Aaron’s POV

"Hey Jiro, where's Aaron? He won't be late for our meet ups usually."

"How would I know? Didn't you gave him a call?"

I heard Calvin and Jiro's voice from the entrance of the bar. Calvin's bar to be exact. We, as in Calvin, Jiro, Chun and I, would always meet up at this bar every Tuesday. Plus, his bar is always closed every Tuesday, so we would always gather here to have drink, for as long as we want.

"I'm here." I shouted and walked towards them. I sat on my usual seat, and Calvin would pass me my usuals.

"I bet something good must have happened to you." Calvin said after I took my usuals from him. Did he learn mind reading? How does he know? I gave him a skeptical look. "How did you know?"

"It's not hard to guess." Chun said. "You were smiling ever since you walked in and sat down. And it's been a long time since I saw you smiling so genuinely."

"Yeah!" Jiro agreed with him.

I've been smiling? I didn't even realise. Must have been the thing that happened before I came here. Of course, who would not be happy when someone you wanted to be friends with has agreed to become your friend?

"So, care to tell us what you're smiling about?" The owner asked. The others looked at me, waiting for me to answer the question.

"Well, I met a girl-"

"A girl?! You have never been attracted to any girl since Rain-"

"Jiro!" the other two shouted and glared at him.

I know what Jiro wanted to say, and why the two of them stopped him from mentioning her. It is because whenever her name was brought up, My mind would immediately went back to the past, and think about her. It would always change my mood. But now, it would not affect me.

"Can't you let him finish his words?!" Calvin asked him, mad at him. Jiro looked at me apologetically. "Sorry bro. You may continue."

"So I was saying, I met a girl a week ago. Whenever I saw her, she’s always sad. Something inside me was telling me to help her, so I befriend her and now I'm trying to help her get out of her problems."

"You must have met her earlier today then." Chun said.

"Are you and Calvin a special agent or something?" I asked them. How does he know? It's like nothing can be hidden from them.

"You're late for our meet ups today, and you usually don't. That's how we know." Calvin continued for Chun. "But I don't think befriending a girl who's always sad could make you so happy."

"Yeah. You must have done something or went somewhere with her today that makes you so happy, didn't you?" Chun asked, with his so called detective skills again.

"Well..."

-Flashback-

I'm heading towards the hotel I went yesterday for breakfast. Or should I say, trying my luck whether I'm able to see her. I saw her walking to the elevator of the hotel lobby yesterday, so I guess she should be staying here.

I'm seated near the entrance of the restaurant. Sitting here gives me a better view of the lobby, and maybe I am able to see her walking out, or back in. After about half an hour, I saw her walking out of the elevator, just as I have expected. I quickly pay for my meal and walk briskly towards her.

"Hey! Ying Jie!" I tapped on her shoulder, and smile at her when she turned around.

"Hi." She replied, with the smile she always gave me, the sad smile.

"Where are you going?" I asked her, knowing that she's walking out of the hotel.

She pointed at something, and my gaze automatically followed her finger. She's pointing at the hotdog stand where she has bought a hotdog bun yesterday.

"I'm going to grab my breakfast." She said, monotonously. Hotdog? Didn’t she take that as her breakfast yesterday?

“Again?”

“Um… Yes.” She replied and continues walking towards the hotdog stand.

“You love hotdogs?” I asked her, walking beside her. I guess that she must have love hotdogs a lot, to have eaten the same thing for breakfast for 2 days in a row. She just remains silent.

“Can I have one hotdog bun?” She ordered from the seller.

“Two please.” I changed her order. I wanted to try it, since she has it 2 days in a row. No harm trying it.

“Hold on. Coming right up!”

She turned and looked at me, giving me a weird expression. “What’s with the expression?” I asked her, smiling.

“I thought… Nevermind.” She said. I know what she wanted to ask me.

“Here are 2 hotdog buns. Enjoy your meal!”

“Thank you.” I said and take the paper bag from the seller. Then, I grab on her wrist and walk towards the bench where we have seated yesterday. I took out one hotdog bun and passed it to her. Then, I took out another one for myself.

“I know what you wanted to ask me. You wanted to ask why am I having this when I don’t eat it, right?” I said, before taking a bite of my hotdog bun. She nods.

“Since you love eating hotdog buns, it must have been very delicious. So I wanted to try.”

I took a bite of my hotdog bun. It really tastes great! No wonder she has it 2 days in a row. I took another big bite, and then I heard a small laugh. I turned to face her. “What’s so funny?”

“You. Don’t eat so fast, you’ll choke.”

“It’s really delicious!”

“I know.” She said, and continued eating her hotdog bun.

After finishing our food, we just sit there and talked about ourselves. The things I know about her is that, she’s from Taichung, and not from Taipei, that is why she is staying in a hotel, her parents died when she’s still a child, so her only family is her grandmother, who is still living in Taichung. I asked her why she came to Taipei instead of staying in Taichung. She just told me she wanted to have a new life in the city. She’s now currently finding a low rent apartment and a job.

“Why don’t you come to my workplace and work?”

“Your workplace? Really?” She asked. I can see that she’s happy from her eyes.

“Yes. I’ll give you the address.” I took out a pen, and then wrote down the address on the leftover napkins. I then passed it to her. She took it, and then tears out a small part of the napkin. I look at her, confused.

“Can I borrow the pen from you?” I pass my pen to her. She scribbled something on the small part of the napkin she tears out. She passed it to me. I look at the napkin. She gave me her phone number!

“This is my phone number. I regard you as a friend, my very first friend from Taipei.” She said, smiling. How can I forget? She said she would give me her phone number when we met for the third time. This time, is not the sad smile she always gave. The smile she gave this time seems genuine, and real. I smile back.

-End of Flashback-