Disclaimer: What's up, homies? Himaruya da Troll King is right hurr…Making fics. Jk, I don't own Hetalia.
A/N: It's sad to say this but Catalyst will be ending in about five chapters. Thank you for all of the support and feedback.
Mei just knew Xiang was pissed off at her. He didn't call or text and when she tried to get in contact with him, Xiang never got back with her. Throughout the week, Mei just stayed in her room all day and thought about Xiang. The girl was shocked that she could get so depressed over someone ignoring her but Xiang was different. He gave her a feeling she couldn't explain.
Although it was hard, Mei needed to cope in a way that didn't involve her isolating herself and crying. So, when Yong Soo asked Mei to go out to lunch that Saturday, she couldn't decline.
"Thank you for hanging out today," Mei said, sipping some iced tea.
"It's my pleasure! I love spending time with pretty girls~"
Mei giggled slightly. "Idiot." And then she frowned. Hanging out with Yong Soo was a good way to forget about things with Xiang, but it wasn't the cure. The Korean boy noticed the melancholy on his friend's face.
"Something wrong, Meimei? You seem kinda down."
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing! Please don't worry about me."
The atmosphere between the two teens suddenly became serious. "Is it because of Xiang?"
Mei stared at Yong Soo. He saw right through her façade; there was no use in trying to lie to him so she nodded silently.
"Why don't you do something about it?"
"What can I do?... I mean, he won't even look at me…" Mei stared pensively at her iced tea, whose cup was coated with icy condensation.
Yong Soo squinted his eyes and placed his hand over his mouth, in deep thought. "You could…trick him!"
Mei played with the ice in her cup using a straw and looked back up at the other. "I'd feel so terrible doing that."
"But you love him, right?"
Mei blushed deeply. "Yes…yes, I do love him. But I would never lie to him."
"It's not lying. You could, like, trick him to talk to you!"
Mei smiled, loosening up to the idea. "What did you have in mind?"
With a grin, Yong Soo pulled out his little cell phone and shook it playfully.
The door knocked and Xiang knew it was Yong Soo. The Korean called earlier that day and insisted on coming over to visit. Xiang didn't mind, though. He was pretty lonely without Emil or Mei. He had Arthur but his elder brother was always busy with work. Yong Soo had grown into a decent friend. Although, Xiang wouldn't admit that he enjoyed Yong Soo's company.
When Xiang opened the door, he opened his mouth to say hello to Yong Soo but he noticed the other boy was accompanied by someone else.
"Mei?"
Mei was about to open her mouth to speak but Yong Soo interrupted. "Yeah, da-ze! She was hanging out with me, too. I hope you don't mind her coming over."
Xiang sighed. It was obvious that he didn't want to see Mei at the time, but he didn't want to be rude so Xiang decided to allow her to stay. "Yeah, I don't mind. Come in." The young man moved aside to allow his guests in and the duo walked into the home.
"You have a cool house!" the Korean boy commented, awestruck.
"Er, thanks…" Xiang shut the door and proceeded to lead Mei and Yong Soo to the game room. It was awkwardly silent, aside from Yong Soo gawking at Xiang's home and the Cantonese boy repeatedly thanking his friend. When the Asian trio reached their destination, Yong Soo announced, "I have to go to the bathroom!"
"Make a right. It's at the end of the hall."
Yong Soo nodded and headed to the bathroom, leaving Xiang and Mei alone on the couch. The two teens sat in silence until Xiang stood up and took something off a nearby shelf, a gaming console. Mei looked on and saw that the other was setting it up. When he was finished, Xiang took a seat back on the couch, sitting a considerable distance away from Mei.
"Me and Yong Soo were going to play table hockey," Xiang said out of the blue. "But now that you're here, we're gonna play video games. Is that okay?"
Mei nodded in approval. "Yup! What games do you have?"
"Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Devil May Cry, Marvel vs Capcom, Dead or Alive, Resident Evil. Just to name a few."
"I see you're a fan of fighting and gore games? I'll take pleasure in kicking your butt~"
Xiang chuckled. "I'd like to see you try." Mei laughed as well but soon the laughter grew into intense silence. Mei knew she had to confront Xiang about last week's happenings and Yong Soo wasn't going to hide out in the bathroom forever.
"X-xiang?" she called out timidly. "We need to talk."
"We need to talk." Possibly the four worst words a female could say to a male. And Xiang knew this.
"He sure is taking a long time in there," Xiang mumbled to himself.
"Don't try to avoid this!" Mei shouted out.
"What am I avoiding?"
"Me…you're avoiding why you've been avoiding me."
Xiang rolled his eyes and snorted angrily through his nostrils. "Well, isn't the pot calling the kettle black."
"What?" Mei said in a small whisper.
"You avoided me first, Mei."
A wave of self-hatred washed over the Taiwanese girl. It was true: she had started the whole avoiding game with Xiang. And even worse, she did it because of how close they got and how being with him might have affected her performance at the audition. How selfish was that? Maybe it was best if Mei just told him up front. Maybe the situation would have turned out better for the both of them. But could she stand seeing the pain that her confession would have caused Xiang?
"I know…and I'm terribly sorry," Mei said after a while.
"I figured as much. But won't you tell me why?"
Mei inhaled sharply. The truth would come out sooner or later. And putting this mess off any longer would just destroy their relationship.
"...Because…of that kiss we almost shared." She looked up at Xiang with miserable eyes when she uttered the news.
Xiang's face remained the same; cold, emotionless eyes and tight lips.
"It's not like I didn't want it," Mei went onto explain. "It seemed wonderful. But it was such a distraction. I thought if I distanced myself from you, it wouldn't interfere with the audition."
Again, Xiang said nothing but a look of sadness registered on the boy's caramel eyes. "I…kind of figured that was the problem. You know I shouldn't forgive you for this…"
Mei nodded an obedient little puppy. "I understand if you don't."
"Well…" Xiang looked away for a moment in thought and turned back to Mei with a small smile. "I love you too much to hold a grudge."
"Oh, Xiang!" The girl leaned over to the other and embraced him in a loving hug. "I love you, too! Please…let's never have anything like this happen again."
Xiang smiled as he rubbed Mei's back. "It won't. All I want to do is be happy with you." He paused and his face turned a hue of red. "And…m-maybe give a relationship a try."
Mei pulled back from the hug with a smirk. "I'm down for that."
"Let's kiss on it."
The young couple closed their eyes and leaned in closer for a kiss. Mei wrapped her arms around Xiang and the Cantonese teen tightened his hold. As they got closer, the two of them remembered the familiar sensation of the other's lips so near theirs. It was an intimate joy.
Unfortunately, before the lover's lips met, a certain Korean barged into the room. "Hey, Xiang! Did you know your toilet doubles as a water fountain?"
With their bodies still close, Mei and Xiang pulled their faces away from each other before looking at Yong Soo and laughing hysterically at their friend's cluelessness.
Natalia tenderly patted the back of her dear older brother. Ivan had recently broken up with his boyfriend Yao but the poor man hadn't left his bed ever since the incident. Ivan's youngest sister knew something was wrong with her brother. Not because he was cooped up in his room all day crying, but because by now Ivan would have told Natalia to get lost by now.
"It is alright, brother," Natalia murmured. "Just have a drink. Everything will get better." The pale beauty held up a bottle of Smirnoff that Ivan took from her and began to drink.
"I wish it was that easy," the large man said in between swigs of alcohol. The bottle was done within a minute and Ivan looked at the thing angrily before throwing it against the wall in front of his bed. Glass shattered everywhere and neither of the Slavic siblings flinched.
Natalia sighed and shook her head. Her brother was a mess and all because of that little Chinese man. The girl had never liked Yao from the start; she just knew he'd cause trouble. And now look at her poor brother. She needed to get revenge on Yao for the pain she caused Ivan. But the Russian wouldn't appreciate that at all. Maybe instead of hurting Yao directly, she could cause damage another way.