The following day was Saturday, and Tao woke up feeling excited and refreshed. The sun was shining and he had plans to head over to Xiumin's and play video games.

But something was off.

A nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach ... what was it? Some weird, dark omen.

"PANDA!!!"

Tao jumped and shrieked as his bedroom door slammed open and a cute girl with a permanent scowl on her face stormed inside.

"W-wha --" then it all came back to him. Yesterday. The motorcycle slamming into his living room. The crazy chick who tried to kill him. The unbelievable mission to find a crime lord's child. Hacking into his school. And, ultimately, getting into a street fight with a bunch of thugs said crime lord hired.

This girl was known simply as Ming, a name Tao had no idea if it was real or not. And she was living with him due to some wild sob story she managed to convince his parents with.

"W-what are you doing here?" Tao squeaked, feeling mortified that a GIRL was in his room. A girl he found cute, no less.

"The sun is up and you're still in bed!" Ming yelled. "Wake up, panda! Triple-Zero agents do not tolerate wasting daytime! Get up, c'mon! Let's go! ... and put on a shirt."

Then she walked away.

Tao glanced down at himself. He was wearing his usual pyjamas ... which was just boxers.

Tao's face turned a cherry red; he grabbed his pillow, buried his face into it, and roared.

*♦*

"It's about time, panda-boy," Ming snorted as Tao grumpily came down the steps a few minutes later, wearing a T-shirt and ripped jeans and ruffling his messy, unbrushed hair. 

"You know, if you're going to stay in this house, we have to establish boundaries!" Tao complained. "One of them is not to come into my room without permission!"

"Why?" Ming asked, eating an apple with her feet up on the table and flipping through a newspaper as though she did this every day.

"B-because ..." Tao blustered. "Because a girl shouldn't be barging into a guy's room, okay? If they aren't related! It's n-not ... I mean ..."

"What? Is this all because you were half-?"

Tao blushed again. "T-that is ... wait a minute! Why am I the one getting all shy and embarrassed about this? Shouldn't YOU be doing that?"

"Oh, please, stop being so melodramatic." Ming rolled her eyes as she crunched on the apple. "What's the big deal? It's not like I haven't seen a guy shirtless before."

"W-what?" Tao felt his face heat up even more. "A-are you really t-that kind of p-person?"

"What?" Ming stared at the poor boy as he edged away from her, staring at her in horror. "No ... oh, for god's sakes! I didn't mean it THAT way, you idiot! In Triple-Zero, we don't really care. Kris and Lay have gone shirtless through their training plenty of times. If you think it's awkward, you should have seen France and their beaches."

"T-t-t-they're ... t-they're ..." Tao stammered, his face so red he was practically steaming from the ears.

Ming slapped a palm over her face. "Okay, whatever. Anyway, why were you sleeping in so late? Doesn't school start soon?"

"Huh? It's Saturday. We don't go to school until Monday."

Ming blinked at him, frowning slightly. "Why?"

Tao couldn't believe it. "Y-you ... are you serious?"

"What's with that face, panda? You mocking me?" Ming's eyes began to turn sharp.

"N-no, not at all!" Tao waved his hands desperately. "I-it's just that ... I-I mean ... everyone knows you don't have school on the weekends, which is Saturday and Sunday. Haven't you ever been to school?"

"No," Ming retorted. "I've lived in Triple-Zero ever since I was six years old, we don't have these weird 'weekend' things you talk about."

Tao felt his exasperation die down a little bit. "You ... never had a day off? On ... training, or whatever?"

"Nope." Ming returned her slightly troubled gaze back to the newspaper in front of her. "Never. Can't afford to waste even a day slacking off. If you aren't prepared ... you'll die."

Tao gulped at the hidden menace in her voice. He kept forgetting that this girl never knew the life HE lived in. "I ... I'm sorry ..."

"Dummy," Ming snorted and threw the apple core at him. It bounced off his forehead. "What're you apologizing for? Okay, so on Saturdays and Sundays you don't have school. What do you do then?"

"Oh, I, uh, was going to go to Xiumin's house and play video games." Tao stared to mumble. For a second, he wished Ming wouldn't come. Then he felt bad for even thinking that. "Um, do you want to come?"

"No, thanks," Ming said, staring at the newspaper again. "I'm going to scope out the city, try and spot anybody suspicious. We shouldn't have knocked out all those goons yesterday, I could've gotten information out of him."

"You sure you don't want to come?" Tao pressed. Did she even know what video games were?

"I have better things to do."

Tao peered over her shoulder. "You're ... reading an orbituary."

"Course. The best place to look for mafia crimes in a newspaper? Look at the people who's died. Sometimes there are important faces ... to us, anyway." Ming tossed away the newspaper. "Nothing today."

"You ... you're sure you'll be all right by yourself?" Tao said nervously. He didn't even know why he felt so guilty leaving her alone. "I mean, Xiumin will be so happy to see you come ... and I know Chen will be pleased ... and even Luhan ..."

"Hang out with you and your weird friends? No thanks, I have bigger problems," Ming said carelessly.

Tao felt crushing disappointment -- maybe because he honestly thought she thought of them as friends. He felt the tears start to well up again. "B-b-b-but ..."

And that's how Ming found herself grumpily standing in front of Xiumin's house with Tao.

"I hate you."

"I-I'm sorry --"

"DAMMIT STOP APOLOGIZING FOR EVERYTHING!!! JESUS, GROW SOME BALLS, YOU STUPID SCAREDY-PANDA!!!"

The door opened, and Xiumin was there, beaming brightly. 

"Knew you'd bring her along, Tao!" He said, giving his friend an impish grin and causing Tao to frown (or rather, pout childishly) at him. "Don't bother knocking, I could hear Ming's sweet voice half a block away."

Ming blushed and scowled at them both. "Shut up!"

"Anyway, c'mon in!" Xiumin gestured for them to go inside. His room looked comfortable and cheerful, but disturbingly neat for a home containing a teenage boy.

"What do you think, Ming?" Xiumin said cheerfully as they headed upstairs towards his room. "Better than Tao's, eh?"

"W-what makes you think she's seen m-my house?" Tao stammered in a hushed whisper. What if Xiumin found out?

"Oh, come on. You two are practically joined at the hip right now. There's NO way she hasn't been to your house yet. Does your mother approve?"

"Shut up!"

Ming looked around. "It's ... pretty. But why is it so neat?" Even Tao's house had the occasional dropped coat or leftover coffee mug, or a dusty shelf somewhere. Xiumin's house was literally spotless.

"Ah, that's ... nothing." Xiumin rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkward and embarrassed.

"Xiumin has --" Tao started to say, before Xiumin quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. It was hard work with Tao being so tall.

"Okay, we're here!" Xiumin opened the door to his bedroom. It too was spotless and tidy, with the bedcovers perfectly made and everything put away in boxes or on hooks. Luhan and Chen were already there, eyes glued to a small television screen and smashing frantically at video game consoles.

"Hey, Tao and Ming are here!" Xiumin said. The two boys didn't react.

"Hey!"

Ming stared at them, looking horrified. "How come they don't hear us? Is this some kind of drug? Like the ones developed in the Minnisleysi labratories in Iceland?"

Tao stared at her. "The what labratories?"

"It's Icelandic, don't mention it."

"Woah!" Xiumin's eyes widened. "You can speak Icelandic? Awesome!"

"Just little knowledge," Ming said, looking embarrassed at his praise. "But what's wrong with them?"

"They're fine, Ming," Tao said with a little smile. "They're just hypnotized by the game. Video games tend to do that."

With a sudden yell from Luhan, their attention returned to the two boys. 

"Darn, I lost again! Chen, you're too good at this!" Luhan frowned and elbowed Chen, who laughed. Chen looked up as if he only just noticed them. "Oh! Tao! And Ming too!"

"Hey, guys," Luhan said with a smile. "You invited Ming along, too, Tao? Thought so."

"What do you mean --" Tao started to say heatedly, before turning to glare at Xiumin, who was looking the other way and whistling suspiciously. "XIUMIN!! WHAT LIES WERE YOU TELLING LUHAN GEGE??!!!"

"Would you like to play, Ming?" Chen said with a peaceful smile, handing her the console. Ming stared at it. "What ... how do I use this?"

"You've never played on an Xbox before?"

"Nope."

"Here, I'll show you." Ming sat down next to Chen and he showed her the different buttons and joysticks. "Think you can handle it?"

"Of course!" Ming huffed, refusing to back down. All Triple-Zero agents stand up to a challenge!

"Okay, we'll play. You can choose your character here."

After a few confusing tries, Ming slowly got the hang of it and began to fight. That didn't stop her from losing, though.

"Dammit! Let me try again!"

"It's okay, Tao, I'm proud of you. You've finally grown out of your adolescent phase ..."

"Luhan gege, it's not like that! Xiumin, what did you tell him?!"

"CHEN ARE YOU CHEATING? HOW CAN YOU WIN NO MATTER WHAT?! YOU'RE NOT EVEN TRYING!!!"

"Just admit it, Tao, you've got the hots for M --"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!!! XIUMIN, YOU MEANIE!!!"

"Why are you guys all yelling so much?" Someone suddenly said.

Ming stopped arguing with Chen and turned to look at the person who just came through the door. It was a cute little girl with her hair in two pigtails. She had round eyes and chubby cheeks just like Xiumin.

"Luxi, what are you doing here?" Xiumin said, looking grumpy for some reason. "Get lost, I'm hanging out with my friends!"

"You guys are making so much noise, gege," Luxi said, wrinkling her nose. "And I wanted to borrow your crayons."

"They're on the top shelf. And knock next time!"

Ming turned to Chen and whispered, "Does Xiumin have a bad relationship with his sister? He seemed really annoyed just now."

"Of course not. Xiumin pretty much dotes on Luxi. He's just annoyed that she barged in on him and his friends. Don't you have siblings?"

Ming shook her head, confused. "No ..." In Triple-Zero, there weren't any such things as sibling bonds, and none of this weird bad/good relationships either.

There was a sudden crash that made everybody jump. Luxi stood there looking guilty and vaguely pleased, the large box of crayons and markers spilled everywhere. "Oops."

Ming didn't think it was such a big deal. All they had to do was put them back in, right?

But Xiumin completely FLIPPED.

"LUXI, YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!!! YOU BRAT!!!"

Xiumin dashed towards the mess and began frantically putting them back in. "WHAT IF IT LEAVES MARKS ON THE CARPET?! I'LL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT, LUXI!!! GET LOST!!!"

Luxi grinned and grabbed a handful of crayons anyway, sticking out her tongue before running off.

"Sorry, you probably don't know about Xiumin yet, do you?" Luhan said with an easygoing, charming smile. "Xiumin has OCD."

"Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?"

"Where else will you find a house so impeccably neat? Xiumin can handle it when he's outside, but he freaks out if his own home is messy."

"He's a neat freak, basically," Tao added with a satisfied smile.

"That's what you get for teasing Tao so much, Baozi," Luhan added as Xiumin carefully put the box back on the top shelf, then edged it a bit so it was exactly in line.

"Shut up! You were teasing him too, Luhan!" He ran out of the room before returning with a wet cloth.

"He really does his job thoroughly," Ming observed. "But -- hey, that's not what I was talking about before! Chen, are you cheating or something? You can't possibly win every single game!"

Chen blinked innocently at her. "Maybe you're just bad at it?"

This guy acts just like Lay, Ming thought furiously. All innocent and angelic on the outside ...

"Um, I don't know what you're thinking about ..." Tao started to say hesitantly. "But I can guess. Chen really IS like that. He's just insanely good at video games."

"Weird considering he's the peacemaker, huh?" Luhan chuckled and ruffled Chen's short hair. "But I'm surprised you've never seen a video game console before, Ming."

"H-huh?" Ming felt her cheeks start to heat up. "N-no, what are you talking about? I just don't know it all too well, that's all ..."

"You were looking at it like you've never seen it before."

Ming shook her head frantically. "N-no, really, I ... uh ..."

Tao couldn't help but smile. It seemed like he wasn't the only one learning new things lately. Ming may have shown him the darker side of the world, but maybe he could show her HIS world too. Maybe, just maybe ...