❦ ♪

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO : a scene

"hao fumbled."

❦ ♪

— mei pov.
- 3rd person.

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4) : 2 messages from renjun

renjun's flight took off an hour ago and a bored mei was laying down with papers scattered across her bed. most of the papers were song lyrics or notes for uni projects while the others were just some literature or music theory notes.

why the fuck did mei decide to take three majors? she was already smart and she found it easy but she didn't realise how stressful it would be here, sometimes she wishes she could move back to her old university.

but obviously if she was never kicked out here for punching a horrible person, she wouldn't have met her two new friendgroups that completely changed her (especially hanbin).

she sighs, puts her head down and closes her eyes as she silently listens to the faint music from her playlist playing in the background exhaustedly.

"yuta, get ready at five!" she hears her mother call. she presses her phone screen and it was only quarter past four. and knowing she takes the same amount of time yuta does to get ready, she didn't move at all.

her parents were already getting ready for the fashion event that was like a fancy evening for hers and ricky's family's businesses, and she was yet to get ready.

she sighs again as she gets up, realising she actually might do some other things before she gets ready. it started in four hours and thankfully, the people who would normally help dress her were on a break so she could choose what she wanted to wear.

but since renjun was on a silly plane, she needed some other company as she was choosing her outfit. a smile crept up on her face as she thought about hanbin and she quickly picked up her phone.

she presses the facetime button and grins when he answers straight away. "mei are you okay?" he asks with a low, tired voice.

"shit sorry did i wake you up?" she says in panic. "it's four in the afternoon, hanbin."

he chuckles. "no i woke up like five minutes ago, i was going to text you but you already called me." he starts to play with his hair. "but what do you need?"

"well you know how ricky, gyuvin and i are going to that fashion event thing?" she says, getting up from her bed and placing her phone on her desk.

he nods. "yeah, what about it?"

"well um i need your help with my outfit." this was a fucking lie cause mei knows full well she planned her fit a month ago, but she still needed an excuse to talk to him.

"oohh!" he smiles. "sure, i'd love to help."

mei smiles back and gets up from her bed, "i'll take you to my walk in closet." she says, taking her phone to the other room in excitement.

"i swear i get lost everytime i'm in there." he laughs. "it's bigger than my bedroom."

"hanbin you've been inside once.." she says, closing the door to her (indeed extremely fucking massive) closet. "and i still haven't been to your house properly so... i can't compare."

"it actually is. and you can come one day, i wouldn't mind. my parents still love you anyway."

mei chuckles, "they're so nice to me."

"they think you're like perfect or something." he says, "i mean you are perfect but you know.."

mei ignores what he said. "haha anyways, i actually have to get ready." she sets the phone down and she picks up some black dresses. "i need three outfits. one for the opening event, one for the photoshoot and one for the ball inside." she explains.

"that's boujee." he laughs. "aren't you going to match with ricky?"

"yeah since we're the children of the company owners, we have to." she sighs. "we have to wear things from their brand too."

hanbin hums. "show me the choices, i'm not busy today anyway."

mei nods. "okay these are the dresses for the ball, which is the third part of the event so it's a black and silver or gold kind of dresscode."

he laughs. "that's so ricky's style. but, you're more into lighter clothes aren't you?"

mei turns around from getting a hanger. "how'd you know? is it that obvious?" she laughs, though almost anyone could tell.

"mei i don't think i've ever seen you not wear something designer and light coloured unless it was for a party or something." he says.

"oh." she snorts. "i didn't realise everyone could tell." she says with the whole closet behind her consisting of whites, beiges and light greys. bit silly.

she shows him the two options of dresses. "okay so this one," she puts up a (lowkey basic) long, black dress with a slight slit in it. "it's from ricky's  family's brand, rolemodel."

"that's pretty." hanbin smiles. "you'd look nice in that." mei turns away from the camera to avoid having a little giggle. "you know, i never really noticed how many brands your parents owned, what's the fashion one called?"

mei sets the dress aside and sighs. "it's a new one, the brand is starting today, hence the event. it's literally my name." she scoffs.

"mirae?? mei??" he asks, the boy sitting up as he lifts his hoodie up. "they named it after you?"

she hums. "it's in english. it's called future, they didn't even tell me about this until like last week." (p.s. mirae is 'future' in korean xo)

"awh, i might start buying from there then." he says. "you should design some clothes too, you like that kind of thing don't you?" hanbin was clearly just mentioning how much he knows about her to make her happy, and it was definitely working.

she grins. "yeah, but i thought it was an ordinary event with big brands but now apparently it's a collaboration with the huang and shen fashion chain." she sighs. "i think they'll let me if i have some spare time from music."

"why didn't you take it in uni?" he asks, "you always talk about fashion but you never take it in school."

mei shrugs. "i was more into music so.." she chuckles. "anyway, let me get the other dress." she says to avoid the talk of her little school life.

"sorry, show the other option." he ruffles his hair. it was very hard for her to not get distracted by his post sleep look because that man looked too good.

she smiles, lifting another dress. it was a shorter black corset dress with silver rhinestones on it's straps and it was way fancier than the first one. "this is also from ricky's brand." she says.

"hm." hanbin stares closely at his phone. don't even ask if he was looking at her or the dress because that's a stupid question. "are you going to try them on for me?"

mei snickers. "i would but it's a surprise. so just go based off of what you think it better."

"okay wear the one you're holding, i think it would look better on you." he says. "the other once is nice too but it's too basic for you."

mei internally screams, since she intentionally picked out a basic dress from ricky's family's brand so she could see if he had good choices with clothing or not. so thankfully, he did meaning #hanbingreenflag.

"okayy thank you." she grins. "i mean i already planned what i was going to wear for the first and second part if i'm honest." she admits. "but i need your opinions on it eitherway."

he chuckles. "i figured. i know you always plan some outfit like ages before the event."

mei jokingly scoffs. "acting like you actually know everything about me."

"what's wrong with wanting to?"

"shut up." she clears her throat. "anyways, are you sure i'll look fine in that?" she asks, earning a enthusiastic nod.

"i'll try it on later since i want to do my hair first." she says. "now my outfits are sorted, i'll just do this." she sits on her vanity and takes her hair curler out.

"can you stay on call with me?" he asks. "i've rarely seen you with curled hair."

mei laughs. "why not? i needed someone other than renjun to call while i get ready."

hanbin smiles, "okay, i'll probably stay in bed for a bit longer so if i seem quiet or tired i'm sorry."

"no worries, i have to complain about something actually." she sighs. "and it's about hao."

hanbin frowns. "what's wrong?"

"well, i just got told some shit about him and now i don't know if i should trust him or not.." she shrugs. "he's being nice to me recently but apparently he's just being fake."

"what did you hear?" he was still frowning. "hao wouldn't be fake.."

she begins to comb her hair. "well he was beginning to be nice to me recently, then he keeps switching up." she starts, hanbin nodding along. "but according to his dad it's only to make me like him so i can let him be first, which is fucking ridiculous."

hanbin hums, his eyebrows furrowed. "i'm sure that his dad is lying, hao wouldn't do that to someone at all."

"well it kind of makes sense don't you think?" she says, making hanbin shake his head. "literally two months ago he hated me but now that we're both first he wants to be nice.."

hanbin shakes his head again. "trust me it's not like that, hao is just easy to get warm with and it's coincidental that it was happening at the same time of the monthly evaluations."

mei scoffs. "i doubt it. he was so bitchy to me when i first joined."

"you were also bitchy when you first joined." he laughs. "you can't just believe what his dad says, you know what he's like."

"maybe that's because in my old uni i was surrounded by bratty girls all of the time, now i'm surrounded by bratty boys who fucking decide to humble me." she says. "but no i don't know much of his dad."

"oh. well i can't say much to you but just know he's not a good person, if you want more you should just talk to hao." hanbin chuckles. "it was weird to see hao act like that, though. he's the cutest and nicest person i know."

"how is that guy cute?? he looks cute in his photos but that's it. his personality is so fucking annoying." she rolls her eyes.

a problem with mei is that this bitch clearly can't make her mind on if she wants him or not. like do you think he's hot or annoying???? (a/n. i love her still xo)

he laughs at her little insults towards his bestfriend. "i've been best friends with him for a long time now, you just met him with the wrong impression."

mei rolls her eyes. "i hate him." the girl hisses as she accidentally burns her finger from the hair curler. "oh my fucking god."

"what did you just do?" hanbin laughs. "did you burn yourself?" he asks, making mei nod in pain.

"i can't believe it." she sighs. "now i'm gonna have an ugly burn on my finger."

"aww do you want me to come kiss it for you?" he teases, making mocking smooching sounds.

"you can come kiss me on the lips instead." she says jokingly without even thinking.

"what did you say?" he asks with a snort.

"i said I HATE HAO." she coughs. for the love of god i need to go into a cage before talking to attractive men. she scolds herself in her head.

"don't lie mei, you're already good friends." he acts like he didn't completely hear what the girl said and decided to not mention it (he'd be giggling about it later).

"well we hate each other." she says, letting her hair fall. "a lot, no matter how much we could get along there's always some hatred because of school there."

"but people ship you two." he says. "there's obviously going to be some sort of rivalry between you in grades somehow."

"i'd rather be shipped with you than hao." she scoffs, tying some of her non-curled hair back.

"what did you say?" hanbin asks, his head popping up onto the camera again with a smile on his face.

"i said i'll send you my outfit later." mei panics and ends the facetime call. she slams the phone down and stares at herself in the mirror.

"fucking hell why did i just say that.?" she cups her face in her hands in shame. "god that's so embarrassing i want to kill myself."

"this is so bad. i can't even focus curling my hair when on call with him. i can't even stop staring at him. oh my god what's wrong with me?" she fake cries at her stupid actions. and yes, she did burn her finger because she was too focused staring at him and listening to him talk.

"mei?" she then hears her mother's voice as the woman knocks on her door, even though it was wide open. "we have to get there early, so you should get ready now."

"yeah i will, i just need some advice real quick." she says as her mother walks towards her and chuckles. "do you want me to curl your hair?" she asks.

mei nods. "please, i think i'm going crazy."

"is it those boys again?" her mother laughs, taking mei's hair into her hands. "are you falling in love again?"

mei shrugs. "i can't tell if i have platonic or romantic feelings or if i just find them attractive."

she was weirded out by herself, she wasn't even all that focused on them two until recently, and she would catch herself staring at either of them. but hanbin was obviously the one she talked to more, and she was supposed to be mad at hao right now.

"oh, mei. you're really getting stuck between two guys?" she laughs. "hm, well. tell me about them. even though i highly recommend you go for hanbin, i actually want to hear about that zhanghao guy first."

mei sighs deeply. "i don't even like that hao guy, he's just hot and makes me nervous. and i think i've kissed him before.."

"you what???" her mother stops curling her hair, making eye contact with her daughter in the huge mirror. "you kissed him already."

"you know that time i came home late from that club and someone walked me home? i think that was him." mei admits. "don't kill me."

mei's mother pauses for a bit, biting her lip as she thought about that night. "the day you broke up with youngjae?" she asks, making mei nod.  "well i don't remember someone walking you home, but you were horribly vomiting in your bathroom."

mei rolls her eyes. "right okay, but still. i still feel something around him because of that night."

her mother hums. "elaborate on this, tell me every single little thing you feel about him. then we can both decide if you want hanbin, hao or both."

mei rolls her eyes. "if it's both then i'm moving back to the girls uni. but then father would have to buy hanbin a car and pay for hao's university fees."

❦ ♪

timeskip: eight pm.

mei FANCLUB
10+ members

*image attached*
do we like the fit lads

ricky:
girl mine is better

ricky:
*image attached*

Ok (true)

gyuvin:
Smash

jiwoong:
don't make mei a cougar

gyuvin:
i meant ricky but Ok

gyuvin:
mei is pretty too ig.

go kys❤️

gyuvin:
stop airing my messages first

sorry i forgot bff

gyuvin:
OPEN IT SLAGGGG

ok wait in a bit xx

jaemin:
Mei i am on one knee

I DO💍💍💍

xiaojun:
how about we back off ❌❌❌

jaemin:
that's my girl go fuck yourself

xiaojun:
i'm literally the perfect man for her

renjun:
back off MY GIRL

hanbin:
MEI🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐🛐

hanbin:
hey LOL

hanbin:
ur soooooo

renjun:
bros down bad

yujin:
No shame????😹😹😹

hanbin:
mei tjat outfit hsa me giglging and
kcickign my feet oh ym fshshddn

hanbin:
i would clean your room for you
anyday for FREE hey❤️❤️❤️❤️

yangyang:
mei has maids bimbo

hanbin:
hire me as ur servant i will do
ANYTHING FOR U PLS😭😭
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

ur so cute

hao:
wtaf is this chat x

yujin:
IJBOL

renjun:
...

taerae:
mei stop being obsessed with hanbin
and hao come hang out w us again

matthew:
did u js say mei obsessed w hanbin..

gunwook:
LMFAOOOOOOO

taerae:
sorry i meant the other way round

hao:
ijbol

ricky:
but mei ur dress is GIVING

ricky:
from the rolemodel brand❤️

*image attached*
this is the dress when i tried it on
earlier it's actually so cute for the ball

hanbin:
WXCBEODTBFHFBSMXBWUR

taerae:
GIRL U LOOK STUNNING

haknyeon:
mei ur sooo fine (send me some money)

GOOD FUCKING BYE I KNEW YOU
ONLY WANTED ME FOR MY STASHES

haknyeon:
nooo bff i would never!!!

it's okay hak i'll buy you the world

donghyuck:
OKAYYYYY MA WE SEE U

donghyuck:
mei i will do absolutely anything for u

matthew:
MEI UR SO FINEEE

THANK YEW GUYS 😁😁😁
you'll see me fake smiling at cameras in
a slutty outfit on twitter soon #nepotism

jaemin:
show us the fit no balls

okay but no one fall in love with me plz
i am in love with someone already

hanbin:
IT HAS TO BE ME

😊😊😊😊 anyways
*image attached*
so this is the slutty outfit!!!

jeno:
U LOOK FIREEE OMFG

jeno:
hao fumbled...

hao:
Be fr

renjun:
LMFAOOOOOO

yujin:
u tell em jeno

jeno:
hao L

chenle:
that is the best outfit i've ever seen
you wear oh my god??

renjun:
MEI MAKE ME UR SLUT

U ALREADY ARE WDYM

jeno:
🤨❓

renjun:
sorry

jiwoong:
WTF???

jiwoong:
but mei u are looking so good in all
of ur outfits

ricky:
what happened to men's rights why was
no one complimenting my outfits... are u
all leaving our history behind for a Woman

cause i'm hotter than you rickeh
don't talk to me like that i brought ur alchy

ricky:
WOOOO NVM GUYS I LOVE WOMEN

that's what i THOUGHT

jeno:
MEI I JUST OPENED THE PICTURE
YOU LOOK SO GOOD WTF??

THANK U JENO I LOVE U

renjun:
🤨

Nvm sorry

yangyang:
hi hao

yangyang:
top fumbler

hao:
what did i do

hanbin:
nothing guys leave him alone he didn't
even fumble mei they were never a thing

hao:
fr

yujin:
Hmmmm.

gunwook:
Hmmmm.

gyuvin:
Hmmmm.

ricky:
Hmmmm.

jiwoong:
??????

❦ ♪

gyu<3

girl answer me

HI SORRY
you know i have too many hoes on my
insta dms😋😋😋

Girl.
anyways i didn't tell you but ummm
i'm not coming with you guys today
to the event anymore

WHAT WHY
GYUVIN WHY WOULD U DO TJIS
K WSS GOING TO GIVE U AN OUTFIT

something came up totes😜
but ricky said he'll invite another one
of our friends anyway so it's okay!

bitch what if it's hao

then you kiss him or something idk

Goodbye.

❦ ♪

timeskip: nine pm.

it was finally the beginning of the event. two huge fashion and cosmetic brands from china are opening in south korea, along with the 'future'  business opening too.

mei came early to prepare, meaning the first event of her greeting people who were waiting outside until they could walk in during her photoshoot, and she was also joined with ricky, which made the cameras go fucking crazy.

her first event outfit was from her parent's own brand, she wore a khaki green miniskirt and a black long sleeved corset. then it was finished with her two month old doc martens and some excessive jewellery. (she has never worn the docs until today, her feet were dying)

but the first event only lasted like ten minutes, meaning she had to get into her photoshoot outfit (the one she called slutty) yet she spent most of her waiting time hiding in the bathroom telling herself she was the best girl alive. once she finished checking herself out for the millionth time today, she skips outside.

she was excited. getting to meet some stylists and other new people come see the opening evening was so fun to experience. she was so excited for it that she didn't even know where ricky was, even though they were with each other like half an hour ago.

she already heard the hundreds of cameras snapping pictures and crowds increasing outside, but she went to a private room to find ricky instead since her parents were just giving a big silly speech outside.

it was the photoshoot now, which meant her and ricky had matching full black outfits. once she opens the door, she sees ricky sat down on his phone. "rickkkkkyy!!" she squeals, closing the door behind her and walking over to him. "have you gotten changed yet?"

he looks up at her with wide eyes. "mei–" he whispers. "don't come in here, go to the other private room." he says in alert as he looks behind her.

she scrunches her eyebrows. "bro what? why?" she notices ricky eyeing someone. "did you invite your secret girlfriend or someth–" she quickly turns around.

she stops talking as she makes eye contact with the guy she was complaining about like an hour ago. so she was right; ricky did invite hao when gyuvin couldn't come.

she was still pretty pissed off at him, and even if hao's dad was lying, she was still annoyed by the fact it could be happening to her.

but she had to be real and she thought to herself that he looked extra fine today with his outfit.  but nonetheless, she still remembered why she was mad at him.

"um. ricky, why is he here?" she turns back around and points at hao who was now walking towards them. "so gyuvin couldn't come.. but why invite this guy?"

"wow. this guy?" hao scoffs. "forgetting i have a name is weird, i thought you always thought about me."

mei rolls her eyes and ignores him, "i'm going now, bye." she turns around, avoiding eye contact with hao and walking out before somewhat slamming the door.

she sighs and she bumps into yuta. "mei, the photoshoot event is starting, are you ready?"

she nods. "yeah where do i need to go again?"

"just outside on the left, you should get ricky too." he says. "it'll only last twenty minutes anyway." yuta pats her girl's head. "you'll do great."

mei smiles and high fives the boy. "okay, thanks." she walks outside, not wanting to get back inside to meet ricky for obvious reasons.

she steps outside and she was immediately met by a famous stylist she's been following on instagram (and undeniably a huge fan for). "hi mei!" the girl waves.

"you're.. hanni aren't you? seo yuna's stylist?" mei asks in shock. (if you are an og and remember when divulge was published, then you would know who seo yuna is xoxo)

she nods. "yepp that's me!! i really love your outfits, i used to take inspiration from them a while ago too."

"that's so cute thank you!!" mei grins, the two girls catching a lot of attention from the cameras. "are you here to help design for the company orr..?"

"yeah i signed up for designing, but i heard you liked designing too. we could do it together one day!!" hanni smiles, earning a nod from mei.

"that would be amazing." mei chuckles, leading the girl to the photoshoot area. "do you want to take some photos?"

hanni nods. "of course!!" she giggles as the two girls stand together and do some cute lil poses for the millions of cameras that were pointing at their direction.

then that is when a chaotic twenty minutes of mei  posing with strangers and her family started happening. mei did feel really confident today after getting some validation from hanbin.

her parents watched her with smiles and turned around to ricky's parents to have a little chat. and finally, ricky walked out as screams were heard, making mei turn to the boy who walked towards her.

"isn't that the outfit hanbin drooled over?" ricky snorts as he stands next to the girl. "

"shut up." mei says back, smiling at the other cameras that took the two's duo pictures. she hoped the second part wouldn't last long since her feet were killing.

❦ ♪

timeskip: the third event – the ball.

mei was wearing the dress hanbin chose and some silver heels from her own brand. her hair was styled up into a half up half down with a claw clip. if she wasn't forced to be in the hall straight away, she would definitely be admiring herself in the mirror again.

she spent the first half an hour with her parents, meeting new families and some other business or fashion brand owners in the country. she found it pretty boring, so she hoped she could leave to go somewhere else soon.

she taps her mother. "can i go with ricky? he's alone." she whispers, pointing at a lonely looking ricky sat near the centre of the hall, drinking something.

her mother nods with a smile. "have fun." she kisses her daughter's cheek before mei walked away. it felt nice to her that she was experiencing a boujee event instead of being sat in her room failing to study.

she soon reaches the boy who looked up at her with a smile. "i love that dress." he compliments the girl.

"right?? hanbin chose it." she giggles.

ricky raises a brow. "woah, what's with all your hanbin talk?" he asks, putting his glass down. "do you like him or something?"

mei gulps. "god, no. you know i'm not interested in anyone right now."

"the love of your life is literally right behind you." ricky snickers, making mei turn around to meet eyes with hao again.

she looks at ricky with no expression. she thought she could go this whole night without having to speak to the guy again, and she didn't want to, even as much as she did.

"are you really mad at me over something my dad said?" hao scoffs, making mei turn around to him. "you want to blame me for something my dad did?"

"but you said it didn't you?" mei looks at him, still with no expression. "i'm not stupid, but to be honest i may have been thinking you'd warm up to me."

hao sighs in stress. "mei i swear to god i didn't mean that, and i wouldn't even go that far. i was genuinely being nice to you."

"fuck off." mei scoffs, turning away from hao. "don't bullshit me now." she obviously didn't believe a word he was saying, and she didn't want to hear any more.

"well damn if you're so mad go back to hanbin." hao scoffs back before rolling his eyes. "always knew you were still a bitch."

mei turns back to him in offence. "what the fuck does he have to do with this?"

hao laughs. "nothing, but honestly. just go back to him, if you are really mad that you might like me or something then go back to him."

"mate i will." she glares. "i didn't even like you. don't expect anything out of me, even if it is about ranks."

the two had some intense eye contact and they were quite literally in the centre of the hall, meaning it already caught some attention around them.

"please don't make a scene." ricky sighs, pulling the two away from each other. "if you carry on i'm actually going to kick you both out, calm the fuck down."

"it's his fault that he's a lying bastard." mei argues. "i'm not scared to carry this on you know."

"carry it on then, make yourself look stupid in front of everyone." hao sneers, keeping their intense eye contact. "you're getting mad at me for something i didn't do."

"but you still fucking said it, and even if you 'didn't mean it' it would still make sense that you are trying to flirt with me for the sake of your rank." her temper was so short she could've shouted, but obviously. not in the middle of a fancy ball organised by her family.

"god do you actually think i'd want to trick you? i'm not all that pissed about my ranks." he says in disbelief.

"well you clearly are, you'd throw a hissy fit whenever i'd be first. do your parents really not give a shit about you like that?" she argues, and she does know she shouldn't have said that, but she was too riled up to start anything.

"ezcuse me?!" he scoffs aloud, causing the people around them to stop their actions and stop talking. "what the fuck did you just say to me?" his voice going loud.

"oh my god i swear i'd rather watch you two make out in my face than be petty cunts." ricky groans, "do you not realise how stupid you both sound?"

"please he probably only came here to try make me like him again or something." mei complains. "he's so stupid, clearly doesn't care about anything else but his stupid fucking rank."

"you can't be talking." hao laughs in her face. "you were always so egotistical, but now that i look like i care about my grades and being nice to you i'm trying to trick you?"

the hall was soon quiet as the two's voices were taking up the whole centre, and they definitely were the centre of attention at the moment.

ricky pulls mei away from the boy. "okay, i've heard enough. you're both mad for no reason." he says as he notices almost every single person looking at them.

❦ ♪

ummmmmmm Hi