Chapter 2

"Hey, you know how a bunch of contests are coming up?" starts Hou Yi, eyes still focused in front of them. 'Small talk,' Chang'e thinks, 'not like we need it.'

"Yeah," is the curt reply that leaves her mouth.

Hou Yi coughs awkwardly and continues, "Which ones are you planning to join?"

"Why? So you can join the same ones and try to beat me?"

"No," he says, like he can't believe what he's hearing. "I just wanted to know."

"Huh, you first," Chang'e suggests. Although it's not a suggestion and more of an order.

"All of them," Hou Yi answers jokingly, grinning at Chang'e.

"Oh! Same. What a coincidence!" fakes Chang'e. She makes a little surprised face that Hou Yi snickers at.

"But for real though? Math and science," he confesses, "I want more awards for those." Hou Yi punctuates his sentence with a soft laugh.

"Oh?" A filler noise that Chang'e uses from time to time before she comes up with a proper response. "But which one do you really want to win? Which one really matters?"

"Math, probably. More to add onto my college application," and after a moment of contemplation, "And my resume."

"Advanced, huh?"

"Haha, yeah." Hou Yi scratches the back of his head. 'In embarrassment,' Chang'e assumes. "You?" 'Dang it, Hou Yi, stop turning it back to me.'

"Secret," is the only cover-up she can provide until she sees Naicha come into view. 'Milktea saves the day yet again.' "Oh, look! It's Naicha."

She can hear Hou Yi chuckle a bit behind her, but the blast of cool air that hits her face as she opens the door is a reminder that she's been transported to the earth equivalent of heaven. Her umbrella is closed shut swiftly, shoved into one of the baskets stationed by the entrance. She does a little jog to get further inside, purposefully letting go of the door so that it closes on Hou Yi's face.

"HAH! Karma," exclaims Chang'e, sticking her tongue out at Hou Yi through the glass doors. She turns around to line up, barely needing to glance at the menu to know her order.

"You're so childish," Hou Yi says beside her. Chang'e sticks her tongue out. Hou Yi scans the menu quickly, eyes going back and forth, but ultimately going back to the fruit tea section.

"Next!"

Chang'e steps forward, but Hou Yi's faster than her and manages to reach the counter before she does.

"One black sugar milktea with pearls and an apricot peach fruit tea, please," orders Hou Yi politely. 'Took the words right out of my mouth,' thinks Chang'e. "Go find us a place to sit."

"Okay," Chang'e says with a little bit of sass.

"Please," Hou Yi adds, rolling his eyes.

Chang'e sends him a sarcastic, sweet smile. "Aye aye, captain." She salutes for the extra effect, and she can tell it works because the cashier lady grins at her.

She takes the booth by the window, plopping down onto a lavender couch. Hou Yi follows soon after, his rain-dusted hair, from when she left him outside, brushing against the white light ball hanging from the ceiling. It sways a little, casting the focus of its light from one end of the table to the other.

"You really don't like the rain?"

Chang'e directs her gaze to Hou Yi and then to the window with rain pelting down on it. Tok-tok-tok.

"It's okay," she admits, placing a hand against the window. She observes a fog appear around its warmth before retracting her hand.

"Chang Yi?" the lady calls from the pick-up station. Hou Yi bursts into laughter, standing up from the opposite side of the lavender couch. "Ship name," is all the explanation she gets—or lack thereof—before he sails over to the counter, fueled by chuckles of mischief.

He comes back with drinks on a tray and tissues stuffed into pockets. "Fruit tea for Chang'e?" he teases, placing it in front of her.

"Don't even." She takes the milktea that Hou Yi has just put down in front of him and switches it with the fruit tea. "This baby is mine."

"Ow," he hisses, as if he'd been burnt to a crisp. Chang'e tsks and shakes her drink. "Possessive," Hou Yi comments, "I like it." He grins when Chang'e gags in reply.

Chk. She wiggles her straw around to stir up the pearls before sipping. 'Mmmhm, this is the life. Just me, my milktea, and Hou Yi.. I guess.'

"What subjects do we need to review today?" Hou Yi asks, books already on the table.

"Mnfmrkd," is the embarrassing, unidentifiable phrase that leaves her mouth. Hou Yi chokes on his drink in surprise, having taken a bad time to sip on his fruit tea. She covers her mouth as she chews on a pearl before swallowing it hastily. "Ahem. Math and science. There's some homework for math."

"Great."

Chang'e takes out her books too, setting her beloved milktea aside. 'This is one of my favorite times of the day,' Chang'e thinks. She smiles at her book, but mostly at herself. 'Peace, silence, and a pretty good study buddy if you exclude the fact that it's Hou Yi.'

Two hours pass by like seconds, the clouds stop shedding tears of rain, and drinks drain down as if there's a black hole underneath them. The only thing that doesn't disappear as fast is the seemingly never-ending math homework. But, luckily for Chang'e, it dwindles slowly but surely—that's when she encounters the one math problem that doesn't seem to have a solution no matter how hard you try.

"Hou Yi?"

"Mhm?" he replies, lifting his head, but not quite looking up from his notebook just yet.

"Could you help me with this question?"

"No please?" he says, eyes finally flicking up.

"Please," Chang'e sighs out. She rolls her eyes jokingly because she still needs his help after all. "This is what I've got." She flips her notebook to face him, watching as he studies her solution intently.

"Oh, no," he corrects softly, taking her pencil out of her hand, "You have to do it like this."

Within a few minutes of confusion, explanation, and exasperation all mixed into one, Chang'e finally gets it. She has to give Hou Yi some credit for his math skills.

"Out of gratitude, I won't run in the math contest," Chang'e jokes.

"Really?" And the sparkle in Hou Yi's eyes has a siren-like charm on her because the next thing she says is, "Yeah." 'Guess it's not a joke anymore.'

"Hey, in that case—"

"I have a name."

"Chang'e," he says, emphasizing each syllable, "Why don't you tell me which contest really matters to you? I won't run in that either then."

"Well, I—"

"I mean, you don't have to if you're not comfortable with it. You said no the first time, maybe there's some hidden backstory..? Who am I kidding?" Hou Yi rants, hands moving frantically, "It's okay, really. I just thought—"

"Art," she blurts, stopping him from talking any further, "Just something that I think is really cool, and I know pursuing it further isn't going to yield favorable results for me specifically, so it's a no-go, but I'd still like to win. Prove something to myself, you know?"

Hou Yi breathes out and nods which somehow makes her feel less embarrassed about the whole ordeal. "Yeah. It's cool."

She looks back down at her notebook, turning a page for the sake of doing something.

"You draw?"

"Oh, uhm, paint." Chang'e lifts her head up to see that Hou Yi's pushed away his books, opting to lean forward in interest instead.

"Sick," he comments, "I mean in a good way. Have you painted anything before?"

"Yeah! I have," Chang'e answers excitedly. Not a lot of people continue this kind of conversation. "Mostly imaginary scenes in my head though."

"Can I see?"

Chang'e hesitates for a moment, but takes out her painting book either way. She flips to a random page, landing on a scenery of a bench and trees and flowers.

"Huh, that sucks." And for a moment, Chang'e is nearly taken aback, but the fondness in his voice makes it seem less of an insult and more of a compliment. "I'm kidding," he clarifies, confirming Chang'e's thoughts, "It's beautiful."

"Thanks," Chang'e says softly. Bashfully.

"You mix colors great, by the way. Looks vibrant. And real. Almost like I could touch it."

Chang'e laughs, "So much for an imaginary scene, hm?" Hou Yi laughs along with her at that, and the two of them spend another hour talking about art, painting, and the usage of math in art—Hou Yi's doing.

Plink, plink. The starting notes of Once Upon a Dream.

"Aurora's waltz is your alarm?"

"Favorite Disney movie when I was a kid," Chang'e explains, turning off the alarm, "I gotta get home."

"Oh, right." Hou Yi sweeps his books off the table and into his backpack, springing up to throw away their plastic milktea cups and to put away their tray. Chang'e mutters a thank you whilst placing her books neatly inside her backpack.

They regroup at the door, the air curtain blasting down warm air at them.

"I'll walk you home," Hou Yi offers and Chang'e simply accepts it with a nod because yeah, no girl should ever walk home alone, even if Hou Yi's your walking buddy.

Cricket. Croak. Chirp. Swish-swish. Several noises break through the evening's quiet bubble. All forms of noise possible except for their own voices. In fact, if not for nature's music, their walk would be dead silent.

But not the awkward kind of silence. The silence that they usually have is peaceful, as if they're not enemies and they're only enjoying each other's presence. The cool air blows a stronger breeze than the last, and that makes Chang'e grin.

"You like the cold air?" Hou Yi's voice pierces through.

"Yeah. It makes me feel," Chang'e pauses, trying to find the right word. "Alive," Hou Yi finishes with the correct word, and so she repeats, "Alive."

They turn a corner down the road, and Chang'e can already spot her house close by.

"That's your house, right?"

"Uhm, yeah. You always drop me off, and most of the time, you ask the same question," Chang'e notes. Hou Yi huffs. He has a certain habit of doing that.

"Just making sure."

Chang'e stops in front of her house's door with Hou Yi right behind her. She presses the doorbell, and a ding-dong tells her that someone knows she's waiting outside.

Crash. "Coming, honey!" Bonk. ...Although, with the noises coming from inside, it was pretty obvious someone was rushing to the door.

"Hello, my sweet Chang'e," her mother says, giving her a quick hug, "And you too, Hou Yi."

"Hello, auntie," Hou Yi says with respect, bowing his head a little. Chang'e's mother giggles and whispers something to Chang'e about good son-in-laws and manners that makes her puff up her cheeks. 'Hou Yi doesn't seem to have heard it though,' she thinks, 'that's good.'

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" her mom asks. Chang'e whips her head around super fast, shaking her head and making an x sign with her arms at Hou Yi.

Hou Yi must have laughed with his eyes somehow because Chang'e suddenly feels aware of how she must look like. Barefoot, head shaking, and arms in an x. She puts her arms down and behind her back, a sheepish smile on her face.

"No thank you, auntie. I have to get home too. Just came to drop Chang'e off. Enjoy your dinner and have a nice night!" 'Classic Hou Yi line. He never stays for dinner, mom. And he shouldn't. Ever.'

"Oh alright, Hou Yi," her mom says dejectedly. She didn't have to sound so sad about it.

Hou Yi gives Chang'e and her mom a smile before turning around and starting his trek home. Her mother leaves as well, probably off to check on dinner again.

And just as Chang'e is about to close the door, Hou Yi whistles. When their eyes meet, he sticks his tongue out at her. 'How childish,' but then Chang'e sticks her tongue out too, 'so who am I to judge?'