❦ ♪

CHAPTER FIVE : hate

"hate is a strong word for someone you met a week ago.."

❦ ♪

— mei pov.

junjun<3

how the hell does ricky know about
you and hanbin's family knowing
each other

What

he just texted me saying "i saw mei
at the supermarket near my house
and they were talking about hanbin"

WHAT
THEY WERE THERE????
Bro no i was complaining about fucking
jam biscuits that's so embarrassing

u are embarrassing but like.. i think
they know about it now

should i text hanbin

girl if u want to

ok i will talk to him and try tell him to
gaslight them into thinking it was Not
me and it was someone else

but ricky already saw u tho

FUCK ME MATE IDC
NO. i can't do this.

u knew they were sleeping over at ricky's
house though... and that supermarket is
the only one that's open near your area

how the hell would i know that they
were going out to the same place at
the same time you dingus

bc u live near ricky idiot

i do?

mei my friend.. you live a house away
from each other wdym i do..

Excuse me why didn't i know i've never
seen that hot male in my life until uni..

he's 4 years younger than you watch
your mouth

Oh sorry💔💔i forgot
he's so young wtf but i didn't know he
lived on my street

actually he did move in this week
though so like nvm

ugh and he's hao's bestie init... kmttt
he better not be coming over bc i will kill
myself if i see them together one day!

idk if u mean that u will kill yourself
bc hao and ricky are good looking or
u will kys bc u hate hao

both duh
they're Fine but ricky always looks at me
as if i called him a pedophile or something

why was that the first thing you thought
of mei wtf😭ur so weird

idk one kid in the hallways told me he
thought youngjae looked like a pedo and
when he called him it, youngjae looked
scared as hell and almost cried

Oh.. okay!

it was weird but the way youngjae looks
when he's scared is how ricky looks at me ok

.. right

my storytimes are so good i should
start telling you everything again

no tmi please.. ur last one from like
2 months ago was traumatising

which one i went through a lot of
trauma 2 months ago(break up era)

the story of youngjae kissing u

Can we change his name
make it bad kisser or something help

ok yes.. but the story of u and bad
kisser made me cry ur so tmi

sorry❤️but he did bite my tongue
i should've broken up with him after
that LMAO

well no instead u got heartbroken
and cried over him

i did not cry over him....! i was just sad
he lost a girl like me!!!

right okay...
don't u think it's weird he keeps having
his friends chat shit abt u all the time

i'm so close to filing a restraining
order or something i can't Look at him
he's so ugly omfg

yet u get all ragey when someone
mentions him😧😧😧

i hate u for that i was gonna throw hands
on the guy that i pushed to the floor

well don't!
you're here to improve bitch

ugh i hate that pls don't. i'm sorry i have
anger issues and have multiple Men talk
about me all the time

it's okay mei u will improve when u
and hao stop arguing

umm.... when will that happen it
might take ages

maybe at the end of the year idk

my parents keep calling him my musical
boyfriend like they're insane

MUSICAL BOYFRIEND so real

how do i tell them i'm not falling in love
with a hot tall smart musical guy this year

u probably will by the way u had
just described him

i'd rather fall in love with bad kisser again

ur lying

i know sorry
change the subject before i Cry😊

anyways, your next exam is in 2
weeks already.. better be studying

more like studying zhanghao's face😍

why are you so bipolar.. weren't you
just saying you would kys if you saw
him near your area with ricky

bc when we argued on the table yesterday
he was a bitch and i hate him but when he's
not Speaking he's literally my man LIKE

god what the hell happened to you

CMON HIS INSTA FEED IS SO HOT
i'd do anything for him if he wasn't such
A HOE and A BITCH and BIG HEADED

pls get moved back to ur old uni if
ur going to be like this for a year..

u love having me around wdym!

everyone probably thinks i'm weird
bc i hang out with a Woman

ok but like.. does ur crush think i'm ur
gf or something bc i looked at him on
accident yesterday too and like his eyes
screamed 'ew'

WHAT
no he can't do this to me NO

SHIT HANBIN REPLIED
will be back bestie xx

❦ ♪

hanbin

hanbin

hi!!

have ur friends come back yet

yes why
oh is it about when they saw u

yes.

they asked me if our families were
close and i said no

oh thank god

they're trying to ask more questions
but keep getting distracted so it's fine

okay just incase they ask again tell
them it wasn't about you or it wasn't
me or something idk gaslight them

okay😭i got u
seen

you're not going to thank me?

mmm if you sneak out with me on our
parent's dinner i'll buy you something

oh bet

thanks bff

what did u just call me?
seen

❦ ♪

potential tiktok thirstrappers
5 members

xiaoting:
mei ur in a bit of trouble

xiaoting:
you know that hao knows you and
hanbin's families are friends

i know this already i want to kill myself
bc what if hanbin tells people i'm nice or something No one would fucking believe
that sorry but i texted him so

yuqi:
isn't that a good thing...

shuhua:
it is a good thing but mei won't just
be nice to other students so easily

how to skip tomorrow's lecture with
a bad kisser PLEASE

shuhua:
BAD KISSER LFMWODID

ningning:
who the fuck is bad kisser..

xiaoting:
guessing it's youngjae

yuqi:
youngjae probably

shuhua:
SHHHH DON'T SAY HIS NAME

youngjae (derogatory)

xiaoting:
MEI DON'T SKIP ANOTHER LECTURE
PLEASEEEEEEEEEE

i got an email from all my professors asking
me if i'm okay mentally like how do i tell
them everyone hates me bc i'm a Woman

yuqi:
maybe it's bc ur rude to them idk

shuhua:
maybe bc u dated youngjae

literally 1/8 of the school knows
that i dated him

shuhua:
ya girl that's gonna be spread around

it's ok he has 2 friends and the other guys
in the school think i'm attractive so❤️

yuqi:
they're probably jealous of hao

xiaoting:
for sureee

not when i argued with everyone last week
please💀 i can't tell if they like me or not

ningning:
ur still hot it's ok babe

thank babycakes
anyways i'm going to help my parents set
up things for dinner with hanbin

ningning:
u have maids..

but i feel bad so i'm going to help them

xiaoting:
ur so cute oh my god

xiaoting:
the most bipolar woman out there
i love u so much

i'm about to kiss u rn

xiaoting:
sorry ur lips touched youngjae's
lips before so sorry it's a no

WE DIDN'T KISS A LOT I BRUSH MY
TEETH EVERYDAY TOO!!!!! PLS!!!

yuqi:
????? BYE

ningning:
THAT'S SO REAL XIAOTING

ningning:
and bffr u were always like "youngjae
kissed me today"

Ok

xiaoting:
she wishes it was her little rival

STFFUUUUU FUCK YOU😭

yuqi:
go back to helping your family and
maids

yuqi:
don't wanna upset hanbin! or hao!

bro i don't know how hanbin actually exists
he's too nice and cute it pisses me off

shuhua:
he's legit ur polar opposite

yuqi:
but so is hao ;)

ningning:
WINK WINK

shuhua:
WINK WINK

xiaoting:
WINK WINK

yuqi:
WINK WINK

don't feed into my delusions pls
i hate it when men (zhanghao) open
their mouth unless it's renjun

xiaoting:
renjun is the only male u speak to

xiaoting:
and don't lie you probably die of
happiness when zhanghao speaks
to you..

i die of how fucking annoying he is
i can't talk to him

shuhua:
suck it up ur gonna be with him for
a year soooooo

i'll just hang out with Renjun

xiaoting:
yk we went to high school with his
friendgroup

the ones with his crush and the other guys
who are close with chenle

yuqi:
yes them

yuqi:
u should hang out with them one day
bc they were the first to know about u
being kicked out

omg ok
i'll try be nice since it's renjun's friends

shuhua:
good

shuhua:
now go downstairs..

MY BAD

❦ ♪

hao
@zhangha00

sorry for lashing out on you that
other day in lunch i was pissed off
seen

❦ ♪

— 3rd person.

mei had felt bad about what she did to hanbin and hao that day. even though she would normally never apologise, even though she hates being nice to someone, even though hao basically started the argument and even though she knew it wasn't that big of a deal.

she sighs as hao had left her on seen and she puts her phone away. she rests her head on her palm and closes her eyes. she was definitely not feeling guilty - that's what she was convincing herself to think anyway.

she tried to keep the "idgaf" mindset but once she heard a lot of happy greetings as her front door opened, she got up and started walking towards the sound. forgetting what she was just worrying about.

"oh mei! you came downstairs!" her father smiles, making the sung family all turn to her with a even bigger smile.

"hi." she greets in a sweet voice, hugging both of hanbin's parents. "do you mind if we go out? we'll eat in a bit i just need to get something." she lies.

hanbin looks at her confusedly until she squeezes his arm. "0h! yeah we're going to buy something. please eat without us it's okay." he smiles.

mei grins at her parents. "of course! it's dark so be careful." her mother warns. "be back in less than an hour okay?"

mei nods and takes hanbin's hand as she pulls him out of the house into the nighttime breeze. yet, mei was stupid enough to not wear a coat and the air had hit her skin straight away, making her shiver a little.

she completely forgot she was in her pyjamas and didn't put her hoodie on earlier. but, it was only a three minute walk, so she wouldn't have minded anyway.

"aren't you going to wear a coat?" hanbin asks in concern, releasing their hands and reaching for his own coat as an attempt to take it off.

mei shakes her head. "no, i'm not cold. and don't even think of giving me yours. you and your nice ass."

it was as if she read hanbin's mind. this was the only second time they met outside of school, but mei had noticed hanbin's caring and sweet nature a lot during her few days in uni, so she made sure to at least try be nice back.

"okay, fine. i don't know how you knew i was going to ask but let's go get something then." hanbin chuckles.

"so i actually wanted to apologise for what happened at lunch on thursday.." she says awkwardly, not daring to look at the boy as she crosses her arms to protect her from the cold. "i'm sorry for that."

hanbin chuckles. "no worries! it was my fault for saying something like that when you were mad."

why the fuck is he so nice. she sighs to herself. "no, really. i was a bitch to you and hao."

hanbin shakes his head. "it's fine mei, trust me."

"no it isn't. it's just i was really angry, i didn't like what they were saying to me." she sighs. "i know everyone thought i was a bitch after that."

"i mean, they did think that, but i don't think it's a big deal anyway. you had your right to be mad." he says, looking down at her.

"...okay." she decided to not bring it up. "i'm sorry though."

"mei it's fine! i know how nice you can be anyway." he chuckles.

"ew shut up." the girl gags. "i've been nice to you once."

"okay so? your parents talk about you to my parents a lot so i know how nice you are." he says, making her turn to him in confusion.

"what the hell have they been saying about me?" she asks in panic. she does not want new people to know about her different personality, especially the details of it.

"nothing bad, just saying how you're really nice but when you're outside you suddenly hate everyone." hanbin laughs, watching the girl's expression change.

"everyone says that about me. i think i'm quite nice but i don't tell people that since i always get the image of a bratty bitch." she shrugs.

"my parents love you." he laughs. "they always ask me about you but you barely talk to me in school."

"sorry. hao is there." she jokes, except she wasn't really joking. "he left me on seen after i apologised actually."

"oh really?" hanbin asks. "he actually left your apology on seen? wow.."

she nods. "it's fine, if he wants to be petty then whatever. "

hanbin chuckles again. "it's surprising to see you like this again. all i've seen this week is scary mei who hates boys." he thinks about how different the girl was in school and out of school, he finds it interesting.

"not my fault youngjae has to get a grip." she laughs. mei had planned on trying to talk to youngjae again, but not an argument in class since she doesn't to miss mode lectures

"sorry for mentioning him that one time by the way.." hanbin looks down at her, her eyes still
fixed to the sight in front of her, which was the floor.

she hated the topic of youngjae. and she doesn't know why, but after what his minions were saying that one lunch time, it became sensitive to her.

"no worries. anyways, you want to know what my parents were saying about you?" she changes the subject to avoid herself crying.

hanbin quickly understands why she changed the subject and nods. "sure, what were they saying?"

the two kept talking about their parent's conversations about each other and they finally reach the supermarket (where she got caught the other day).

"so what do you want me to get you?" she asks, finally looking up at hanbin.

hanbin shrugs. "nothing."

she rolls her eyes and takes a trolley. "okay, well if you want anything i'll buy it." she says. "no refusing."

"wow, you're rich aren't you?" he laughs, following her push the trolley to a food aisle.

"no. that makes me sound like a brat." she laughs.

"it doesn't. it's true anyways isn't it? aren't you known because of your parents?" hanbin asks, watching her take some random snacks from the shelves.

she turns to him after putting some cookies into the trolley. "hanbin the way you said that makes me sound like a nepotism baby." she scoffs.

"that's not what i meant!" he defends himself. "i meant your parents are obviously big status so you would be too, right?"

she chuckles. "don't worry i know you're joking, and eh i'm not that bit status since i kind of asked to."

hanbin frowns. "you asked to not be big status?"

"not exactly. after a whole thing with me getting angry at everyone when i was younger, i didn't want to ruin my parent's status so i just asked. but from my name, people still know who i am." she explains.

"yeah the name hwang mirae is familiar to a lot of people, so i'm not surprised."

she sighs. "that's why i prefer mei, actually." she admits. "the name hwang mirae has a bad status with me."

hanbin looks down at the girl and smiles. "mei suits you, it's pretty."

she snorts. "yeah, whatever." she turns to her right to go to the other side of the aisle but ends up bumping into hanbin's chest. way to go.

"ow. fuck, sorry." she says in embarrassment. "i'm so stupid i forgot you were right next to me."

"keep it up, top student." he laughs, moving out of the way for the girl to quickly grab something. when she comes back, she notices him still smiling at her.

"are you always happy or something?" she asks, moving swiftly past him back to her trolley.

"no, what makes you think that?" he smiles. he's so stupid.

"you're stupid. it's cause you're always smiling." she chuckles, pushing the trolley again. "i'm already done, are you sure you don't want anything?" she asks.

hanbin shakes his head. "no, it's okay. i was only joking anyway."

mei rolls her eyes and rushes to the self checkout. "we should go somewhere else after this, i feel like just getting two snacks right now is boring."

hanbin frowns. "like where?"

"there's a jewellery shop down the road, we can go there. oh, and a park nearby too, we can hangout there too until it gets properly dark." she suggests, scanning the items.

hanbin stares at her through the camera displayed onto the checkout screen and lets out a small laugh. okay, whatever you want."

she smiles to herself and once she finishes scanning the items, she looks for her purse to pay. until hanbin softly pushes her to the side with his hand with a card out.

"what the fuck are you doing?" she asks, watching him already tap his card and pay. "hanbin! what the hell?"

the taller boy laughs, "it's just snacks, no worries."

mei squints at him. "i could literally pay for it myself." she sighs, turning back to the bag.

he shrugs. "it's not expensive, no biggie."

she doesn't respond and she begins to walk out with hanbin trailing behind her. she thought maybe hanbin was a little too nice for his own good. he was like an angel compared to her.

"okay let's buy some jewellery." she says, the plastic bag full of snacks in her hand. "then we can sit in the park for a bit then go back."

"are you sure? i'll feel bad if i don't eat with your parents." he asks.

she smiles. "of course, your parents are staying anyway, it's only 8pm." mei takes his arm suddenly and drags him into the shop, which was literally two steps away.

"mei! welcome back!" the worker smiles at the young girl. "you brought a friend with you this time?" she asks, looking next to mei where hanbin was stood.

he bows. "hi ma'am."

the woman chuckles. "hello." she turns back to mei, "what do you need?"

"hanbin go look around for something you like." she says, turning to the boy.

his eyes widen. "i can't afford any of this.."

"oh please get whatever! everything here is made by me and since you're mei's friend, i can make it cheaper for you." she smiles.

mei grins at the woman. "oh you're too kind." she laughs.

"of course, now go look around!" she says to the two. mei nods and walks towards a few necklaces in glass boxes and hanbin stays still.

"you aren't going to at least look?" she asks the boy.

"i can't pay for this.. jewellery is expensive." he sighs, moving next to mei's figure.

mei laughs. "who said you were paying?"

"what? mei you can't just–"

"hanbin come on! just find something you like and i'll buy it for you. trust me." she reassures.

"you literally just met me." he chuckles. "you want to buy someone you know nothing about jewellery?"

mei shrugs. "your family is friends with my family, so of course i'm going to be nice and generous to you. but don't expect it all in school."

hanbin nods as his eyes fall onto a silver necklace. "can i try this one, ma'am?" he asks.

she nods, getting up and walking towards the two with her key. she opens the glass and turns to hanbin, "which one would you like to try on?"

he points at a long silver necklace with a small key on the end. "this one, please." he smiles.

mei snorts. "i have that one. renjun has the lock one." she points at her own necklace. "it's a matching one."

hanbin hadn't noticed but he chuckles. "i might get a lock one for hao then."

"sorry but he can pay for his own, i'm not buying that kid anything." mei scoffs.

the woman was putting the necklace on hanbin. "who?" she asks in curiosity. "don't tell me you have another hatred for a stranger-"

"mrs lee!" mei shouts as she clears her throat. "don't make me sound like a bitch." she whispers. hanbin heard and chuckles to himself as he admirers the necklace on his neck.

"oh, sorry! but who is he?" the woman, now known as mrs lee asks.

"hao. the top student in my new university. i hate him." mei says, looking into the mirror behind hanbin.

"hate is a strong word for someone you met a week ago.." mrs lee chuckles. "but i guess that's just how you are." she pats the girl's head.

hanbin stands in front of the mirror, admiring himself and the necklace. he loved it, he couldn't believe mei was actually offering to buy it.

in the back of the reflection, he spots mei smiling with mrs lee looking at something. he didn't know what, but he liked the sight of it.

seeing mei's nicer side was refreshing to him. after the arguments she got into in her first week, and the headaches he got from her arguing with hao, seeing her like this felt like drinking a good cold bottle of water on a summer day.

he didn't want to say it, but he loved the feeling of mei being nice to him. to everyone else, she's mean. but to him, she's currently buying him a necklace for an 'apology'. he felt lucky as hell.

as mei walks away with something in her hands, the worker comes towards hanbin slowly.  "okay, so do you want this one?" she asks him.

hanbin was too distracted by admiring the necklace and thinking about mei that he hadn't heard the woman call him. "mr hanbin?" she repeats.

being cut from his admiration time, he turns to her. "oh, sorry. i like it, a lot." he grins. "but it seems really expensive."

"do you want this one?" she asks him.

hanbin nods. "i mean yeah. but how much–"

"can i buy this one mrs lee? she asks, looking at hanbin's neck. she had noticed how when he was trying the necklace on, it exposed his tattoos.

she silently admired them before turning back to mrs lee as she spoke. "of course, come here. you can wear it now hanbin." mrs lee smiles.

hanbin thanks the woman and stands behind mei, watching her effortlessly put her card into the machine and putting in her digits. once the screen says ACCEPTED she turns to hanbin. "it's all yours." she chuckles.

hanbin was shocked that mei wasn't lying. "wait, actually? you just paid for it like that?" he looks down at his necklace. "thank you so much!!"

she shrugs. "it's fine. oh and also, while looking around this reminded me of you so i also bought this." she giggles, showing the boy a hamster plushie keyring.

so this is what she was looking at? cute. hanbin thought to himself as he looks down at the cute keyring.

hanbin laughs out loud, "are you fucking serious?" he takes it into his hands. "oh my god i love it."

"really?" mei laughs back, looking up at his smile. "i thought you'd think i was weird."

"no, no. this is perfect. i'm putting this on my car keys." he chuckles, taking his car keys out of his pocket. "i'll put it on later, it's so cute."

"deadass?" she asks in shock. "your car keys?"

he laughs. "yes it's so cute. thank you oh my god."

"no problem!!" mei smiles. she felt happy at least someone would appreciate her gifts. unlike someone.

as the two kept talking and laughing, mrs lee watched in awe. she's never seen mei smile so much ever since she last brought youngjae here.

"thank you mrs lee, we'll be going now!!" mei smiles, waving, the woman waving back.

"byee!" hanbin copies her, waving as they both walk out. "so where are we going? the park?" he asks.

"well i want to–" as if it was like a movie with the worst timing, rain starts to pour onto the two. "fuck sake." mei sighs. "okay, maybe another time. i'm not getting sick before my lecture tomorrow."

hanbin chuckles and nods. "are you sure you don't want my coat? i have a on hoodie underneath." he watches as her hair gets wet almost immediately.

"it's fine. it's only a short walk." mei refuses, yet she knows how absolutely freezing she was right now. "don't give it to me."

hanbin, being the pure angel he is, quickly pulls mei to the side under some shelter. he takes his coat off and hands it to her. "don't take it the wrong way but you are actually going to get sick if you don't put this on."

mei was about to refuse again but she sighs and takes hanbin's coat, watching him put his hood up. "fine, thanks i guess."

"you bought me a necklace and a keychain, that's way more than giving you a coat." he laughs. "so how much was it? both of them?"

mei zips up the coat and they begin to walk again. "i don't know. i just bought it." she lies. "i didn't check the price, sorry."

hanbin knew she was lying, but he didn't say anything further. "okay, but one day i'll make sure to pay you back."

she shakes her head. "it's fine, really." she says. "don't even try convince me because i won't." she walks faster.

"mei i–" he tries to argue.

"nope!" she says. "you won't do that!"

"mei!" he complains in a whiny voice. "just let me–"

"nooopeee!" she laughs, her steps speeding as the rain fell faster and harder. "listen to the top student hanbin!"

"you aren't even the top student what are you talking about?" he shouts over the rain sounds.

mei laughs. "i will be soon." she speeds up her pace, hanbin following after. "just watch me."

"huang mei if you think you can actually beat hao then you're insane." he laughs.

"i'm not insane, i'm telling the truth." the raindrops soon felt like torrents onto their bodies and mei grabbed hanbin's hand, dragging him into her gate quickly.

3 minute walk has turned into a twenty second run– all thanks to the rain that was pouring so hard.

"yeah, you keep telling yourself that." hanbin snorts, being dragged by mei as she opens the door and the two almost fall in.

"mei are you okay?" a maid asks, looking at the two's drenched states. "do you need help?"

"we're fine, thanks. we'll go eat now." she smiles at her, her hand still intertwined with hanbin's as she pulls him into the dining room where their parents still were. "hi." she pants.

"what the hell happened to you two?" mr sung laughs. "did it start raining already?"

hanbin nods. "right after we bought some things." he says, making mei show them the plastic bag that contained snacks in her other hand.

mei watches her parent's eyes and she lets go of hanbin's hand straight away. "anyways, i bought hanbin a necklace." she says, taking off hanbin's coat.

"ooh really? let us see!" hanbin's mother speaks, making hanbin walk towards her. showing off the silver necklace.

"mei has the same one!" her father exclaims. "oh, how cute! mei you're so generous!"

mei laughs, sitting down next to her parents, opposite hanbin. "i'm surprised i went that far."

hanbin smiles. "same." it already looks like the two are getting along, very well. and it's barely been one week.

❦ ♪

— zhanghao pov.

m<3
@meiirae

sorry for lashing out on you that
other day in lunch i was pissed off

might accept your apology if you don't
decide to argue with me tomorrow
delivered

❦ ♪

sorry this is so badly written and rushed BUT hanmei already becoming besties omg they're gonna be close reall fasttt

mei sugar mommy btw!!!

mei is Gunwookik sugar mommy