Jiao Jiao?

Guo Shen absentmindedly stroked his chin while staring at the girl seated inside the old pavilion, who was gluing her eyes on a rather shabby-looking laptop while forrowing her brows; he felt that she looked quite adorable with that troubled expression on her face.

[Adorable?]

[....]

The first time he saw her at the main entrance of the university, his initial reaction has been one of nonplussed indifference; which type of beauty hadn't he seen before? But, that had only been until he managed to get a glimpse of her eyes. Those pale, light brown irises had looked almost reddish under the dim light of the street lamps, and the look in them had been one of…

"Little girl, busy writing?" Xu Jiao froze to resemble a stone statue on her chair feeling the hot rush of air that blew past her ears, accompanied by a low youthful rumble in her ears.

"Hmm? Oh, you also write in Xuri? So… a junior sister at the platform then."

Finally managing to gather her wits around herself, Xu Jiao hurriedly closed the web interface in a fluster while barely managing to restrain a string of curses from slipping past her mouth.

"Senior, it's rude to stare at other people's work without asking first."

"Ah…" Guo Shen sighed while sprawling himself on the chair directly opposite to hers and smirked. "For a moment there… I thought you really were a stalker." Unperturbed by the outraged look on her face, he continued in an apologetic manner. "You mustn't get angry with me. After all, you might have heard something about how women chase after me, right? It's only right that I suspect you."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"...I-am-not-a-stalker!" Xu Jiao gritted out each word between clenched teeth, hating the fact that she didn't have anything at hand that she could throw at the insufferable face of this bastard.

[How can he be so full of himself!?]

Now, she finally knew why those concubines in palace drama always throw tea cups and whatnot when they are angry; it might feel so fucking satisfying ah!

Sadly, she is not rich enough to afford to throw things and break them here and there; every little thing in her worn-out backpack, including the aforementioned article itself, is of extreme value to a poor student like herself. Of course, she was sorely tempted to throw the few wads of waste paper in her bag at the smug face in front of her but knowing that it would only give more openings to this bastard to laugh at her expense, she decided to give up on that idea after all; it's not worth the trouble.

"I know, I know… It was my mistake ah! I now know my little girl won't do something scary like stalking…"

[Excuse me? Your, little girl? Who the heck is your little girl!?] Xu Jiao roared inside but somehow upon seeing the smiling expression on the other's face, couldn't brave herself to voice out her thoughts after all.

[This guy… does he look a bit scary or am I imagining things?]

"Senior, please stop calling me little girl, little girl… It's annoying ah! I have a name you know?"

She decided to resort to grumbling after all; no need to poke a sleeping tiger in its eyes– she can't afford the consequences after all.

"My name is Xu Jiao… so please stop calling me little girl. I'm not a kid!"

"Ohh… Xu Jiao ha? But, calling you like this sound a bit cold and formal ne…" Guo Shen looked torn, the expression on his face apparently showing some unwillingness -emphasis on apparent-

"Nono… I can't address you like that ah! We already know each other really well ne–"

[No we don't– don't make flimsy excuses for whatever mischief you're going to make, you jerk!]

"How about I call you Jiao'er? Ah'Jiao?" Xu Jiao had a dull expression on her face, which seemingly amused the other person even more. "No good? Aai... then what about Jiao Jiao? How does that sound?"

"..."

"It's good, right?"

"Whatever–"

Xu Jiao decided to stop haggling with this demon since she fully knew that he'd only continue to harass her more, the more she reacted to his taunts.

[But, today… he seemed somewhat off! More than the last time… It's like he's angry.]

[Well, it can't be because of anything I did, right? And I don't remember doing anything out of ordinary to provoke this nuisance?]

She surreptitiously peeked at Guo Shen, who, after teasing her for a few more minutes gave up his attempt once he realized that he can't get a rise out of her. And somehow ended up looking further vexed about this failure even though he kept the smile on his face intact all this while; don't ask Xu Jiao how she knew this! She just did.

But, what could she do anyway? Just because some unwitting dunderhead managed to provoke this person, on what basis should she become his punching bag to vent his anger? Is there even any logic in that?

***

Even though the air felt cold, the sun was still shining brightly and shedding light on the splashes of vibrant red found here and there on the campus grounds. Yang Jian stood under a shade near the language department, waiting for Yu Min to finish her classes.

Even though he arranged to meet her, Yang Jian still felt unsure; who and what to believe? The lack of sleep last night, and not to mention all that thinking he did– the result was a splitting headache that only managed to increase his sour mood.

Even though he got the logic of what Xu Jiao said and whatever he concluded by himself later, right now his mind felt all jumbled up and confused. And at this moment, all he wanted was to meet Yu Min face-to-face and take a good look at her and assure himself that all of it was nothing but a load of bullshit.

"... an! Ah'Jian!" Yang Jian was shocked out of his stupor by the sweet, familiar voice that sounded in his ears. Turning around, he could see Yu Min standing at his side while questioningly staring at him.

"Little Min. Is your class over?"

"Mmm… Is something wrong? You look a bit pale."

He could finally feel the unpleasant and annoying feelings that had been crowding his heart slowly ebbing away in face of the other person's worried eyes; that concern on her face, it can't be faked right?

"It's fine, I had an assignment to do so had to stay up late."

"That's good then… I was worried you were sick or something."

Yu Min's large, dark eyes looked soft and worried, making Yang Jian feel mushy all over. What was he thinking earlier? This was Yu Min– the sweet, adorable, and beautiful girl who's so precious and dear to him; if only he was brave enough to confess his feelings to her. Yang Jian was sure that no man in this world can love his Yu Min as much as he did– his love for her being one so deep and obsessive.

[Doesn't matter– soon, I would very soon reach a height unsurpassed by all, so I can confidently declare my love to her and make her proud of having me as her man!]

"Ah'Jian, so you talked with Jiao'er, right? What did she te-"

"Min Min! I'm gonna go shopping at D mall… Are you– eh? Isn't this classmate Yang Jian?"

Yang Jian looked down to hide the darkening of his eyes, but when he looked up and smiled at the excited Tang Xuan, there was only the gentle and polite school grass who had been voted the most handsome man in the drama, film, and television literature department standing in front of her.

"Oh my god! You are so handsome!!" Tang Xuan squealed in delight after staring at him for a few seconds straight; good-looking men are always a pleasure to look at ah!

Yang Jian smiled politely and greeted her and made some small talk, but all the while his mind was working furiously watching the way she was interacting with Yu Min; they really seemed close, just like what that girl said. He didn't know that they were this close and Yu Min didn't tell him anything either!

[But, it's not like she has to say everything to me, right? We're not dating after all!]

Yang Jian tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that settled heavily in his stomach like lead while trying to console himself repeatedly by thinking 'she's a girl so there's no problem' and stuff like that.

[Shit! It's that Xu Jiao's fault– making me think of Yu Min in this manner. She better not let me catch her later, or I'll rip her a new one!!]

Barely refraining from gnashing his teeth in anger and taking a few deep breaths in order to calm down, Yang Jian watched on from the side as Yu Min politely refused the other girl's invitation. The fact that she didn't agree made the irritation in his heart lessen by a slight margin, and by the time Yu Min turned his way, the expression on his face had smoothed out into its habitual mask of gentle politeness; which of course is different from the gentle and indulging expression he usually sports in her presence, but neither he nor the person concerned realized this in the slightest.

"Ah'Jian… Can you tell me what Jiao'er told you? Is she still angry with me?"