NICE MEETING YOU

At the exact moment Yu Mei stood in front of the door, a man pushes his way in. A smile spread across their faces as their eyes meet.

"Hi!"

"Hi," the man greets her back, placing a kiss on her cheek while closing the door. "Here." He hands her a bouquet of flowers.

"Thank you. They're lovely," she sweetly said and smelled it. Her cheeks turn red, and glancing at him with half-lidded eyes; Yu Mei thanked the partitioned wall in between the door and the dining table or she would get another teasing from the others.

"Come on, they're waiting." She holds out her hand and pulls him closer, feeling his warmth.

Yu Mei tightens her grip on his hand. Would she be called cheesy if she tells him she misses him when they just met yesterday? Whatever, she loves this man so much.

He is 179cm tall, therefore, she has to look up when talking to him while standing. "Let's go."

Yu Mei drags him by the hand to where her friends are.

The people at the round table turn their heads and sets their eyes on the newly arrived person.

"Oh, shit, he's so handsome," Li Jun blurts out of the blue.

"Shush!" Wan Li chides.

The man snorts as well as Yu Mei at Li Jun's comment.

"We are sorry for being rude. I reckon you are our dear Yu Mei's boyfriend, considering the flowers…and the hand," Wan Li points at their entwined hands. He stands up and held his hand out, "I'm Xu Wan Li but you can call me gorgeous."

"Hey!" Yu Mei gawked at Wan Li, her monolid eyes growing big.

"Su Bin."

She looks at the man beside her accepting Wan Li's hand but Yu Mei swiftly pulls Su Bin's hand and gets in between them, hiding her boyfriend behind her.

"He said it was nice meeting you," she says to her expectant friend.

Wan Li rolls his eyes. "What a cheapskate."

Liu Yang covers her mouth to prevent any sound from escaping, she tried her best, but she still could not help it; while Li Jun bit his lips with his shoulders shaking from laughing silently.

Su Bin wanders his eyes at everyone, it looks like it is one of their inside jokes and he felt out of place all of a sudden. He smiled and tightens his grasp on Yu Mei's hand; the latter felt it and looks at him with wondering eyes. He shakes his head and gestures toward the table.

Settling down in their seats, Yu Mei introduces Su Bin to Li Jun and Liu Yang.

"This is Li Jun; he is an Assistant Fashion Designer."

Li Jun holds out his hand and shakes Su Bin's hand, curling his imaginary hair behind his ears.

"And this Liu Yang; she is an Editor at Yinyang Publishing. I bet you know where that is."

Su Bin blinks several times, averting his gaze from Yu Mei to Liu Yang with his hand held out, but the latter only nods her head at him and smiles. He awkwardly retracts his hand and hid it under the table. But her face looks familiar to him. He takes another glance to confirm his suspicions.

"Oh! It was you at the hospital, right?" he blurts out all of a sudden, pointing a finger at Liu Yang. That's right, it's her! He did not recognize her at first because she is not wearing glasses right now.

The other three shifted their glances from Su Bin to Liu Yang; confused about what Su Bin is talking about. Even Liu Yang is confused.

"Pardon?" What is this man talking about? She just met him for the first time today.

"On Monday, at Yinyang Hospital. You were there with Amy, right? It's you, right?" Su Bin simply says with a smile. He is ignorant of the stares around him.

All the eyes shifted to Liu Yang, waiting for her reply.

What is this? Their eyes are pressuring me, especially Yu Mei.

"O-oh. Yeah, that was me. I apologize for not recognizing you the first time," is her only answer. What more she could say? She barely remembers his face.

"No worries."

"Wait, hospital? Why would you go there with your author? Is that why you called the afternoon off that day?" Wan Li asks, his face curiously looking at Liu Yang.

The news about the Chief's pregnancy is still under wraps as per the Vice President's orders until now. The Chief even went to work the next day as if nothing happened.

Liu Yang is slightly panicking. She tried hard to find an alibi to his sudden question, and she does not have the right to disclose Min Chu's pregnancy to everyone. She will probably be relieved from her job immediately the moment she opens her mouth.

"A-ah! Ms. Amy had a sudden terrible headache and she asked me to bring her to the hospital." Liu Yang swallows a mouthful of saliva; nervous if they will buy it. It was the best she could do; though she felt bad for lying, she is left with no choice.

She inwardly sighs with relief when she saw her friends nodding and went back to eating; except for Su Bin who knew the real story. Liu Yang averts her attention back to the food, avoiding the topic.

"Excuse me, I have to take this call," Su Bin left his seat and answers the call.

When he left the room, the three of them gape at Yu Mei.

"Now I know the reason why you didn't introduce him to us for two years," Li Jun raises his brow, "You're just afraid someone might snatch him."

"What? No, it's not!" Yu Mei laughed at the absurdity of what he said. Well, he has a point, though.

"Hey, but where did you meet such a guy?"

"Oi, what do you mean?" Yu Mei was somewhat offended by what Liu Yang had said.

"I mean, he looks capable and mature, and on top of that, he came from a prominent family," Liu Yang clarifies.

"Is he now?!" Wan Li gasps. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"Ms. Amy is his cousin. He just mentioned it earlier, did he not?"

"Nope," Yu Mei answers, putting a dumpling in her mouth while shaking her head.

Liu Yang: "You don't know? How come?"

Yu Mei: "I haven't met his family, yet."

"What?!"

The three said in unison, their voices harmonized but it was unpleasant to the ears.

Yu Mei jumps in her seat, almost spilling the soup near her.

"Quiet down, will you?"

They might be in a private room with good soundproofing but their loud voices almost popped her eardrums out.

Li Jun: "But why? You've been together for a long time now?"

Yu Mei looks at their query faces, expecting her to give them a satisfactory answer. Under the table, her hand curls into a fist, her nails digging into her skin.

She manages out a smile and reassuringly says, "We don't want to rush things out. It'll happen naturally, don't you think?"

Reaching out for the glass of water, she tries to calm her nerves with iced water.

Thankfully, her friends seem to accept the explanation well.

"Ahem."

Su Bin appears standing behind them. They seal their lips as soon as he takes his seat without knowing he had heard everything from the start. He searches for Yu Mei's free hand and held it tightly.

"It seems like I have to go," Su Bin whispers to Yu Mei.

"Oh, really? I'll walk you out, then."

Yu Mei removed the napkin from her lap however, Su Bin stopped her. "No, it's fine. You don't have to."

"I'll walk you to the door?"

Su Bin contemplated before saying 'yes'. When he stood up, the others followed suit.

"It was nice meeting all of you."

They bow to each other then, he held Yu Mei's hand and walked hand in hand towards the door.

Stopping in front of the door, Su Bin gives Yu Mei a hug and a kiss.

With a smile, he says, "I wish I could stay longer," his arms around her waist.

Yu Mei brushes his cheeks with her fingertips. "There will always be a next time."

"Yeah."

He gives her another kiss – this time, longer than the first.

"Okay, that's enough or I'll never be able to leave." He lets out a long sigh. "Shall I ditch our family dinner?"

Yu Mei giggles. "No! Of course, you can't. Go."

Su Bin gives her another long searing kiss. "See you at home."

"Yeah, bye."

The door is already closed, yet Yu Mei remains standing in front of it. She wished she could meet his family, too, but it's not possible. Walking back, seeing how her friends are laughing while talking amongst themselves, her gloomy mood instantly brightens. Yu Mei quickened her pace and joined them.