THE LIBRARY CLOSES ON 8 PM, and we've finished our thing on 6—or more likely my thing and not his, because he's finished his way before that.

I'm super tired, that I have no energy to stop by any restaurant to actually have a dinner.

I've begged him so much not to force me to get out of his car, to the point that he must've felt annoyed, so he came up with a great idea; we ordered fast foods from a drive thru service.

"Thanks, like a lot. I initially intended not to eat at all and just sleep."

He purses his lips.

I'm blinking many times—because he's looking.... cuter.

"Can't you stop that?"

"Stop what?" He turns to me.

"Nothing." I grab his burger and open the paper for him. "How about stopping the car there to eat this?"

"No, we're going to arrive really late if we do that." He sighs. "I know I'm going to be fine regardless, but I don't think you are." He's mumbling, but I can hear him clearly.

"You don't have to do that. Who am I, anyways. Haha. Never sacrifice your hunger for people like me."

"What do you mean with people like you?"

"I guess I'm actually talking about everyone." I start making no sense. Shut up. "Forget it. I'll just help you to eat this."

I gently shove the burger to his mouth so he can have a bite. I keep doing that while also giving him few sips of his drink in between.

---

"It's fascinating that you're still awake." He blurts.

"Is it supposed to be a compliment? It doesn't sound like one."

He chuckles.

"Listen. I said I'm sorry that I fell asleep that time, ok? Move on."

"Listen. I was only giving you a statement, ok? Move on." He's mocking me.

" you."

"You know, Xiao Gui, I've been saying you to you too often, that I don't feel bad for saying that lately."

"Is it bad?"

I groan while rolling my eyes.

 

"Are we there yet?"

"We're probably 1 to 2 hours away from your place."

Maybe I should find something to distract myself from burning.

I haven't eaten my burger yet, because Xiao Gui didn't finish his own burger—or more likely he couldn't. He only ate half then gave up. I finished it for him, instead. Am I really the girl here?

I slide my burger until half of it is out from the paper bag. I put a chilli sauce, then take a huge bite.

"You're still hungry?" He asks.

"Not really. I just love burgers." I take another bite. "They make people happy."

---

"You said we're just like me and Yuxi."

"I wonder, why am I less annoyed everytime I'm with her, unlike with you."

"Perhaps... you should try to stop getting annoyed when you're with me?"

Crap.

"Are you 216 or something? You're such a genius." I said that in a flat tone.

"So you watched Jimmy Neutron." He chuckles. "But no, I'm not."

I scoff, "You're right that the problem is clearly in me and not you." I take another bite.

As I'm chewing, I can't stop thinking about why I tend to get so worked up with him. Is it true that the problem is in me and not him?

It's possible that he's annoying to girls because he never had a girlfriend. Although I don't really buy that.

"Did you really never have any girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Stop repeating that already."

"How about close friends that are girls, or sisters?"

"You?"

What?

So I'm your friend.... or sister.

"Other than me, of course."

"I did. A sister."

"Really? That's new."

"We grew up together. Her dad and my dad were best friends, so we didn't have any choice but to stick together."

"Why did you say you did have that? She... died?"

"No. We just haven't interacted much, I guess."

"If she's like a sister to you and you're also like a brother to her, it doesn't make sense that you don't interact anymore. Unless—"

"She moved to another country?"

"No. Forget it."

 

I gasp then turn to him.

"One of you got weirded out and started to act.... weird?"

He chuckles, uneasily.

"Just what do you mean by that." He scoffs.

"Did she...." I blink a few times.

 

"Did she start having feelings for a certain guy? I mean, I think it's possible that she'd feel weird around you. You're a guy, and you're not related to her."

"But after some time, once she got the guy, she'd stop acting weird."

He doesn't say a thing, but wets his lips instead.

"Was it you that she liked?" I gasp, then cover my mouth with my hands.

"Or you liked her."

He squints.

"Ok, calm down."

---

"She kind of said that she liked me." He mutters.

"I knew it!" I nod to congratulate myself.

"So she's your first—"

"What? No!"

"Really? First kiss?"

He twitches his face while pressing his eyes shut.

"I take that back. You don't have to answer. Chill, ok?" I murmur, "It must had felt so annoying. Because you really thought of her as a sister."

He clears his throat.

"So how did you meet your famous friend?" He asks.

"Why do you want to know about that? Do you like her?"

 

He groans. "I told you about my sister, and were you into her?"

"They're totally different things." I roll my eyes. "But since you're pretty good in twisting my brains and I'm tired, so.... alright." I sigh.

"You know I told you about the gossip website in my high school. The admin position's shifted every year. They always held a certain audition for that."

"The girl who liked me but didn't realize it yet—so I had to call her scary—and Yuxi, aimed to get the position. Yuxi was like an angel sent by God because she always persevered to post the truth. Meanwhile, the scary girl was the complete opposite."

"Not only that, she mostly posted fabricated stuff about me. How annoying, right? Yet everybody always bought her. Except Yuxi and.... yeah that's it."

"But I'm still lowkey thankful that her posts brought Yuxi and I together."

I take another bite, then a sip from my drink. "Ugh, . It's tasteless."

"Of course, it's melted already." He sticks his tongue out.

"Thanks, Mr. Obvious."

---

I bet, he's the one who cut the "sister" off from his life.

It's likely that he still feels weird to have any girl around by now. Flashback to how he said he never had a girlfriend, and even a close friend that's a girl other than.... me.

He will soon cut me off from his life too, then?

Wait, my theory is confusing me.

"Can we stay being friends, by the way?" I blurt.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Nothing." I take another sip, then twitch my whole face.

Stupid. You know it's tasteless.

"." I stick my tongue out. "Can we just drop this somewhere!?"

He chuckles, then he shakes his head.

"Give it to me, I'll throw that there."

He grabs my ing tasteless drink, then throws it into a garbage can nearby.

---

"So, what I was talking about, is that... what if your situation with me turns to be like you and your ex-sister?"

Why am I asking that to him..

Have I fallen for him.... like her?

But we don't have any brother-sister relationship. I'm only a friend.

A random friend.

He blinks many times with furrowed eyebrows. "Stop asking weird stuff already, ok?"

"I just can't help but wondering, that maybe you'll cut me off from your life, too?"

He actually drives his car to the corner and stops there.

"Listen," He stares right into my eyes.

I gulp.

"It's different, ok? Clearly, you're a different person. There's nothing the same about my situation with her and with you. I really thought of her as my sister."

What do you think of me, then?

 

He turns back to the road and starts his engine.

"Just how did you get that idea." He mumbles.

Is it just me, or he really hasn't answered my question yet?

I need some time to think.

---

We've finally arrived in front of my apartment.

I turn to him.

"Hey, thanks a lot for the ride."

"Also thanks for the hotel, the burgers, you listening to my rants, well.... everything."

"I'm glad that we can still be friends, regardless." I grab my phone, then open the door beside me.

But suddenly, I close it back.

"That's really what you mean, right? You're not going to cut me off?"

"Are you really curious about that?"

"Dude, I won't ask if I'm not."

"But why?"

"Maybe after I hear your answer, I'll know—"

He suddenly holds my cheek and starts looking at my face. He's like scanning my whole face.

I... flinch.

He looks extra everything from this side; extra soft, extra handsome, extra cool—I can't think of more terms in this position.

 

Wait, why are his eyes on my lips?

It's going to be super random if he—

He leans in, starts kissing my bottom lip for a brief while, then he pulls away.

"Wha—"

"You had chili sauce there."

 

How to actually buy that?