MHJ: Sorry for the lateness guys! You guys reached the quota about two days ago, but I've been in New York for the past like 4 days, visiting colleges and family, so I haven't had the time to upload the latest chapter. But 2 days is okay right? :) Anyways, I just got home today, made a few last-minute edits and additions to the chapter, and I believe it is finally time to upload Jiayi and Cheng's first date!

But first, I would like to mention that last chapter's quota was purposefully high so that it would take you guys a long time to complete it. That's because, like I said in the previous chapter, I needed time to finish writing. PLEASE READ AND ANSWER THE QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM! IT'S IMPORTANT!

Previously...

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.

Chapter 13

"Yo, you ready to go yet?" Cheng asked, walking into Jiayi's room after her mom let him into the house.

Jiayi was standing by her desk, counting out a few bills from her wallet. For their date, she had donned a fitted white graphic tee with an inky Chinese character artistically splashed across the front and a pair of distressed denim shorts, embellished with rhinestones on the pockets.

She looked up when he walked in and smiled; folding the bills neatly, she stuck them into a little pocket on her childishly cute cell phone pouch, which she then slung across her chest. "Hey, Cheng. Almost, I just need to go put up my hair and we can go."

Cheng yawned, collapsing back onto Jiayi's bed. "Yeah, yeah, hurry up."

"Wait here then," Jiayi chirped, running out of the room towards the bathroom down the hall.

Meanwhile, Cheng looked around Jiayi's room fondly. He loved her room; the gang had always unanimously agreed that her room had the best calming effect out of all of their rooms.

The walls and ceiling were all midnight blue, so dark that they bordered on black. A dark mahogany desk sat in the corner with a sleek black laptop and various cute stationary tools scattered on the top; next to the desk was the canopy bed Cheng was laying on—it was large and firm with majestic navy blue drapes. The window shades were usually drawn since the room would always get unbearably hot when the sun shone in; the lights in the ceiling, disguised as stars, could be brightened or dimmed, but Jiayi usually kept them dim.

Turning his head to look at the nightstand beside Jiayi's bed, Cheng smiled at the framed picture sitting proudly beside the alarm clock. It was a picture of the gang—all of them with their arms thrown around each other's shoulders and wearing grins that stretched from ear to ear.

It still struck him as funny how most people automatically assumed he was the leader of the gang; in actuality, they were just an average group of friends. Everyone was equal; they shared decisions and responsibilities and made up for each other's weaknesses. Together, they covered a wide spectrum of talents.

Liang was the genius of the group, always top of the class and the first person many of their classmates turned to for academic help.

Xiang practically specialized in the fine arts, excelling not only in drawing and painting but also in music, both instrumental and vocal. At one point in the past, a mere year ago, he had even tutored Meiying in violin.

Feng was the tall athlete, annoyingly good at nearly every sport yet frustratingly uninterested in trying out for any high school teams.

Zhuang and Qing were both just ridiculously likeable, which was great especially when they needed favors from people. Qing was small, childlike, innocent, naïve—so cute that it was hard to deny him what he wanted. Zhuang, on the other hand, looked more mature yet was likeable for his playfulness and teasing charisma.

Jiayi was quick and sharp with not only words but also with her fingers. Due to her impressive ability to pick locks and her annoying habit of jokingly picking her friends' pockets, Cheng always had a feeling that she would probably make a great surgeon someday with her scary ability to work nimbly and steadily with small, precise movements. Then again, he feared putting lives into her hands.

Cheng, unlike the others, nurtured nothing more than a love for kung fu. No, it wasn't even love. They all loved kung fu, but for Cheng, it was a passion, something he could focus his life on.

'We're such a family of goofballs,' Cheng thought fondly. 'Feng and Xiang are the older brothers who watch out for us, Zhuang's the middle child who always tries to deny his affection for the others, Qing's the little brother everyone adores, Jiayi and Liang are the twins who can practically read each other's minds, and I'm…'

He stopped, brow furrowing. He wasn't sure what he fit in as.

Suddenly, Jiayi pranced back into the room, her long hair gathered up in a high ponytail and secured by a white ribbon, the ends of which intermingled with her raven black locks. "Okay, I'm ready!" Spotting Cheng staring at the picture frame by her bed, she grinned and danced over, flopping down beside him. "Amazing how long we've all known each other, eh?"

"You know what's even more amazing?" Cheng replied. "How you're not even my oldest friend yet my stupid, foolish mind blindly insists on calling you my best friend."

"You know what's even weirder than that?" Jiayi giggled. "Liang and I hated you and the others at first, remember? Well, not so much the others, but we hated you."

Cheng shot her a dubious look. "Stop twisting the truth. I never had any problems with Liang."

"Alright, alright, only I hated you," Jiayi said, pouting. "But that was when we were, what, nine?"

Cheng nodded, chuckling at the memory. "Yeah, it wasn't until you beat me at the tournament finals that year that we agreed to be friends."

"And we totally hit it off and became best friends by the time we were ten!" Jiayi chirped. "Yay, happy ending! Can we go out to eat now?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Cheng laughed, sitting up and following Jiayi downstairs to the front door. As he put on his shoes, he noticed that Jiayi, instead of grabbing her usual converse sneakers, had picked out a nicer pair of sandals.

When she straightened up and saw him watching her, she grinned and winked, giggling. "Done checking me out?"

"I was not!" he snapped, rolling his eyes as she laughed. He gestured towards her as a whole. "You're really going for that dressed-up look, eh? You don't have to change so much."

Jiayi grinned before ushering Cheng out the door, closing the front door behind them. "Relax, Cheng. I told you, it's surprisingly fun to pick out outfits like this. I'm not changing or anything. I'm just incorporating a few nice things at a time."

"I guess," Cheng said, starting to head down the street with Jiayi.

They were walking in comfortable silence, when a thought suddenly occurred to Cheng.

"So," he started cautiously, glancing at Jiayi from the corner of his eyes. "How long have you liked me?"

The faintest of blushes rose to her cheeks. She shrugged her shoulders, a helpless smile appearing on her face. "I don't know."

"Fine, be that way," Cheng huffed.

There was a moment of silence before Jiayi softly asked, "Does it bother you?"

Strangely enough, it didn't.

"I mean," Jiayi rambled on, bringing her hands together in front of her as she walked. Her fingers pulled at each other nervously. "We're best friends after all. I didn't really think all of this through before, but I'd imagine this might make our friendship weird—"

"Nah," Cheng cut in, sighing as he took one of Jiayi's hands so that she would stop fiddling with her fingers. "It doesn't bother me."

A small, relieved smile appeared on Jiayi's face. "That's good."

They continued in silence again, but this time with their hands linked between them. As they got closer to the restaurant they'd decided to eat at, Jiayi spotted a couple across the street, giggling to each other. Swift as a little sparrow, the girl suddenly leaned up on her tiptoes and pressed a small kiss to the boy's lips. Then, smiling, the two linked hands and continued their stroll down the street. After seeing their cute exchange, Jiayi's eyes lit up playfully.

"Hey Cheng?"

"Yeah?" Cheng responded casually, busy scanning the street for the restaurant they'd picked. Thus, he missed the rather mischievous look on Jiayi's face.

"Do you want a kiss?"

"What?" Cheng's head whipped around to face Jiayi so fast that his neck cracked. He stared at Jiayi, bewildered yet unsurprised, excited yet disgusted.

Jiayi grinned coyly. "Don't be shy. You know you want one." With that, she leaned in ever so slightly.

Face flushed red, Cheng leaned slightly away, beginning to sputter an incoherent string of words. Before he could gather his scattered thoughts in his fried brain to think of a logical way to address the situation, Jiayi suddenly laughed. She then lifted her free hand, placing the tip of her index finger to his lips with a wide, teasing grin. He stopped mid-stutter.

"I'm kidding!" she giggled. "Relax a little, okay?"

He couldn't really think straight when her finger was on his lips, but he was somewhat aware that they'd stopped walking. Absentmindedly, he wondered if he should be mad at her and decided, not even a second after that thought, that yes, he should be mad at her. Then he realized in a panic that Jiayi's pretty face was getting closer. She was leaning towards him, and as the space between them decreased, Cheng's heart rate sped up.

Jiayi stopped a few inches away from Cheng's face, lips curling into a predatory smirk.

Uh oh.

"You look mighty red, Cheng."

With that, she sprang back, laughing so hard that her eyes teared up. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist. The look on your face! You should've seen it!"

Cheng gaped at her, open-mouthed at her dirty trick just after he'd been nice enough to take her hand and reassure her and everything. He gritted his teeth, eyes blind to everything but that confident, heavily amused, annoying smirk of hers. Though she'd forced herself to calm down from her laughing fit, her eyes were still glittering with the laughter that she held inside, her shoulders shaking from the effort of holding her giggles in.

She was such a tease, never passing up an opportunity to make him flustered and always reveling in his awkward discomfort.

He clenched his fists, knowing she was perfectly capable of dodging or defending against any punch he threw at her. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and a wicked gleam appeared in his eyes. Time to give her a taste of her own medicine.

She was saying something again when he made his move; he wasn't sure exactly what she was saying, having drowned out her voice in his anger, but it didn't matter—she abruptly cut herself off mid-sentence after he suddenly shortened the gap between them.

Taken off-guard, she stepped back, pressing unexpectedly against the wall of a building in an attempt to restore the space between them. He moved forward as she moved back, ensuring their close proximity.

The laughing amusement in her eyes quickly vaporized when he leaned forward, trapping her against the wall with a hand on either side of her head. Around them, people continued their own business, paying no mind to the two teenagers at all.

"What are you doing?" Jiayi demanded, eyes flickering around uncomfortably. She couldn't meet his gaze for more than a few seconds when he was inches from her face.

Cheng smirked and leaned closer, reducing the space between their faces to a mere inch or two. She inhaled sharply, red quickly coloring her cheeks. If possible, she tried to shrink back even more, flattening herself against the wall in an effort to restore some distance. He simply moved closer, almost pressed up against her. "What's the matter?"

"T-this isn't funny," she stammered, glaring intensely straight ahead at his neck. "M-m-move or I'll beat you up."

"At least look the person you're threatening in the eyes," Cheng chastised teasingly, moving one of his hands to her chin. Casually, he tilted her head up so that her eyes could meet his. Subtly, she gulped, eyes flickering away nervously. In the back of his mind, Cheng laughed uncontrollably. Now that he knew teasing her was this much fun, he could hardly blame her anymore for always teasing him. "How's it feel to be on the receiving end for once?"

She glared at him.

"I am seriously going to hurt you," she growled through gritted teeth, blushing furiously.

"It would be in your best interest if you didn't," Cheng said, smirking as he pulled away, giving her space to breathe. "How could you hurt this pretty face that you love so much?"

Jiayi's eyes narrowed at him. "I am so getting you back for this."

Cheng laughed, taking her hand again and leading her, still pouting, down the street. "What's the matter? Can't take what you dish out? Maybe now you'll think twice about making fun of me all the time."

"We'll see," Jiayi replied curtly, still scowling and making it clear that she was very annoyed.

"Here's the restaurant," Cheng said, ignoring her words and pulling her through the doors of a noodle restaurant.

The noodle restaurant, though small, was clearly quite popular with many tables already filled. Wooden tables were squished into the little room quite cozily with just enough space between them for the waiters and waitresses to maneuver around with their platters of food. Large watercolor landscapes stretched along the walls, and the sweet trill of a flute played softly in the background, accompanied by the customers' small talk and occasional loud booms of laughter.

"Two," Cheng told a nearby waiter, who nodded and led them to a small table at the side of the room.

Seated across the table from each other, Jiayi glared at Cheng, who ignored her as he calmly scanned his menu card. After a moment, he casually asked without looking up, "Know what you're getting?"

Breaking her glare at Cheng, Jiayi looked down and picked up her own menu. Glancing over the dishes the restaurant offered, she suppressed a shudder. "I still don't know how you managed to get me to come to a noodle shop."

"Well," Cheng said, smirking. "If you're going to make me go on a date with you, then we should at least go to a restaurant that I like. Besides, you need to get over this ridiculous fear of noodles. It's seriously tiring."

Jiayi sighed. "Too late to change restaurants now, I guess."

At that moment, the waiter, a rather attractive young man, approached their table with two glasses of water and a little notepad. Cheng nodded in appreciation as his water was placed onto the table, reaching out for it almost immediately to take a sip. Jiayi, on the other hand, reached up to take her water from the waiter himself, letting her fingers brush his in the process.

"Thank you," she said with a flirty grin.

The waiter grinned back, clicking his pen and positioning it on his little notepad. "Can I take your orders?"

"Yeah, I'll have number sixteen," Jiayi said sweetly. She jabbed a finger across the table at a sour-looking Cheng. "He'll have..."

"Twelve," Cheng finished, glaring at the waiter.

The waiter nodded, seeming only to have eyes for Jiayi. "Your food will be ready shortly."

"Thanks," Jiayi said again.

Cheng's grip on his glass of water tightened in annoyance when the waiter had the guts to wink at Jiayi right in front of him. The moment the waiter was out of earshot, he sent Jiayi the most withering glare he could.

"I thought we were done with all of that!" he hissed, eye twitching in annoyance.

Jiayi gave him an innocent look as she took a sip of her water. "With what?"

"The flirting," Cheng growled, crossing his arms.

"Oh," Jiayi exclaimed as if realizing his meaning for the first time. She smiled smugly. "That was payback."

Cheng stared at her incredulously before scoffing in annoyance. "You're unbelievable."

In response to that, Jiayi teasingly blew Cheng a kiss before changing the subject. "So, after this, we'll be going to your house to watch a movie, right?"

Cheng nodded. "Yeah. Unlike Jun, I picked out a cool action movie for us to watch. None of that gooey chick flick stuff he offered you."

At that, Jiayi burst out laughing. "Whoa, Cheng, cut back a little on the bitterness there."

"Wh—bitter? I was not being bitter."

"Yeah, you were. Wow, you must have been more jealous than I thought you were."

"I wasn't jealous!"

"If you weren't jealous, we wouldn't be on this date right now."

"…"

Jiayi smiled and reached over to pat the back of Cheng's hand. "Don't worry, I'll pay my half of the bill."

Cheng rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Isn't the guy supposed to pay for everything on the first date?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it; I've got this covered."

"Really?" Jiayi squeaked excitedly, eyes flashing.

"Don't get used to it though," Cheng warned.

Jiayi laughed, nodding. "I'll pay next time then."

Next time…

They realized at the same time that a second date wasn't guaranteed. Cheng coughed awkwardly, averting his eyes, while Jiayi—suddenly sobered up from her cheery high—silently reached for her water glass again to take another sip.

Luckily, just then, the waiter came by with their orders.

"Number twelve," he set down Cheng's bowl of lo mein without bothering to look at him. Then, to Jiayi, he grinned and set down her bowl of beef noodle broth. "And number sixteen for the lovely lady."

While Jiayi looked immensely pleased with the compliment, Cheng bit back his annoyance.

"Yes, thank you, you can go now," Cheng said curtly, gesturing for the young man to leave. The waiter bristled at his tone, but since Cheng was a customer, he merely smiled before walking away back towards the kitchens. Jiayi stifled a laugh while Cheng nonchalantly reached for a pair of chopsticks as if nothing had happened.

"My, my, Cheng," Jiayi mused, reaching for her own pair of chopsticks. "No need to be so aggressive; you can't blame that waiter for recognizing true beauty." She batted her eyelashes playfully.

Breaking apart his pair of wooden chopsticks, Cheng looked up and, instead of addressing Jiayi's teasing, asked, "Hey, if you wanted me to lose the bet so badly, why didn't you just flirt back with Jun? Or just go out with him?"

Jiayi blinked at him owlishly. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, wouldn't that have been a lot more," Cheng paused, searching for the right word to use. "Effective?" He paused again. "Come to think of it, you didn't flirt with anyone we personally knew."

A small unreadable smile appeared on Jiayi's face, and she looked down at her steaming bowl of noodles, stirring the broth slowly. "It's cruel to play with someone's feelings just to get someone else jealous."

Cheng stared at her, slowly beginning to smile as he felt a surge of respect tear through him. He turned his gaze down to his food as well. "That's actually pretty decent of you."

"I guess," Jiayi murmured, still smiling. "Not really though. I mean, you of all people should know how it feels when someone you like or are attracted to only looks at someone else."

Immediately, Meiying came to mind, and for a moment, he couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like if it was Meiying sitting across from him with a bowl of beef noodle broth in front of her. Awkward, definitely—he didn't know the first thing they would talk about. Conversation would have been tense and uncomfortable and vague. All Cheng knew about Meiying was that she loved violin and aspired to be accepted into the Beijing Academy of Music, and all Meiying knew about Cheng—or thought she knew—was that he loved kung fu and liked to beat people up to prove he was the best of the best. Yes, it would have been very awkward indeed.

For the first time that night, Cheng felt glad that it had been Jiayi who'd roped him into a date.

Suddenly, Cheng was pulled out of his thoughts by Jiayi's voice.

"Ugh, just looking at this makes me feel a little queasy," she was saying, playing with her white rice noodles with her chopsticks. She glanced over at Cheng's noodles, light brown in color. "Your's makes me feel downright nauseous." She pushed away her bowl, leaning her forehead against her knuckles. "I don't think I can do this."

Cheng sighed, pushing her bowl back towards her. "Yes, you can. At least your noodles are white. That's not exactly the color of worms, right?"

"Your noodles are the color of worms," she grumbled back.

"Yeah, maybe it wasn't the best idea to get this dish," Cheng lamented. "But it's too late now. Just keep your eyes on either your noodles or on me. Don't look at my food, alright? Think you can make it through dinner?"

"Not really," Jiayi responded, but she picked up her chopsticks again nevertheless. She tasted the soup first, a satisfied smile forming. "Not bad."

Cheng grinned triumphantly. "Finally done with your noodle phobia?"

"Getting there," Jiayi responded, keeping her eyes locked firmly on her bowl.

Slowly, the conversation drifted over the next hour, ranging over food and life and the gang. It wasn't until the end of their dinner, when Cheng was laying down his money for the bill, that he realized something crucial that he had overlooked.

An unreadable smile appeared on Jiayi's face, and she looked down at the food. "It's cruel to play with someone's feelings just to get someone else jealous."

Cheng stared at her, slowly beginning to smile as he felt a surge of respect tear through him. He turned his gaze down to the food as well. "That's actually pretty decent of you."

"I guess," Jiayi murmured, still smiling. "Not really though. I mean, you of all people should know how it feels when someone you like or are attracted to only looks at another person."

How cruel was he to completely forget Jiayi's situation.

"Jiayi," he murmured as they left the restaurant. She looked over at him, completely untroubled. The fact that she wasn't even hurt or mad that he had overlooked her feelings earlier just made the pit in his stomach feel heavier with guilt. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" she asked, bemused.

He looked down slightly. "You've liked me all this time, and I never even looked away from Meiying. How…how could you stand me? How can you still like me? How did I not notice? I'm such a...suckish best friend."

He would have continued beating himself up verbally, but Jiayi reached out and took his hand again.

"It's okay." She was smiling contentedly. "I'm glad I got to go on this date with you at least. It's okay if there's no second one, 'cause we'd still be best friends, right? I'll be happy with whatever decision makes you happy."

Touched that his best friend was dedicated to him enough that she would put his happiness above her own, Cheng remained silent for a moment before he scoffed, smiling. Wiggling Jiayi's grip loose, he readjusted his hand and laced his fingers together with hers, smile widening when she looked down to stare at their interlocked hands. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course there'll be a second date. I still need my revenge for having to pay for you all the time, right?"

"Right," Jiayi said after a moment. Then she beamed and squeezed Cheng's hand. "So, an action movie, right?"

"Naturally," Cheng responded as the conversation moved back onto safer waters.

MHJ: Back during the beginning when Cheng was musing about the gang's talents, I said that he didn't just love kung fu like the others did, he had a burning passion for it because he's on the Beijing Wushu Team and all. xD Anyways, I hope this chapter had enough fluff in it for you lol. In terms of fluff, though, I really suggest you keep your eyes peeled for chapter 15. Hint: (please avert your eyes if you wish to be surprised) It's gonna be a milestone in Cheng and Jiayi's budding relationship teehee~

Before we part ways, I have a question for you all: What are your thoughts on Dre and Jiayi's relationship? Meaning: would you like to see them become friends?