Our Winter

a friend

Minghao stood there, his arms still wrapped around Mei. By now, his shoulder was wet with her tears. He was worried. What happened to her? She'd seemed perfectly fine earlier. He'd walked out of the restaurant and was making his way to his parked car when he almost tripped on a young woman kneeling on the road. His surprise when he found out it was Mei was unimaginable, and the fact that she was clearly sobbing her heart out without a jacket and a torn shirt was pretty appalling. Either way, she clearly needed some time, so he simply lent his shoulder for her to cry on. He was reminded of how they were in this exact position all those years ago, only he was the one crying.

Mei suddenly stepped back, letting go of him.

"Hey, what's wrong?"
"This is wrong." She seemed a bit dazed. Why was this wrong exactly?
"What do you mean? You know what?" He decided, putting his hand up in front. "It doesn't matter. Let's get you home." He said, gently taking her hand and leading her to his car. She let go, which confused him even more. Not wanting to grill her though, he let her walk on her own.

Mei got in the car and zoned out. She didn't put on her seatbelt, and he didn't want to bother her, so he reached across to strap it on for her. As he did though, Mei flicked his hand away quickly. He was slightly taken aback, but realised she was simply scared.

"I-I'm so sorry Minghao, I didn't mean to-"
"I get it." He interrupted.
"Huh?"
"You're afraid. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
She nodded timidly. "It's just the seatbelt." He nudged his head.
"O-oh." She buckled it on now, not looking back up at him. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"You keep having to take care of me when you shouldn't have to."
"No, don't apologise. I... I really don't mind. And think of all the times you were there for me when we were in high school. I don't mean doing most of Mr Xu's chemistry project, by the way." He joked. That earned a small smile.

"You see, you're so pretty when you smile. There are people who love you, people who want to keep you safe, okay? I'm one of them too, so are junhui and Jia, and your aunt and uncle. So never." He turned to her. "Never think you're a burden." He finished, starting the car.

He saw Mei nod through the corner of his eye. He smiled to himself. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking?" He paused till she nodded. "What did you mean when you said this was wrong?" He kept his eyes on the road.

"Oh. I mean, you were hugging a girl on the middle of the sidewalk when you just left your girlfriend. Someone might think you're a playboy or something." She confessed quietly. He hit the brakes hard at the traffic light.

"G-girlfriend?" He stuttered, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "Who do you mean?"

"You know, the pretty girl who you were on a date with?"

"O-oh! You meant Yifan? No, she's just a blind date my father forced. I actually don't care about relationships right now but my father, he doesn't understand so he keeps trying to set me up on these dates... It really just ends in me telling them I'm not interested." He admitted. All he got was an "oh" as Mei turned to the window and stared at the passing city.

The rest of the drive was quiet. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts, not wanting to say another word. By the time they'd reached Mei's apartment, Minghao realised she'd fallen asleep. He chuckled. "Ah Mei Mei, still the same as always huh? Why do these things keep happening to you? I'm sorry all these men keep hurting you and I can't do anything. I'm sorry I hurt you and I didn't do anything." He said to her sleeping figure next to him. Mei shuffled, and woke up.

"Minghao?"
"Hey. We're here."
"O-oh, thanks." She quickly said getting out. Her legs had gone numb from the long drive and she almost fell over trying to move one foot. Minghao rushed out of his seat to help her, and offered his hand.