Our Winter

Mei Mei's secret

Minghao watched as Mei played with a small white kitten. She petted its head softly and gave it belly rubs over a million times. A cat cafe was definitely a good place to go, especially since he used to have a cat and Mei so clearly loved them. He couldn't help but chuckle when Mei almost kissed the cat's nose. She looked up suddenly and asked "what?"
"You're cute."
"H-huh?"
"I-I mean the cat's cute! But i uh meant that um you're also cute when you play with the cat but ididntmeanthatinacreepysenseimsorryimsoweird" he managed to spit out, all flustered. Mei laughed. "I get it, you were talking to the cat right?"
"Y-yeah. The cat." He reluctantly replied. Minghao heard a ping, and checked his phone.

New message from Jun:
We're done.

"Mei Mei, I wanna take you somewhere else. Can we go?" He asked, lending out a hand. Mei nodded and gently placed the cat down before taking his hand and standing up. Minghao led her to the car and opened the door. Mei got in, confused. Minghao nodded to the driver and they started their journey.

"Where are we going?"
"You'll know, it's very special."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't say anything more."
"Hao, pleeeeeease."
"Nope. No can do."
"How about hints?"
"Okay, ask 3 questions and I'll answer them honestly."
"Okay uh, how far away is it?"
"Not far."
"What does that mean?"
"That means it's near. Last question."
"Hey! That second one didn't count right?"
"Yes it did, and now you're all out of questions. Lucky for you though, we're here."

Mei stepped out of the car and saw a giant mansion, with four to five cars parked out front. The gates were tall, and Mei saw the car go in to the mansion from the side gate.

"What are we doing here? What is this place?" Minghao turned to face her.
"This is my house. Mei, you can trust me okay? I have something to show you inside, but you don't need to be scared, okay?" He reassured her, but still saw some hesitation on her features. At last, Mei nodded.

"I trust you." She whispered. He led her into the front doors. The entire house was dark, and the only source of light was the open door behind. Eventually that was shut too, leaving the place pitch black. Before Mei could say anything, the lights turned on, and Mei saw all of her friends, standing in front of her. Minghao watched as she turned back to him as if not believing this was real. He nodded; a way to tell her that this was why he brought her home.

Mei walked closer and everyone sang happy birthday, leaving Mei to laugh and clap along with joy. When the song finished, Mei closed her eyes and made a long wish. Minghao wondered what she wished for that took so long. Mei opened her eyes and blew out the candles on the cake Jia was holding. Everyone clapped as Mei went to put the cake on the dining table.

"All you evil people, you ditched me earlier and now I don't know whether to feel bad or not." Mei said, not being able to stop smiling.

"Aye, Mei Mei, don't be like that. Not all of us are evil." Siwen chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Mei was genuinely confused.
"Minghao was supposed to help us with all this while you went home but someone decided to throw that idea out the window on the spot." Jun snickered.
"You did?" Mei asked, turning back.
"Ye-yeah. I felt kinda bad that we were all ditching you so I kinda changed the plan last minute and came with you."
"Thanks Hao." Mei smiled.

"OKAY, OKAY ENOUGH WITH THE SENTIMENTS" Jia screamed.
"What are you screaming for?" Her brother asked, shooting a side eye.
Jia shrugged, making an 'I don't know' noise. Her brother sighed. "Girls these days..."
"Anyway, while two were on a date-" Jia started, but was interrupted by Minghao's *excessive* coughing.

"Ugh fine, just let me finish." She stated, very exasperated.
"While you two were hanging out with each other, we prepared a surprise birthday party, so we have the cake here, pizza's on the way and now we're gonna play games and watch a movie and do whatever else Mei wants." Jia finished.