Alysha's POV:

While dragging her feet back to her place, Alysha took a few deep breaths to clear her mind from worry. Three months were wasted just because she misunderstood what her supervisor had told her. Shaking her head slowly, she recalled back her meeting with her supervisor.  ‘I have wasted so many hours to satisfy him.  All of it has gone down the drain just like that.  I am so tired…’

She has just came back from a meeting with her supervisor, discussing about her new set of questionnaires before she distribute them. It was a very long and tiring discussion due to the fact that she had stayed up until late last night finalizing the questionnaires, missing her dinner and breakfast in the process.

Shivering and hugging herself to keep herself warm against the cold wind, Alysha pictured herself cuddled on the comfortable futon; under her warm, fuzzy blanket and most heavenly, catching up with her sleep after a bowl of ramen. Smiling, she made a note to herself to definitely do all of those once she arrived home.

Just as she was about to stride faster, her hand phone beeped, notifying her of a new message. Alysha hastily grabbed the Nokia hanging on her neck with a wide smile.  She have been using that phone so much the past few days that it became her first phone rather than her FOMA, despite that she was currently in Japan. 

Like always, even before looking at the screen, Alysha could make a wild guess who was the sender.  For the past 4 months, Vic and her have been very close friends over the numerous SMS, MMS and video messages, not forgetting a few phone calls when time and money permitted that is. It all started after the first, simple SMS she sent to Vic, teaching him how to greet good morning in Japanese.  Still smiling, Alysha stopped walking and stood at the side of the road, holding her hand phone up. She was greeted by a familiar smiling face.

“Ohayou Gozaimasu, Alysha-san,” Vic said, followed by a hearty laugh. “Did I pronounce it correct this time?” he asked with that charming smile Alysha found very disturbing yet at the same time very warming. Alysha unconsciously smiled and nodded her approval to the screen. “But it’s lunch time now,” she mumbled.

In the video, Vic darted his gaze to his left, failing to hide his jolly smile. “Guess where I am now,” Vic said once his attention was back on the screen. Vic’s face disappeared and was replaced by a very familiar scenery. With wide opened mouth, loud gasp and accompanied by her big bulging eyes, she looked with disbelieve at the screen. “It’s...” she whispered.

“I’m waiting for you here. Don’t be late,” warned Vic lightly, gritting his teeth and rubbing his upper arm with his free hand. “It’s... Cold... Very cold... Here...” he stuttered the message and ended it with a fake shiver.

Alysha shook her head, chuckling and mumbling, “Always the naughty Vic,” she said to herself. When she replayed the message, Alysha narrowed her eyes to stare intensely at the screen. The autumn bared sakura trees confirmed her initial guess. Vic was here. In Japan. At the park.

Without hesitating or having any second thought, Alysha turned around, heading straight towards the park. The silly smile on her face and the excitement glitter in her eyes were easily spotted by those she passed by was totally incomparable to the summersault of her fast pounding heart right at that moment.  She’s going to meet Vic…

~~~*~~~*~~~

Vic's POV:

Cold was one of his worst fears. Japan was colder today than the last time he was here. It was probably because of the changed season. The jacket he was wearing was not thick enough to stop the cold breeze from reaching inwards to his sensitive skin. Tugging his jacket tighter, Vic rubbed his hands together and blew his breath in his clasped hand to warm them.

Arriving early this morning, Vic contacted Alysha’s mobile only to be transferred to her voice mail. Not fond of talking to the voice mail, Vic didn’t leave any message but kept on trying without any success. Frustrated, he took a nap after a light breakfast. It was after the nap that Vic decided to stroll on the park and asked Alysha to meet him there, knowing that this might be his only free time before his hectic schedule started tomorrow.

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Alysha's POV:

Spotting Vic sitting on the same bench where they have met 4 months ago, Alysha stopped running. Panting for breath, she tried to calm her fast beating heart. After she straightened her tousled hair, she walked towards the bench with poise, eager to meet Vic again.

“Sumimasen,” she greeted Vic from behind him. “Anata wa hitoride desu ka?” she asked, shyly.

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Vic's POV:

Hearing someone spoke to him in Japanese, Vic quickly recalled every word Alysha taught him. Guessing right only for ‘sumimasen’ which meant ‘excuse me’, Vic turned around to tell the person who greeted him, in Mandarin, since he couldn’t figure out how to say it in Japanese or English, that he doesn’t understand what the person was talking about. “Alysha!” Vic gasped and jumped up from the bench when he saw her behind him.

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Alysha's POV:

Flashing Vic a shy smile, Alysha nodded her head politely at him and put up her hand to wave at him. “Hello,” she said, not knowing what else to say to him for suddenly she felt awkward and nervous meeting him.

‘He looks cuter than in the video,’ Alysha told herself, trying not to keep on staring at Vic. But with his jacket worn over a light grey jumper, coupled with a khaki and black woolens scarf around his neck, Vic looked dashing and it was hard for Alysha to move her eyes away from him.

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Vic's POV:

Although he was eager to meet Alysha, when he was finally face to face with her, Vic was tongue-tied. Waving back at Alysha with his cute grin permanently fixed on his face, he felt very lost. The lines he had been practicing for the meeting were stuck tight in his throat. It was weird but Vic felt so warm after Alysha smiled at him that he doesn’t feel the cold, breezy air anymore.

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Alysha's POV:

Pointing at the space on the bench, Alysha raised her eyebrows, as if to ask permission to occupy the space. Like a woodpecker, Vic nodded his head and gestured her to sit down. Alysha did, giving a space wide enough to accommodate another person between her and Vic. Nervously warning herself not to act foolishly, she glanced over at Vic. ‘Why hasn’t he said anything?’ she asked herself.

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Vic's POV:

Gawking at the girl beside him, Vic finally found his voice to ask her, “How are you?”

Turning her head to look at Vic, Alysha regretted her act, for Vic’s piercing eyes were too much for her to handle. Her heart may have stopped beating because she couldn’t hear anything but the soft sound of Vic’s voice.

“You look flushed. Are you OK?” asked Vic once again when Alysha took so long to answer him. Frowning, his forehead formed a few lines of wrinkles. ‘Maybe it was the cold weather’, he told himself.

Alysha watched with shock when Vic took off his jacket. “I’m OK. I’m not cold,” declined Alysha as she shook her head to refuse the jacket. She looked flush not because she was cold but because Vic was staring at her!

“I’m not cold,” repeated Alysha as she pushed the jacket back at Vic.

Insisted to give Alysha his jacket although the cold air pierced to his skin, Vic lied through his teeth and said, “I’m not cold either.”

Stretching his hands to cross the gap between them, Vic again, offered his jacket to Alysha. Half twisting her upper body to assist Vic draping the jacket on her shoulders, Alysha smiled to herself.

‘He’s so sweet...’ she muttered silently. “Thank you,” with a smile, she thanked Vic, fixing the large jacket that almost slipped from her medium build frame.

Still feeling awkward, Alysha asked Vic, “How are you?”

Vic nodded his head to answer Alysha. Laughter erupted from the bench after a brief pause that followed Vic’s nod. “Have you waited long?” asked Alysha, feeling comfortable to start the conversation now that they have broken the ice with the hearty laugh.

“The truth?” Vic asked and Alysha nodded. “Since I arrived this morning. I can’t get through your hand phone,” complained Vic.

“I was with my supervisor, discussing about my survey questions. I told you about that last week, right?” Alysha reminded Vic. She remembered very well Vic sent her a SMS asking what her plan was for Wednesday next week and she answered him.

Feeling silly for being over excited about meeting Alysha until he forgotten about the SMS, Vic giggled. He meant to give Alysha a surprise, hence not telling her that he was coming. The surprise hit him on his face. “I remember,” Vic said, softly.

Staring at Vic fixedly, Alysha asked, “You asked me because you planned to come here? In what occasion do I have the honour of your visit?” In the same teasing tone, Vic answered, “Celebrating our 4^th month of friendship.”

Chuckling, Alysha pouted her lower lip, showing Vic that she didn’t buy the answer. “Are you coming for a business meeting again?” she guessed.

“Business?” asked Vic, rubbing his hands together to warm them. Frowning, Vic tried to recall their SMS exchanged all this while. He never told Alysha who he really was. When Alysha assumed his traveled to Japan was business related, Vic heaved a low sigh of relief. He didn’t have to come out with a reason or a lie to why he was there. He didn’t want to tell the truth, not just yet, fearing that Alysha would view him differently. “Umm,” he said, not really agreeing with Alysha or denying anything.

Noticing that Vic was shivering a little, Alysha felt guilty for wearing his jacket. By now, Alysha was used to Japan’s cold weather hence a day like this wasn’t exactly what she would define as cold. Smirking, Alysha said, “You are a bad actor.”

Trying to hide his shock, Vic smiled at Alysha. ‘Does she know?’ he asked himself nervously. “Actually Alysha...” Vic mumbled softly, too soft and was not heard by Alysha.

“And you can’t lie well too,” said Alysha, still smiling at Vic. “If you’re cold, just say so and I’ll give back your jacket. Don’t try to be a gentleman,” she continued and chuckled, taking off the jacket and handing it back to Vic.

Sighing to his relief, Vic looked from Alysha to the jacket. He thought Alysha knew he was Vic Zhou Yu Min, one quarter of the acting and singing F4, who gained fame in various part of Asia, Japan included. “I thought..” said Vic and his voice trailed off, replaced by a smile.

“I really am not cold. You are shivering, do you notice it?” asked Alysha.

Vic chuckled. He was shivering. “I can’t stand cold weather,” he confessed at last. Apologizing to Alysha with his famous cute face, Vic gladly took his jacket and wore it back.

A loud growl was audible while he was doing so. Looking at Vic with horrified expression, Alysha could feel blood rushed to her face. “Actually Vic, I’m more hungry than cold,” Alysha quickly said to hide her embarrassment. She gave Vic a toothy grin, hoping that would distract Vic’s attention from her red face. “I’ll take you to eat the best sushi in Japan in a very cozy place. My treat,” continued Alysha.

~~~*~~~*~~~

“Fill this questionnaire for me, please. I want you to be the first,” said Alysha, half turned to search inside her sling bag which was pinned between her back and the back of the tall bar chair.

Both Vic and Alysha were sitting at the sushi bar at the cozy sushi place Alysha told Vic about. Vic has to agree with Alysha, the place was exactly what she described to him. As Alysha was searching her bag, Vic grabbed a plate of crab sushi that was placed on the bar. He noticed Alysha special liking for crab sushi.

“Here,” said Alysha, placing a piece of paper in front of Vic and handing him a pen as well. “This is the questionnaire that my supervisor approved this morning. I have it copied before I left so that I can distribute it by this afternoon,” she added. Her lips cracked into a thin smile when she noticed the plate of crab sushi in front of her. Sweet was the only word that came into her mind at the moment. Vic really was a sweet guy.

Vic looked at the piece of paper with blank expression. Alysha did told him how she misunderstood her supervisor and ran a survey about the need of security in mobile telecommunication for user, only to find out later, after she polled the results, her supervisor actually asked her to ran a survey to collect information about user’s reaction in the importance of mobile telecommunication security.

“This is the questionnaire?” he asked, still not taking his eyes off the paper nor touching the pen.

Instead of answering to Vic because of full, Alysha just nodded her head. When he didn’t hear any answer from Alysha, Vic tilted his head up and met Alysha’s eyes. Grinning, Vic whispered, “It’s in Japanese. I can’t read.”

“Sorry!” Alysha hastily apologized. She took the paper and pen from Vic, pushed her sushi plate aside and said, “I’ll read and translate the questions. I’ll write the answer for you too.” After getting a nod from Vic, Alysha looked at the paper. “Name?” she asked.

“You know my name,” answered Vic with a chuckled. Alysha looked up and smiled. “Vic Zhou Yu Min,” she said followed by a frown. “How do I spell that in Kanji? OK, skip this first. Next question is...” Alysha’s voice trailed. ‘I sort of forgot that this particular questionnaire is for university students,’ she told herself. “University name?” she asked Vic.

Vic managed to hold his tongue before he blurted the name of his university. “Umm..” he said, sounding unsure. Mistakenly thought that as an answer, Alysha nodded her head indicating that she agreed with him.

“It’s hard, right?” Chuckling, Alysha shrugged. “It looks like you don’t qualify to be a candidate. You’re actually a businessman, not a university student.”

Before Vic could say anything, his handphone rang. Quickly, he excused himself from Alysha and walked away from the sushi bar to answer the call from his personal assistant. “Yes?” asked Vic once he reached a corner of the sushi place where reception was clearer.

“Where are you, Vic?” asked his personal assistant in weary tone. “We are looking for you in your room.”

“I’m not there,” said Vic, hiding a smile.

His personal assistant grumbled, causing Vic to chuckle. “That was obvious! Have you forgotten about the visit to the track this afternoon?” asked her.

Vic’s growl was almost inaudible. He forgot about the visit to the track. Wondering whether it was possible for the crew to visit the track without him, he glanced at the bar and saw Alysha was glancing at him at the same time. It would be a shame to end his meeting with Alysha this soon. “Do I have to go?” Vic whined, hoping to hear a ‘No’.

“You will race on that track,” answered his personal assistant curtly.

Although he was very disappointed, Vic didn’t let it show in his voice. “What time is the visit?” he asked.

“We have to be there before 5 pm,” her personal assistant told him.

After he ended the call, Vic walked back to Alysha, planning the next meeting with her in his head. He also asked his personal assistant to read his schedule to him before they hang up. It would be hard to find a timeslot to see Alysha as he would be very busy with filming.

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Alysha's POV:

“I have to go,” Vic told Alysha in sad tone the moment he reached the bar.

Fully understood that Vic was there for business and not holiday, Alysha gave him an assuring smile. “Let’s go,” she said, grabbing her things and placing them in her sling bag. Alysha jumped off the chair, waiting for Vic to join her.

“But I don’t want to go. We’ve just met.” Although he sounded reluctant to leave, Vic got off the chair and walked with Alysha to the door. Suddenly, a bright idea flashed in his mind. “I don’t have fil..” Vic corrected himself abruptly. “I don’t have anything tomorrow morning. Want to have a breakfast date with me?” he asked.

“Breakfast?” asked Alysha, sounding surprise. She knew they were friends but she didn’t expect Vic to see her again. Especially because she assumed he would be busy with work. She let Vic opened the door for them and once again the word ‘sweet’ popped in her head.

Nodding, Vic said. “Early breakfast,” he said, emphasizing on the word early as if to warn Alysha.

“How early?” Alysha challenged him with a smile. Being a morning person, she wouldn’t mind an early morning breakfast date with Vic. “Again?” asked Alysha when she couldn’t hear clearly what Vic mumbled to her.

Saying it slowly and clearly this time, Vic repeated, “4.30 AM.” He noticed how Alysha’s eyes sparkled with shock. Smiling as if to coax a ‘yes’ from Alysha, Vic waited for her to say something.

She was confused why Vic would want to meet her at that awkward time. ‘Breakfast at 4.30 AM?’ she asked herself curiously. This was the first time she heard about it. As she was about to open , Vic said, “I know it’s early but I have to be somewhere before 6 AM. The drive there will take about an hour. We could have breakfast for 30 minutes before I leave,” Vic said, repeating what his personal assistant had told him.

“I know a place that serve breakfast at 4.30 AM,” Alysha gave him her answer. “It’s not as nice as this place but it’s the only place that opened at 4.30 AM.” To that answer, Vic flashed Alysha his sweetest smile.