❦ ♪

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE : just friends

"zhanghao endgame!!!!"

❦ ♪

— hao pov.

dad

Hao. We're disappointed.

what now bruh you already got mad
that i got first w her again

Don't speak to me like that.
Youngjae was kind enough to send us
a video of you being quite intimate with
that girl.

intimate 💀💀💀💀
lol what

Can you explain that?

i was only joking it was to piss her off

Are you sure? It seems very realistic
to your mother and I.

can't u tell i'm trying to distract her
instead of her doing it to me

What do you mean you're trying
to distract her?

well it's working, she thinks i like her

That's just stupid, Hao. You know that's
going to make her be nice to you.

exactly so she'd let me come first and
if she likes me then she'll stop getting
first for me

Oh. I always knew you were smart
enough to think about things like
this.

so why underestimate me

Sorry. But anyways, that's fine then,
but don't actually fall in love with her.

lol i won't dw

❦ ♪

- 3rd person.

hao puts his phone down and sighs. he didn't know some girl could make him more stressed than before just because of a stupid university rank – well it was still important to him.

his parents being sent the video a few days after it happened made him pissed, because youngjae only decides to send things when he knows hao's parents aren't at home.

but he should see this as a good thing, since his parents won't overly scold him and shout in his face when they see it. so being told off over text like every other time was fine.

everything was overwhelming him though, and he was even confusing himself; he didn't like how his parents think they could control him. hao would normally just listen to them, and if he was, he would never be talking to mei as of now.

but for some annoying reason, he's starting to listen to them less and he's actually not minding being around her. he didn't see the problem with the two being somewhat 'friends'.

he enjoyed arguing with her, even from the beginning. at the start it was more 'i hate you' kind of arguing but now it's more of a teasing kind of arguing.

i think both of them realised after a month that the ranking didn't really matter since it was never going to change. but hao enjoyed getting a reaction out of her and everyone else.

but he was still scared of his parents finding out about his real thoughts. he convinced them to stop going through his phone but now he just had to convince them to leave mei alone.

he doesn't want to be close with her or anything, he just wanted to make things interesting in his boring ass life. all he does is fucking study and he's getting more and more jealous of mei.

he hated how perfect she was, she was always effortlessly good at everything and that made him hate her. he still does, he doubts that his hatred would change into feelings.

but he needed to stop thinking about her, since it was weird for him to. he just had to keep being good in school so his parents could fuck off and get out of his business.

hao rolls his eyes as he hears a familiar knock on his studio door. he stands up from his computer and opens the door for the girl. "what?"

"let me in, thanks." she crosses her arms, looking up at him. "if you're still mad, i suggest you stop being a bitch about it." she refers to their little argument on results day.

he scoffs, turning away. "you do realise i'm not actually mad at you for being first with me don't you?"

she shoves past him and sits on the sofa. "i can't tell when you're joking or not, bimbo."

"well everything in that lounge room was just because youngjae was there." hao says, locking their door and sitting back down.

she hums. "even when you had a little silly flirty pill in you?" she chuckles.

"shut up." he ignores what she had just said. "it's a one time thing."

"you've flirted with me like three times, gosh am i really that good?" she laughs.

"no." he side eyes her. "you have to stop being delusional because i'll never like you like that."

mei dramatically puts her hand on her heart. "ouch." she fake cries. "but when you apparently called me attractive–"

"that was two months ago." he cuts her off. "i was a different person then."

"you wanted to throw me off a cliff but now you want to throw me onto your b–"

"mei you're disgusting." he fake gags.

"i wasn't going to say bed, if that's what you're thinking." she giggles. "but if you thought of that, then that says something."

he rolls his eyes. "god can you go back to your bitchy egotistical self i'd rather deal with that than this."

"i can't, i think i've become a changed woman you know. i'm having character development or something." she starts to play with her hair with a smile on her face.

"that's because you hang out with hanbin too much, he's making you nice. it's awful." hao says.

she shakes her head. "i think you're just constantly humbling me."

he scoffs. "you sure it's not because you like hanbin or something?"

"nope." she clears her throat to avoid the topic of hanbin again. "anyways, why are you here?" she changes the topic.

"this is my room too." he says, comfortably resting himself on the chair. "and i wanted to work in here."

"well it's my turn." she says. "get up."

he scoffs. "i'm using it."

"welllll let me on it, i have to start making new music." she points at the screen. "what are you doing right now?"

he closes all tabs. "nothing. but i'm still using it." he turns to her. "tough luck."

mei crosses her arms. "if you don't let me use it i will do bad things."

"like what?" he laughs, "you can't do shit."

"i'll threaten you with a february twenty eight recreation." she smiles annoyingly, knowing how he hates this topic.

he lays back comfortably in the chair with a teasing smile. "oh yeah?"

"what the fu–" mei was about to complain about how calm he was until they hear another knock on the door. hao sighs and quickly gets up to unlock the door, opening it to reveal their professor.

"hello." their professor greets. "mind if i come in? i'm here to check on your progress."

hao nods and puts on his goody-two-shoes personality, moving back so the teacher could come back in. "of course!"

"so, mirae, how are you finding music here first of all?" he asks, sitting on a stool not too far from where the two were.

mei smiles, "good, it's easier to access than my old university."

he nods contentedly. "i'm glad to hear, i have yet to fully see your music potential. so is it alright if we take a quick look now?"

hao rolls his eyes as mei grins. "sure, what do you want to see?"

"well, i've seen you play violin. you're as good as hao from what i've seen." he says.

mei looks at hao who was laughing at her annoyed reaction. "to be honest, i think i'm better than him." she chuckles.

hao was facing the computer, letting him mock the girl quietly. if the professor wasn't here she would've went off on him already. annoying cunt.

"oh i like the confidence, i'm sure you could be." he laughs. "anyway, i think we should log onto your computer and see what you have so far." he looks over at hao.

mei hums, getting up to look down at hao. "my turn." she says childishly. "offfff the chairrrr."

hao scoffs before getting up and sitting on the sofa besides it. he had to admit that he wanted to hear what she does in here. hao and mei always worked in here at different times, meaning they rarely saw what each other did.

mei sits down and pulls the chair in, the professor standing besides her as she logged out of hao's account and clicking onto her own. but what she completely forgot is that her profile picture was still hao and it was displayed onto the screen in full.

the man chuckles, "this is your account?" he reads 'doraemi' as her name with a massive hao picture. "doraemi?" he questions.

mei coughs in embarrassment. "you know, mirae backwards is raemi, so like do-re-mi." she explains. "it was from when i was younger, don't ask." she gulps.

he nods and looks at the huge picture with an amused face. "and zhanghao is your profile picture?" he asks, making hao turn away so he doesn't burst out laughing.

"um," she clears her throat, mentally slapping hao at his reaction. "it was a mistake and i don't know how to change it." she lies.

meanwhile, hao is trying to laugh quietly (and failing) at the professor and mei's interaction. he found it fucking hilarious that mei still hadn't changed it yet. "she's just obsessed with me like that."

mei glares at him. "shut up. he did it himself professor." she lies.

the man hums, obviously not believing her. "are you two close?"

"no." they both say at the same time, glaring at each other.

he chuckles, "right okay.. anyways, log in mirae." he says, making mei immediately type in her password into the computer and the home screen comes up, which was just a photo of herself and a violin when she was younger.

"you've been playing for how long?" he asks, "you must be really good if it was from your childhood."

"since i was six, i had private lessons from professionals." she says with a smile.

this gave hao a flashback to their first conversation where they were having a mini contest on who was better at violin. looking back at it now, the two were way more calmer than then and it was only two months ago.

"ah, i forgot you're from that family." he chuckles. "it's nice to see you liking music since you were a child. huge advantage."

"i know." she nods, "better than hao anyway."

hao scoffs. "don't bring me into this."

"or what?" she looks at him.

"you know what i'll do." he smiles.

she frowns. "i don't actually."

he chuckles. "exactly, so stop being obsessed with me. always gotta mention me somehow."

mei rolls her eyes. "please, shut up." if it was just them two, she would've admitted to being obsessed with no shame.

the man chuckles, "do you argue this much in the lecture hall and i just never see?" the answer was obviously yes but the two shake their heads.

"sorry, professor. anyways, here look." she says, opening a tab of where she has her songs recorded. "i only have like two here, one's a cover though. the rest is at home."

he nods, "okay, play your own one." he says, making mei smile. "i want to see what you can do."

"i wrote this a while ago." she says, clicking on a song called 'i've seen this movie before' (original by hyejin, please listen to her she's my wife she's so gooddd).

hao stops looking at his phone to look up and listen. he's never heard her sing or even produce her own music before, so it was completely new.

as it starts, the professor already smiles in satisfaction. the song was soft and the lyrics were a bit sad, along with her soft voice, which completely contrasted from what she was usually like.

mei looks up at the professor to see him nodding with the music. she smiles proudly at his reaction. she wrote this like three months ago, and only finished recording it last week.

she kind of hated that hao was in the room, since she wasn't ready if he had any criticisms for her. but nonetheless, she enjoyed showcasing her music to people other than renjun.

hao couldn't lie but it did sound really good, he was lowkey surprised that something like this came out of her. but he liked it, a lot actually.

i realise you're gone today
you step into my life, then push me away
i feel like i've seen this movie before

time went fast as her song stopped. she sighs and nervously looks up at the professor to see his overall reaction and opinions.

"you made all of this?" he asks, the girl nodding. "this is really good, i'm actually surprised."

she grins. "really?"

"do you have any more of your own songs?" he asks. "i never realised how much talent you have, mirae."

"uhh, they're all in my studio at my house." she shrugs. "i only saved this one to work on."

"please bring more, i'm sure you and hao could work on something too." he smiles before looking at his watch. "i would love to listen to your cover but i forgot that i have a meeting soon." he gets up.

"thank you." she bows in the chair, being followed by hao who repeated her action.

he waves. "i'll come back next week to check on hao, good job guys." he smiles before walking out.

once the door closed, the room went silent. mei laid back in the chair with her hand on her chest. she always had confidence in her own work, but never songs she had produced herself.

"mei did you actually do all of that?" he asks in surprise.

"yeah..?" she awkwardly replies, nervous for what he was going to say to her.

he nods. "cool. but, why's it so sad though?" he chuckles.

"um, february twenty eight." she laughs awkwardly. "breakup day innit." the date hao got #traumatised.

"oh." he nods. "well, can you play that again? i like it." he says, making her look at him instantly.

"what?" she thought she heard him wrong. "you like it? like, actually?"

he nods. "you have a nice voice."

"oh my god are you flirting with me?" she squints at him.

he scoffs. "no. my god mei, just play it. i'm being nice to you for once."

"o..kayyy." she awkwardly says, clicking on it again. "the lyrics are so depressing whoops."

hao chuckles. "it's fine. breakup songs are something i'd never thought i'd see you write."

"shut up." she laughs back at him as the song starts to play again, hao immediately listening attentively.

hao was surprised that they just had a genuinely good interaction today, and he didn't like that he was nice to her and enjoyed it.

❦ ♪

— mei pov.
- 3rd person.

her mind was still only able to think about that one night, to the point she's been kind of slacking off in her studies. it was bad; recently she can't even focus by thinking about too many things at once.

she didn't even care about the ranks, or beating hao like she did two months ago. she was too busy thinking about two specific boys and it was driving her crazy.

she knew she had to focus on her studies again, it's only been a week since the results and she's skipped two lectures since she was too scared to face them.

in reality she really wasn't; she can talk to hao and hanbin, but she felt so awkward at times. believing hao was the one she kissed that night and hanbin apparently liking her. it was really awkward for her.

so thankfully, it was a friday evening. meaning she wouldn't see the two for two days. she was going to the fashion event with ricky and gyuvin tomorrow since renjun is going away for a week.

no lie, after cursing hao out in music theory, she ran out of the school to avoid him and she knew she was going to complain about this to renjun's family along with her own.

"i fucking hate you renjun you fake friend." mei fake cries as renjun's family all walk into her house.

renjun and his parents were leaving to china for a small business trip, and it was the time of year where both mei and renjun's parents were going to be extremely busy. so the families decided to have a cute little day together at mei's house.

"you'll live mei, it's literally a week." renjun chuckles as everyone made their way to the loungeroom.

"no. a week is going to be like a year. i'm going to have no friends." she dramatically slaps his arm. "you asshole."

renjun laughs, hugging the girl and patting her head. "you have two friendgroups already."

"and she has hanbin." her mother winks, handing the two students glasses of water.

"she has hao too!" mei's father laughs, "you know mei's getting a musician boyfriend?" he 'whispers' to renjun's dad.

"father." she says sternly with her arms crossed. "let's not. i don't have any of them."

"mei i'm sure someone already likes you." renjun's mother chuckles, patting her shoulder. "stop doubting yourself."

"auntie i know people are in love with me but it's definitely not them." she scoffs, sitting down next to her.

her mother rolls her eyes. "mei you can't be the top student in that university and say that. you're smart enough, don't lie."

renjun's father chuckles. "you know, i met that zhanghao's dad earlier." he says, making both renjun and mei turn to him.

"ew what?" mei scoffs, "wait sorry. i mean, did you talk?" she switches up.

"he said some shit like zhanghao is plotting on you or something." he shrugs. "like hao is being nice to you to trick you."

mei frowns. "wait what?"

"i'm sure he's lying." mei's mother says. "he doesn't look like the type to do that."

"i'm not sure.." renjun's mother sighs. "his dad was proudly talking about how if mei likes hao, she'd back down from first."

mei felt a bit annoyed. "he was actually being nice to me the other day though.."

"i say don't believe it, mei. hao wouldn't do that for a rank." renjun reassures her. "maybe he actually is warming up to you."

"i agree, his dad seems like bullshit anyway." mei's father says. "he's just saying that."

mei shrugs, genuinely a bit hurt. she doesn't know if she should believe it or not but she didn't like the idea of it.

"anyways, this is why hanbin is better in my opinion." mei's mother chuckles. "you should invite him over soon, mei."

"oh my god wait i should!" she grins, turning to renjun. "your dumbass won't be here to watch the new episode of dare with me, i'll ask hanbin."

renjun rolls his eyes. "okay but you're not going to spoil it to me are you?"

"i would never!!" she smiles innocently. "anyways, what should we do guys?"

renjun's father chuckles. "i mean it was fun talking about you and your boys but your us and your parents have to have a quick business meeting. you two stay here."

"but you just got here?" mei complains. "come on, have a rest."

"we wish we could, but that's not how it works in our businesses." her mother chuckles, standing up.

the four adults quickly got out leaving the bestfriends alone together, dumbfounded. renjun chuckles. "anyways, do you actually think hao is doing that?"

"i don't know. i mean he was acting oddly nice this week.." she sighs. "i don't want to believe it."

renjun shrugs. "i honestly doubt it, i'll text ricky about it later."

mei sighs. "but like i thought we were kind of getting along.." she looks down in disappointment. "god am i just gullible?"

renjun frowns snd shakes his head. "no. don't tell me you believe that." he scoffs. "mei you're way smarter than this."

"but like, it seems kind of true to me..." she rests her head on his shoulder. "i don't have like a massive crush on him but if he really thinks that i'm easy then he can go fuck himself."

"god, you're both bipolar." he chuckles. "why don't you go ask hanbin about that sleepover first? i'm sure he'll make you feel better."

mei smiles. "okay fine, but i swear when i see hao in school i'm asking him about it."

"okay, don't get into a fight though. i'll get jeno to do my work while i'm gone."

she snickers. "of course you are. so how's things going on with him?"

"ummm anyways!!!" he laughs. "let's have a gossip session. i found out something about youngjae and yunji yesterday–"

"tell me. right fucking now." she looks at him.

❦ ♪

— mei pov.

hanbin<3

hanbinnnn

HIIII

i have a question for u

YES GO ON

umm have you watched that kdrama
dare?? the one with that pickup line

OOO YES the new ep comes out
next week doesn't it???

yes and you know how we don't have
classes on thursdayyy

omg yes
SLEEPOVER??

YES PLEASE what ep are you on

recent one at the party where
the bitch kissed doah's brother

OMG GOOD can we watch the next ep
together plsss renjun isn't going to be
here and u were my first thought

stop it i feel honoured
yes i want to sleepover omg
i'm in my fanboy era again

STOP but okay i'm glad bc i was hoping
you would thank god thank you

EHDKDNDN OFCCCC
i'm excited now bc i have something
to tell you then actually

WHAT

i can't tell you on text or in school
yet so you have to wait 😁😁

why would u say that now

keep ur expectations up mei 💕

IM SCARED ARE YOU LIKE MOVING
COUNTRIES OR SOMETHING

NO LMAO i want to tell you a secret
that i found out recently

omg omg okay you better tell me
okay i have to go bye love you xxx

omg
omg
omg
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

❦ ♪

— hao's pov.

future dropouts
9 members

hanbin:
GUYSSSS I HAVE GOOD NEWS

ricky:
what's your good news hanbin

hanbin:
guess who's having a sleepover with
the huang mei this wednesday😘🤞

what

gyuvin:
EXCUSHER MEvvvr???;!:&:

jiwoong:
i forgot about mei and you omg
i thought it was hao

hanbin:
SHUT UP

matthew:
he's def giggling and kicking his feet

taerae:
sleepover for what...

hanbin:
watching a kdrama💕💕

gunwook:
WHEN IS IT MY TURN😭😭😭😭😭
😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔

gyuvin:
never #Ijbol

gunwook:
omg go away

gyuvin:
no x

yujin:
HANMEI.

ricky:
no

ricky:
i am livid

ricky:
hanbin and mei...... 💔💔

gunwook:
sorry i can't choose in this❤️🔺

lmaoo

gyuvin:
jelly pawp x

jiwoong:
hanbin wtf are you gonna do besides
watch a kdrama

matthew:
they're gonna kiss

hanbin:
WHAT NO

yujin:
hanbin don't Fumble

😹😹😹

ricky:
sorry but zhanghao endgame!!!!

what

hanbin:
what?

taerae:
NAHHHHHH RICKY

gyuvin:
oh RICKY

ricky:
sorry.

yujin:
Why would you say that

hanbin:
...

um

ricky:
wait

ricky:
hao dms again.

❦ ♪

ricky

renjun js texted me ummmm

about what?

saying your dad told his dad
that you were saying that if mei
likes you she'll let you be first

wait what
he told people

yeah and erm mei found out

fuck

she's a bit upset or annoyed idk

oh shit

❦ ♪

earlier that week — after
zhanghao's dad texted him (it's a flashback guys)

ricky

just lied to my dad #ijbol

did he ask about the video

yeah youngjae sent it to him and like
i made up a lie on the spot saying that
if she likes me she'll let me be first

well that's.. definitely an excuse!
are you sure you aren't actually
doing that though??

eh no that's just weird like i hate that she
keeps getting first or whatever but at the
same time it's not her fault soooooo

why are you realising this ages after
you had arguments about it

bc it's funny seeing her mad 😜 arguing
with her is a hobby

BUT LIKE U DIDN'T REALISE
THAT IT WASN'T HER FAULT??

i always knew but i don't think i'd
be like 'it's okay!' when youngjae is
literally everywhere i had to bullshit
something so he didn't snitch

OHHH UR SO SMART WHY DIDNT
U TELL ME THIS EARLIER

i know i'm smart
and bc it's just easier for people to believe

WOW OK but did you enjoy flirting
with her😉😉😉😉😉

yeah she's so funny when she's all quiet
and it was funny seeing hanbin pissed off

oh fuck i forgot about hanbin
UGH WHY DOES HE HAVE TO LIKE
HER LIKE THEY'RE CUTE AND ALL
BUT LIKE YOU AND MEI RECENTLY
💔💔💔💔

i can't do anything about it tbh like
i can see why he does

ur jealous

why would i be they're cute together

i js know u cry whenever u see their
instagram posts

no😭i mean if she wants him then wtv
but i had my chances and missed them
anyways so like

u should've kissed her when u went to
the studio BIMBO

no she mentioned feb 28 (derogatory)

OUUUUUUUUU THE CLUB...

just from that i realised it was her and
now i have the urge to hate her again

Ur both so bipolar when talking
abt each other it drives me insane

what does she say about me

she says it all to you before she
says it to me pal

fair enough
anyways i hate that date i hope she never
mentions it again 💕💕💕fuck that club

bros annoyed

I AM i don't want her to talk about it

u were traumatised weren't u

yeah #ihatemei

yeahhh sureeee not when ur always
close to kissing her 🙄🙄

how about we normalise wanting to
kiss people you hate!!

WHAT

joking i was saying it on mei's behalf

UR BOTH DRIVING ME INSANE
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE A
MATCHMAKER WHEN UR LIKE
THIS.

i don't like her what

cmon you doooo

no thank you ew

okay well let hanbin take her then

no

oh???? HAHAHAHA
anyways be careful bc you're still his
bestfriend

lmao

❦ ♪

sorry this is so short i'm #studying and there will probs be mistakes

so ummm... heyyy guys!!!! zhangmei feud maybe
hanmei sleepover though yassss

++ the hao and dad convo and the hao and ricky convo are from the same day which was before the mei and hao nice thing.. sorry idk if it makes sense i'm exhausted rn but enjoy this since i'll be slow at updating this week!!!