Pouring From An Empty Cup

After her lunch date with Mei and her friends, she still found herself sitting alone in the front row. They had been nice but she wasn't dropping her usual seating spot to sit with them, if anything—she'd get more distracted by sitting with them.

As if she wasn't already distracted as things were going now.

Her pen jilted from the notebook's page, instead she tapped it on the table and inadvertently smeared a smudge of ink on its surface. She was trying to wrap her head around the situation, glancing at the empty seat beside her.

Why weren't people talking about Kit's now vanished presence?

It wasn't a huge deal that he was absent for a day or so, but surely someone else would have picked up on it? She chewed on her lip, asking about it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. She saw Mei gave her a friendly wave from the third row before resuming to talk with Suyin. Chan Lee sighed inwardly.

How did that person manage to enroll himself and then leave as he pleased?

But it was simply another thought brought forth from her soured mood. Last night's search had been unsuccessful. Most of the online work available required her to be available for several hours, she couldn't afford that either. Could she ask money from her mother? She quickly swatted that idea away, it would lead to questions no doubt. Why are you in need of extra money? Have you been spending too much on unnecessary things? She'd talk it over with—

She couldn't deal with that.

Chan Lee rested her head on her desk, hoping that their Professor would be a few more minutes late or even take a break for the day. She knew she wanted a break.

A poke on her shoulder ruined the moment.

Raising her head up to the disturbance, it was Hua Zhao. "What do you want?" She slurred over her words, squinting hard at him. Why did he always bother her? Somehow she couldn't even get a moment of peace and silence now.

"You don't really look so good…" Hua Zhao sighed a bit, "I only wanted to ask if you found your friend?"

Hurt stung her chest for a moment, giving her a bit of clarity to give him a narrowed stare. "What is it to you? Didn't you say that human and spirits—" His finger pressed to her lips, she swatted it away and gave him a stink eye. "Yes, we found him. Thank you very much, are you satisfied now?"

"Not precisely, but don't you look… er, unwell?"

"Are you saying that I look bad?"

"Yes— I mean no." He moved closer, his voice low. "You know that some spirits like our friend 'Kit' absorb spiritual energy and qi to sustain themselves… I'm a bit worried if Xue has the same abilities."

"When you say that, aren't you trying to say that he's sucking up my energy or something?" Chan Lee frowned at him, tucking that piece of information in the back of her mind. "You really want to put him in a bad light don't you?"

Hua Zhao rubbed his face, "I mean, he could be doing it by accident. I'm not trying to say he's a bad guy. Why are you so irritated?"

"Oh, excuse me for being so cranky while dealing with all these things." She hissed at him. "It's been barely a week since Xue arrived but things are topsy turvy with folks like you butting in my life and trying to 'helpfully' steer me into the right direction." She held up her bracelet. "I'm still wearing this and that damn friendship necklace you got me because I don't know what else to do!"

He stared at her silently amidst her rant, before finally speaking up. "You… you're not handling it well by placing everything on your shoulders. And you don't have to do it alone, you know?" His gaze flittered behind her. "I would suggest that you skip another day of class, but our professor is here so I'll talk to you later."

Hua Zhao soon left after that, she noticed that Mei and her friends also watched him walk away. Mei motioned with her hand slicing through her neck, eyeing the guy.

Chan Lee tried not to shake her head as she tuned in to the start of the lecture.

The minutes ticked by and she struggled to maintain her attention on their professor. If it weren't this current situation on hand that were plaguing her thoughts… well, she'd still be distracted by something else. Like a good book she wanted to read, that television series she was watching and—

"Chan Lee!"

She raised her head startled to the sound of Mei's voice. She blinked at the face of her friend in front of her, "Mei did I...?" She was joined along by her other companions.

"Pfft, it's amazing how you can fall asleep in the front row. You should have seen our Professor's face when your head hit that notebook." Gen chuckled. "He tried calling your name but you wouldn't budge. He should have saved some dignity by not bothering to wake you at all."

"Quite the guts." Xiaobo nodded, "Even Gen here would think twice of doing that."

"Come on, stop teasing the girl." Suyin interjected, although an amused smile was on her face. "Had a busy night?"

"I mean no…" Chan Lee pinched the bridge of her nose, "I've been looking for work you see." It felt a bit embarrassing to say that for some reason. "I'm in a bit of a tight situation."

"Huh, aren't you a scholar, Chan Lee?" Mei pushed her spectacles, "So it's not university expenses? Forgive me if I'm invading your personal life."

A stirring warmth seeped into her chest, it didn't feel like that at all. "No it's not a—"

"Are you being chased by some sort of loan shark or something?" Gen draped an arm around Xiaobo's shoulder, "Cause this guy is a good deterrent, let me tell you that."

Why were they being so concerned over her? Her face felt a bit hot right now, couldn't they give her a little time to consider their statements?

"You know, if you don't mind… I can recall an open spot at my workplace, and I'm actually looking for someone to free up some of my shifts." Suyin spoke up, rubbing her cheek. "You could take over a few of them and if it works well for you, I think you could easily get that position? I'll help you out. It's not that hard and the pay is quite well too."

"I'm grateful if you could let me take over for a bit." Chan Lee bowed her head a bit, "Though, I uh… I'm not sure what your work entails?" It was a little bit judgemental, but she didn't know what could be an 'easy' work for someone like Suyin that pays nicely. "I'm not that great with heavy load of—"

"Hmmm, I wonder what Chan Lee thinks our Suyin works at?" Gen chuckled and received a glare from the young woman. "Come on, I bet that she'd be surprised when she hears of it."

"Uh… are you in the service industry?"

Gen bit back a howl of laughter. "Pfft, service industry—that's a safe answer, I would have expected that she worked at some… er, nice place?"

Suyin stopped giving the male a stink eye, "I work at a tea house, and I suppose that I really don't look like the type to work there." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But it's a nice place, few clientele that even tip sometimes."

Chan Lee blinked for a moment, a tea house. "Uh, when can I start?"

"Gee, you're so cute. Why don't we head there right now?" Suyin gave her a grin, looking at Mei. "It'd be nice for us to have a cup of tea and some snacks right?"

"Ah, it has been a while yes." Mei's face brightened before she looked at the two males. "Will you two join us as well?"

"Er, it seems like a girly affair. Don't try to get us into that." Gen waved the girl off. "We have better places to be."

"We have to help out with the student council today," Xiaobo inclined his head, "Maybe next time, Mei. Thank you for the invitation though."

"I really wasn't inviting you two guys, I know you have a meeting today." Suyin made a face before turning back to her. "What do you think, Chan Lee? Would it be fine for you to join us today? If you have other things to do, I wouldn't mind postponing it for another day."

She blinked. They weren't just going to drag her off somewhere? It was a welcome change from Hua Zhao's recent actions… although she more or less blamed herself for allowing the guy to bother her. Speaking of which, didn't he say he'd talk with her? Glancing back at the last rows, he was still there. Hua Zhao was conversing with Ning Bi, Bo Ling and their other friends. He was preoccupied it seems.

"Um, sure." Chan Lee turned to Suyin with a smile. "The earlier the better."