Third Glimpse of Zhai Mei, Lemon Scent and Warm Hands

As soon as Gu Wei spotted Zhai Mei, he'd hurried to say goodbye to Fu Yuan Jie and catch up with the curly-haired female.

She appeared small in figure and her legs weren't that long, but she walked so fast that Gu Wei didn't manage to catch up until she was at the elevator.

Chasing after her made Gu Wei remember the woman with similar hair to Zhai Mei's, she was also walking fast.

Entering the hotel and reaching the elevator, Gu Wei tapped a hand on Zhai Mei's shoulder, who stood there waiting for the metal box to open.

"Zhai Mei-ah."

Looking back, Zhain Mei's eyes widened with shock as she laid eyes on the male before her.

"Gu Wei?" She mouthed, and the boy mouthed back with a smile, "Yes."

Gu Wei switched to sign language.

'Are you heading up to Song Wei?' Gu Wei motioned.

Zhai Mei blinked away her surprise and tucked her hair behind her ears.

'How did you…? Yes, I'm heading up. We're in room 26, and you?'

Before Gu Wei could reply, the elevator pinged and opened. Gu Wei waited till Zhai had passed before he entered himself.

It was then that he saw the nylon Zhai Mei was holding.

It appeared heavy, and Gu Wei hadn't noticed because he'd been so wrapped up in the familiar presence of Zhai Mei.

It was weird. He didn't know her until that night at the venue, but he was just as comfortable with Zhai Mei as he was with his friends.

Maybe it was due to Zhai Mei being a classmate of his, and they had known each other then too.

Ha Xing's words flickered through his weary mind. First crush.

Dismissing the thought and adding it to the list of things he'd write in his notebook and analyze, Gu Wei rubbed his forehead in an attempt to get rid of the pounding migraine.

'Song Wei invited me. Hope I'm not imposing on you. Is that heavy?'

Zhai Mei glanced at the bottles of alcohol jumbled into one place, then at Gu Wei's tired face. No way was he carrying a thing with legs that looked like they would topple at any moment.

'No need,' Zhai Mei replied, 'It's not heavy at all, and you aren't imposing. Song Wei invited you, end of story.'

Another tired smile was given, and Gu Wei stretched his neck side to side in the hopes of flexing away the kinks.

His head was starting to get heavier than usual, and his neck protested against the bulk.

Sighing in defeat, Gu Wei placed a hand under his fringe to check his temperature, closing his eyes momentarily, but everything was hot against hot.

He shoved his hands into his pocket and stared at the increasing numbers in the elevator.

A tap on his arm had him turning to Zhai Mei, who was holding out a red plushy apple. It was then that Gu Wei noticed the lemon smell again.

It wafted around the boxy metal, intruding Gu Wei's senses, and he happily breathed it in for a few moments, then accepted the fruit with thanks.

Zhai Mei raised her hands. 'It's clean and new. Also… Do you want me to check?' She motioned to his forehead.

Shaking his head, Gu Wei took a bite from the juicy fruit and motioned for Zhai Mei not to worry.

Unmoved by his show of strength, Zhai Mei stepped into Gu Wei's personal space, lifted to her toes, and slid a warm hand below his black fringe.

The person who had been chewing and was about to swallow choked halfway through and stopped breathing.

If Gu Wei had thought Zhai Mei's scent was strong before, then it was double the strength now. He'd inhaled a mouthful of lemon as Zhai Mei's warm palm pressed against his skin.

The smell was now stuck in his throat as Zhai Mei's small face, framed by her full mane of hair, filled his vision.

Everything Zhai Mei was now around him, from the person herself to her satisfying smell and her warm presence.

The bulk in her left hand bumped against his leg, making a clinking sound as the contents moved.

Apple in one hand, Gu Wei fisted his clothes tightly in the other. Staying as still as a statue and watching as Zhai Mei mused over his temperature.

She hummed in dismay and dropped her hands, was in the process of moving away when her eyes strayed and met with Gu Wei's.

Zhai Mei herself became a statue for a split second, deep brown eyes boring into a light brown one, then she stepped back.

'It's a small fever, nothing rest won't fix. You could buy some drugs if you want to. There's a pharmacy on the other side of the hotel.'

Zhai Mei signed, consciously tugging at her red scarf.

Gu Wei cleared his throat and nodded several times, not trusting himself to speak. Zhai Mei copied his movements and nodded with him.

The two people were standing close together, shoulders almost brushing, and bobbing their heads like lizards.

It was with this pose that Ling Jie found the two lizards when the elevator arrived at their designated floor and the doors opened.

Ling Jie's eyes widened at the two with about maybe a cm of space between them, shook away her surprise, and helped Zhai Mei with the heavy nylon bag.

What had she expected? It was as she'd guessed. Zhai Mei and Gu Wei were magnets.

"Gu Wei Ge, you're here too. Song Wei said you were crying on the phone so she prepared plenty of towels to soak your tears and bought your favorite drink too. Zhai Mei Jie, why didn't you let Ge carry this thing? It's so heavy."

Ling Jie said, having transferred the bag to herself and almost dropped her arms with the weight.

She chose to drag it instead.

Gu Wei stared at Zhai Mei accusingly. So it had been that heavy, so why didn't she…?

Gu Wei remembered the state he'd been in.

Zhai Mei had probably not wanted to gamble the fate of the drinks with an unsteady being.

Meanwhile, Zhai Mei's eyebrows were up to her hairline at Ling Jie's words.

Crying on the phone? You cry? They seemed to insinuate.

Clearing his throat again, Gu Wei followed Ling Jie's lead as she walked through the long hallway to Room 26.

"Who said I was crying? Song Wei exaggerates everything, seriously… Did she honestly buy Sweet As Ever?"

Gu Wei was referring to his favorite drink, which Ling Jie had said Song Wei had acquired for him.

The drink was a special kind of wine made out of rice, honey, and sugarcane.

With its expensive ingredients, the drink itself was also beyond the average price of the standard alcohol.

Gu Wei's salary allowed him to get a bottle every 4 months.

He managed the robust bottle of wine through the short time, till his next savings for it were complete, and he visited the store to buy another one from the plenty stacks of Sweet As Ever wine.

The drink was not just the only alcohol Gu Wei could tolerate but was the only drink he claimed not to taste like poison.

And indeed, Sweet As Ever was rich in taste and smell, and Gu Wei's friends had bit their tongues when they'd got a small taste of it.

It would be very surprising and heartfelt if Song Wei had managed to get this drink, and Gu Wei wondered whose money had gone down the drain for such an expense.

Song Wei's or He Sheng's?

"Don't fret, your mother takes care of her baby too well. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either. Your tastes are honestly one of a kind eh, Gu Wei Ge."

Ling Jie said with a quick glance at Zhai Mei.

So, Song Wei had bought the wine then.

Gu Wei's chest felt all bubbly as he took in this information.

His classmates never failed to surprise him with their unexpected acts of camaraderie.

Gu Wei rubbed at his chest, feeling somewhat relieved after a gruesome day of tug and tug at his brainpower.

He needed to pick at his memories bit by bit to start doing whatever work he'd been assigned because right now, all Gu Wei remembered was 'hafasjahfasdashtah.'

It would be a problem if he did those jumbled, incoherent words into his work too. Speaking of which, his notebook… His notebook!

Gu Wei tapped his body, slowly coming to the depressing realization that he'd left his bag at the prison building.

Fu Yuan Jie had dragged him outside so suddenly that he'd completely forgotten he had arrived with a tote bag to begin with.

Mouth open in an exasperating 'ahhh', Gu Wei stared at Zhai Mei as she asked 'What's wrong?'

What was wrong? Everything was wrong! Gu Wei was wrong! His notebook… Ohhh, his notebook.

They reached the room, and Ling Jie stopped to swipe the card, throwing an already fragile Gu Wei back to the traumatising afternoon when Miss Li had also swiped her card at those authentication doors.

She'd scared Gu Wei with talk of being locked out and no one to save him.

Gu Wei felt like crying. His card was in his bag. What rotten luck was this?

Zhai Mei brushing past him snapped Gu Wei out of his reverie, and he stepped inside the clean room in a daze.

At least the bag wasn't behind those big scary doors, Gu Wei tried to comfort himself. But his notebook…

Tears almost prickling his eyes, Gu Wei's whole body was folded into a motherly hug as soon as the door closed behind him.

Gu Wei sighed heavily, choking back his heavy emotions, and wrapped his arms around his mother, hunching to fold his height perfectly into hers.

Song Wei stroked his back as Gu Wei let out a dramatic wail and blubbered nonsensically.

Coupled with the loss of his notebook, Gu Wei's cry was bordering on a real one, and his words were a babble mess as he buried his face into Song Wei's soft hair.

"Mother Wei, Mother Wei… Wahhhhhh! Wahhhhhh, Mother Wei…!"