Dinner for Two

8pm. 

The weather had taken a sharp turn at night. The rain was pouring and dark clouds covered the sky. 

Lin Yuan looked outside the door at the lightning flashing some distance away. He was waiting for the thunder to come.

A few seconds later the loud drumming reverberated from the sky.

"It's very close." Lin Yuan turned to Ning Qing who was putting on her shoes.

The fat cat was nowhere to be found, but he could hear the faint sound of the tv coming from the living room. 

Seeing as Ning Qing didn't say anything and was about to take out her umbrella, Lin Yuan spoke again, "Why don't you wait a while…"

Ning Qing was surprised, the only reason she didn't say anything was because she thought he'd be uncomfortable. Now that he brought it up, she had no reason to decline. She hadn't expected the sudden weather shift, so she wasn't particularly prepared either. 

"Alright, thank you." She smiled at him, "Where is your sister, is she coming home? You should tell her to be careful."

"My sister said she'll be late."

"Oh."

Lin Yuan closed the door, shutting away the heavy sounds outside.

"I'll make some tea." He headed toward the kitchen. 

Meanwhile, Ning Qing made her way back to the living while texting her sister to inform her that she would be late.

When she entered the living room, she was surprised to see the fat cat buried into a corner of the sofa while watching the tv intently. The remote was by its paws. 

"You are very smart." Ning Qing bent down in front of the cat. 

The fat cat was annoyed that she was blocking the view but it didn't growl or hiss but meowed lightly and then tried to move to another position. Ning Qing felt childish for some reason so she kept following the cat trying to block its view. 

"Why are you bullying him?"

"Huh?" Ning Qing quickly zipped around only to see Lin Yuan standing by the door. 

Ning Qing coughed and stood up properly, straightening out her clothes, "How long have you been there?"

"For a while."

"..." 

"I thought you were making tea."

This time Lin Yuan's face turned stiff, "Uh, um, is your family having dinner?"

"Dinner?" Ning Qing didn't understand why he suddenly changed the subject, "They ate dinner early." Actually, usually she had dinner with her family as soon as she got home, but recently her grandma has being going to bed sooner, so on days when she had tutoring, she just ate later by herself. 

"Then…do you want to have dinner here?" Lin Yuan's eyes were lowered and he spoke softly, "The rain won't let up for a while."

Ning Qing looked at him and thought back to what her grandma had said, he would probably be eating alone after she left.

"Alright, then I'll trouble you." Ning Qing smiled, "But you have to let me help you this time."

"Okay."

So the two people left the fat cat to watch TV alone and went to the kitchen. 

Ning Qing opened the fridge and looked inside.

"There's not much here…"

"I forgot to buy groceries." Lin Yuan was washing the vegetables. He was a little stiff, he didn't usually cook with someone else. 

Ning Qing watched his mechanical movements, "By the way, I haven't seen you at the grocery store at all even though I went quite a few times this week."

Lin Yuan's hand suddenly paused, he coughed lightly, "Well, we probably missed each other."

"Really?" Ning Qing didn't relent.

Lin Yuan looked up at her curved eyes that were gleaming under the soft light, "Well before, I went there for you…"

"...Because I wanted to apologise."

"Oh." Ning Qing didn't expect such a straightforward answer so she was somewhat stunned. She took out the large rice cooker and started filling up the bowl with water. 

"Thank you." Her voice was barely audible against the sound of running water. 

…

…

…

Sitting around the coffee table listening to the faint humming of the tv, with the thunder and rain outside, it felt like they were in their own little world.

The house was quiet, almost like they were the last two people on earth.

Oh and this fat cat.

Lin Yuan pushed Baozi away from the table away and explained:

"You can't eat this." 

He was trying to control the fat cat's diet, the vet had told him last time that it needed to lose weight or there would be problems later on. 

Lin Yuan glanced at the woman opposite him who was gracefully eating with her head down. 

"I want to own a cafe."

"Huh?" Ning Qing was confused for a moment before she realised he was continuing the previous conversation. 

"You like to drink coffee?" She couldn't quite imagine that. 

"No."

"Then you want to eat cake?" She knew that he had a sweet tooth, if how much sugar he liked in his tea was any indication.

Lin Yuan had a blank face for a moment then he said with an annoyed expression, "Why are you talking about what I'd like to eat or drink?"

"Oh sorry, haha." Ning Qing laughed at herself. Seeing that he looked upset, she asked obediently, "Why do you want to own a cafe?"

"...Well, it's fun to watch people. Maybe I can sit behind the counter and listen to people's conversations while it rains."

He had an image in his mind of a small shop with not many customers, with the wind and rain blowing outside, while he sat behind the wooden counter polishing some cups…Actually he wasn't sure what a barista actually did. But he liked to imagine it.

Ning Qing was surprised, "You're quite romantic Lin Yuan."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Haha, maybe…"

"..."

"Actually maybe I should be a librarian. I've always liked books so it would be fun to spend all day reading."

You're making fun of me but you think a librarian just reads all day? Lin Yuan couldn't help but complain in his mind.

"...Then I'll add a library in my cafe and then you can work for me."

"What? Then I'd have to call you boss?" Ning Qing smiled and said in a faux-serious voice "Boss Lin?"

Lin Yuan nodded. 

He liked the sound of that. 

No wonder Zhang Li ran around everywhere forcing people to call him Boss Zhang. 

After dinner Lin Yuerong came back. She only stopped for a little bit before she drove Ning Qing back to her house.

Sitting in his room alone Lin Yuan listened to the sound of the rain that was now calming down. For some reason the restlessness he had felt recently was beginning to fade.