I am sorry that it took like ages for this chapter to get published, but you know how school is the last month. Every test that we have to do before Christmas break, and of course four mock exams. Huff...

Thanks for all the awesome reviews! :D

I stand behind the counter, watching Mei as she compare a bouquet of red roses, and one with purple tulips. She looks on the flowers, holding the roses up, and then she switches to the tulips. She frowns, so deep in concentration that I can almost see the sweat that drips down her forehead. She really wants to find the perfect type of flower. I rest my head in my palm as I watch her in silence.

There is very low Turkish music is the background, and I can already see Fey dancing in her office, or simply lying on the floor as she lets the music lull her to sleep. I cast a glance at the clock. The school is over soon. I wonder what Katyusha and Natalia are doing now. Speaking of school, what is he doing? Maybe he is wondering where his wife is…

"Ivan, seriously, you have to help me!" Mei whines as she holds up the same bouquet of roses, and new one with pink camellias. I raise my head up slowly, pretending that she did not just drag me out of my thoughts. She has a look of frustration on her cute face.

"Okay, what is the problem?" I ask politely.

"Which one of these do you think will suit my husband best?" That is an easy answer. Okay, maybe not, but I know exactly what I would have bought to him if I could, and had enough money. But should I tell her that I am Yao's student?

"I don't know your husband." I am such a coward. This could be my chance to get to talk to him, but then she would have asked me how I know him. Damn coward. Are you really satisfied with watching him from afar? No, but I will just have to be happy with that.

"Of course you don't! His name is Yao, as you know, and he is Chinese, just like me. He has long hair, usually in a ponytail. He has brown eyes, and he loves the colour red. Does that say you anything? He is also a little small, at last compared to you. Asians are so small, and I am sadly no exception. "

"If I where you, then I would pick the camellia. His favourite colour may be red, but I am sure that camellia is a typical Chinese flower, as you may know, plus do you know what it means?"

"No."

"It means perfection. Judging by the look on your face, then he fits the flower perfectly. He sounds like the perfect man."

He is. He really, really is.

"Thank you so much! Then I will take the camellias." She gives me her brightest smile (and the flowers), and she takes out her wallet, counting money. I find everything I need in order to pack the flowers.

"I can't thank you enough, Ivan. You saved me from a car, and you helped me find this lovely flowers." She says, as she lays the dollars on the counter. I shake my head.

"Everyone would have done the same. It is on big deal, I just dragged you a few steps away from the car anyways."

"So? You still saved my life. How can I repay you?"

"You bought flower here, and if it helps the shop, then it helps me."

"Come on, Ivan, please. Can't I invite you for dinner? Then I can introduce you to my husband."

What? Wait a second. Did she just…? She did.

"Are you feeling okay? You look pale." I shake my head again.

"I am okay." I can't do that. Yao will recognise me, and then it will be really awkward, and, no, no, no.

"But it would be so nice." She pushes on with glowing eyes.

"I am sorry, but I must decline." I hand her the now finished bouquet. She takes it, pleading me one more time, putting on her cutest puppy eyes. I decline once again. Mei sighs, and waves before she runs out of the store to her waiting husband. I hope Yao will be happy. It almost feels like I have bought flowers for him. Almost.

xxxxPABxxxx

Yao's POV

The first thing I do when I come home is to boil water. Tea always helps after a tiring day of kids and teenagers. I find the tea that I usually drink after work, Xinyang Maojian.

Mei is not home, but that is no surprise. Sometimes she works late, since her job requires it, but other times she is here when I come home. I am always happy when see her in her comfy clothes, chilling in the sofa with the TV on. But today is not one of them.

I have not been able to think about anything except for a certain Russian. There is something about him that bothers me. That is not something new. I have always been curious about the boy.

When I first saw him I remember that my first thought was: He looks lonely. He sat alone, under a tree. His empty, yet beautiful purple eyes were half open, as if he was in deep thoughts. But there was something about him that oozed sorrow. It was like he screamed for help, so desperate to have one single person beside him to hold him, and comfort him about what was on his mind.

His beige hair was a mess, and almost covered his eyes. The way he sat seemed so strange in a way, like he was a stuffed animal that could be picked up and played with in a cruel manner, just to be thrown away, leaving him in an even worse state than he was to begin with.

It was then I decided that I wanted to fix the toy. I wanted to sew it together, and fill it with soft cotton, which it clearly missed. But I never got the chance, or I did, but I was afraid. It was not the rumours about him that scared me; it was the possibility that I might be just like everyone else.

Even if I meant well, I could end up giving him more than I could give, and when he no longer had it, then he would be even more broken than he already was. So I settled with helping him from distance. I gave him smiles when I could, and helped him with homework if he had detention.

But it wasn't before that time in the hall today that I saw just how hurt he is. The way he started to cry by just simply being asked if he was okay, how stiff he was when I treated his neck, like he had never experienced something like that. But if there was one thing that bothered me the most, it must be the fact that he refused to take of his sweater. It was too obvious that he hid something under the clothes, and if my suspicions is right…

I heard the door open, and my wife comes in with a bouquet of something pink.

"Hey, honey!" She runs into my arms, but she held her hand (the one with the flowers) away from me so that her left arm was around my back.

"Hey. I see that you have bought flowers. What for?" I whisper into her hair, smelling the familiar scent of her shampoo, and perfume.

"What? Am I not allowed to buy flowers to my husband?" She whines. I chuckle, whispering in her ear that it made me very happy, and that she made me the luckiest man on earth.

Mei pulls away, and practically throws the camellias at me as she heads to the kitchen in order to make dinner.

"Darling! Are you okay?" I hear her ask.

"What makes you think so?"

"You haven't touched your tea." That certainly is strange. I never forget to drink my tea.

"Oh, I see. Where did you get these flowers? I haven't seen a shop around here that sells there."

"A place called Full Bloom. Cute place. Ah! There was this young man that worked there that picked those. So cute and help some! He also saved my life. If he hadn't dragged me away from the street, then I would be dead. That man, Ivan, was just so nice. I did mention cute, right? Scary at first, but he is just a softie in disguise. And those eyes, so purple! And his hair was almost white."

I froze. My Mei almost died, but she was saved. Thank God. I don't think I could handle it if she died? Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.

I run to her, and take her into my arms. My little girl almost died.

" Hey, stop being so emotional."

"Sorry. Thanks for the flowers, again. Ivan, that was his name right?"

"Yeah. Do you know the meaning?"

"Of course. Pink camellia means longing for you."

Sorry if Yao is a bit OOC. I wrote the end of this chapter in a hurry, so… Hope it is okay :D

Merry Christmas (soon) everyone! XD