After school, Li was thinking about the conversation earlier in the day, as he sat in his apartment – alone, as usual. "White Day is a day when boys are supposed to give gifts to the entire class…" Li recalled. 'No way I'm doing something stupid like that,' Li said to himself. Li then turned his mind to the other thing Zachary said: "…if a boy spends the day following the wishes of the girl he really likes, and she kisses him at the end of the day, they will be together forever." 'That's completely ridiculous!' Li snickered… but then, why did the image of a certain green-eyed girl appear at that moment? And why was she getting closer, as she closed her eyes? Li leaned back, away from the image…
Bang! The chair toppled over, spilling Li to the floor. He grabbed his head in pain, as he staggered to get up. He collapsed onto the chair, and was just making himself comfortable, when…
Ding dong! "Ugh!" he exclaimed with disdain, as he reluctantly made his way to the door. He wasn't terribly anxious to answer the door, either, since he had an inkling of who was behind the door.
Li unlocked the door, and quickly hid behind the door as he swung it open. As a result, the figure that jumped inside ended up grabbing nothing but air. "Li!" the person shouted with enthusiasm.
"Oh, it's you, Meilin," Li said slowly, with a low voice. "Why are you here, anyway?"
"Li, cheer up. Tomorrow is White Day, remember? So what kind of day do you have planned for me?"
"Meilin," Li warned.
"Oh, it's all right. I'll find out tomorrow, anyway, right?" Meilin replied, as she took Li's arm.
"Meilin, get off of me!" Li shouted as he struggled free. "I'm not going to spend tomorrow being your slave."
"Why, so you can serve some other girl?"
"Well, uh…"
Meilin took this chance to take Li's arm again and say, "Well, then, come over to my house and let's talk about it. My mom is waiting for us outside."
"Stop that, Meilin," as Li again attempted to struggle free, this time with less vigor. "I have homework to do, you know."
"If that's the case, I can have my mom drop you off at Avalon's place. Besides, you two always do your homework together, right?"
"No, don't do that!" Images of Tori threatening him filled his head – the same image that ruined most of his fantasies about Sakura.
"In that case, I can always invite her over to my place, and you two can do your homework there."
"No! I'm not coming!" Li insisted. Unfortunately, at that very moment, he was getting in the car, and holding onto Meilin's hand. He sheepishly let go and sighed. Things couldn't get worse, could they?
Things settled down once they arrived at Meilin's home. Without hesitation Li opened up his book bag and started working on his homework, trying his best to ignore the girl sitting across from him. Time and again she would interrupt him. The first time, she asked him if he wanted any tea, the second time she wanted to know if he wanted any snacks, and the third time, she asked him if he needed anything. Each time Li refused, and told her to be quiet so he could finish his homework. Yet by the time he was done, he noticed that he was surrounded by a cold cup of tea and a plate filled with cookies and fruit. Meilin was now sitting by his side, staring at him with a sad expression on her face. Li felt vaguely guilty by now, although technically it was still Meilin's fault since he never agreed to come to her house in the first place. Nevertheless, Li merely put his books away and crossed his arms without changing his expression, not letting a single word escape his mouth.
Finally Meilin broke the silence. "Li, what's wrong with you? Why are you in such a bad mood, anyway!" Meilin said sharply, in an attempt to cover up her emotions.
"I never asked to come here, Meilin! Why did you drag me here?" Li shouted.
"You mean, you don't know?" Meilin looked and sounded as though she might break down at this moment, and Li leaned back in fear – but she managed to compose herself and continue, "I just thought it would be nice to have you over, that's all. Especially with Wei (Li's guardian) taking the rest of the day off."
"What are you talking about! Wei would've told me it that was the case."
"I, uh, your mother thought it would be a good idea if he had a day off. He's been working hard lately. So she called him this morning and told him that you would be staying the day at my place."
"Well, she shouldn't have done that! Why can't you just leave me alone!" Li yelled.
"Please stop shouting. I can hear you from all the way down here," Meilin's mother politely requested from her room.
Li sat back in his chair, a little embarrassed, as Meilin's mother came into the living room where Li and Meilin were doing their homework. Meilin's mother smiled as she commented gently, "It's nice to have you over, Li. You're welcome to come over as often as you like – I'm sure that Meilin won't mind."
"Mom," Meilin said with a hint of embarrassment.
Meilin's mother continued, "Meilin told me that you wanted to do something for the entire class for White Day – "
"Well, actually…" Li interrupted.
"You don't have to be embarrassed about it, Li. I think that's very nice of you. Meilin also thought it was a great idea. So, what was it that you wanted to do?"
"I never said…"
"I know!" Meilin burst in. "How about baking cookies for the class! Mom, you still have that cookie recipe from last time, right? Those cookies you made for Christmas?" As soon as her mother nodded, Meilin exclaimed, "Come on, let's do it!" as she grabbed Li and literally dragged him to the kitchen.
"Hey!" Li protested violently, as he looked to Meilin's mother for help, but she was looking the other way – on purpose, no doubt.
'Stupid Meilin. How do I get forced into these things?' Li complained to himself, as he helped Meilin gather the ingredients. 'Well, I might as well keep an eye on her. She'll probably mess everything up!' Much to his disappointment, though, Meilin was doing just fine. Whenever she wasn't sure about something, her mother stepped in to help. As Meilin started to mix the ingredients, Li watched closely, looking for mistakes. When he couldn't spot any, he came closer for a better look. Drat! Things were going too well. 'Perhaps if I see it from another angle,' Li thought, as he went to her side and leaned over – and just then, he thought he saw her eyebrows rise just a little. Had she noticed? Li quickly took a step back, hoping that Meilin hadn't caught him. But as she turned and flashed him a bright smile, his hopes crumbled.
The rest of the day wasn't much better. After the cookies were done, Meilin's mother insisted that he stay for dinner, and after that, he had to stay and help Meilin with the dishes. After that, Meilin asked him for some help on her math homework… was this day ever going to end? In the meantime, Li called his apartment no fewer five times, but Wei was not there… at this rate, would he have to stay overnight? Li gritted his teeth – no doubt, such a development would please his mother immensely.
Finally – finally! Wei answered the phone, once he returned from his 'day off'. It was time to put this miserable stay at an end, as Meilin's mother gave Li a ride back to his apartment. To Li's considerable dismay, Meilin decided walk him up to the door. As they were walking, Meilin asked, "So, Li, do you know why I invited you over today?"
"Go ahead," Li replied darkly, crossing his arms.
"Since you're going to spend all tomorrow doing things for me – " here they stopped walking, since they were just outside the door – "I thought… I thought today I could do something for you."
Li felt a little queasy after hearing these comments, made even worse when Meilin threw her arms around him. She let go before Li could regain his senses and push her away, and went off running while shouting, "You're walking me to school tomorrow, right? See you at 7:30!"
"I'm not walking to you to school tomorrow!" Li recovered, to no avail – by this time, Meilin was already inside the car. "You're so impossible…" Li muttered, as he rang the doorbell.