Our Winter

a good friend

Time flew as days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into three whole months. Mei had gotten closer to Minghao, but they still weren't good friends. Although they did meet up for the chemistry project, Mei wished she could see him outside of school; she wanted to make plans with him and have fun. But she was too awkward to do that without Jia and Junhui. So far, she'd seen him twice outside, and both were because Jia had dragged her into going. Not that she hated it. Some of her most cherished memories were with Minghao. Even today, Mei scrolled through social media and noticed how Jun had posted about his trip to the movies with his friends. Mei looked at a photo where Minghao and Weiyi were sharing a popcorn and wondered if she'd ever get to do that with him. "Never thought I'd be jealous of Lin Weiyi. Heh" She said out loud.

As she scrolled through some more pictures, Mei sighed. She heard the door open and saw her uncle walk in. "Hi Mei, are you doing anything important?" He asked.
"No, I'm free"
"Okay then. My boss is coming to dinner tonight with his family." He said, pausing to check his watch. "They should be here in around an hour, get ready will you? I'm trying to make a good impression since he's just moved here."
"Don't worry uncle, by the time he leaves, he'll be sending paperwork for a promotion." Mei said, smiling. Her uncle smiled, and ruffled her hair. "Thanks kiddo." He said and left. Mei put down her phone and got up to get ready. Although it was out of her power, Mei wanted the best for her uncle, so she was going to impress his boss. Maybe he has a daughter, and they can become friends.

Mei walked over to her wardrobe. She stared at her collection for five whole minutes before picking out a simple (yet elegant) baby blue dress. Putting it on, Mei checked in the mirror. Quite nice, but not complete. Mei let down her hair and let her natural waves fall below her shoulders. Picking out silver earrings and a dainty matching necklace, Mei put them on and looked in the mirror again. She was pretty shocked to see she could even look this nice, but something still felt missing. Mei glanced at her vanity. On top was a simple hair brush, hairdryer and her contacts, along with some hair ties. Mei walked over and opened a drawer. She faced all her unused makeup: eyeliners, lipsticks, powders, all in mint condition. She sighed as she picked up some supplies and sat down.

"That's fine right? Yeah." Mei reassured herself in the mirror and opened her room door. Taking one last glance at the clock, she sighed. "Good. I still have ten minutes." Mei walked down the stairs and heard a gasp. She looked to her left and saw her aunt clinging to her husband's arm, full of pride. Her uncle was most probably the source of the gasp, since Mei caught him with his jaw dropped.

"Mei Mei! You look beautiful! You should put on makeup more often!" Her aunt exclaimed.
Mei couldn't help but feel shy. "Thank you aunt, you look great too. I just didn't want to let uncle's boss think that his niece doesn't care about his kind of stuff." Mei was caught off guard by a hug from her aunt and uncle; she hugged them back, feeling grateful for her family.

The moment was cut short by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Mei pulled herself apart and went to answer the door. "Good evening Mr and- MINGHAO?!" she couldn't help but exclaim as her eyes fell on the guests' son. Quickly regaining her composure, Mei welomed the family in. Minghao on the other hand, couldn't seem to process the newfound connection as quickly. "Wait dad, your employee is Mr Xiao? Like this Mr Xiao." He asked for the third time already. "Yes son, this is Mr Xiao and his family, the same Mr Xiao who works with me. Why are you so shocked?" His father asked. "Uh nothing. I'm sorry Mr Xiao, sorry Mei" Minghao said sheepishly.

Mr Xiao was rather intrigued at his boss's son. "Say, Minghao, do you happen to know our Mei Mei?" He asked. Minghao looked at her, and she looked straight back. He turned to Mr Xiao. "Yes sir, I do. She's a friend. A very good friend." He said, smiling. Mrs Xiao couldn't help but smile. "Do you guys want any tea? Mei loves tea, so we've got most of the usual ones." She asked politely. "Thank you very much but my husband and I don't drink tea as much, just water will do. Hao might want some, he also enjoys tea quite a bit." Mrs Xu said. "Just any flower tea is good, thank you." Minghao said, now very distinguished compared to his outburst a few minutes ago.

Eventually, the families sat down to eat, and it was safe to say they enjoyed each other's company. The two men laughed and joked while the women shared makeup tips and recipes. Mei couldn't help but notice that Minghao was acting like quite the gentleman. Not that he wasn't usually polite but today, his sophisticated game was up several notches. Mei began to question herself and whether she was good enough to be sitting opposite him. She didn't realise she'd zoned out and was staring right at him until he was staring back, only with a questioning look. "I can't be that handsome. You keep staring straight at me Mei. It's making me wonder if have something stuck in my teeth." He said, somehow with a straight face. Mei couldn't help but chuckle. I'm just wondering how you managed to become such a gentleman all of a sudden." She said.

"Are you saying I was rowdy earlier?"
"Huh? N-no!"
"Then do you like this whole gentleman thing?"
"I uh-" Mei was so flustered she felt heat rising to her cheeks.
"You're blushing."
"Am not!" She said, hiding her face in her hands.
"You never answered."
"Can't say I hate it." She replied through her fingers. Minghao laughed.
"I'm only joking Mei, don't get so flustered." He said. Mei smiled and returned to her food, wondering how that was possible.

Mr Xu loved sharing stories from his son's childhood, and Mr Xiao enjoyed it just as much. "Say, Mei, what was your first word?" Mrs Xu asked. "It was mama, I think it was probably one of the only things my mother told me about my earliest years." Mei said, a sad smile coming on. Minghao, unable to resist his curiosity, had to ask what his entire family was thinking. "But... isn't your mother right here?" He asked, pointing to Mrs Xiao.

"Well this is my aunt, Wang Chen Sin and this is my Uncle, Xiao Yang. My parents passed away in a car crash when I was five years old. So most of my memories of my parents come from stories and video tapes. My mother had a diary where she hid a letter to give to me when I turned 16. It was her last gift to me, so I treasure it quite a bit. But," she said turning to her downcast aunt and uncle. "I've never felt lost or lonely a single day in my life. I've never felt like I was missing parents or that I was part of a broken family. My aunt and uncle mean the world to me." She finished, leaving tears in the couple's eyes. Facing the guests again, she found that all three of them had loving smiles on their faces. "I'm so sorry for your loss Mei. I'm glad your aunt and uncle brought up such a beautiful, strong and incredibly brave young woman." Mrs Xu said. "Ba, if you and Mr Xiao are okay, can I go explore the neighbourhood with Mei?" Minghao asked. His dad and her uncle both nodded yes, leaving Mei to bow and take Minghao out.

Walking in the night, Mei enjoyed the quiet. There were no cars, no gossiping grandmas; it was just her and a young boy. A cold wind passed, and Mei felt herself shudder in the frosty wind. It was February, but the cold from the winter hadn't yet disappeared. Great night to wear a sleeveless dress. Mei suddenly looked up to find Minghao putting a jacket over her shoulders. "I don't need it." He said. He wore a long sleeved turtleneck, so he shouldn't be freezing. Mei was pretty cold, so as much as she wanted to be polite, if he was offering it was fine. She looked at him, tilting her head slightly. "Thanks." She said. He turned and smiled. "Don't worry about it." Until that point, she hadn't realised that he looked... really nice tonight. Not that he didn't otherwise, but he looked extra handsome, like he was the son of a millionaire, though he probably could have been. She snapped back from her daydream when he realised he'd walked ahead. She jogged slowly, and soon she matched his pace.

"Hey I don't know if I told you yet, but you look beautiful tonight." He said nonchalantly. A blush slowly creeped onto Mei's face, but at least she could blame it on the cold wind. How could he say things like that while not caring? Mei tried to take her mind off of it, but every step she took put a blush on her face. The pair eventually came across a park, where Minghao looked at her for permission to go in. Mei nodded. Her legs had developed blisters from walking in new shoes. The two sat on a swing and rocked silently. Minghao was the first to break the silence.

"Hey uh Mei? I'm sorry about um your parents. I didn't know." He said, full of guilt. Mei chuckled, making him whip his head to her. "Don't worry about it. The past is the past. It's not your fault." She said. "After all, I've never felt lonely because of people like you, my good friends."

A/N:
Ah, another short chapter. It might seem okay to you guys but I just prefer reading slightly longer chapters so I promise they'll be getting slightly longer soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I hope the story is good enough for you to want to read more. Same as always, feel free to leave feedback and comments so I can grow and improve my writing. Thank you for reading, and have a great day/night! - lucky charm 🐚