“Ow, Vic, this hurts... Am I supposed to look like this? I feel really weird.”

The constant stream of Mei's complaints went in one of Victoria's ears and out of the other.

“Will you be quiet? You look great,” Victoria said, finishing off Mei's make-up and adjusting her dress. Mei was wearing a pastel blue dress with a floral pattern, and Victoria was still in the miniskirt and chiffon blouse she'd been wearing all day.

“I'm so nervous,” Mei whispered. “I haven't been on a date for years- what if I do something weird?”

“You'll be great, okay?” Victoria assured her, brushing her hair one last time.

“I feel bad about Tao,” Mei sighed. “Maybe I shouldn't do this. Maybe we could just... not.”

“You shouldn't feel bad at all,” Victoria said. “It's been five years. You're allowed to go on a date.”

“... Okay,” Mei said finally. “But if I make myself look dumb I'm blaming you.”

 

The doorbell rang at seven on the dot and Mei sprinted through the house to reach it before Kris. Of course, with her luck, Kris was opening the door as she rounded the corner.

“Luhan?” Kris seemed confused by his friend standing in the doorway.

“Kris-hyung! Is Mei here?” Luhan grinned.

“Mei's here!” Mei slipped around Kris, who was still stood in front of the door, and out into the warm evening. “I said Vic could stay in my room while I'm out- that's okay, right?”

Kris was still registering what was going on. “You guys are going on a date? Together?”

“Yep,” Luhan said proudly. “You look really pretty,” he whispered to Mei.

Even after that, Kris was still stood in the doorway.

“I'll bring her back before 11, Mr Wu,” Luhan joked.

“Don't do anything weird with her,” Kris said, then quickly composed himself. “I mean, she still needs to cook for me.”

“Got it,” Luhan winked.

 

Mei was just getting in Luhan's car when Kris ran down the driveway, with Victoria in tow.

“Why don't we go on a double date?” he suggested breathlessly. Mei glanced at Victoria, who shrugged.

“Why not?” Mei turned Luhan, who nodded.

“Sure!”

 

Luhan seated himself opposite Mei, and next to Victoria, while Mei was sat next to Kris. They ordered their food quickly and an uncomfortable silence fell, which Mei attempted to break.

“So how do you guys know each other?” she asked, looking at Luhan and Kris.

“We've been friends for ages,” Luhan told her, but Kris stopped him before he could say anything else.

“We were friends, before I started going to school in Canada. Then he-”

“You weren't even dating!” Luhan interjected. “She told me you were on a break.”

Mei looked around nervously when she realised she'd put all four of them on thin ice.

 

“She never told me we were on a break,” Kris growled. “But, I guess if you apologise, we can-”

“Apologise for what?” Luhan stopped him. “I didn't do anything wrong.”

“You didn't do anything wrong?” Kris spluttered. He stood up angrily and took Mei by the arm, dragging her up.

“What are you doing?” Mei cried as Kris pulled her to the door.

“We're leaving. Your standards shouldn't be that low.”

Mei turned back to the table and made phone gestures, promising to call Luhan and Victoria.

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Mei stopped as soon as they got out of the restaurant door. “You think you can interrupt my date just because you don't like him? You don't even like me. Why are you doing this?”

Kris looked around for a moment, then grabbed Mei's wrist and began pulling her to the bus stop nearby.

“Kris!” Mei yelled, pulling her arm out of his grip and stopping in the middle of the pavement. “What the heck are you doing?”

“I don't have to explain myself to you,” Kris said after an unbearable silence. Mei looked at him quizzically. “Let's just go home.”

“I don't see what else I can do,” Mei muttered angrily before sighing and following him.

 

“Uh... Mei?”

Mei looked up from her laptop screen, where she was emailing her parents.

“Mei, can I come in?”

Mei didn't say anything, and Kris came in anyway.

“I just wanted to say I'm sorry for earlier,” he said quietly. Mei watched him carefully. Was this the first time he'd ever been shy in front of her? She moved over to the end of the sofa and he came and sat down next to her, pulling a box of pizza out of nowhere.

“I thought you might be hungry, so I ordered this for you,” Kris said, setting it down on the coffee table.

“Thanks,” Mei muttered.

“Mei... I think we got off to a rough start. I've realised that I was in the wrong. I was rude, and cold, and I'm sorry. Maybe we could... Be friends?”

Mei told herself not to look at him, but she did anyway. His eyes searched hers and she nodded slowly.

“I guess we can try again,” Mei smiled a little.

 

“Mei? Mei, wake up!”

Mei opened her eyes slowly to Luhan standing over her.

“Luhan?” she said, confused. She rubbed her eyes until she saw stars, and concluded he was definitely standing in front of her. Mei sat up quickly, realising she'd fallen asleep on the sofa, and she was still wearing her dress from earlier.

“Sorry it's so late,” Luhan said quietly, handing Mei the jumper she must have left in the car on the way to the restaurant.

“Thanks,” Mei blushed. She patted the space next to her on the sofa but Luhan shook his head.

“I have to go,” Luhan told her, moving towards the door. “And you need to wake up. There's someone you need to meet.”