It was him. White pants guy.

"Good evening, ladies," said the young man, giving Mrs. Lao a deep bow and a kiss on the hand. He then turned to Lily, a hint of surprise in his eyes, yet his smile was warm and easy, betraying none of what's behind.

Mrs. Lao's eyes were sparkling as she introduced the two."Zhou Mi, this is my daughter Lilian. Lilian, this is Zhou Mi, the darling son of your Aunt Mei Jin in Wuhan."

Lily couldn't even remember who Aunt Mei Jin was. Her parents emigrated to South Korea with her when she was around five. Both her parents were born and raised in Taiwan, but they had relatives back in China that they keep in contact with, no matter how distant. Only once did they ever bring Lily to visit some of those relatives, but she can barely remember that time. Has she met this Zhou Mi person before?

"Lily, please," Lily said, offering her hand for a shake. She failed to stifle a gasp when instead, he took her hand and kissed it.

"Nice to finally meet you... Under dryer circumstances," Zhou Mi said, the corner of his lips curling up.

Mrs. Lao gave them a questioning look. Lily gave Zhou Mi a miniscule headshake. Her mother didn't need to know about her clumsiness. Understanding, Zhou Mi gave her a small nod and turned to Mrs. Lao with the brightest smile.

"Thank you again for inviting me to dinner, Mrs. Lao," Zhou Mi said, taking the prepared place beside Lily. "I'm sorry I was late. I... had an important little errand to run."

"Oh, that's perfectly fine dear," Mrs. Lao replied, waving off his apology with a bejewelled hand. "And please, call me Auntie M. Lily here also just arrived. I'm glad you could make it. How's your mother?"

"Very well, thank you. I actually called her before coming. She says that you two should have a meal soon," Zhou Mi related.

"Indeed we should! But that mother of yours is always away somewhere, it's so hard to catch her!" Mrs. Lao replied, followed by a tinkling laughter and a playful slap on Zhou Mi's arm.

"Forgive my mother, she loves her travels. She'll be in Paris next weekend though. Would you want to meet up with her there?" Zhou Mi suggested.

Mrs. Lao let out another high-pitched laugh that made Lily stare at her incredulously. Was her mother for real? She's acting as if she were a teenage girl talking to her all-time crush, laughing ridiculously at everything he says and touching him often.

Lily stayed quiet for most of the meal, opting to observe her mom act silly and silently laugh at her. Half her attention was spent observing the newcomer as well. He carried himself with an elegance comparable to Ms. Yoon's. He moved with purpose - with his long limbs, it made him look like a dancing swan. His choice of clothing told Lily that he liked dressing as much as he's worth, which irks her a bit. He also had that overall appearance of being pampered all his life, as well as an inexplicable... femininity in his movements, which made Lily question his... preferences. Yet he had the brightest smile she's ever seen. It was as if sunshine beamed from his face whenever he grinned.

Zhou Mi was smiling and nodding politely at whatever Mrs. Lao was saying when he casually glanced at Lily. She couldn't help but look away. It was undeniable that he was incredibly charming. Just look at her mom being all giggly in front of him. It's true that Mrs. Lao has a perky, positive personality, but she was always composed when out in public. Zhou Mi here was breaking through that one smile at a time.

Lily was still a little pissed off though. She should have known that this was another one of her mother's attempt at being cupid. It was as if she was automatically signed up for a really annoying dating service the moment she turned 18. No matter how many times she told her to stop setting her up with random strangers, her mother keeps on doing it anyway, and she's even gotten sneakier about it recently.

Not that all the guys that her mom set her up with were bad. There were a few good ones, most of whom were forced into it by their moms like she was. Too bad the ones she liked were either already taken (they only went to the date to humor their nagging mother) or had absolutely no interest in her (one was actually the source of her first ever heartbreak, which was what turned her against this whole practice).

Now, of course, she had Donghae. A smile crept up her lips as she carressed her phone screen where his picture was set as the background image. It was a small joke they shared. When one of them finds him or herself carressing the face of the other on their screen, that means it's time to call. Lily also found it nice that she had to trace Donghae's cheek to unlock her phone (his photo was on her lock screen and she set it to 'swipe to unlock'). She'd have to wait until the cab ride back to the office to call him.

She settled on sending him an SMS of a lone smiley. He replied a few minutes later with a smiley followed by endless hearts. Lily stifled her giggle. Really, who would want anyone else other than Donghae? He's sweet, thoughtful, understanding, and adorable. Not to mention incredibly y. He loves his job and has a bright future ahead of him. Also, he has this childlike wonder that most adults lose the moment they experience reality. Clare calls it being "childish" and "unsophisticated", but Lily thinks it's endearing. Lily sighed. She missed her Haebaby.

"Your boyfriend?"

Lily's head shot up. Zhou Mi glanced from her phone and back to her, looking mildly interesred. Her mother was suddenly nowhere in sight.

"Uh... Yeah..." Lily admitted, blushing a little for getting caught. Even though she had absolutely no interest in him, still, he may have come here under the impression that she's available. She didn't mean for him to find out this way - she had a gentler way in mind for telling him. This was kind of a slap in the face, and he didn't deserve that. He seemed like a lovely guy afterall.

"He's a handsome man," Zhou Mi commented.

Lily felt guilty. She mentally screamed at her mother for lying to this lovely person. "I'm so sorry if my mom told you otherwise. Really, you seem like a very nice guy and it really is a pleasure meeting you, but as you've only found out, I'm... Happily coupled. I'm so sorry for wasting your time."

"I'm... Sorry? Did I miss something?" Zhou Mi asked, confused.

Lily mirrored his confusion. "My mom invited you here, right? To meet me?" Zhou Mi leaned back, finally understanding what she meant. She thought this was one of those setups. He suppressed a chuckle, remembering how many times his mother did the same thing to him.

"Yes, your mom invited me here... to discuss design ideas. My mother is opening her own botique back in Wuhan and she wanted your mom to help her with the interiors," Zhou Mi explained.

Lily's confusion slowly turned into mortification. She mentally gave herself a hard kick in the . Why did she assume that this was a blind date right away? He must now think that she's so full of herself. Urgh! This was the most embarrassing thing ever. Why did she keep on embarrassing herself in front of him?

"I-I'm so sorry... I thought..." Lily trailed off, to mortified to speak. She couldn't bear to look at him either. She would very much like it if the ground opened up and swallowed her.

"It's perfectly fine," Zhou Mi said, giving her hand a brief reassuring pat. "I completely understand. My mother also sets me up all the time. It's understandable that you think this was one. If I didn't know better, I'd think so too." Lily only nodded, still unable to meet his gaze.

"Oh, by the way, here you go." Zhou Mi said after an awkward pause. He handed her a light blue paper bag with a shiny black box inside. Lily stared at him questioningly. A present?

"Shoes. It must feel icky to walk in those drenched ones. Besides, it's cold outside. Your toes might freeze off if you keep on wearing that wet pair," Zhou Mi answered her mental question.

Lily carefully extracted the box from the paper bag and opened it. They were classic black slightly pointed pumps. The heels were half an inch too high from being sensible, but it was beautiful. It was exactly her taste. And size. The package also included a new pair of skin tone tights. Also her size.

"How did you know...?" Lily asked, impressed.

"I have a thing for guessing sizes." Zhou Mi replied with a casual shrug.

He guessed more than that. He guessed exactly what she'd pick out. It was amazing. Not even her mother knew exactlt what she'd want, but somehow, this stranger did.

"Thank you very much, you didn't have to," Lily said with all sincerity, finally looking him in the eyes.

"I couldn't let a lady walk around in sodden shoes now, can I?" Zhou Mi replied, smiling.

Lily mirrored his smile, seeing him in a new light. He really was something.

At that moment, Mrs. Lao reappered from her curiously long trip to the ladies'.

"I'm so sorry for making you wait long, children," she sighed as she took her seat. "I bumped into one of my acquaintances while I was freshening. Such a chatterbox, that one. But anyway, Zhou Mi dear, do tell me more about this boutique of your mother's."

Mr. Cho jerked awake, startled by the sudden vibrating of his phone. He didn't even realize that he has fallen asleep. What time was it anyway?

"Hel-" he croaked. His voice sounded thick and horrible. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Hello?"

"Were you already asleep? It's not even 11  yet. You really haven't changed. Still an old man in a boy's body."

Mr. Cho scrunched up his eyebrows in part annoyance, part confusion. He looked at the screen - it was an unknown number. He brought the phone back to his ear and asked, "I'm sorry, but may I know who this is?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten Mi already... Q," the caller replied.

Chapter two, everyone!^^

I know, I know, not much is happening yet... I just need to set things first. But don't worry, I'll do my best to make the next chapters more exciting!

Is anybody out there though? :(