"Good morning, Shang." I smile and nod cordially. I saw the way Shang looked at me. I knew he was interested, and I don't want to lead him on. We would never work out together. He was brilliant, a fighter, a friend, and over all good man. What was I? A weak girl, a fake...
Wait. Shang has never seen the real me. That must mean... He's falling for Ping?! No. That's not it. Maybe I'm wrong. He must just want to be friends with me. He sees how weak Ping is, and feels a fatherly need to help him... Right?
But I do like him. So eventually I'll have to tell him. But isn't that punishable by death? He'd have to be the one to kill me... No. I can't tell him. He'll never find out about Ping being a girl, and he will never love me. I just need to get over myself and realize that.
Suddenly his deep timbre breaks through my monologue. "Uh.. Ping, are you okay? Why are you just standing there staring at me?"
Slightly shocked that I had let myself get lost in thought like that, I simply shake my head. "No reason. Just thinking, is all." I nod again before trotting off to go do whatever I was doing before. I couldn't remember where I was headed as I was so shaken by my encounter so I milled around for a while before deciding I needed to clean my horse. That'd get me away from Shang, and give me time to think, right?