Little by little, one travels further and further.

6^th June 2007

“Chen-bo, please drive faster.” 16year old Bixue hurried the man as she took another glance on her watch.

“Young Mistress, don’t worry. We will be there on time.” Chen-bo looked into the rearview mirror and smiled, “Young Master would definitely wait for you to start his match.”

Upon hearing that, a faint smile spread across the girl’s face. She really didn’t want to miss Luhan’s soccer match, especially when he had specially invited her to come and watch. Even though she had to cut class early, lie to her driver that she would be staying in school till late and in turn trouble Chen-bo to fetch her here, she didn’t care. All she cared about was how she needed to get there before the soccer match starts.

“We are here Young Mistress.” Chen-bo told the girl and she grabbed her belongings before jumping out of the car right away. He could only shake his head as he alight from the car. “Young Mistress! Help me wish Young Master good luck!”

“Okay!” Bixue shouted back and ran towards the boy that was waiting at the school gate.

“Wow, I didn’t know you have such a loud voice.” Cobby was surprised to see the girl who always spoke so softly raising her voice. Luhan had shared with him about his special friendship with Bixue and he understood that it was difficult for her to open up to people because the most important person in her life left her since she was young. The fact that her mother left her and she had been keeping inside for so long caused her to be unable to get close to anyone anymore.

He concluded that she was broken till Luhan came along and their innocent relationship made Cobby envy; wishing he had a best friend who knew him so well too. He could no longer tease the duo like the others because he knew Luhan and Bixue are definitely more than friends but they are not lovers.

“Luhan asked me to pick you up. He’s afraid that you would be lost.”

Bixue nodded her head and they started walking towards the school field. She fastened her footsteps, making her sweat from the summer heat. “Has.. the match started? Will I be caught for entering your school?”

“Nope not yet.” From where they were, they could hear the bustling from the field. “But it’s already very crowded.”

“I don’t think so. You will know why later. C’mon, this way.”

Cobby led her to the front row of the field, the other boys had already saved her a seat. After she greeted them with a simple hi, the bunch of them offered her drinks and food, looking after her like how Luhan had instructed them to. As she sipped her drink, she then realize why Cobby said she would not be caught.

Around the field were groups of girls and the ones sitting nearest to her had Luhan’s name in their conversation and they were not wearing Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Shi Yan School’s uniform just like her. The corner of her lips hooked up slightly when she thought about Luhan and her small argument they had a few days ago where he insisted that he was only slightly popular in school. Looks like his definition of slightly was very different from others.

A long whistle caught everyone’s attention as the players came jogging in one after another, the girls were screaming his name when they saw Luhan wore his red jersey with his favourite number 7 on it. He came onto the field and waved to a bunch of girls that was on the opposite side of the field. Bixue couldn’t help but to laugh at how he was entertaining his little fangirls.

As the match went on, Luhan’s fanservice continued but it was only for this specific group of girls. Every time he scored a goal, he would turn to his right and wave. Bixue couldn’t help but to look at the bunch of girls that were wearing the same school uniform as him.

When another long whistle was blown, declaring the end of the game, Luhan ran over happily to the boys as they won. Instead of congratulating him, the boys poured water on him as they made a ruckus. Bixue stepped away from them when Luhan retaliated in the water fight as she laughed, she was used to their rowdiness.

“Superstar Lu! Look at the crowd! So many girls came to see you!”

“All thanks to you we get to see so many pretty girls!!”

“Yeah man! But too bad, our superstar Lu only has eyes for her!”

“Ehhh, she’s here!”

“Don’t pretend Luhan!”

“I know she’s here!” Luhan shouted back excitedly, still ecstatic about the win. “I go and talk to her first!”

With that, he ran across the field to the group of girls where he gave his fanservice to and Bixue’s gaze followed him. She saw how he rubbed the back of his neck as he talked to the a short-haired girl, his doe eyes were twinkling more than usual. And it was the first time Bixue had seen him so nervous yet so excited at the same time.

“Who.. are they?” Bixue turned around and asked, she was unsure if it was the win or the girl that made him so happy and excited, but either way the girl played a big part in the way he was grinning from ear to ear.

“They? You mean her??” One of the boys laughed, “She’s the one and only person who is capable of making our superstar Lu ignore these amount of girls here.”

“Totally. Not like she’s very pretty but our Luhan is just too loyal.” Another person added.

“C’mon guys, Qian Ya is not so bad.” Cobby told the guys before telling Bixue, “They are our classmates.”

“Well, there are better ones out there.” The first boy told Cobby. “Seriously, I just don’t get Luhan. What’s so special about Qian Ya.”

“Bixue, can you please tell Luhan to grow some balls and confess already? It’s been what 3 months?!”

“I’m sure Bixue already knows about all these so please spare her the same details that Luhan always tell her.” Cobby told the rest. “Right Bixue?”

“Right..” Bixue replied softly as she smiled weakly. She didn’t know about all these. Luhan told her nothing about it. It was her first time knowing about Luhan crushing on someone and since the start of the conversation, she felt something stuck in her chest. She didn’t feel good.

“Hey Xue! I didn’t see you earlier!”  Luhan came back and joined the group. It was then he realized the presence of Bixue and acknowledged her. He had been too ecstatic about the win and the fact that Qian Ya came that he didn’t realize the girl who will and had always been beside him.

“Shall we go for lunch? My treat!”

The group cheered and picked up their bags, making their way out of the school gates with Bixue following behind them quietly. Throughout their conversation they talked about Luhan, Qian Ya’s name could be heard shortly after. It was as though their names were one and inseparable. And every mention of their names gnawed on Bixue, making her feel worst than before.

“Are you alright Xue?” Luhan noticed her quietness and asked.

“Yeah.. okay.” Bixue lied. Truthfully, she was not. She didn’t understand why did Luhan not tell her about Qian Ya, and why did he keep it from her. Since they knew each other at the age of 10, they made a promise to not keep secrets from one another. It was Luhan who made her do a pinky promise with him back then. And she had never kept any secrets from him ever since. She told Luhan almost everything in her life, but why, did he not tell her about it?

“Who.. is she?” The girl asked softly as they walked out of the school gates.

“She?” Luhan looked at her weirdly, his eyes darting around before lighting up again, “Oh you mean Qian Ya?”

Bixue nodded her head as she asked him, “You.. like her?”

“Oh my god is it that obvious?” Luhan looked at her worriedly, his doe eyes were frowning. If Bixue could tell that he likes her, Qian Ya would definitely sense it too. Both of them are girls!

“Not really. They told me. Doubt the girl knows.” Pointing to the group of boys in front of them, Bixue comforted him. She knew what he was thinking just by looking at him in his eyes and after she replied, she didn’t feel like talking anymore. She suddenly felt tired and if possible, she wanted to go home and rest. She didn’t understand why he kept from her and from his words, it was as though Luhan had forgotten to tell her. Her disappointment grew alongside with that small lump that was forming at the back of as she kept her head down.

“Phew.” Luhan put her hand over his chest before reaching up to ruffle Bixue’s hair, “You know me best Xue!”

With her gaze fixed on the ground, she smiled bitterly. Did she? Did she really know Luhan best? She didn’t know. As she watched Luhan ran towards his group of friends in front of them, the distance between them increased with every step that Luhan took. And for the first time, she felt that they were really drifting apart.

Because they boy who once convinced her to jump, promising her that he would catch her was already slowly turning around.

And she had already started to fall.