❦ ♪

CHAPTER FORTY NINE : memory lane

"i have a girlfriend and she will kill you."

❦ ♪

a/n !!! this is the longest chapter (not very long but longer than usual), so make sure to take breaks every now and then since this is a little last ride for genius before it's last chapter<3 enjoy! + make sure to read the end note

flashback — after mei and hao made up

— mei pov.

young gay

young gay!!!

wtf huang GAY!
what do you want

i am ok with hao😊

did you not arrive like half an
hour ago.. that was quick

he's still in love with me he only forgave
me because i kissed him

LMFAOOOO WHAT
don't tell me you kissed him before
you apologised

Well i wanted to avoid sobbing when
professor lee was like meters away

so your first instinct was a KISS
not even a hi how are you??

idk i like kissing him😓😓😓
i forgot how to have a simple convo
with him so i just went that route

that's just not the smartest way to
solve your month long depresso

he literally kissed me after i apologised
and Why are you giving me relationship
advice you toxic bitch

Just because i didn't like you doesn't
mean i'm bad at relationships IDIOT

Shut up you did like me

looks around

Mr complained because i got him the
wrong colour of the car

My dark past...😭😭😭😭😭
Sorry

i always thought people became ignorant
when they get a lot of money but somehow
you are an ok person in this sense.

and i thought being born with wealth
made people ignorant yet you are just
an ignorant person

Ok
Why does everyone think i'm so mean 🙁

girl do you see the way you act in
your university???? you are seen
as a spoiled bitch

sigh i feel kinda bad but i just have
anger issues and a hate for them🙁

she a bully guys cancel her for
nepotism and main character
syndrome!!!!

too bad yunji thought she was some cool
main character like i hate them her

she's bottom rank and you're top
yet you both make the Stupidest
fucking decisions no wonder hao
likes men😭😭😭

Right. Enough.
omg ykw though i was crying to him
and he just said Yeah you are stupid
like thanks man i am in love with u

you really are miss top student
i bet he humbled you so bad

Yeah.

LMFAOOOOOOOOO

anyways Thanks for the opportunity
even though everyone is still probably
hating on me rn ❤️

deserved you were acting so weird

Ok.
oh yeah so i told hao and everyone
that we were friends

WHY THE FUCJ!:!,'s
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT

i accidentally told everyone.

ur the worst
theyre gonna think im tryna kidnap
you for ransom

LMFAOO No listen
he's willing to give another friend chance

no he isn't

bitch
kys

WHY R U GETTING MAD AT ME i
swear hao just hates me

Well yeah but if we are okay then he
said he'll try be okay with you

i'm scared

Pussy
i'll punch you again

OKAYYY FINE !

cool
text you another day about how to
apologise and be nice to him again

yeah okay hao lover

Yeah i am
make him sad and i'm making sure
your dad's store stays bankrupt

YOU DIDNT HAVE TO MENTION
THAT LMFAOOOOOO

You know i'm joking right
guess where i bought haos violin from🧍‍♀️

?????
are u being srs

well.....!

from the store owned by the guy who
broke his last one?? are you stupid

Yes You're welcome
post me on tiktok and i will be seen
as a good person donating to small
businesses 💕💕

i'm so confused

ttyl 😊

❦ ♪

present time.

boyfriend💕

hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi

hiiii<3

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
You're so cute i'm in love with you

LMAOOO please i just said hi
mei calm down

guys he said my name he wants me

mei is literally one of the most common
chinese names ever i could be talking ab
anyone😘

Bye
guck youtelekerf you WANT ME

sorry what

ur so cute when you type with those
little cute fingers u cutie ❤️❤️

mei What

Where is my ring. on your finger. btw.

i'm wearing it???

Ok good or i'll eat you

you are so terrifying

HIW COULD YOU SYA RHAT TO ME
WHEN I AM I. LOVE WITH U🙁🙁😭

because were you not telling everyone
that you Used To Like Me three weeks
ago...

Oh well
i was depressed

aw thanks for UNBLOCKING me

of course my little pink princess

i hate you

no you don't
i have proof

what proof do you have that i don't
despise you RIGHT NOW

(a/n thanks user ourdoomsday for making this. icon. say thanks apple xx)

HI???????

ICANT FUCKIF BREATHR😭

i was DEPRESSED leave me alone

SO WAS I UR NOT SPECIAL
ykw i should've just let you reject me
so i could've gotten over you faster bc
WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LIKE ME

idk either you're annoying 🙁

look who's talking!!!!!

I was playing violin since i was
out of the womb🤓☝️headass

ur just jealous i am better

LMFAOOOO Sorry miss top student

yeah apologise FREAK
wait until those rankings in the country
come out and i beat you GRRRRRRRR

the only time you beat me is when

when what
u didn't even say anything

my point

Oh.
kys i feel dumb

i made her feel dumb💕

i made you have withdrawals 💕

Okay.

LMFAOOOOO
omg hao
hao hao hao
princess hao
HOW
help whyd it autocorrect to how
HOW
ZHANG HOW.

WHAT HUANG MAY.

can i ask a question😁

no

ok well i'm going to ask anyway
are you free today (i know you are.)

ofc i'm free
why?

get ready in 10
i am coming to Your house

HUH

let me meet your parents

mei. no.

mei. yes. meet. my. parents.

girl what if they hate crime you or
something idk if they like you

idc pleaseeeeeeeee😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏
Please if you loved me you would let
me come into your house

WHY ARE YOU MANIPULATING ME

LET IT FUCKING WORK
plz plz plz plz hao plzzzz😭😭

well i'll have to ask them first

no don't
it's a surprise!

MEI WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT

Just trust me bro

not when you bro zoned me

trust me Princess

😑stop with the princess

no
anyways get ready then
i'm coming my princess!!!💕

i'm scared but okay!!!

❦ ♪

— 3rd person.

"mei are you excited?" her father asks from the front seat. the truth is the whole fucking huang family was going to meet the zhang parents, which shocked mei since she actually is terrified of hao's parents – especially his dad. (His dad.)

mei was shaking her head in anxiety. "no. why did you force me to tell him that i want to meet his parents because i DON'T." she fake cries. "i even look ugly right now what if they look at me and notice my pimples."

her mother scoffs at her daughter's nonsense. "mirae you are anything but ugly and they're not going to analyse your face."

"but like i'm so pretty so like who wouldn't?" she jokingly sighs, earning silence from her parents. "0kay wow. just don't respond to me then."

the woman chuckles. "are you sure that you're actually scared of them?"

"am i fuck." mei groans sarcastically. "i literally told hao his parents don't love him once. and you've seen how sad he is when family is brought up, how can i not be scared??"

"they're just being parents. which is why we're coming with you to speak to them." her father sighs. "we also have a lot of things to get through with his family, so..."

soon enough, the family arrive at the zhang's house, waiting outside patiently with mei panicking non stop. not only is this the first time she's met his parents for real, it's the first time she has ever step foot into his house properly.

knowing briefly about how strict his parents were, she didn't even want to have eye contact with the man after knowing he texted her on HAO'S PHONE to end their almost talking stage/almost dating shenanigan. however after mei texted his dad about what yunji had said, hao kept telling her that his dad is starting to become less strict when he hangs out with her. which should be a good thing.

the door opens, revealing a somehow smiley mr zhang. he exchanges a few mandarin words with her parents before letting them all in. mei's first impression that this was definitely the house of a top student, everything was clean and organised without a speckle of dust in sight. sure, her house was just as clean. but most of the cleaning came from the maids.

"welcome," hao's dad grins as he walks into the living room where the other two family members were. "it's nice to finally meet you guys." he turns to mei and extends his arm for a handshake.

the girl stands in shock but still takes his hand respectfully. "you too, mr zhang." she awkwardly smiles back before peaking behind the man.

even though she was looking for hao, his mom approaches the girl with a grin. "mei you're so pretty!"

"oh–" mei chuckles, not expecting such a sudden compliment from her. "thank you, so are you." she says softly with a smile.

"even your chinese got worse." hao scoffs playfully from the other side of the room. hao looks at his parents in confusion as they are now talking to mei's parents like they've known each other for ages.

mei walks up to him. "shut the fuck up. but i am as confused as you are right now, i didn't expect this."

he looks down at her with a slight frown. "i am so fucking confused. why are our parents just talking????"

mei shrugs in response, turning around to the adults who were now speaking in mandarin (no more google translate for hao's dad, thankfully). she turns back to hao and kisses his cheek with a giggle. "stop looking so down, we should at least ask what the fuck is going on."

"why are you two still speaking in korean?" mei's dad laughs from the side, elbowing mei's shoulder jokingly.

mei sighs. "you know my mandarin sucks."

"not when you were arguing with me in front of hanbin." hao butts in teasingly. "but i have to side with you on that one, your korean handwriting is even worse though."

mei turns to him with a glare. "stop talking down on my linguistic skills." she complains before turning to her father. "tell him to stop making fun of me."

the four adults laugh. "i'm sure you're both as good as each other when it comes to linguistics." mei's mother smiles.

"don't compare me to this dwarf." hao rolls his eyes playfully. but this small insult caused the smaller to smack his shoulder, hissing from the girl's strength.

"shut up before i–" she threatens (not very threateningly) and immediately stops when she finally realises his parents were literally right in front of her. "anyways, sorry. i was going to ask why you guys already seem kind of close..."

"oh you see, we spoke to mei's parents last week about mostly everything. they're nice and we felt bad for restricting her and you being friends." his mother gives a sympathetic smile to the two.

"or more than friends~" mei's mother chuckles, earning a collective laugh from the other adults. as they had their little giggle, mei and hao snort and turn the other way.

hao then looks up at mei's parents then back at his own. "so like, why exactly are you here? did i do something wrong or are you scamming my parents?"

mei kicks his shoe at the last comment, mouthing a shut the fuck up before clearing her throat and grinning as if she won't scold him for the smallest thing later.

hao's mom chuckles. "to meet, of course. we wanted to talk about your little almost relationship we've been non stop hearing about."

the two students' mouths drop slightly. "what are you talking about?" mei laughs awkwardly. "almost relationship??"

"well, we're all staying here for a bit and then we will take them to our house for dinner." mei's father grins at the other parents. "we have to know our future son in law's parents."

"SON IN LAW????" the duo scream in bafflement, jumping away from each other as if they just got traumatised. "we are not getting married." mei scoffs.

"i think she'll propose to me in a day." hao jokes, stretching his hand out dramatically. "she really likes me, you know."

despite the worries, the two manage to stay being playful and try get each other's parent's approval. all they really needed was for hao's parents to let go of their strict ways and allow something that would basically save hao's life.

as the four began to speak amongst themselves again, she takes his hand in search for the ring and spots it. "so, you do have it?" she asks with a raised brow. "i got told you sold it for uni fees."

he scoffs. "what?" he takes mei's hand and puts their rings together. "why would i do that? and who told you that?"

"yunji." she shrugs, just being thankful that he still had it. she knew better to not listen to what some maniac stalker like her would say. but there had to be possibilities too, and mei was too stupid to listen.

hao shakes his head. "are you dumb? why would you believe i said that?"

"i thought you hated me okay." mei rolls her eyes and then freezes before turning back to hao with sharp eyes. "oh yeah, and you kissed her right?" she crosses her arms.

"SHE kissed ME forcefully." he crosses his arms at her. "it's not my fault everyone is in love with me."

she gives him a glare. "well no more of your fans are coming back to you when you're with me. you better not even bat an eye at them."

"you're quite protective, aren't you?" he giggles, resting his arm on her shoulder. "a small height big brain girl fighting for me? i like it."

"idiot stop joking around. do you not realise she literally assaulted you?" she whisper-shouts. "it's not because everyone is in love with you they're just crazy."

he sighs. "yeah i know, but i'm sure nothing else would happen like that anymore. when we became friends, everyone left me alone anyway."

mei clicks her tongue bitterly. "okay, well yunji didn't. if she tries do some other shit, especially to you or hanbin. i swear i'll go crazy."

"oh yeah, she's texting hanbin too. jimin's not happy." he sighs, remembering the whole hanbin situation that happened before. "speaking of, what haappened to that eunsoo? or jimin? i forgot which one he talked to."

"eunsoo was the pretty girl that he failed to talk to at our party, and jimin is the one who wants him." mei giggles, poking hao's arm. "he just gets a load of bitches, more than you surprisingly."

he scoffs at the comparison. "did you forget the fact girls from your university are absolutely obsessed with me? yunji included."

mei rolls her eyes, her mood suddenly shifting at the thought of witnessing someone be crazy towards him again. "i'm not the type to fight over a boy but if anyone tries to talk to you in a romantic way at all knowing you're basically dating me..."

he smiles at her very evident jealousy. "you're cute when you're jealous." he smiles, pinching both of her cheeks. "too bad i'm surrounded by attractive men on the daily."

mei hits his arms. "you dickhead don't get cheeky with me. you need to stop complimenting me when i'm going through a lot of emotions."

"oh right, like our first kiss?" he snorts, vividly remembering how their first kiss went – a useless argument that resulted with a crying mei and a silly make out session.

she hits his arm again. "bye. i'm going to sacrifice myself and go have a conversation with your dad." she sticks her tongue out before leaving him standing as she nervously attempts to talk to hao's dad in person.

❦ ♪

chismosas
10+ members

Hi guys. It's Mirae.

hao:
Hi. No one likes you.

Okay but I like you.

hao:
Rejected.

Fuck you.

hao:
You probably want to.

Ew. Die.

yujin:
Why are we texting like this.

hao:
My dad.

donghyuck:
This is so fucking goofy.

jaemin:
Kill yourself.

yujin:
Gay people. Sigh.

hao:
Anyways um Mei met my dad.

xiaojun:
What. No way. What happened.

He called me a slag.

yujin:
Ijbol.

Jk he's actually nice but he was like.
If you try ruin my son again I will find
you and murder you in your sleep.

hao:
He didn't guys he said If you ever
have bad intentions with my son I
won't be scared to contact you.

renjun:
What with his Google Translate
headass.

Help me.

matthew:
You guys are so weird.

Shut up.
Anyways, Zhanghao is coming to my
house for dindins hee hee hee hee hee.

taerae:
This bitch said dindins.

jeno:
Dindins. The Fuck.

jiwoong:
Context on why the fuck you're actually
together with both of your parents having
a happy family fun time today???

gunwook:
Probably to approve of each other.

ricky:
It probably went well right.

Hao's dad is still kinda scary but he's
trying to be less discriminatory to me
so I applaud him i guess.

yangyang:
Let's pray guys. 🙏

hao:
They went to my house to approve of
our 'almost relationship'. And now I
am going to Mei's house. #Fordindins.

Help.

❦ ♪

the students had already finished their meal, letting them wander around mei's house as the adults converse. in the dining room, the four adults were getting along pretty well. they managed to change the subject from the possibility from their children dating to some other topics and getting to know each other, somehow relating to many things.

most would expect it to be awful, but surprisingly the situation wasn't as bad as everyone would have anticipated; although his parents weren't the greatest, it came to an easy conclusion that almost everything was a misunderstanding and they were somewhat nice behind that strict personality of theirs.

mei's parents tried their best insisting hao's parents to be less harsh and controlling over him. they brought up some points on how mei still manages to keep her rank although having a somewhat bad reputation and having freedom and a life outside of studies. all they wanted was for hao to be happier, since anyone could notice that he only seemed uplifted when around the girl.

however, being parents of such narcissistic children also mirrored the adults' tendency to be quite arrogant. so, not everything was perfect and rainbows at the beginning as their 'rivalry' was still an important factor to why they met in the first place. yet everyone could hope the smartest children in the top universities in south korea could stay together.

besides the adults, in the music room mei has, the duo were lying down on the floor for some reason. mei hadn't been in this room in ages and it was nice to come back in with the same boy who loves music just as much as her.

"buying me a new violin is seen as nothing compared to these." hao says in awe as he admires the multiple instruments lined up and placed around the room. "how do you even have time to play all of this?" he felt a little jealous.

"it's when my mother used to teach me how to play every instrument. piano and violin just somehow became my thing." she sits up and stares at the piano. "you haven't fully heard me play piano, have you?"

he shakes his head softly. "are you asking if i want to hear you play?" he asks with a smile as he sits up to face her.

she scoffs. "no." she says sarcastically before standing up and walking towards the huge piano on their right. "come with me then." she turns around to the boy, causing him to nod and follow her up.

she cracks her fingers and sighs after turning it on. "honestly after i moved i never got the chance to play this, i was so stuck on violin."

he chuckles. "yeah cause you wanted to be better than me soooo badly."

she turns to him with a glare. "i am, i am a musical genius. and i'm just really good at everything." she sticks her tongue out at him. "anyways, let me think of a song to play."

after a few seconds, her fingers begin to move gently across the piano, the sound of the keys resonating across the huge room. her mind let go of the worries of her messing up and she then focuses on the keys.

hao smiles to himself watching her do something he knew she loved. he hadn't recognised the song, but he knew he liked it just because she was the one playing it.

she cut it short to save her embarrassment and closes her eyes. after he applauds her, he wraps his arms around her neck and kisses her cheek."you're a good piano player too, what can't you do?"

"be your wife." she jokes, turning to him. "and be below you in ranks." just by the talk of ranks, he lets go of her and mei stands up with a cheeky look on her face.

he smiles down at her as he pulls her into a hug. "you and your ranks. you act like you care about it but skip lectures because you hate someone, silly girl."

she rolls her eyes. "i didn't think the standards of your ass university would be higher than mine." she looks up and pinches his cheek. "yet i still somehow like you even if you think you're smarter than me."

"awh, i like me too." he teases, cupping his face with one of his hands. "i'm just amazing compared to you, aren't i?"

she releases the hug and looks at him in offence. "i bought you a violin. don't make me take it for myself."

"you didn't actually need to buy me a violin though." he shrugs, walking away to the sofa. "you could've got me a meal and i'd still be over the moon."

"that was a small fraction of my money, it's fine." she chuckles, skipping behind him. "and i'd buy you anything you'd ask for just because i think you're cute. i even bought youngjae a car because i liked him."

"okay nepo baby." he scoffs. "youngjae was a
dickhead to you, i still don't understand how you're friends again."

"he's a changed man." she defends. "he's stopped being friends with those boys who used to he his minions and apologised for everything, even told me he felt bad for being mean to you back then."

"i guess if you can forgive him for ruining your life then i can try to forgive him for ruining mine, just a little less extreme than yours."

"take your time if you need to. personally he did like ruin my life but i can tell you he's definitely not who he used to be. his character development is going crazy." she smiles at him. "i think it'll be great."

❦ ♪

later.

junjun<3

HAOS PARENTS LIKE ME😭😭😭

are you sure your parents didn't
pay them to be nice

Stfu his mother called me pretty
like queen u gave birth to hao wdym

truth tbh
so how was it

his dad is oddly nice like i thought
after all his Leave Hao alone slut.
messages he'd just be as bitchy but
he apologised and is nice to me and
my parents😊

honestly i was expecting him to
slap you and say Stop being smart
like MY SON

LOLLLL imagine
cries our parents are bffs now

wow
what about hanbin's parents

oh yeah
i forgot about that

?????
your hanmei business ended and so
did your parent's friendship with his
😭😭😭 don't they work for your
parents too

ya i lowk thought they hated me bc i
didn't want to date hanbin

bless i hope you all make up again

same honestly but i just don't think
there was any drama but they just
drifted from each other

awww just like you and hanbin
that time was so cute

true tbh kinda miss it
but now i have hao and he has jimin

oh yeah that girl
idk i have a feeling she's trying to
break his heart or something

HUH WHAT

hear me out on this

❦ ♪

time skip — the next day.

— hao pov.

youngjae

hey

oh hi

i think you know why i'm texting
you right?

yes i do

okay meet me in ten outside of
the campus 😊

❦ ♪

later that day (i am lazy)

❦ ♪

hanbin<3

mei

hii

so um there's a problem

what the fuck happened omfg
hao made up with youngjae
right???

yes we invited him to our dinner
he's a g but like there is a problem
with hao

what is he getting hit up by some
hot men at the bar or something

girl what

if he is send pics i need to approve

MEI NO what i am trying to say
is that he may be drunk

LMFAOOOOO WHAT
SEND ME VIDEOS

DON'T LAUGH I AM NOT
can you come get him

can't you do it

i would but he's crying for you
he keeps asking for you to come

IM DYING HES SO LMFAOOO
Send me a video for proof and i will

girl
*sent a video*

THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY
Why's he actually crying help
"Where's mei" Does he think i'm dead

GIRL STFU CAN YOU HURRY
BRING YUTA OR SMT PLEASE
i'll send the address of the street

okay fine damn
stay with him until i arrive

thank you

first time i see him drunk as a sober
gal kinda nervous xxx

JUST HURRY

fucking hell i am walking out of my
house now calm your tits

my what

yuta said we are on our way!

❦ ♪

whilst in the car, mei receives a facetime call. she looks down and giggles when she sees hao's name and cute contact photo. she answers without hesitation and turns her phone volume up for both her and yuta to listen to.

"hiiiii." he giggles to himself, his camera was on yet this dumb boy's camera was facing his ear. "can you see me?"

the girl almost face palms. "your camera is pointing your ear, fucking idiot." she scoffs. "show your face."

"oh!" he hiccups, moving the camera to his face. this boy's asian flush was so noticeable that she could tell his pink face was from the alcohol and not from how cold it was outside. "hi."

she chuckles. "hello, why did you call me?" yuta was listening intently from the side, trying not to burst out laughing from how out of it hao looked.

"i missed you." he hiccups. "and hanbin told me to call my girlfriend." he hiccups again. "and i want you to come pick me up."

mei got intense deja vu from their first ever facetime call – her coincidentally being drunk too, and after a few days of knowing him basically confessing to him. this became a huge joke between the two but now that a situation similar to it had happened again, mei knew she was going to make fun of him for it forever.

"we're a minute away." she says to him. "are you cold? why are you not wearing a coat?" she notices how he was only wearing a t shirt and it was definitely fucking freezing at this hour.

he shrugs. "i gave it to ricky." mei sighs, knowing how much she would have to take care of him later. "anyway can you hurry, i want to kiss my pretty girlfriend."

both yuta and mei laugh. "wow, are you his pretty girlfriend now?" yuta teases. "looks like he really wants you mirae."

"shut the fuck up." she whisper-shouts. "he's kind of cringey it's cute." she giggles before looking back at her phone where hao was checking himself out in the screen. "oh, we're here." she looks out of the window and ends the call once yuta stops the car.

"why the fuck is he sat on the floor?" yuta snorts from the driver's seat, pointing at his side where the friend group were.

mei leans forward to see eagerly but she couldn't even spot them from the passenger's side. "okay i'm going out to get him, wait here." she says before running out of the car.

as she reaches hanbin and hao, the sober boy grins. "thank god." he sighs, hand on his back in pain. "i had to carry him over here on my back."

mei snorts before looking down at the boy sat down with his head resting on the stair railing. she takes her phone out to take a few pictures before kneeling in front of him and poking his forehead.

"don't touch me." hao slurs, moving mei's hand away aggressively. "i have a girlfriend and she will kill you." he leans back further away from mei's face.

mei begins cackling at his random response. "my god what am i going to do with you.." she sighs, running her hand through her hair. "right let's just go." she attempts to take his hand but he pulls away immediately.

"i have a girlfriend stop!!" he shouts, waving his arms around. his eyes were also pretty much closed and he couldn't even see who he was talking to.

mei scoffs. "do you even know who you're talking to? you JUST called me." she crosses her arms at his awful state. "and since when was i your girlfriend??"

"you're not mei." he shrugs, resting his head on the railing again. "take me to mei. i miss her." his words were almost incomprehensible, since he somehow said the last part in mandarin.

mei couldn't help but laugh to herself, knowing he would regret what he said as soon as he wakes up tomorrow. "okay this cunt won't stop yapping. so hanbin what do i do?"

"i'll just take him to the car." he chuckles, moving the girl aside and picking the boy up. "this is the first i've seen him absolutely out of his head, i don't even remember how much everyone drank."

"you didn't?" mei asks as she follows hanbin to the car, noticing how he was completely sober. "i can't believe hao drank, he's changing."

"i'm the one who drops them off, remember? i can't be drinking when i have to bring these dickheads home." the boy complains, pointing at hao. "and honestly it's kind of fun seeing hao be more fun these days, we could say it's all thanks to you."

as mei opens the passenger's door, hanbin gently puts the boy inside and puts his seatbelt on for him. "thank you yuta." he smiles at the older who waves back.

mei hums. "understandable actually." she then gives hanbin a hug. "see you again soon, thanks for calling me. i'm excited to see what his drunk self will say to me." she chuckles.

he snorts. "why don't you sit next to him?" he points at the boy who was mumbling random things to himself. "and thank you for taking him, i owe you."

she sighs. "okay i will, bye!" she smiles and puts herself in the passenger's seat besides hao. "oh my fucking god he reeks of alcohol." she groans to yuta.

yuta laughs, looking back. "bless him, make sure he doesn't throw up or anything." he says before staring at the two in the rear mirror and starting the car.

now that the ride was silent, mei suspected hao was asleep. but as soon as she was going to sleep herself, the boy begins to talk. "wow, you're pretty." he says with squinted eyes. "you kind of look like my girlfriend." he giggles, poking her cheek. "do you like me?"

"oh my god." mei groans. "why does he non stop talk when he's like this." she leans back in her seat in exhaustion although not doing anything.

"welp, good luck for ten minutes." the older boy laughs. he then puts on some faint music in the background while hao continues to talk about whatever the hell came to his mind.

his head was now resting on her shoulder as she kept failing to fall asleep herself. ." are you mei?" he asks, poking mei's face again, "i really like you."

"no i'm mirae." she rolls her eyes, grabbing a water bottle from fuck knows where and handing it to him. "drink some of this before we get to my house, i need you somewhat sober." this was an excuse as she just wanted him to shut the fuck up.

he whines, wrapping his arms around her and making childish remarks under his breath. "i don't want to."

mei exhales and lifts his head up gently before opening the bottle and facing him. "well you're going to!" she smiles sarcastically, trying to feed him some water with her hand at the back of his head.

at first he was refusing, but after a few seconds he finally gave in and began to drink some to her luck. she hoped he would try shut up and not cause her problems tonight as tomorrow was monday, and the two had something to do.

❦ ♪

the next day again !

future dropouts 2
10 members

hao:
just taught some kids while hungover
killing myself

ricky:
LMFAOOOOOOOO

ricky:
bring me back to high school so i can
experience this plz

gunwook:
I WANNA BE TAUGHT BY ZHANGMEI

jiwoong:
i would've passed so easily if they taught me

hao you are the worst.

yujin:
Guys why was my friend fucking
convinced that zhangmei were my
actual parents help

hanbin:
cause you tell everyone they are

gyuvin:
can't believe his mates actually believe
it though like imagine Two chinese uni
students just taking care or yujin

fuck children

hao:
okay and you bought children expensive
things using your money

besides haerin, doah and mirae💕

hanbin:
mei mother era stealing my role

hao:
this don went "are you actually yujin's
father?" like Do i look like a husband to
you

yujin:

yujin:
happy Wedding day #zhangmei

jiwoong:
the fucking rainbow cake😭

hao:
it was a gift from one of yujin's mates

matthew:
why does everyone think you're all gay

ricky:
Are they not

"We saw a lot of rainbows on your
instagram so we got you this"

taerae:
high schoolers accept lgbtq (real)

yujin:
They kept arguing in front of everyone

yujin:
like guys you are teaching how to be
smart not how to fall in love

hao:
i am not in love with that crazy woman

g ting
you called me your girlfriend last night
on about crazy😂😂😂😂

ricky:
drunk hao🎀

jiwoong:
drunk hao till the day i die

jiwoong:
it's like when he drinks all he thinks
about is mei it's cute

right

hao:
only drank twice guys i hate this girl

SHUT UP

gyuvin:
guys tell us what you were talking
about while teaching please

giving them confidence in their studies
and helping them do homework is not
something that included much talking
between us tbh

yujin:
Don't lie

yujin:
"My point makes sense!" "No mine does!"
and it's the same thing but mei's is just
more sophisticated with her vocabulary

hao:
exactly mine was simpler for high schoolers

Yes but if they wanna be smart like
me then they should use mine

hao:
why would they use your bad one when
they probably only understood mine

hao:
like literature student my ass no one
looked interested in what you were
saying

they were looking at me intently

hao:
that's cause they find you pretty

Shut the fuck up broken korean
they all love me

hao:
ME??? BROKEN KOREAN???

gyuvin:
LMFAOOO

yujin:
but can U be talking

Mate mine isn't bad

gunwook:
well

xenophobic!!!!!!

gunwook:
Oh no! Don't put me on twt!

taerae:
ur telling me u argued over that

hanbin:
when they start dating their arguments
aren't even gonna be over something toxic
they are just both entitled to their opinions

I am not going to date him ever.

hao:
don't lie to yourself

bye
die please

hao:
you first🎀

ladies first🎀

hao:
?????

hao:
ur annoying

and u like me

hao:
u wish i did

are we being in denial again x

hao:
aw talk to me when you're first
in the country hun x

hahaha kys x

hao:
this is why you need to study

I DO FATASS

hao:
ur soo right about my ass

omg
this man
send him to conversion therapy

taerae:
i was enjoying the argument but
Mei??????

hanbin:
CONVERSION THERAPY😭😭

HES PISSING ME OFF

hao:
ooooh i'm scared🙁🙁

ur actually my 13th reason

hao:
13th crush too probably

hao:
i know u were excited when u got
forced to move to be partnered
with ME

I could have never moved school

hao:
wish you did honestly you're too
weird miss liked me from day one

yeah and u like me mode than i like u
mr drunk calls me and tells me u miss me

hao:
that was an alter ego and you did the
same thing weirdo

hao:
once we're talking academically i
want to unlike you so fast

JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE
ME SO BAD😭😭😭😭

hao:
Girl

hanbin:
who wouldn't actually

gyuvin:
Hanbin

hanbin:
low it😭😭😭😭

Fuck this
i hate him i hate zhanghao

hao:
and you'll tell me you're in love with
me in a few hours

okay i'm in love with you

ricky:
these bipolar asses istg

taerae:
sick and tired

❦ ♪

a week later.

"do you guys want a drink?" jimin asks the two, having her hand holding hanbin's. it was late evening and the group of four were having a double date at a club – a very familiar club to three people.

jimin insisted on going here, not knowing this place was considered trauma to the other three going with her. but not to make her confused or upset, the three agreed to go with her – but hao and mei agreed to hide away for a bit.

"no we're not going to drink, but you two can." mei smirks, pulling hao away from the bar area, hoping hanbin and her could have their moment.

"you literally just told me that we were–" hao had his eyebrows furrowed from mei's weird rejection but she puts her hand over his mouth. "ew. what was that for?"

she rolls her eyes. "they need their moment. i told
you earlier, remember? we'll just wait outside in the cold.

hao raises a brow. "you do realise where we are right? we can't just leave them."

"yeah, where you watched me make out with your crushy wushy at the time." she says teasingly, pulling his arm towards the exit of the building.

he scoffs at the remembrance of the event. "god, who knew i would've went from despising your existence to having a crush on you."

she chuckles, "i'm surprised you liked me so fast, am i that good?" she looks up at him jokingly as they exit the door. "anyway, let's wait outside first, i genuinely do not want to be in there."

he nods, understanding how she felt. "in your dreams, it was only because i was forced to be with you everyday." he clicks his tongue and leans back on the wall. "not that i was complaining, you were a source of entertainment to me at that time."

she grabs onto his hand and begins playing with their matching ring. "i wish i hated you for a little longer. if only i didn't think you were so hot i would've actually cared about university."

"oh so now it's my fault?" he scoffs, looking at her. "if anything we humbled each other quickly until you decided to fuck off for a month."

mei shakes her head. "well in my defence–"

"mirae?" a familiar voice calls her name, causing the two to turn around to face a tall, attractive looking boy looking at them.

"uh....." mei laughs awkwardly. "do i know you from somewhere?" she was trying to recognise the face, but nothing came to her mind besides that she's pretty sure they've met before.

"oh yeah, i'm yeonjun. i'm bestfriends with eunsoo and somewhat jimin." he smiles, bowing awkwardly at the two other students. "we met at that bar a few weeks ago.."

mei's eyes widen. "oh fuck yeah, i'm so sorry." she scratches her head nervously. "that was just a time of my life where i didn't know what i was doing."

"it's fine, i should be the one to apologise." he glances at hao. "is this the boy you were um..."

"yeah she went depressed over me." hao snorts, patting her head. she looks at him with an annoyed expression before smiling at yeonjun again.

"what kind of pride meet up is this?" they hear hanbin's voice coming closer. he was walking towards them with jimin and now it was just a circle of the five people standing around awkwardly.

"we just met one of jimin's friends." hao smiles, pointing at yeonjun. "you two go to the same university right?"

yeonjun ignores the question and him and jimin make eye contact, the boy gave her a glare before looking back at the three new friends. "it was nice meeting you guys but i really have to go, and i'm so sorry again mei."

the boy runs off and it left the group more confused than they already were. "anyways, should we go back in? we haven't started drinking yet." jimin chuckles, taking hanbin's hand. "hanbin just got worried that you left, and yeonjun is irrelevant."

hao and mei nod, still lost on what the fuck just happened between jimin and yeonjun. "he's the one that reminded you of me and tried to kiss you?" hao whispers to her. the girl nods and he hums, "fairs, he's really attractive, i would've kissed him if i were you."

❦ ♪

another week later.

my princess 😜

haooooo

hi cutie

HI CUTIE HAO IS BACK

shut up
i'm studying what could you possibly
want at this time of day huang mei

i have something to tell you

omg me too !

ACTUALLY
ur gonna tell me u like me aren't u...

i like you but that's not what i wanted
to tell you fucking idiot

OMG😭😭😭😭😭
stop studying and come over!! we can
open our evaluation results today

okayyy
my dad said he'll treat us with some
thing if we both come first

The fuck
did you drug him
wdym that man doesn't want me to starve

HI??????
No mei he's changing (trying)

okay well... i don't know

it's fine he'll have an arc soon x

yay!! now come here i am dying
without you 🙁🙁🙁

she misses me💕

girl
hurry up

did you just call me girl

princess💕💕💕💕💕

barfs

hurry up plz i have important words
to exchange with you

okayy whatever fine
i'll be telling you something too

omg are you going to confess your huge
undying love to me like the cute man
you are

ehhhh
just wait
i'm on my way

I AM
by IVE

okay queen xx

omg i'm the queen
and ur the princess

i hate you

not the top student thinking we
are enemies again😂😂😂😂

❦ ♪

hope you guys enjoyed the format of just small snippets of zhangmei as they spend more time together ! this was by far the longest chapter and i'm soo sorry if it was boring it's my first time writing so much LMAO and the writing was ass too sorry i wrote this all when tired

I wanted to write a youngjae and hao happy friend part but i don't like writing men having a conversation about Sorry i made you depressed
!! because it's so boring. so i just didn't do it soz. there was so many parts i wanted to add but it would be too boring sooo

anyways last chapter next how do we feel x i decided it's going to be short because my exams start on monday so x

if you want a cameo just reply to this and i'll add you in when i post the next chapter ! the context is a 'hard launch' post from hao so just write your reactions here xx (better be quick i'm posting the next chapter next week!!)

also if there's any mistakes stfu ok it's 3am rn LOL