the usual for your hand.

Yuxi: Have fun! 😁👍👍

Yuxi: One per day, ok? Don't forget to cry everything out on him if anything happens (I'm also available, but please unsee this)

What the ?

I chuckle, weakly, then slowly grab my bag to find the pill she's talking about.

---

I woke up on the couch this morning, shockingly. Glad he's a man of his words—or he's just scared of me.

"Sorry, that I was really annoying last night." I blurt.

We're currently in his car, on our way to the library.

"Yeah, you really were."

I squint and purse my lips into a pout. Thank you.

He chuckles.

"Actually, I was the one who threw the thing and I think, I haven't really apologized for that. I'm sorry."

"So, can I ask you about... what happened to you?"

I wet my lips.

"Well... on Friday, something hit me right there. Very annoying, in summary."

I think I have this talent of making any long story into a super short one, and it's still able to leave an impact, right?

"Something?"

"Human's foot."

"Just what did you do that day?"

I sigh. "Can we not talk about it?"

He flashes his eyebrows.

And as I see a coffee shop nearby, I shift the topic, "Aren't you hungry? I'll get us something."

He drives his car to the corner and stops there.

---

"Here." I hand him a cup of coffee and a chocolate frosted donut.

"Wow, ugly, thanks!"

"I don't know what you like, so I asked the waiter the things college guys buy, then randomly chose from them."

"Pffftt..." He's giggling.

"Why?" I ask.

"You could've texted me."

"That's a lot of work."

"Seriously. It'd be a lesser work if you texted me, you know." He takes a bite on his donut.

"So you don't want that? Spit it out."

"Calm down, ugly. Even I don't usually get these, but I'm down for everything." He winks at me.

Ugh.

---

So we're already inside the library.

He asked me to make few questions that I expected will appear on his exam, and I did. But before I gave them to him, I told him to read some books I recommended.

I did say that I study on Google, but it actually meant I study from e-books and e-journals there. I know what stuff to read if one wants to pass this class.

I'm currently waiting for him to finish all the books, while I'm doing my review. He's sitting right in front of me.

I've taken my usual medicine as an early prevention. Just saying.

"Ok, you may read the questions." I give him the paper.

"Can I still go back to the book, while answering the questions?"

I roll my eyes. "Alright, whatever."

---

Almost an hour later,

"Are you done with the review?"

"I haven't even read half of the book yet." I take a peek on him. "Wait, you're done?"

"I guess." He hands his sheet to me. "See it yourself."

So I read the answers.

"This is actually good." I turn to him and smile. "You'll seriously pass—" I pause. I allowed you to read the books while answering.

I let out a heavy sigh.

"I think, you need to finish reading all the books, for real. Because obviously you can't open them while re-taking the exam later."

He wets his lips and furrows his eyebrows.

"Hey, you don't need to finish them today like me, right? The professor hasn't even announced the date yet."

"It's alright. I don't think I have another time to study anyway. I'll just finish them today."

"Jia you, jia you! You clearly have the needed capabilities and I'm not kidding." I guess.

He chuckles.