When they got home, she went straight to bed after changing without a word. She climbed into bed and the coldness welcomed her into its embrace, lulling her to sleep.

Yixing came in soon after her and saw her sleeping, as if it was any other night, as if her mother's hurtful words weren’t spoken that night. He sat that the edge of the bed and moved the blanket up before climbing in with her. He held her in his arms, slowly falling asleep with her.

She woke up earlier than she usually would. She found that she lost the warmth around her and she turned to see Yixing sleeping peacefully. She slowly swung her legs over the bed and walked towards the closet to get ready for work. 

Deciding to pick something up to eat on her way to work, she went into the kitchen and made breakfast for Yixing. She settled the plate down and returned to the bedroom.

She entered the bedroom again and reached in the drawer. She took out a sticky note and a pen and scribbled some words before pasting it on the clock on the nightstand. She stood up and left the apartment 

Yixing woke up hours later to an empty space. Maybe she’s in the living room, he thought.

He peered at the clock beside the bed. The neon numbers shined brightly underneath a yellow sticky note covered with her neat handwriting.

Went to work early, breakfast is on the table. I will be back at four.

He sighed before sinking back in the bed. Her usual notes were happy, even when if she was in a bad mood. This note seemed forced and robotic, so unlike her. He pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the kitchen.

He sat down before eating the breakfast that seemed to have gone cold hours ago.

-

“What's this?” Mei Lin asked, looking at the bag Xiumin dropped on her desk.

“Lunch. You didn’t come to lunch with us. Fan said you didn’t want to,” he said, taking a seat across from her. She looked at the bag and slowly pushed it away.

“It’s okay. I’m not hungry. Thank you though.” She returned to typing and a silence settled itself in her office. It was only when Xiumin let out a sigh did the silence disappear.

“You need to eat, Mei Lin. You’ve been working since four a.m. and it’s two now. I bet you didn’t even eat breakfast,” he said before pushing the bag towards her again.

He gave her a stern look before she carefully took the lunch Xiumin bought for her. 

“You’ve never came out from your office ever since you came to the company. Why are you overworking yourself?” he asked, looking as if he wasn’t going to leave without an answer.

“Just because...” she trailed off, thinking about her mother’s words.

“…she is really stubborn

...is very lazy

…it’s good that she’s finally being useful now. I envy your parents for having such a wonderful child like you, Yixing.”

“My mom...” she trailed off.

“Did your mother say something about you again?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

He grew to know a lot about her ever since the day she decided to open up to him. He knew almost everything about her as if he’s her secrets’ keeper.

She only nodded before continuing to quietly eat her lunch.

“I think you need a break, from all of this. From your mom and from work. Do you want to go out, just like old times?” he asked, grinning. He knows a good place where she’ll surely forget all her stress.

Soon, they were already at Wangfujing Street – one of the most popular exotic snack streets in Beijing. Upon arriving at the said place, Mei Lin’s eyes turned as wide as saucers. She had been there a couple of times before but she never thought Xiumin would actually bring her there. She was expecting to go to a mall, park or something along the line.

“Xiumin, what are we doing here?” Instead of getting a verbal reply, all she received was an evil grin.

“Oh god, please tell me you’re not going to make me do what I’m thinking,”