Previously...
Planting her fists on her hips, Jiayi leaned closer, her grin morphing into a predatory smirk. "Okay, Mr. I-was-so-clearly-jealous-yet-I-foolishly-deny-it-w ith-all-my-might, if you weren't jealous, then prove it."
At the competitive edge in her voice, Cheng bristled. "How."
"Make a bet with me," Jiayi said sweetly. "Are you sure you aren't jealous?"
"Please," Cheng scoffed, his competitive streak rising. "I would never be jealous of any guy interested in you."
Jiayi grinned slyly, her face becoming almost more vulpine as her eyes flashed mischievously. "If you say so. When I win, you'll do whatever I want, right?"
"You mean 'if'," Cheng growled. "When I win, you can do whatever I want."
"Deal," Jiayi purred, holding out a hand.
As they shook, finalizing the bet, the other boys behind them exchanged glances. Liang in particular eyed Jiayi, shaking his head in amusement.
Chapter 12: Queen of Bets
Liang sighed in relief as he walked out of his last class for the day. As he headed for the courtyard to meet up with his friends, he fished out his water bottle from his backpack, prepared to open it for a refreshing sip. Before he could even touch the cap, however, his sharp eyes caught a familiar face walking towards him.
"Hey Jiayi," he greeted when the girl got within earshot.
"Hey Liang," she replied wearily. Her brows were furrowed and she stared at the ground intensely as she walked, seemingly deep in thought.
"You look like you're thinking hard," Liang remarked, opening his water bottle. He lifted it up to his lips, allowing the cool water to fill his mouth.
"Liang, what attracts you in a girl?"
At the wholly unexpected question, Liang spat out the water, coughing as he did so. Luckily, they'd already made it out into the courtyard by then so the water splashed harmlessly onto the grass.
"Sorry," Liang coughed. "What did you say?"
"I need to know how to be flirty," Jiayi said, still frowning thoughtfully.
Liang stared at her. "Why?"
"For the bet of course!" Jiayi explained exasperatedly. "I need to figure out how to flirt with guys so I can win the bet."
The gang, minus Cheng, looked up when Liang and Jiayi approached.
"Hey guys," Feng said casually.
Liang returned the greeting while Jiayi just nodded, glancing around. "Where's Cheng?"
"Not here yet," Zhuang replied, mindlessly picking at the grass he was sitting on.
"Perfect!" Jiayi exclaimed, sitting down with her friends. "You guys can help me then!"
"Help you with what?" Xiang asked suspiciously.
Jiayi beamed. "Teach me how to flirt."
Silence descended upon the group.
"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too," Liang said, shrugging when his friends' dumbstruck faces turned to him for an explanation.
"Why do you need to learn how to flirt?" Qing asked Jiayi, bewildered.
"That's what I said too," Liang quipped.
Jiayi nudged him, rolling her eyes. "I need to beat Cheng in the bet."
The three upperclassmen, Xiang, Feng, and Zhuang, exchanged suspicious glances. After a brief conversation through their eyes, Xiang leaned forward. "Do you like Cheng?"
Jiayi and Liang both stared at him.
"Of course she does," Liang stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Jiayi held back an amused laugh. "You guys didn't know? Liang's known this entire time."
"I knew it!" Feng, Xiang, and Zhuang suddenly howled at once, enormous grins emerging on their faces as they slapped high fives with each other.
Xiang then froze and whipped his head toward Liang. "Wait, you knew this entire time?"
"Of course," Liang deadpanned, yawning. "Jiayi and I are practically twins, remember? We have that special twin connection."
"Fraternal twins though; sorry, Liang, but it's clear that I'm the prettier twin," Jiayi joked, slinging an arm around Liang's shoulders. He just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. Turning back to the others, she snickered, "You guys really didn't know?"
"We've always suspected it," Feng admitted, exchanging a glance with his fellow upperclassmen.
Zhuang shook his head in bewilderment. "We were right? Wow."
"Is it really that shocking?" Jiayi laughed.
Qing, who had remained silent the entire time with an unreadable expression, suddenly seemed to awaken from his stupor. Looking at Jiayi in confusion, he said, "Wait…I…"
"Uh oh, looks like our midget here is just as dense as Cheng is," Zhuang teased, ruffling Qing's short hair.
Qing scowled, shaking Zhuang's hand away. "No, that's not it! I'm just kind of surprised. I mean, I guess I always just took that for granted. I didn't even consider the fact that Jiayi might not like Cheng."
Everyone stared.
"Oh, you're so cute," Jiayi chortled, grabbing Qing in a hug. Everyone else burst out laughing as well while Qing just looked affronted and slightly embarrassed.
"Zhuang had a point though," Xiang remarked as he calmed down. "Cheng is as dense as a brick."
"Denser than bricks," Zhuang corrected.
"Anyways," Jiayi cut in, rolling her eyes. "Flirting 101 please?"
The boys exchanged a glance before simultaneously shrugging.
"Just look pretty and approachable, I guess," Feng said.
"Yeah, lots of smiles and friendly looks," Xiang added.
"Throw in a playful wink or two maybe," Zhuang offered.
Liang and Qing exchanged a look.
"That's pretty much it," Liang said, scratching the back of his head.
Qing nodded. "Yeah, I think they got it all."
Jiayi sighed. "This might be harder than I thought."
"You don't know that," Liang argued. "You might turn out to be a natural flirt, you know?"
Jiayi eyed him dubiously. "If you say so."
"Guys," Qing suddenly hissed, making wild motions to signal for them to stop talking. "Cheng's coming over!"
The group immediately clamped up for a split second before Xiang and Liang fluidly leapt into a new conversation just as Cheng neared. Recognizing the tactic they used, Cheng arched a brow in confusion.
"What were you guys talking about before I got here?" he demanded suspiciously.
"Nothing!" Zhuang sang, slinging an arm around Cheng's shoulders as he led him away towards the gate. "Why don't we all go to my place today?"
"Yeah," Qing cheered.
"Sounds fun," Feng and Xiang agreed.
"Okay," Cheng said slowly, still eying them suspiciously.
Meanwhile, unnoticed by everyone else, Liang nudged Jiayi discreetly. "Now's your chance. Give the flirting thing a try."
Gulping, Jiayi nodded determinedly. With impressively real faux confidence, she quickened her pace so that she was walking ahead of the group. Just outside the school, she gave a quick glance at her surroundings and zeroed in on a guy who looked to be around her age. Though he wasn't by any means super attractive, his looks were still above average.
Adjusting her walk so that she—hopefully—appeared more graceful, she caught the unknown boy's gaze. Maintaining eye contact with him and knowing that Cheng could see her perfectly, she grinned her best smile and gave a friendly wink as she passed. To her—and her friends behind her—shock, the boy actually smiled back.
Though Jiayi continued walking as if nothing had happened, the rest of the gang could see the boy turning his head to follow Jiayi with his eyes. Cheng's jaw dropped, an angry flush quickly rising in his face.
"He did not just do that," Cheng hissed, slowing down and starting to turn around to sock the guy right in the face. Feng grabbed him before he could, pulling him away casually.
"Calm down, Cheng," he chuckled.
"That guy was totally checking Jiayi out!" Cheng choked furiously, but he stopped fighting to get out of Feng's grip and continued walking with his friends.
Xiang grinned, ruffling Jiayi's hair affectionately. "Well, our little Jiayi here is a beautiful girl."
"Yeah, can't blame the poor guy," Zhuang snickered, looking both smug and amused at the sour scowl on Cheng's face.
Qing looked the most devious. "Jealous, Cheng?"
The bet…
"No!" Cheng suddenly roared. He crossed his arms stubbornly as he walked. "I see what you're trying to do, Jiayi, but I'm not about to lose the bet!"
Jiayi glanced back innocently. "What am I doing? I'm just trying to walk down the street with my best friends."
"I see what you're trying to do," Cheng repeated, narrowing his eyes at her. "It's not going to work. Be prepared to be my slave for a month after I win."
"My, my, Cheng," Jiayi remarked breezily, a devilish gleam in her eyes. "No need to be so forward."
The other boys burst out in roaring laughter while Cheng flushed red and began sputtering.
As Cheng continued to sputter nonsense in his blind anger, Liang caught up with Jiayi and sent her a triumphant grin. "I told you you'd be a natural flirt. Nicely done!"
Jiayi returned the grin with a wolfish one of her own.
"Why, thank you," she giggled. Grinning with confidence, she lifted her fist, clenching it with determination. "I think I might actually be able to do this!"
Liang glanced back, where he could see Cheng still practically spewing fire in response to Jiayi's flirting and the gang's teasing. "I don't think you'll have any problems."
Over the course of the next few days, the gang slowly realized Jiayi's affinity for harmless flirting. Given her already exceedingly playful nature, however, it wasn't really a surprise to anyone how easily the friendly winks and flirty grins came to her. It made them even prouder to call her their best friend; plus it provided for highly amusing entertainment whenever Cheng was around to witness it—which was all the time. Jiayi never bothered when her easily-angered best friend wasn't around.
Over the course of the next few days, Jiayi explored the new power she held in her hands. She decided that she liked the harmless flirting—it was fun, plus it wasn't too out of character for her at all. She was by no means a boy magnet even with her winks and smiles, but she realized, much to her delight, that it didn't matter. Just the act of flirting alone was enough to send Cheng into an impressive imitation of a fire-breathing dragon. Any worries and doubts she had before were gone within the first day; she was confident she was going to win. It was only a matter of time.
Over the course of the next few days, Cheng discovered just how irritating Jiayi could be. Of course, he knew better than anyone how playful and annoyingly teasing Jiayi naturally was, and it annoyed him that she was revealing more and more of her bold playfulness to others. Why was she winking? Why was she grinning like that? Did she want him to get arrested for attempted homicide? Jealous? No, he wasn't jealous—this was perfectly reasonable protectiveness. After all, Jiayi was the only girl of the group, her youth second only to Qing. In addition to that, she was his best friend; he had a duty to watch over her and protect her from sleazy, no-good, disgusting boys who didn't deserve her. Therefore, he would tough this out until she tired of her foolishness. Whenever that was.
The breaking point for Cheng came a mere six days after their bet began.
"Hey, Jiayi!" a boy called out one day as Jiayi and her friends were gathering their things to go home. He tossed a pencil over, which Jiayi caught perfectly. "Thanks for letting me borrow it today."
"No problem," Jiayi responded, flashing her usual, casual smile. Beside her, Cheng twitched.
"Can you stop doing that?" he growled.
Jiayi's eyebrows shot up at the hostility in his voice, and she exchanged a glance with Qing and Liang. "Doing what?"
"The flirting," Cheng hissed, leading the way through the halls. "At least save it for people we don't know and would never see again. Don't do it to our classmates!"
"Calm down," Jiayi said, smirking in amusement. Qing and Liang snickered behind them. "I wasn't even doing anything that time."
Cheng heaved a heavy sigh, running a hand down his face. She was right; he knew her well enough to know which smiles were casual and which ones were special. Six days of feeling his blood boil at the sight of Jiayi flirting with strangers had shot his nerves worse than he'd thought.
"Someone's getting paranoid," Liang remarked offhandedly.
"Shut up," Cheng snapped.
Qing giggled. "Cheng wants Jiayi to save her special winks and smiles only for him."
"I said, shut up!" Cheng snarled, whacking Qing over the head. "Brats."
Jiayi and Liang laughed while Qing pouted, rubbing his head. Before any of them could say another word, however, a voice called out for their attention, sending a disgusted shudder down Cheng's spine in the process. They all turned to see, much to Cheng's displeasure, Jun jogging towards them, dazzling smile and all.
Jiayi smiled. "Hey, Jun."
Jun eyed Cheng cautiously for a moment before gesturing for Jiayi to step aside again. Liang, Qing, and Cheng stood their ground patiently, making it clear that whatever Jun had to say to Jiayi, he could say it where they could see him. Cheng especially watched him carefully.
"What's up?" Jiayi asked, ignoring how her friends were all watching her protectively.
Jun scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, since we never got to go see that movie, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a snack today."
Unnoticed to everyone else, Cheng's fists clenched.
Jiayi shifted her weight uncomfortably, an apologetic smile emerging on her face. "Uh, I don't know—"
"We could get ice cream or something," Jun cut in hopefully.
"I'm sorry," Jiayi said softly with that same sweet, apologetic smile. Cheng's form relaxed a little. "But—"
"It'll be my treat," Jun interrupted again. "I—"
Cheng couldn't handle it anymore.
"Hey!" he barked, striding forward. Just as Jun turned toward him, Cheng's fist flew out, colliding solidly with Jun's jaw. The other boy fell back, landing on the floor with a yelp. Cheng glared down at him. "She said no, so back off."
Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Jiayi's wrist with one hand, turned to Liang and Qing and pointed down the hall. "We're going. Move."
Silently, though with triumphantly smug smirks, Qing and Liang parted for Cheng to pass between them before following behind him. As they walked, Cheng sighed exasperatedly.
"You win," they heard him mutter almost inaudibly.
Jiayi's smirk couldn't have been wider. She cupped her free hand around her ear. "Sorry, what was that?"
"You," Cheng ground out louder through gritted teeth, "win."
Jiayi hummed her approval, perfectly aware of the discreet high-five Liang and Qing exchanged behind them. "Don't forget the deal."
By then, they'd just stepped out into the courtyard and could clearly see their upperclassmen friends hanging out beneath their favorite tree. Patting Jiayi on the back, Liang and Qing took off towards their friends, leaving Jiayi and Cheng stil standing by the door.
Cheng sighed, pulling Jiayi to the side so they weren't blocking the door. Once clear from the doorway, he released her wrist and crossed his arms, pinning her with a glare. "Yeah I know. So what do you want?"
An unbelievably wide grin overtook her face. Clasping her hands behind her back, she cheekily stated, "I want you to take me on a date."
Cheng stared at her as if she'd spoken her request in gibberish. Her request was just ridiculous, unfathomable, crazy—but if that were the case, why was his stomach twisting like that? NO—it didn't matter. They were best friends; how could he just throw away that friendship, built and strengthened over the years, so carelessly? Things would change, become awkward, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it if they ever screwed up their friendship.
He opened his mouth to voice his disapproval, his protests, but he couldn't bring himself to say his thoughts.
She was smiling at him so brightly, so hopefully, so damn happily. What kind of best friend would he be if he denied her the thing that made her smile that beautifully?
"A-alright," he ended up saying. "I-I guess I'll text you tonight to talk about when and where."
"Awesome!" Jiayi cheered, her face lighting up even more magnificently than before. She hopped forward, wrapping Cheng in a tight hug and hopping back again before he even realized it. "Sounds good! Don't worry; this time, we can split the bill."
With that, she gave him one of the flirty winks she'd perfected over the days and bounded off to join their friends, who were beside themselves with laughter. They all jumped up as she approached, evidently grilling her for details on what happened. Judging by their proud, exuberant, happy reactions, Cheng surmised that they'd all known about Jiayi's plan.
With an exasperated sigh, Cheng shook his head amusedly and walked towards them as well.
As he neared, Feng and Xiang looked up with proud and smug grins, Zhuang and Liang shot him teasing smirks, and Qing just looked excited and hyperactive. Knowing he was in for even more teasing than usual, Cheng mentally sighed again. Was it worth it? Was it too late to demand for Jiayi to change her request?
But then Jiayi looked over at him, still smiling that happy grin that rivaled the sun's brilliance on her pretty face.
And with that grin, Cheng's doubts and bitter second thoughts melted away. He rolled his eyes, throwing a casual grin back.
If it made Jiayi smile like that, Cheng would withstand his friends' torturous teasing.
Ah, screw it.
If it made Jiayi smile like that, Cheng thought maybe he could withstand anything.
MHJ: Is the end fluffy or what? :3 Luckily for you guys, this is just the beginning of the fluff. There is sooooo much more to come lol! Everyone, keep an eye out for chapter 15! I haven't written it yet, but I know you guys are gonna love it! ;)
