The enticing smell of one of Shage s famous concoctions wafted from the kitchen into the living room where Mei Zuo, Xi Men, and Qing He lounged, munching on chips and cans of beer. The voices of Shage and Shancai s parents rose above the slightly softer ones of Xiao Qiao and Mimi, much to Xi Men's amusement.

"They never quit, do they?" he asked, shaking his head, referring to Shancai's parents.

"No doubt Uncle is trying to sample the food again and Auntie is not too agreeable with it," Mei Zuo said.

Meanwhile, Qing He was not listening. He breathed in. "Ohhh that smells soo good! What's taking so long? I'm starving!"

"You eat too much!" Xi Men exclaimed, downing a gulp of beer.

Qing He rolled his eyes at the older guy. "Listen to yourself. You drink too much, and that is worse! What if your stomach acts up again?"

Before Xi Men could reply, Mei Zuo defended him. "In all fairness, Qing He, Xi Men slowed down considerably in his drinking."

"But he still drinks. What's the difference?" He jumped up out of Xi Men's reach and ran towards the kitchen.

Xi Men could only gaze after him, aghast. Mei Zuo was trying hard to contain his laughter.

"Why, that ---"

"Let him go, Xi Men," Mei Zuo tried to calm his friend. "The kid means well, you know that."

"He's no kid," Xi Men scoffed. "At the rate he's going, he'll be a giant in a few more years!"

Mei Zuo could only shake his head. He changed the topic. "At last, those two decided to settle down. Something they should have done a long time ago, if not for the accident."

All thoughts of Qing He forgotten, Xi Men suddenly became thoughtful. "Yes, I am happy for them...and a little worried."

"Worried?" Mei Zuo turned a questioning look at Xi Men.

"A Si is still A Si," Xi Men went on to explain. "Although he turned his back on his family and the Dao Ming fortune, he is still the only son of Dao Ming Cheng and Dao Ming Feng. For sure, the Queen would not take this lying down when she hears of the wedding."

"But by then it will be too late," Mei Zuo said. "They'll be married, there's nothing she can do."

"Since when did Auntie let anything stand in her way?" Xi Men asked. "She was willing to kidnap her own son, we know the extent she is willing to go to."

Mei Zuo mulled over this, then nodded. "I guess you're right." He sighed. "I wish Lei was here. He always knows the right things to say and think about. Which reminds me, does he know about the wedding yet?"

Xi Men shook his head. "I don't think so. A Si told me they ve been trying to contact Lei in Japan but he seemed to be always on the run. Even his cell phone is off, he does not bring it with him anymore."

"He must be too busy to even have the time to give us a call." Mei Zuo shook his head. "The F4 is really growing apart."

"But we're still brothers," Xi Men reminded him as he reached for his cell phone. He dialed a number and waited. After a few rings, he hung up and shook his head at Mei Zuo. "It's turned off."

"Why didn't you leave a message?" he asked.

"He's too busy to even turn it on, you think he'll even bother to listen to his messages?" Xi Men smiled. "You know Lei."

Mei Zuo agreed. "Yeah." He downed another gulp of beer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lei stood by the doorway of the studio, watching the Artiste Dancers perform quite a difficult routine over and over. Honestly he s getting tired just by watching them, but Aisha and the rest seemed still full of energy as they did the routine over and over.

Today they are filming their very first dance video, the one to accompany their major plugs on the television networks. They have to be perfect.

Lei straightened when he heard the choreographer call a break. The dancers all rushed towards the other corner of the wide studio for a much needed short rest. Aisha went straight to one of the benches and drank water from her canteen. She looked up, startles, when Lei stopped in front of her.

Her face brightened and she smiled widely up at him. "Lei!" she exclaimed. "Have you been here long?"

"For the past ten minutes, I watched you being tossed high up into the air. You land on both feet and do that grinding movement," he said with a trace of amusement in his voice.

Aisha could not help but laugh. "You should join us," she joked. "Only after ten minutes you seem to know the routine by heart."

Lei sat down on the bench when she moved slightly to the side to make room for him. "If I dance, it will be a disaster. My friend - a very good dancer - used to joke around that I am too thin. If I dance, he's afraid I might break."

He spoke with such seriousness that Aisha found herself utterly amused. "Well, tell your friend, no matter what a good dancer he is, that he should not sell you short."

He still looked serious when he said, "He's not selling me short. Even I am afraid I would crumble into pieces if I dance."

This time her laughter did ring out and Lei felt himself smiling as well. "I could teach you," she offered.

Lei only kept smiling. He looked up as he saw the choreographer get to his feet, about to call the group again. Quickly he turned to Aisha.

"Aisha, when the video shoot is over, would you like to go out with me? A simple dinner, maybe."

She seemed surprised. "Huh?" she asked, staring at him with those wide eyes.

"Just dinner. Nothing formal," he said, smiling. "I'll meet you at the lobby?"

"OK," she heard herself say, and could only gape at him as he walked away.

Lei. Hua Ze Lei just asked her to dinner. Was that supposed to mean anything? Aisha shook her head and stood up as the group began to congregate in the middle of the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The place was very nice. It was not too formal that Aisha blended in with the crowd, dressed in a simple halter top and a pair of black pants. In fact, she looked comfortable enough as she looked around the cozy diner where he had brought her.

Hua Ze Lei watched her as she looked around the diner, noting the cozy interior and the soft pop music playing on the background, her head bobbing in time to the beat of The Calling's Wherever You Will Go.

This was the first time he brought a girl out since...oh, well, since that day he brought Shancai kite flying. That was a disaster; not for him though, but for sure Shancai did not enjoy herself very much.

Aisha turned to look at him and she looked so happy that he could not help but return her smile.

"This is a very nice!" she exclaimed. "I've been living in Japan all my life but I did not know this place existed!"

"Well, now you know. It's funny how you never notice something that has always been there," he said.

Aisha seemed puzzled by his remark, but he simply shrugged and said, "Forget it." He reached for the menu. "You want to order now?"

Aisha is a hearty eater, and many times Lei could not help but compare her to Shancai. Aisha ate everything on her plate; Shancai would just pick on her food, a source of petty arguments between her and A Si.

His smile upon remembrance of one of A Si and Shancai's spats over Shancai's eating habit was not lost on Aisha. She suddenly became nervous.

"Lei? Are you smiling because I eat too much?"

Lei looked up, surprised that she should think it. "Of course not. Whatever gave you that notion?"

She thought for a moment, as though choosing her words carefully. "I do not mean to offend you, but I have been told that nobody seems to know what you are thinking about. Not even your assistants. And now I can see that it is true." She regarded him intently. "You puzzle me, Lei."

It was Lei's turn to laugh. "They said that?" He laughed again as her eyes widened, her discomfiture increasing. Suddenly his cellphone rang and he took it out of his jacket pocket.

A smile surfaced on Aisha's face. "Wow. He has a phone. I thought for sure you did not care about those things," she muttered teasingly.

Lei said nothing and looked at the name that appeared on his cell phone. Xi Men.

"Hello, Xi Men," he said.

"Finally!" Xi Men seemed to exhale at the other end of the line. "Where have you been? Your phone has been turned off for the past few days!"

"I've been busy," he replied, smiling once again as Aisha turned back to her food. She's really cute. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"I'm with Mei Zuo right now," Xi Men went on. "We're at Xiao Qiao's for dinner. We were at the Dong's place last night and we tried to call you."

At the mention of Shancai s parents, Lei became concerned. "What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing bad," he hastened to reassure Lei. "I guess you still don't know, then."

"Know what?" His anxiety is increasing.

He could hear Mei Zuo chuckling in the background. Xi Men said, "Prepare your passport, Lei. We're going to Spain in two weeks. It's A Si and Shancai's wedding!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He hung up and laid his cell phone on the table.

Wedding.

He looked up to find Aisha staring at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worry readable on her face. "Who was that you were talking to?"

Lei paused, then said, "I just received good news. My friend, Xi Men, called to tell me my friends A Si and Shancai are getting married. In two weeks."

Aisha still looked puzzled. "Then why did you look so sad just then?"

He shook his head, a small smile showing. "I'm not sad. I'm happy for them." He lifted his wineglass. "Let's toast to them."

Aisha could only look at him. She sensed something amiss, but thought better of saying anything. It is none of her business anyway.

She forced a smile and lifted her glass as well. "Cheers!"