To String Together ( Huaze Lei )

Soirèe

Faye Calinao

"Take a picture with me," I heard Lei say from nearby and I looked away from my camera to see him facing away from the Eiffel Tower with his phone in his hand. Even though we had someone taking photos of us awhile ago, I walked over to him and put my phone into my coat pocket. I turned facing the same direction as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I smiled at the camera for the first picture. The second one I looked towards Lei who seemed to be already staring at me with an innocent look. He leaned forward to kiss me and I smiled knowing this was his intended next pose for us. He pulled away and I leaned forward to kiss his cheek and I could hear his phone snapping the next photo.

"I want to cuddle with you tonight," I spoke as he opened his photos to look at the photos he had just taken.

"I have no problem with cuddling. I was planning on cuddling with you every night until we leave. I like having you with me." I smiled as he showed me the pictures. I linked my arms with his and leaned my head against his arm. I looked at the last photo Lei had of us and smiled at how cute we looked. "I'll send these to you when we get back to the apartment. Should we be heading back?" I nod in response as we began our journey back to the apartment.

"Lei?" I asked softly, realizing a few things. He hummed as we continued our walk. He had his arm wrapped me as we walked close together. "We should tell Ximen, Meizuo..."

"And my parents..." Lei added and my eyes widened at the mention of his parents. "Your parents..." The thought of now meeting his parents and me introducing Lei to my family is something I did not think about. How will my dad react? My mother? She would be excited for me. What about my grandparents? "When do I meet your parents?"

"Uh..." I have to tell my fans. This has caught me off guard and I felt myself feeling shy all of a sudden. Lei took a quick glance towards me and let out a light laugh before breaking into a big smile.

"It may be awhile before you can meet my parents. I am going to talk about you next time I'm speaking with my mother."

"I really haven't thought about that until now. I have to tell the whole music industry we're dating," I smile shyly. "I mentioned in an interview I would make an announcement."

"I think our classmates would be interested as well."

"Are you suggesting something?"

"We could post a picture on Weibo and Instagram that we've taken today? Unless you want to broadcast yourself?"

"I'm not much of a broadcast kind of person." I shook my head at the idea of talking to a camera and reading comments live. "I like your idea of posting. I get to pick a cute caption!"

"We'll post the same picture then? We have pictures from our rehearsal this morning, lunch, a few random ones from exploring the streets, jardin des Tuileries, Palais Garnier, and the Eiffel tour."

"Maybe I'll choose a few of my favorites. I can't believe... this is real." My mind continues to comprehend that Hauze Lei is my boyfriend.

"You're so cute," Lei spoke with content. "I can't wait to do senior photos with you."

"My mother is already requesting for photos," I smile and saddened at the same time, because I realize my mom hasn't been doing too well when I left. "We... should FaceTime my mom."

"Your mom? Is she doing alright?"

"She..." Lei doesn't know. Ximen had always known and Meizuo knew a little about my mother. "She had Ataxia-telangiectasia when she was a child and with complications she has lymphoma," I answered softly. Lei came to an abrupt stop and turned towards me.