They had to stop halfway to Shanghai due to the traffic, or else they would have driven the whole day. Their next stop was a little hotel near Huai’an at the Huai River. This way, they would see more of the greenness of China, where paddy fields met the blue of the river and in contrast to their destinations before, pausing at the country was a nice change to the huge skyscrapers of their former aims. It was a hot day like the one before and since they were taking the countryside road, they preferably let the windows open to glorify the weather.

“Hey Luhan,” Mei started and looked at him curiously, but then shifted her sight to the ground again, pretending to examine her white chucks.

“Hm?” He turned down the volume and flashed a gaze at her before he continued to concentrate on the street.

“Why are you doing this trip?” She cleared and brought her body a little up to seat herself properly. “I mean… needing time to think over your relationship doesn’t specifically lead you to go away from home for a whole month. Especially not when you already knew that your relationship was too broken to be fixed from your side. So, is there another reason?” A grin flashed over her face. “Or are you just a guy waking up in the morning and thinking, ‘Yeah, now a road trip!’”

Luhan laughed at her attempt to imitate him (because she did it very well). But not long after, he went quiet and his facial expression turned into a serious one, coming along with a touch of sadness and although Mei only saw his profile, she could practically feel that he was uncomfortable with it.

“You don’t have to answer, though,” she returned immediately, “I was just curious, I’m sorry.” She leaned back and wanted to turn the volume up, but it was Luhan who didn’t let her do so.

“Because,” he inhaled, “like this journey… I don’t exactly know where to go with my life. And with myself. I don’t have any certain plans or aims for my future.”

“But you study law. Like me!” Mei replied passionately like she wanted to protect him from those thoughts.

“But that doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing for me, that it’s the job I really want to do later on. And truth to be told, I really don’t know what I want to become.” Luhan’s voice turned into a sad tone and Mei sighed inwardly in pity. “I’m stuck between college and a rather poorly paid part time job which I currently quitted from. They are just a bridge before I’ll find out what I really want in life, where I want to go with it. My life was rather boring and I was seeking for some adventure, so here is your answer.” (Neither of them was aware that he had spoken in past tense.) He turned his head to meet her eyes. “I thought that, when I would spend some time alone, I would really figure out where I want to go with my life before I grow older and older, stuck in a life that doesn’t please me at all.”

Mei heard with how much sadness, yet passion he spoke. She couldn’t understand those kinds of feelings, but because it was Luhan, she somehow felt what he was feeling like. For someone who had all her life mapped out, she could count herself lucky, because being in a state like Luhan would have probably made her go crazy. Although she somehow follow his way of thinking, it was still hard for her since she had planned to be a lawyer since middle school. How much trouble must he have undergone up until now? How was it like to be stuck in a rather dull life without knowing where to head? With the feeling of emptiness filling up oneself?

And suddenly, Mei felt the urge to hug him and to comfort him, because she was aware that she had everything he wished for at that moment. (And she wanted to share it with him, but couldn’t.)

“I just hope that somewhere along the way I would find out what I really want in the bottom of my heart.”

“I will help you,” Mei blurted, causing him to chuckle. “What?” She then pouted.

“But you already do.”

“What?” Her eyes widened and she tilted her head inquiringly.

“Truthfully, I wanted to go on this trip alone. I thought having time for myself would help sort my plans and wishes out, leaving me with much time to reevaluate my life. But thinking of it now… I can’t imagine doing this without you. I have very so much fun with you, so you are already helping me. Thank you for that.”

Once he finished his sentence, a smile spread across Mei’s face which Luhan didn’t even miss from the corner of his eyes. (And seeing her smile made him unknowingly smile too.)

“I’m glad,” she happily said.

“But Mei,” Luhan started after a few seconds of hesitation. He wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to question her plans and dreams, but since he did it with his own too, he came to the conclusion that asking her carefully wouldn’t make her upset. “You really want to be a lawyer?”

Immediately, she nodded proudly. “Yes, since middle school.” But then she puckered her lips and frowned. “Why are you asking? Do you also think that it doesn’t suit me?”

“Who thinks that?” He asked back.

“My grandmother,” Mei said insecurely.

“I see.” Luhan smiled slightly, because he indeed got why her grandmother was thinking that way, although he only saw her one time. Mei was calm, cautious, contained and reluctant. She was shy and insecure sometimes, needing time to come out of herself. She barely raised her voice and when someone hurt her, she’d rather cry than talk to him. A lawyer must be secure, self-confident, giving off the vibe of being in authority, be strong and raise the voice. They need to be everything Mei wasn’t. That job didn’t fit her at all. And it wasn’t meant in a cruel way by Luhan. He liked the calm and quiet and shy Mei.

All of those character traits had been witnessed by Luhan in a little more than one week. He thought that he actually started to know Mei better than she herself. (Just like her grandmother.)

“I never thought that you would major in law like me.”

“What else then?” She was really curious about what Luhan was thinking of her. What impression did she leave so far? How much did they get to know each other during the past one and a half week? He didn’t need to think long about his answer.

“I thought that you would work in your grandmother’s flower shop and maybe own it later on.”

Mei didn’t return anything. Instead, she just moved her head to the right and looked out of the window, deep in thoughts. It was Luhan who broke it off, because he thought he had insulted her with his sentence.

“Because you love flowers. I see your passion and your interest when you speak about them.