"THIS IS AWKWARD," I murmured to Theo as we strolled down the corridor of a mall, trying our best not to touch each other or stare at each other. First date. It was meant to be a momentous occasion, but instead I'd told absolutely no one—not even my parents or my best friends—and pretended it was a gathering between friends to anyone who asked. Which was basically no one except my parents.

"Yeah," he snorted, "no kidding. Are you going to say anything useful?"

"You first."

He let out a sigh. "I should have seen that one coming, shouldn't I?"

"Most definitely, yes."

"Right." He cleared his throat. "How has your summer been?"

"Try again," I said, shaking my head. "That's an awful start. Let's try something more interesting and creative."

"Well. Where would you like to go for lunch?"

"Yeah, no. Just no. You're shit at this."

He let out a growl of frustration. "Well, I'm sorry. My strength is artefacts and magic, not fucking dates."

"Well, you better start learning now, then."

"Why don't you need to learn?"

"Because you're the one who got a crush on me first," I replied nonchalantly. "Thus, you should be the one making the effort right now. You do realise you're still in the testing period?"

He let his eyes flutter shut. I watched from the corner of my eyes, a small smile fluttering onto my face. Yes, he was rather easy to annoy, actually, once you knew what buttons to push. And after two years, I'd figured out which buttons to push.

Though, I had a feeling that my new status as his fucking girlfriend was aiding me on my mission to irritate him as much as possible.

Which didn't sound very girlfriend-like. But I also really didn't care.

"You're annoying."

"Yeah, well, too bad. You're stuck with me now."

He muttered something under his breath. I had a feeling that it wasn't a very pleasant word.

Not that it mattered to me, what exactly he'd said.

Our new status hadn't quite settled in yet. It almost felt like it was just another friendly gathering outside of school. We kept a clear distance away from each other, and there was a layer of awkward tension neither of us were interested in crossing in the time being.

Boundaries were important in every relationship, and most especially when you were only sixteen.

That, and I was pretty sure that both of us were just too awkward to do anything about it. I had a feeling it was more of the latter, and the former was just a subconscious thing. Because bloody hell, despite our jabs and snarky comments, this was awkward.

This was why I'd always been so hesitant to date. Because I knew this would be happening. What did you expect, when you put two sixteen year olds who had no experience and no idea at all what was meant to happen on a date together, alone?

Nothing but teenage angst and staring at each other before glancing away as if it never happened, that was it.

And clearly, not even Honoria Song and Theodore Yu could escape this fate.

"Okay," Theo huffed. "What are we actually meant to be doing here? We've been walking around like idiots for the past fifteen minutes. Should we find somewhere to sit? A cafe?"

"Lunch time is in an hour," I pointed out. "Seems like a waste. Just walk around, shop, you know."

"Dear mighty god."

"If you didn't want to come shopping, you shouldn't have chosen a mall."

"My mistake," he huffed. "Ought we have visited a museum instead?"

"The History Museum is closed on Tuesdays."

"Well," he murmured, "fuck."

"Precisely."

"This is very depressing."

"Agreed."

"Perhaps I should have planned this better."

"I think so too, yes."

"You could really try contributing, Honoria. You might actually enjoy it."

"I think not," I mused. "I'm enjoying this very much right now, watching you squirm."

His response was, of course, to turn and glare at me. Unsurprisingly.

He was, actually, rather similar to Audrey if you thought about it. Perhaps it said something that I was always attracted to people with their kind of personalities. Stubbornness, and an inability to ever back down.

They were my kind of people.

"You could try to be more helpful."

"Why should I?" I replied patiently. "Is it my responsibility, now?"

He sucked in a deep breath. "I don't know why I bother."

"You shouldn't."

"I'm starting to realise that. But please, do me a favour. Shut up." It probably wasn't the right thing to say, but for once in my life, I decided to obey him. His hand reached his temple as he rubbed, as if he had a headache. He probably did have one. Not that I blamed him. I could cause all kinds of headaches when I wanted to.

I could really be a pain in the ass sometimes. I was just usually considerate, that was all.

After a moment of the most awkward silence that could have ever dawned on mankind, he opened his eyes. "Right. Let's go shopping first, and then we can find a restaurant to have lunch in. Yeah?"

"I already decided that, but sure," I murmured, keeping my voice low. He heard it still, of course, and narrowed his eyes at me.

I offered the most innocent smile I could muster back in return.

And so we went on our shopping trip, which really was just my shopping trip, as I dragged him into shop after shop, found cute clothes one after another, glanced at the price tag, and then immediately pulled him out of said shop. He amusedly pointed out one of his family's artefacts shop in the corner of the mall, hidden away with wards from those who didn't have magic.

"Want to go in?" he asked me, raising a brow.

I frowned. "Would they recognise you?"

"The managers, probably. The regular shopkeepers, no. It doesn't really matter, though. If you want something, I can get you it with a discount or something."

I raised a brow. "Not for free?"

"We still need to make a profit, Hon," he laughed, pulling me in that direction. "Come on."

Yu's Artefacts were always elegantly decorated, and the moment you stepped in it, it felt as if you were travelling back to another century, another dynasty. The rosewood carvings, the calligraphy on the walls, the artefacts laid out on shelves and tables.

I walked in behind him, and immediately, a voice greeted us. "Siuye!" That was young master in Cantonese. And that would be referring to Theo, who nodded at the man with a smile on his face.

"Ah Tong, nice to see you here. Just bringing a friend around."

Behind him, I offered an awkward wave.

Ah Tong's eyes glimmered as he stood up straight. "Ah, of course! Of course! Your schoolmate?"

Theo nodded. "Honoria, this is Ah Tong. He's one of our head managers. Ah Tong, this is Honoria, or Manyuk. We study at the same school."

"Hello!" I said with a small smile.

He nodded fervently in reply. "Is there anything I can help you two with?"

"No, it's alright," Theo said, "we're just going to take a look around. Pay us no mind."

"Of course, of course, take your time. Tell me if you find anything you're interested in." Before he turned back to his table, Ah Tong stole another glance at me, as if trying to remember my face.

I would not be surprised if Theo's parents would know about this within the hour.

Dear god.

Okay, it wasn't actually that bad. We were sixteen, so it wasn't as if parents would really care all that much, or feel the need to intervene. Hopefully. I didn't know how traditional Theo's parents were.

If they were that traditional...

Well, I hoped Theo would have a good time explaining all of this to his parents.

Theo brought me to the side of the shop. "Let me see if I can find anything I made."

I narrowed my eyes. "You don't have that much stuff, right? Like, you're a student."

"I still make some in my spare time," he shrugged. "And I've been back for a few weeks now, I've made like five or six artefacts in that span."

"Fair enough."

But the chances were still low, of course, because there were dozens of Yu's Artefacts spread across the city. But still, Theo led me around the shop, introducing me to various arrays of artefacts, describing their uses and purposes and their history, if they hadn't been crafted by his craftsmen.

I could hear the passion in his voice. It came so naturally to him, all this information, as if he was born for this.

And in a way, I suppose he was, the same way Adelina had been born for duelling. I wondered if it was stressful, having everything seemingly planned out for you the moment you opened your eyes in this world. Or was it comforting? To know that everything was already ready, and you just had to take it?

Questions to ponder about when I was bored, or unable to fall asleep. But not right now.

A purple glimmer caught my eye. I turned towards the direction it was from, and saw a purple necklace hanging on a mannequin, on display.

"What's that?" I asked curiously. Jewellery artefacts weren't uncommon by any chance, but this necklace looked far fancier than the usual talismans or simple artefacts we usually spotted. It looked antique. Definitely not one of the pieces made by modern craftsmen.

Theo strolled over to the necklace, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, good spot. I didn't even know we had this. It's definitely Chinese handiwork, probably... Qing Dynasty, I'd say. So it's not that precious. But still precious."

"What does it do?"

"You know what?" Theo murmured, "I actually don't know. I've never seen this one before, must have come in recently. Ah Tong!"

The manager strolled over. "Yes?"

"Where's this necklace from?"

Ah Tong tilted his head. "Oh, that one. Qing Dynasty, came in last week. Beautiful piece, eh?"

"What does it do?" I asked curiously.

"A young woman sold it to us. Told us this was her great-grandmother's. The woman had been a gege in the Qing Dynasty, and I'm tempted to believe it from how intricate that necklace is. Her mother had been a magician or something, and made it for the gege."

"So, its properties...?" Theo asked, tilting his head.

"Nothing special. It's meant to soothe, calm and comfort. It's more of a talisman than an artefact if you ask me, but it's one of those pieces that lay right in that grey area in between. Which is why it's not that expensive even though it's antique."

Upon closer inspection of the necklace, and especially the purple gem in between, I finally understood why it had so easily caught my attention.

I raised my fingers, and a flicker of purple flame appeared. I compared it to the gem, and said, amused, "It's the same shade."

"What a coincidence," Theo laughed. "I'm sure that means something, Ah Tong."

"Yes, I'm sure it does indeed."

—

I WENT TO Shanghai in mid-August, and Yunji came out to hang out with me one day. She was clearly more familiar with the area than I was, so I obediently followed her around as she dragged me into the shops and pointed out things she thought were interesting or worth buying.

Me, I didn't really care that much. Most of what could be brought in Shanghai, I could get in Hong Kong or England, and probably at a cheaper price. But of course I didn't say any of that, because that would just be unnecessarily rude.

It was still fairly enjoyable, hanging out with Yunji. No matter what, we both came from similar backgrounds, and we'd been friends for long enough that we could always find something to talk about, even if we weren't as close as before.

The occasional random and awkward silences were glossed over and ignored. We'd both become experts at it as the years passed.

Our shopping trip passed quickly, because I didn't have that much I was interested in, and Yunji felt the awkwardness settle in as she realised that she was the only one furiously purchasing. After bubble tea, we both went our separate ways. I went back to my family's Shanghai apartment, where my parents were waiting for me to go back so that we could head out for dinner together.

I still hadn't told them about Theo, though it was going well. Better than I was expecting. It just seemed more practical to keep it silent until a while later. Sure, they'd be furious at me, but if it had gone on long enough without them noticing, and without my grades being affected at all, I doubted they'd care all that much.

I hoped.

Sometimes, parents were ridiculously difficult to understand. Absolutely impossible to read or grasp. The best way around it was to not attempt to do so at all.

We went to this old restaurant that apparently served the best steamed chicken in the country or something along those lines. There were hundreds of those in Shanghai, I assumed, but the chicken actually was quite good, so I didn't complain. I didn't know if it was the best I'd ever tasted, though.

My mum's was better.

Or maybe I was just biassed.

I was probably just biassed. But my mum's steamed chicken really was that good.

She looked pleased when I said that. My dad, not so much.

Our trip to Shanghai ended rather quickly. I visited my mum's side of the family, and then in a bit more than a week we were back in Hong Kong again. I went out with Theo once more over the summer, half because I didn't want to raise my parents' suspicion and also because I simply couldn't be assed to go out that much. At the end of the day, I was quite a lazy person. Socialisation or going out was not something I particularly enjoyed, unless absolutely necessary. And there was usually another option, such as staying at home.

And not even Theo could drag me out of my house if I didn't want to go. That was just how I worked. Once I made up my mind, it was very difficult to change it, and especially when it came to matters involving anywhere other than my own room. My parents had accepted that long ago, now it was Theo's turn.

I went out with a few old schoolmates a few more times. And they were also the only people I told about my new romantic life. Mina was the first I told, and she was happy to report that she and her boyfriend were still going strong, to my eternal surprise. I hadn't been expecting that.

But now that I myself had a boyfriend, well, there wasn't much I could really say without sounding insanely hypocritical. So instead we showed each other pictures of our boyfriends, talked about what they were like, and then continued our barrage of gossip about each other's respective schools.

I was happy to say that the gossip from Bridewater far outnumbered my old school, even though it had been JCM year so the drama had started to die down. Clearly, it was still high under most standards.

Bridewater College was a most impressive place indeed, and I still had two years there until graduation.

What a joy.

God, this school never failed to let me down in terms of entertainment.

It just never stopped.

Clark and Queenie seemed to be over for real this year. And not just because Clark was changing schools. Apparently, he'd also already found another girlfriend, who most people were speculating was simply a rebound. But it was still a sign that Clark was moving on from Queenie, and Bridewater as a whole.

I couldn't really say that I'd miss him. Except for our initial meeting, and the few times we'd been present when Adelina and James had been arguing, we had little to no contact. We had never been people on the same path. And I wasn't really sorry for that.

Choi Kwanfong, according to Theo, had also found a girlfriend in Hong Kong. And the girl was apparently his qing mei zhu ma, his childhood friend. Which was rather romantic and really sweet. From what Theo revealed, the girl was also coming to Bridewater next year, and I was rather excited to meet her. Kwanfong wasn't a bad person. He was rather good-looking, and could be described as charming by some people, though that wasn't precisely me. I had rather high expectations from this girl.

Perhaps she'd come to Lok House rather than Sorren or the new sixth form house. That way, it would just be hilarious.

But that wasn't really my problem. Wherever, this girl went, I'm sure I'd befriend her one way or the other. In sixth form, everyone seemed to grow a little bit closer. Perhaps it was because we finally learnt to put down some of our old, immature grudges.

Yes, it was about time.

And it made me wonder what I was going to do with Seb. Not that I had to do something about him, we could very well continue on going like this, ignoring each other's presence with every bone in our body. But at the same time, if Theo and I actually worked out...

It seemed right to at least get on talking terms with Sebastian again.

Just a thought. I'd bring it up to Theo sometime or another. He probably had some ideas about how to handle that situation as well. Sebastian was his friend, after all. He was probably more desperate to get this situation cleared up than I was.

Either way, by mid-August we'd started packing the things I'd need to bring to England again, and I couldn't help but feel nonplussed about how quickly time had passed. But at least I was going back to some more fun this year, rather than the pain and agony I'd suffered through while living in the world of JCMs. ACMs would be better, and I could finally stop studying subjects I didn't have any particular interest in.

From now on, I only needed to study subjects I actually liked. I was still taking Combat Magic, along with Law and History, and Human and Magic Relations. And Maths, because of course I was. Though I had a feeling I was very likely going to drop Maths somewhere along the way.

It wasn't something I enjoyed. I'd chosen it for practical reasons, and it wasn't a necessity either. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't hesitate to stop learning it. I had no interest in forcing myself to do something I didn't like.

Theo's subject choices were quite contrasting to mine. He was still taking Combat Magic, and very expectedly Artefacts as well. Ancient Languages was another option he'd chosen, which did fit with his career path. The only other subject except Combat we had in common was History. Which was nice enough.

Both of us were clearly on a pre-planned path. He was almost definitely going to follow in his parents' footsteps and take over Yu's Artefacts. Me, on the other hand, I was most likely going into something regarding politics, or something along those lines. I wasn't completely sure about the specifics yet, but the general area had already been decided upon.

I actually didn't have a lot of friends sharing my subjects. None of them were particularly interested in the subjects I took, except perhaps for Maths. Adelina was taking Combat as well, but Audrey hadn't bothered. Her stint at the Duelling Opens hadn't gone very well and she hadn't been as interested in the sport ever since, to Coach's dismay. She did have potential, and she was still performing well during training, she just seemed unwilling to push herself to her limits the way she used to when she first joined.

Which wasn't precisely a bad thing, and it probably had something to do with the fact that JCMs had occurred almost exactly after the Duelling Opens, and so I still held out hope for Audrey's renewed efforts in the next year.

Yunji was, to my surprise, taking Law of Magic with me. She was also taking Ancient Languages with Theo, which he was fairly shocked by as well, as he said that she never seemed to enjoy the lessons. Music was fairly expected, but Geography certainly hadn't been.

Adelina, meanwhile, had opted to only pick three in the first place. Combat, Magical Beasts and Herbology. The three subjects she was actually good at. While for anyone else it would have not been suggested, almost everyone had recognised that it was probably the best choice for Adelina Roche.

I shared no class with Sebastian. At least that was what Theo said, and I was inclined to trust him. Sebastian and my interests had never quite aligned anyways. And the fewer times we had to interact, the better. I was rather pleased with this arrangement.

Louisa and Gwen both did Maths as well, and we shared no other subjects in common. They were both going for the Science route, of which I had absolutely no interest. Their goals were to become doctors. My goal was to do anything but become a doctor.

I was going on a very decidedly non-stereotypical Asian path. I wasn't even studying to become a lawyer.

Jokes aside, though, it was all very exciting.

And time was passing by far quicker than I'd ever imagine it would.