Note: Some conversations are in Chinese, but will be written in English for better understanding. If conversation is in Chinese, the sentence will appear as shown here: "*Good Morning." English conversations will be marked the standard way: "Good Morning." Enjoy!
Brielle was far from fluent in Mandarin, but she never gave up learning. In fact, she was obsessed with studying and learning about the culture and language since her freshman year in high school. So when she found out she was accepted in a prestigious university in Shanghai, she couldn't wait to pack her bags and go. And now, she stood in the living room of her new studio apartment. Brielle quickly glanced in the mirror by the front door, fixing her hair and straightening her shirt before entering the new world.
Ming De University was a large beautiful school that felt like a dream. Brielle stood before the bridge at the front of the school and smiled, biting her lip to contain her excitement. She looked down at the phone to see her school schedule, Mandarin 3 was her first class of the day. She shoved her phone in her back pocket, and climbed the stairs of the bridge.
As she entered the classroom, she was greeted by a beautiful girl with long black hair. Her dark eyes smiled at Brielle as she bowed slightly. "Good Morning." Her English was perfect. "Welcome! I'm Sun Shiuri. You must be Brielle." Her smile lit up her whole face as she clapped her hands in excitement. "I too am studying Language, so administration assigned me as your 'buddy' for this year." She stretched out her arms and hugged Brielle. "I'm so excited to meet you."
Brielle felt her heart jump as her anxiety suddenly spiked. She had never been good at making new friends and wasn't sure how to adjust to this new environment. "Hello." She said cautiously, hugging her back. "Nice to meet you! I'm not going to lie, I'm so nervous." As they separated, she took a deep breath, trying to stop her body from shaking.
"Don't be nervous. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." She gripped Brielle's shoulders and smiled. "Come, let's take our seats. I'm so excited!" Shiuri linked her arm with Brielle's and led her to their seats.
Class went by quickly, and before she knew it, it was lunch time. Brielle followed Shiuri through the halls before they stopped by their lockers.
"So why did you come to Shanghai?" Shiuri asked, opening her locker and swapping out books.
"I had a friend when I was in ten who was from here. Ever since, I've wanted to come myself." Brielle grabbed the hair-tie off her wrist and tied back her dark blonde curls. "So when I entered high school I started taking Mandarin and never stopped."
Shiuri smiled up at Brielle, but her eyes quickly darted from her new friend to something behind her. Brielle followed her gaze, and spun to see what was behind her. Four tall, stunning men with blank stern faces stood against the windows at the other end of the hall, ignoring the many girls who gathered around them.
Brielle turned back around and looked back at Shiuri. "Who are they?" She asked too nervous to look back over at the four.
"*F4." She said, her eyes still locked on them. "They are the golden boys of the school." She nodded over to them, motioning for Brielle to look back at the group. "Daoming Si, their leader is the son of a mega corporation." She said, her eyes falling on the boy with twisted spiked hair. "Rumor has it, he made a million dollar trading stocks by his 18th birthday, and is set to take over his family company once the graduates this year." She motioned her eyes to the shaggy haired boy leaning against the railing, in a large sweater and reading a book. "Hua Ze Lei is pretty closed off for the most part and doesn't talk much. He's a music major, and can pick up any instrument and play it perfectly." The two other boys wore slight grins, showing they didn't mind the female attention they received. "Mei Zuo and Ximen are known as being the ladies men of the group. They go on dates with at least 3 different girls a week, and are known as being complete gentleman. Last year a female student tried claiming Ximen got her pregnant, and he was kind enough to help her financially even after he proved he wasn't the father."
Brielle looked back at Shiuri, her mouth slightly dropping open. "*He really helped her after all that?"
Shiuri nodded. "*After that, more girls started lining up for them. Kind of pathetic, since none of them have been in a relationship and never seem to be interested."
"I can see why everyone likes them." She pushed off the locker ready to head to the cafeteria, but collided with someone behind her, stumbling over them and falling to the floor. Brielle sat up, clutching her wrist close to her as the muscle pounded in pain.
Before she could look up and apologize, her shirt was gripped and she was pulled to her feet. "*Watch where you're going!" Her eyes fell on the twisted haired boy whose face was pinched in anger.
"*I'm so sorry!" Brielle replied, noticing his grip on her was still tight. If she were a guy, it was obvious he would have hit her already. Her hands scrambled to pry his fingers off her, but he didn't budge. His eyes looked down at her as he shoved her back to the ground and stepped over her, continuing down the hall. Brielle scrambled to the window trying to get out of the way of the three others as they followed behind, none of them looking down at her as they passed. "I take back my statement about them from earlier." She said, holding back her tears. She watched as the boys turned down another hall and disappeared.
Shiuri knelt down beside her new friend. "I forgot to mention Daoming Si can have a mean side to him."
"*Can be? He's pure evil." Brielle stood to her feet and looked around at the many girls in the hallway who watched her, giggling and laughing at her expense. Brielle wiped at her pants, brushing away any dirt. "I have to get going to my next class. *See you after."
Brielle quickly walked away, trying to contain herself as her anxiety spiked. "How embarrassing." She rubbed her wrist as the pain throbbed, trying to force the embarrassment away.
3 days later.
Brielle looked up from her paper as her phone buzzed beside her. "*Excuse me." She whispered the others at the table with her, their judging eyes watching her as she stood from the table. Grabbing her phone, she headed to an empty part of the library and answered and answered the call. "Hey mom. What's up?" It had been only a few hours since she had last talked with her mom, but this was expected with an overprotective mother like hers.
"I just wanted to call and say good night Hun." Her mom sounded exhausted.
Brielle looked down at her phone at the time. "Mom, it's almost midnight there. Why are you staying up so late?" Brielle asked, as her daughter instincts kicked in. Her mom always went to bed early, so to be getting a call this late worried her.
He mom sighed. "Oh Hun, it's just that-"
Suddenly, her phone was snatched from her ear. Brielle turned around noticing the tall man behind her. He pressed the end button on the phone then looked down at her. "*Don't you know how rude it is to use a phone in a library?" His emotionless expression made Brielle feel uncomfortable. "*So much disrespect and stupidity in such an ugly girl."
Brielle caught only a few words of the last sentence; Ugly girl. "*Excuse me?" She reached out, attempting to take the phone back from him. He stood straight up and held the phone out of her reach. "*Give it back!" She pushed at his chest in an attempt the get him to cave in.
His face went hard as he slammed the phone on the ground and stomped on it. "*Who the hell do you think you are?" He asked, reaching up and shoving her into the wall.
"*Why are you picking on me?" Brielle asked, fighting back as fear filled her chest. "Let go of me."
Daoming Si gripped her wrist, sending a sharp pain up her arm as he held them against her side. "*I want you to stay out of my way." He said through his teeth as a tear ran down her cheek. "*If you ever see me walking anywhere in your direction, get out of my sight."
"*Or what?" She tried pushing him away from her, but the pain in her wrist grew worse. She hissed in pain as she tried to pull his fingers off her.
"*Or I'll make you wish you never came here." He looked down at her, his face almost pressing against hers. He suddenly released her hand and quickly walked away from her.
Brielle fell to the floor and clutched her wrist. The hot pain radiated through her wrist and into her fingers. There was no doubt it had been sprained before, but now she feared it was broken. Brielle quickly gathered her phone and attempted to stand. Her legs felt weak and her knees fought beneath her, but she managed to climb to her feet and move from the Library and down the hall to the health office.
The next day:
Brielle set her book in her locker and looked up at her new friend. Shiuri's eyes locked on the sling and wrap on Brielle's left wrist. "*What happened?" She asked, pointing to the sling.
Brielle closed her locker and looked down at her wrist. She couldn't tell her the truth. She was too embarrassed. "*I slipped in my apartment last night." She bit the inside of her lip, disappointed in herself for not being more honest. "I thought I had sprained it the other day in the hall, but last night it got worse. Nurse says it's fractured." Just as she opened her mouth to say the truth, she was caught off guard by Shiuri looking over her shoulder. Brielle immediately looked down, knowing that he was behind her.
"*Was I not clear yesterday?" His voice was cold.
Brielle flexed every muscle in her body, preparing herself to run. She was not ready to face him again, but she knew she couldn't allow him to hurt her anymore. "*You're the one who approached me." She said, refusing to turn around and look at him.
"*My locker is here." His voice sounded cocky. "*Guess you need to request a reassignment for yours."
Brielle paused for a moment, trying to put together the last sentence. Request what? She thought to herself, not understanding one of the words. She looked up at Shiuri for help.
"Reassignment." She repeated. "He said you should ask to have your locker reassigned."
"Hey!" Daoming Si raised his voice, bringing their attention back to him. "You speak English?" He asked, his diction wavering.
Brielle turned to look at him, rolling her eyes. "*Yes I speak English. Mandarin is my second language, which I'm still learning."
He scoffed as a cold smirk formed on his face. "Should have known you weren't from around here."
Brielle kept her right arm covering the homemade wrap on her wrist, not wanting the catch his attention. "*Can you please leave me the hell alone?" She asked, turning away from him and hoping he would oblige.
He grabbed her arm suddenly, and she winced in pain as his palm collided with her bandage. His eyes shot to the bandage, and his brow raised. "What is this?" He asked watching as she cradled her wrist in her arms.
"*It's nothing." She replied trying to get him to let her go. She looked around, noticing that more people were starting to watch them.
"*She injured it in the hall the other day, then fell in her apartment last night and fractured it." Shiuri replied, putting her hand on Brielle noticing her tense with nerves.
"*Bullshit." He grabbed her good arm and started to pull her down the hallway.
"*Where are we going?" She asked, as her heart beat fast for fear of what he was going to do.
"*I'm taking you to the hospital." He said as they left the building and walked towards the parking lot.
Brielle pulled against him in protest. "*No, no. I can't afford the medical bill. My hand is fine, I promise." She tried planting her feet, but he was much stronger than her.
He stopped walking, noticing her attempt to stop him, and turned to face her. "*It's fine?" He asked, pursing his lips and looking down at her. She nodded. He cocked his head and extended his hand. "*Let me see it then." Brielle hesitated. She could still feel the pain and was afraid he would make it worse. Before she could respond, Ah-Si reached out and attempted to grab her hand. Brielle quickly drew back, stumbling and falling backwards. Ah-Si gripped on her good hand and pulled her back upright wrapping his other hand around her back. "*That's what I thought." He took her hand in his and continued walking towards the car.
As they approached the sports car, Brielle paused and looked up at Si. "*Daoming Si?" He raised his eyebrows and opened the door. "*Why are you taking me to the hospital? I can figure this out on my own."
He looked down at the ground and fixed his jacket. "*I take responsibility of my actions. I injured your wrist, so I have to make up for it." His eyes found hers, and he motioned towards the car. "*Lets go."
Brielle paused for a moment, then nodded and climbed into the passenger seat.
Sorry the first chapter is so short. I'm working on making them longer. The story does start off slow, as most relationships and stories do, so please be patient with me. I promise it will get juicy and exciting!