“You know what I totally forgot?” Luhan fixed his shades which were protecting his eyes from the harsh sun as he was driving.

It was a hot suffocating  day again as they headed north, the air conditioner giving them the only escape from the heat whereas other people who had to spend the day outside were suffering from it. It hadn’t rain for days now and the whole population was probably waiting for it. It would be refreshing, giving people, who were stressed and annoyed by the weather, some rain, but hopefully, not as much that it would flood the cities and causing people misery.

“What?” Mei asked, turning her head from the window to face Luhan’s profile.

She had to admit, he looked incredibly handsome in shades, but she could also admit, that he would probably look incredibly handsome without them; or better... no, she knew from seeing him every day that he was all-in-all overly attractive, ever since their first encounter. It was in that moment that Mei caught herself looking at Luhan this way.

Since when did she begin to think about him like this?

“We didn’t get to ask Yue why she dressed her baby son in pink.” Luhan laughed, showing his pearly white smile and instantly, Mei turned her head to face the window again, her sight fixated on the greenish blossoming landscape.

It was awkward how she could stare at Luhan for so long in the past weeks, but now, it was just somehow strange. Not in a negative way, but one which made her feel intensely overwhelmed. (And it scared her).

“Yes, you’re right.”

It was ever since their encounter with Yue and her baby which made Mei question her priorities in life, and therefore, her relationship with Ren (but she wasn’t aware of it yet).

Mei really wanted to have children in the future, whereas Ren, truly didn’t. First she had thought that he was kidding about the topic, but the older they became, the more he grew to be someone who was more fixated on a career. She had thought she could somehow change his opinion, but as time passed, she got the feeling that it was somehow the opposite. It got more difficult.

Reminiscing about the incident in Wuhan’s mall, where they needed to take care of the baby, Mei’s wish for having her own little family increased. She saw the baby in her arms, she saw Luhan carrying the baby and singing for him… but then again, it was Luhan and not Ren. And it made Mei envious of the girl who was actually bothering her all along: Lin.

And then, when she slowly closed her eyes to think, it was Lin’s and Luhan’s relationship she imagined. She imagined how different their relationship was from hers and Ren’s, and simply because the men were different.

Mei imagined how Lin and Luhan walked side by side, their hands intertwined, his arms gently wrapped around her waist, his warm and cheerful laughter filling the air while they just glorified the skinship.

And then there were the kisses. Slightly blushing in embarrassment, Mei also dared to imagine what kind of kisses Luhan would give her (Lin, not Mei, of course). Never experienced any other way, Mei only knew about tender pecks and longer closed-mouthed kisses on the lips. She had seen it in other ways and she asked herself what it would be like – to be kissed with passion and delight.

And she was asking herself whether Luhan was that kind of a kisser.

(She was going to know it soon).

And then there were the three words, the “I love you’s.” How devoted and affectionate would Luhan be towards his girlfriend? Mei knew he was very open about his feelings, but was he also like that to the girl he loved?

Taking a glare at Luhan by side eying him, Mei couldn’t imagine how it would be any other way. Luhan was sweet and gentle, affectionate, devoted, honest and straight-forward. It was those characteristics that she loved about him. And Lin could count herself as incredibly lucky that he had chosen her.

(And Mei was incredibly jealous).

“What’s going on in your mind?” Luhan asked as if he could directly see the mess of thoughts right through the reflection of her eyes.

Torn in her thoughts between her own boyfriend and Luhan, their similarities and their differences, the differences wouldn’t leave her mind. She really wanted to know what kind of boyfriend Luhan was.

“If you had a girlfriend, how many times would you tell her that you love her?” Mei purposely used the term ‘a girlfriend’ and not ‘Lin’, because she still tried to ban that girl from her mind as long as she was with Luhan. “I mean… of course you can’t count it, but I mean… only to special occasions,” (Like Ren), “…or more often?” She added insecurely.

Mei immediately wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it, partly, because this surely was a quite embarrassing question and partly because it wasn’t her style at all to blurt something like this out. But it was Luhan. She thought, no she knew, that with Luhan, she could talk about everything; be more open, say what she was thinking and take a step further than she would usually do.

Luhan’s answer came without a break, without hesitation.

With a slight smile on his lips and his sight fixated on the horizon, he told Mei,

“If I had a girlfriend, I would tell her that I love her every day. Regardless of whether it’s a special day like our anniversary or if we’re just sitting on the couch, watching TV. There is no moment where you are forced, where you need to say it, so I’d choose to say it whenever I want, whenever I feel like and whenever I think she needs to hear it.” Luhan paused, his smile widened. “I’d say it when she’s sitting on the bed in her weirdest pajama, munching chocolate; I’d say it when she’s showing me her newest dress she just bought; I’d say it when she’s asleep and is not even hearing it; I’d say it when she’s mad at me for something I did wrong; I’d say it when I make her cry and I’d assure her of my love whenever she feels insecure.”

Mei was speechless. She looked at Luhan with a dreamily, fascinatingly and moony gaze. It was that kind of gaze which a girl would observe her lover from afar; that kind of one which a lover would never notice, yet that kind of one which spoke more than words.

“What?” He asked, a laughter coming along with it. “Too cheesy for you?”

(He said, for you).

Mei felt caught when Luhan suddenly turned aside to face her, so she just shook her head and shifted her sight to the front window, feeling how her cheeks slightly reddened.

“Not at all,” she replied.

Really, it wasn’t greasy at all. The way Luhan had described it somehow made her feel warm, sending tingling waves throughout her body. It was like he had spoken to her (though she felt that he wasn’t, but she was wrong). She admired his words, because she knew he had spoken the truth. Luhan was really that kind of a guy. So, so different from Ren. And at that moment, Mei wished that Ren could be a little more like his best friend – more affectionate, more devoted, more expressive in regard to his love.

“Ren doesn’t say it to you often, right?” Luhan’s voice was careful, trying to not go too far by asking that.

Ren was his best friend after all. He knew him very well, probably a little better than Mei herself. What Luhan was doubting now was whether Mei was satisfied with what Ren could give her. He got to know her little by little and the more time they spend together, the more he witnessed that this couple, which seemed to match so perfectly, didn’t seem to match at all.

The question with which Mei confronted him now just proved his assumption. Why would she ask it anyways? Especially him? Why would she yearn for something which she seemed to have already?

Probably because of the reason that she wasn’t