3. Their First Meeting

From far away, a heavy tapping of shoes on the floor resounded. It clicked faster and faster until there was point that we would imaginatively hear the light thud of a fall. Now, I can assure you the beginning of how the two persons whose fingers were tied by a red string met...

The Asian girl dashed through the hallway, only slowing down at the sight of a doorplate. She was sure that he transferred here, to this country, to this town, and to this school, but of course it wasn't a surprise that she wasn't able to find him right away. Although the school she attended now was in a small town, many people seemed to be attracted to it, thus making it one of the two most largely populated schools among the many towns in its area.

She slowly tip-toed towards the door and slightly opened it. What am I doing? she thought. He might have gone home already. When there was no indication of him being present, she heavily sighed and slid the door shut. He wasn't there after all.

"Who isn't here?" A gentle voice turned Mei Mei's head. Her eyes widened in joy when she saw the boy she was looking for smiled in front of her.

"Hong-kun!" she squealed. She was about to give him a hug when she saw the people around her whispering. She drew back her arms and nervously latched them on her back. He chuckled, calming her tension. She liked Hong Kong. She really liked him. For her, he was a very bright and a very warm sunshine. She really, really liked him.

"Welcome, Mei-chan," he greeted her, congratulating her arrival, into school and into the country. "How are you doing?"

She grinned. "Good!"

Hong Kong smiled. Taking her hand in his, he asked, "Shall we go home together, then?"

Her eyes brightened and yelled, "Yes!" in happiness.

O.o.O

It had been weeks since he first met Melissa. He didn't remember how, but somehow she easily became another of his 'partner in crime'. She came to smoke again at the rooftop with him since that encounter they had, then she met with Chris, then, somehow, they began to make bets amongst each other, then, suddenly, without a spoken constitution, she became one of them. Of course, the teachers watching them were happy, since by their glasses, the three of them had become the 'good' group, having 'high achievements', 'honorable morals' and 'cheerful personalities'. They wanted to barf at the statements, but smiled sweetly and thanked them.

"Hey, hey, Mel-chan, can you help me with something?" Chris asked.

Melissa yawned. "And what is that going to be, boy?"

"Go out with me?" he asked effortlessly.

"Sure, but why?" she asked, knowing that Chris was hiding something.

"Tee-hee~! I got caught!" he said in a high voice. Then he became serious. "I really want to get rid of this clingy girl. She thinks that I am… you know, her boyfriend, because I 'took her virginity away' and all those kinds of crap. I kept rejecting her, but she kept pestering me. It was okay at first, since I could just usually ignore her, but she then resort to… to…"

Yong Soo swore that he saw Chris's eyes glossed in tears. Not wanting for his friend to break down, he spoke for him. "The girl started telling his sister about him, lies and… well, half-truths, I guess. So, his sister started scolding him, and in the end, she decided to ignore him. So she won't speak to him, even at home…"

"Okay." She raised her hand. "I got it. So you want me to make that clingy girl of yours cry and never see you again, correct?"

Chris nodded, and she sighed. "Alright, but I need to ask you: Why don't you ask Soo-kun to help you instead? I guarantee it will be more effective, and since I am meant to be 'the other girl', wouldn't it backfire and affect your sister's image of you?"

"Wait." His hand rested at his forehead. "First, you're telling me that I should become gay? With Yong Soo?"

"Isn't that not more effective?' she suggested. "I can tell you that women could not do anything about their lover being gay, and as a bonus for you, she wouldn't pester the 'other party'. Women usually won't do anything if her love rival is the opposite sex, especially if they think of him as 'deliciously cute', and, from my observation, I guess 1 out of 1 girl thinks that you are, Soo-kun."

Yong Soo ignored her last statement.

"Yong-kun, will you go out with me?" Chris said, partly serious.

"No."

"Please!" He lowered his head. "Please, I beg of you! I will give you 200 married chicks I know; I'll give you 100,000 cups of Haagen-Dazs; I'll even go kiss a dog's ass if you want me to. Just… please, do this act with me, just once!"

"N-" But his answer was stopped when he came face-to-face with a person he knew. The person slowly approached them, although unintentionally. As he neared, a ball in his stomach slowly rose as he looked at the person laughing. Eh? He looked at his stomach. There was no growling of hunger. But he felt something, didn't he? Then, as if the feeling in his stomach wasn't enough, his chest pounded as he saw the person smile. Eh? His hand flew to his chest. W-What is this? He tried to look again at the person, not sure of what was happening to him. As the consequence for letting his eyes stray towards the source of the strange reactions he had been having, he jolted with happiness when the person averted his eyes to him and smiled at his direction. Whaaaaa? What's happening to me? What in the world is going on?

"Good afternoon, Yong Soo-san," the person said.

As his forehead covered with sweat, he squeaked, "A… Ah, good afternoon." Yong Soo's of hope for the person to not notice his squeak was fruitless when the person looked at him with concern. "Yong Soo-san, are you alright?"

Chris, coming to his rescue – though not knowing what had happened to Yong Soo himself – said quickly, "He seems to have a sore throat. I didn't know what he ate earlier, but when the school ended his voice turned out like this."

Yay, for Chris! Yong So cheered in his head.

"Oh, I see," the person said, still with a bit of worry in his words. "Ah, then, we better go. You should get rest, Yong Soo-san. It might be the flu that is going around the neighbourhood recently."

We? Yong Soo noticed. Soon, he realized that there was another person by the person's side. He was shocked, by his insensitivity, and by another part of his realisation: he was too engulfed by the person's presence that he couldn't think or even feel of anything else.

Hong Kong, thinking that Yong Soo's lingering stare at Mei Mei implied that he wanted an introduction, uttered in apology, "Ah, I'm very sorry! I should have introduced you two earlier."

Mei Mei, who was previously looking at her shoes, looked up at Hong Kong in confusion.

"This is Honda Mei Mei," Hong Kong introduced. Mei Mei bowed robotically while murmuring, "Nice to meet you."

"Mei-chan, this is Kurahashi Yong Soo," Hong Kong said.

"Nice to meet you," Yong Soo said in obligation, now regaining his composure.

"Then we shall go." Hong Kong bowed. "Please get well soon, Yong Soo-san." Then he turned to Melissa and Chris. "Ah, nice to meet you two."

Melissa and Chris murmured their line of introduction in unison. Then, as the two people left, they turned to Yong Soo, horrified.

"Soo-kun…"

"Don't tell me…"

"You are…"

"You like that guy?" They shouted, again, in unison.

"I… He… No... I don't know!" Yong Soo sweated. "I don't get it. What the hell is this am I feeling?"

Chris could have never imagined saying this line to Yong Soo, but…

"It's called love."

Yong Soo stared. He stared, and stared, until he couldn't help but blink. "Huh?"

"Y-You are… oh, damn it, I can't say this twice!" Chris pulled his hair. "Yong Soo! You bastard, I can't believe… you… you, the lady killer, are hopelessly in love with a gentle and petite guy like him!" Chris pointed at the direction Hong Kong and Mei Mei went.

"What?" Love? he thought. No way… with a guy? He gasped. No, no way that's love, right? It's just a weird feeling. I mean, I only met him twice! It can't possibly be love. I met with women so much more than him; some of them I met every day, and none of them gave me this reaction before...

Melissa sighed. "So scenes like this in dramas and shoujo mangas do exist, eh? Thanks for teaching me that."

Chris also sighed. "Unbelievable."

"S-Shut up! You two are completely mistaken! How come I don't feel that it's love?" Yong Soo pondered.

"Then what do you think it is?" Melissa returned the question tired.

He fell silent.

"Ha-ah..." Chris exhaled. "If you don't know the answer, all we can think of out of those reactions you made was that you really are in love with him."

Yong Soo could only rub his head. "Okay, let's just go home now. I need to think." And without saying a word, he walked on, leaving the two behind.

((((((()))))))

Not a very dramatic first meeting for the two, isn't it? Ahaha, I kinda did that on purpose, as I'm trying to show that two people who are (might be) meant for each other, could meet in a very inappropriate and boring way. I guess I did make that happen, since it's really easy to make something boring xP Um, yeah, as you can see, Yong Soo is in love with Hong Kong (I can't think of any other name befitting this guy other than his country name). I'm sorry it turned out having a bit of boy's love (for readers who do not like homosexuality, I apologise) but don't worry, it is a Korea x Taiwan fic, so I will not a bend from its path. Oh, and please review review REVIEW, just to see if you like it or not (it's fine if you don't like it, though, if you want, please tell me which parts you don't like). THANK YOU FOR READING!