Our Winter

i'm happy then

Minghao woke up to the sound of his mother's voice. Now that wasn't something he heard everyday. His mother was a very busy person. She worked at the same company as his dad, only she often had to go on business trips and she didn't spend as much time with him as he'd like. She tried to be caring, he was sure. It wasn't her fault she'd missed so many of his birthdays or plays or dance competitions... right? No, it wasn't. So when she actually came home for a stretch of time, it was quite a big deal to him.

He sat up in bed and turned around as he heard the door open. His mother's head entered through the small gap.

"Oh Hao Hao, you're up already! Did I wake you? Sorry, I'll get going." She said.
"N-No Ma, it's not you, I have school so it was my alarm." He sputtered.
"Oh, okay. I'm here for around three months now, so you'll see me around the house more. But get to school first, let's talk when you get home in the afternoon." She said and nodded at him to get out of bed. He smiled and watched as he heard her footsteps fade away slowly.

He practically skipped on the way to school. Everything was perfect. His mom was home, it was mid April, the prettiest time of spring. He had great friends, a good school life, an amazing girlfriend — things couldn't get better.

He walked into class and sat down next to Jun.

"What's up?"
"My mom's home"
"How long?"
"Around three months"
"Nice! Got any plans yet?"
"No, she only came home today."
"What about Mei? Any plans with her?"
"I'm not sure, we don't have any classes together today so we'll only talk at lunch"

Before he could hear Jun's reply, he heard the bell ring. He sighed. It was English, probably his weakest subject. He didn't even get to see Mei. At least Jun and some of the guys were there, He told himself as he walked, his spirit still undeterred.

Lunch came at its own pace. Minghao was restless throughout his physics lesson, so when the bell finally rung, he sprinted down the stairs and sat down at their usual table. Mei wasn't there yet, so he grabbed his lunch tray and sat down. He started eating while looking around the cafeteria what seemed like a million times. At long last, he saw her. She walked slowly, biting her bottom lip and her eyebrows scrunched together. Was she stressed? She seemed worried, but her face seemed to relax once she sat down.

"You okay?" He asked. She nodded in response.
"Yeah, uh it's just I need to talk to you about something in a bit." She said, the same worry back on her features. She began eating as fast as she could, and although she nodded every time he said 'slow down', she kept eating rapidly. They finally finished, as he realised it was time to address the elephant in the room. Minghao checked his watch - 10 minutes left.

"Uh, Mei Mei, you wanna go for a walk?" He asked hesitantly. She nodded and the two got up. Bidding goodbye to the rest of the group, Minghao followed his girlfriend as she walked, fiddling her fingers. He managed to match her pace eventually, and they walked in silence for a few minutes. He cleared his throat.

"What's wrong Mei Mei?" He asked gently. He didn't expect her to stop in her tracks and face him all of a sudden. She gulped.

"My aunt and uncle found out"
"A-about what?"
She sighed. "About us. They want you to come over for dinner tonight."
Minghao's eyes widened. That was... unexpected. Mei finally looked up. He nodded.
"Okay. I'll be there." He said. The two walked some more in silence, though neither of them realised how long it'd been till the lunch bell rang. The two bid a silent goodbye and left for their own classes. The next time he'd see her would be at dinner.

Minghao didn't know why he was nervous. It wasn't like he'd done anything wrong. The two of them decided to tell only two people. Well technically they'd wanted to tell no one, but Jun found out on his own, and told his sister and the four had to meet up and they had to explain the whole situation. For two months, things seemed okay. No one had a clue. Until now... He felt a nudge against his elbow. He snapped back to reality to find that his math teacher was staring intently at him.