The extra-curricular work had been developing at a decent pace, and Qiu Qiu and Zi Lun had been tolerant of Niu Nai's occasional default-face. The romantic visions had been kept at bay. Not that there were none, but Niu Nai managed to conceal them enough to not bring attention to them.

One evening, Zi Lun had decided if Niu Nai could get through the first hour of their session, she would reward them both with a special coffee. Being the resident coffee-addict, she never passed up a chance to make her friends decorative and tasty coffee-based beverages.

"Here you go," she handed Niu Nai a steaming mug.

"Aah...thanks so much!" Niu Nai said. She took a sip and breathed the aroma into her nostrils. "Mmm..."

Zi Lun sat directly in front of Niu Nai, watching her expression. She loved seeing people's reactions to her concoctions. She sipped from her own mug, without taking her eyes off of Niu Nai's face. "So?" she prompted, smiling with anticipation.

"It's good! Tastes a bit spicy," Niu Nai noted.

"Yup!" Zi Lun's Cheshire cat grin dented her cheeks with laugh lines. She inwardly giggled at her friend noticing the spices, rather than the rum.

They sat on the floor and enjoyed their time-out. Zi Lun helped herself to a second mug and drank it quickly. They needed to get back to work.

Niu Nai asked, "How much longer, do you figure?"

"Depends how it goes!" Zi Lun was now hyper on the caffeine-sugar rush, and the effects of the booze were making her tipsy. She yanked Niu Nai to her feet, and dragged her toward the piano on the far side of the room.

Niu Nai got a head rush from the sudden movement. She said, "Woah - I'm dizzy. I must be tired."

Zi Lun released her friend’s hand to hurry ahead. She plopped herself down on the piano bench. Niu Nai followed at her own pace, and propped herself up against the wall next to the piano. Zi Lun happily pounded out some scales, while Niu Nai voiced the notes.

Zi Lun slapped the piano bench, indicating Niu Nai should accompany her. This seemed like a great plan since Niu Nai's head was swimming. She remembered An Na pleading with her to get enough rest, and vowed to hit the sack as soon as practice was done.

Niu Nai found Zi Lun particularly animated, and wondered where she was getting her energy. And then she remembered the two fancy coffees. Her friend was a tiny girl, so probably needed way less caffeine to hype her up than someone much larger like Niu Nai. To boot, she'd had double what Niu Nai had consumed. Definitely, Zi Lun was getting quite silly the longer the lesson lasted. She giggled loudly at almost everything, whether Niu Nai hit the right notes or not.

As they tried to belt as a power-duo, Zi Lun's voice cracked like a teenaged boy's. This sent her into a fit of laughter so hard, she needed to hang onto Niu Nai's arm to avoid falling off the bench. Though Niu Nai found this hilarious, she wondered how she could be receiving coaching from a teacher whose voice cracks, and who acts this silly. A curious smirk was upon her lips but she just sat there, staring at the kooky gal.

Zi Lun announced, "Okay, I think we're done for the night."

Niu Nai laughed and nodded. Zi Lun leaned her head against Niu Nai, closed her eyes and said, "Nice work, stuuuudent!"

"Dude - are you alright?" Niu Nai continued to smirk. Zi Lun was generally quirky but this was a bit overboard.

"Ha! Yup! We worked hard. You must be tired! I could use a snack! Want anything? I'll brew up more coffee!" she chattered.

Niu Nai shook her head, looked down at the top of the brown-haired head against her arm and laughed, "Um, maybe you've had enough coffee for tonight."

Zi Lun pulled away and suddenly scooted off to the kitchen. Niu Nai shook her head. By the time she made her leisurely way to the kitchen, Zi Lun had already whipped out snacking foods: chips and salsa, chocolate chip cookies and mixed nuts. She was like a little tornado, the way she flit from cupboard to fridge to counter top. Niu Nai was fascinated, and could not stop smirking.

Zi Lun presented two bottles of beer to the counter top.

"Oh – no, no I can't drink that," Niu Nai made a 'halt' gesture with her large hand.

Zi Lun popped open both bottles and slid one into her reluctant friend's hand.

"Seriously! An Na said I’m not allowed to drink during my extra-curricular training."

"Did she really say that?" Zi Lun couldn't believe this was a 'rule'. An Na would've surely mentioned it to her or Qiu Qiu.

Niu Nai's brain was a bit foggy, but she thought back and realized An Na's exact words were No late-night drinking. "Well..." she began. Zi Lun's eyes were wide, anticipating who knows what response.

Niu Nai continued, "She said no late-night drinks."

Zi Lun glanced at her wristwatch and then showed it to Niu Nai.

"An Na must be a real stick-in-the-mud if she thinks eight-thirty is late," she clinked her beer bottle against Niu Nai's, sparing no hesitation as she hugged the snacks to her chest, and carried them to the living room sofa.

Niu Nai turned to see Zi Lun staring back with a huge grin. She shook her head in defeat, grabbed her beer and joined her friend. They had practiced through dinnertime, so she was kind of hungry.

She sat on the floor in front of the jar of salsa, facing Zi Lun on the sofa. Her friend seemed giddy, but her smile made Niu Nai smile too. It was all good. They deserved some R&R after their hard work. Bonding time was fun too, especially since it was less easy to come by since all these extra-curriculars.

The other girls had arranged to get home late from whatever group activity they were on, to give Niu Nai enough time with Zi Lun. An Na took these lessons seriously and didn't want anyone interrupting them.

Zi Lun toed Niu Nai's knee, "Hey, pass the salsa."

Niu Nai obliged but held it hostage in mid-air, "In exchange for the cookies!"

The switch was made and the girls enjoyed their beer and snacks.

Niu Nai couldn't believe her eyes. It seemed Zi Lun had already downed her entire beer. Up she got for a refill. Niu Nai took a seat on the couch so she could help herself to the chips and salsa.

Zi Lun brought a fresh beer for Niu Nai, who eyeballed it as if it was toxic.

"For laaaay-terrr," Zi Lun explained. Niu Nai assumed she meant it was for her, but then realized it may've actually been for Zi Lun herself, the way she was putting them away.

Zi Lun scrunched down into the couch cushions, and nearly tipped over the salsa held in Niu Nai's grip. Luckily, the latter’s bear-hands kept it from spilling. It wasn't even comedic, but Zi Lun was laughing out loud.

"Oh man, you're getting pretty drunk," Niu Nai announced.

"Tipsy," Zi Lun clarified, "Tipp-seeee - hee hee heeee!" and there she went again, giggling at nothing.

Niu Nai shook her head and popped a handful of nuts in .

"Me too!" Zi Lun demanded.

Niu Nai tossed a cashew at Zi Lun's goofy face. It bopped her in the cheek, which sent her into uncontrolled giggles.

"Aaah..." she opened wide and waited. Niu Nai tossed an almond her way and even though tip-see, Zilun managed to catch it in . The next few nuts wound up somewhere between the sofa cushions, but not before colliding with various parts of Zi Lun's face and hair.

Zi Lun was howling with laughter and commanded, "Stopp! Do it right, I'm hungry!"

Niu Nai laughed too. She teased, "I'm tip-seeee, it's not my fault!"

She noticed she felt kind of drunk but was perplexed. She hadn't even finished her first beer but felt happily woozy. She looked at the bottle's label, expecting to find a 10%, but no, it was an ordinary 6%. "Why do I already feel blasted on only one beer?" she asked.

Zi Lun cackled, "Because of the coffee!"

Niu Nai didn't understand.

"What do you mean? What does the coffee have to do with anything?"

Zi Lun laughed, "Dummy – it had a lot of rum in it!"

"Are you kidding me? I thought I was dizzy because I was over-tired!" Niu Nai's surprise was stamped all over her face.

Zi Lun slouched into the couch cushions and tried to hold in her laughter. Failing, she guffawed, "Haha! You said it tasted "spicy" - hehehe yeah, spiced rum! Homemade spice blend by me! Rum by Captain Morgan!"

Niu Nai rolled her eyes, and felt stupid to have missed the alcohol in the coffee.

"I want nuts!" Zi Lun playfully shouted. Not caring to linger further on the coffee incident, Niu Nai hand-fed Zi Lun an almond.

Like a snapping turtle, the feisty girl tried to take a chunk out of Niu Nai's fingers.

"Hey!" Niu Nai protested.

"More!" Zi Lun opened .

Niu Nai said, "Be nice!"

Zi Lun smiled, angelically, "I'm always nice."

Niu Nai blew raspberries her way, but then carefully fed her a peanut. Zi Lun took it in her teeth without biting any fingers. As Niu Nai pulled away, Zi Lun's lips lightly touched her. It was ever so slight, but it caught her attention. Niu Nai fed her friend another nut just to see if it would happen again. It did, but maybe only because she lingered longer before drawing back her hand.

But then, if it wasn't on purpose, why did Zi Lun move closer to her on the couch?