Author's note: This story is a work of fiction.

It's an ordinary Sunday evening in Fuzhou, China. At a small playground, an 8 year old boy is sitting on the bench while eating some steamed buns his mom had packed him from home. The little boy starts observing the playground which is pretty quiet today, looking for any sign of his friend who promised to meet him for their final playdate before he has to go to Düsseldorf, Germany tomorrow morning. He'll be staying there for a few years regarding his dad's business.

Where is she? The boy thought. He finished his steamed bun and decides to save the rest for later. He closed the small lunch box on his lap with the remaining steamed buns inside. He turns his head to his left to open his backpack which he had placed next to him. He opens the zipper and puts the lunch box back inside.

He starts to think if she had forgotten about their playdate. It's a good thing his home is quite near to the playground, or else his mother wouldn't be happy knowing if he hadn't been home before dinner time. He thought about observing the playground one last time for any sign of his friend, before going back home since his parents wouldn't want him to stay out for too long, knowing that they have to catch a flight tomorrow morning.

Just as the young boy starts to lose hope, he sees a young girl running to the playground from a far. She looked like she is around his age, and had on a baby pink dress and a white ribbon tied on her shiny black hair. The young boy couldn't help to form a small smile as he sees his friend running to his direction.

"Yangyang! I'm sorry, I'm late," says the young girl as she catches her breath after running.

"It's ok, Xiali," says the young boy, Yangyang. He pulls his backpack aside so the young girl could take a seat. Xiali takes a seat beside Yangyang, with his backpack now being placed in between them. Yangyang opens the zipper of his backpack and takes out his lunchbox with the steamed buns.

"Would you like some buns?" ask Yangyang as he hands the lunch box to Xiali.

Xiali smiles at him before taking one bun from the lunch box. "Sure. Thank you, Yangyang."

Xiali starts eating the bun as Yangyang stares at his friend with a small smile. There was something different about her today. In his mind, she looked like a princess in the baby pink dress.

"I like your dress. It's very nice," says Yangyang as he stares at Xiali who had just finished eating her steamed bun.

"Thank you. My mom made me wear this all morning," says Xiali before she turns her head down to see the dress she's wearing. Even though the dress looks really pretty, yet she didn't feel so good wearing it at the moment. "She got married to Uncle this morning. Now we are officially living together."

Yangyang's small smile soon fades after he heard what Xiali had just said. He didn't know Xiali's mom was getting married today. He did heard from Xiali that her mom had been seeing a guy she referred to as "Uncle" for the last 6 months, but he didn't know today would be their wedding day.

Xiali continues to stare down, avoiding any eye contact with Yangyang. Just when Yangyang was about to cheer her up, she turns her head up to face Yangyang.

"I wish I could go with you to Germany," says Xiali with a sad tone. "But I don't think my mom would allow me," she turns her head down. "I love my mom, but I don't know who Uncle is. Even though I've seen him everyday since we started living together two months ago, yet I still feel as if he's a stranger."

Yangyang turns his head down at the thought of him not being able to see his best friend anymore after he goes to Düsseldorf. He really wish he could take her along with him. He didn't want his best friend to be alone, especially knowing that she doesn't have any other friends besides him. After a moment of silence, Yangyang gets up from the bench and turns to look at Xiali who is still sitting while staring at the ground. He reach out his hand to her, making her look up to him.

"Xiali, I want to return to Fuzhou and look for you when I grow up," says Yangyang. "After that, we can play together again."

Xiali stares into Yangyang's eyes as she slowly starts to form a small smile. "Really? You promise?"

"Yes. I promise to return to Fuzhou and look for you when I grow up," says Yangyang.

Hearing those words made Xiali feel happy inside. She takes Yangyang's hand and gets up from the bench.

"Then I will wait for you to come back," says Xiali as she hold Yangyang's hand.

Yangyang's smile grew wider as he stare into Xiali's dark brown eyes with happiness. "Ok. Now, let's make this the best playdate we ever had," says Yangyang. "Tag! You're it!" says Yangyang as he runs off laughting while waiting to be chase by Xiali.

"Hey! That's too fast. I'll get you!" says Xiali as she runs to chase Yangyang around the playground. They laugh their hearts out as they enjoy their playdate. The two kids continue to play in the playground for about an hour, before they realize that it's getting late, which means it's time to go home.

"Ah, it's almost dark now. Let's go home before our parents look for us," says Yangyang. "Can I walk you home, Xiali?"

"No thanks. It's almost late now. I don't want to get you in trouble with your parents," says Xiali.

"It's ok. My home is quite near to your home. I'm sure I can get back home in time," says Yangyang.

"Ok, Yangyang," says Xiali as she smiles at Yangyang.

The two kids walk together to leave the playground, which is quite near to both of their homes. After 10 minutes of walking, the two kids arrive at Xiali's house.

"Here we are," says Xiali as the two stands in front of the front door.

"Well, I gotta go now. Goodbye, Xiali!" says Yangyang as he waves at his friend.

"Goodbye, Yangyang!" says Xiali as she watches her best friend walking away from her sight.

Xiali turns her head to face the front door. She knocks on the door 3 times. Not long, the door opens revealing a woman wearing a red dress inside the house.

"Xiali! Come in, dinner is ready," says the woman as Xiali walks inside the house. She sees a man with a white shirt sitting at the dinner table with a young boy who looks around her age, who is his son. The young boy glance at her as she glance down to the ground. She never liked getting near strangers in the first place. It just makes her feel awkward. The woman in the red dress walks up to the dining table as she sees Xiali standing in silence.

"Xiali, go get yourself clean up first before dinner. Look at you, you're a mess," says the woman.

"Ok, Mom," says Xiali before she walks upstairs to clean herself up.

12 years later....

Shanghai, China...

Xiali's POV...

I check my backpack one last time to see if I have forgotten to bring anything.

Perfect. I thought at the sight of everything I needed is inside the bag.

I close the zipper before walking downstairs. I see that my mom is the only person downstairs, since my step-father and step-brother had left earlier. I say goodbye to my mom as I saw her making porridge in the kitchen. I walk outside the house and start walking to college.

Ming University...

I'm standing near my locker as I pull out a book that I would need for class, when I see a young girl with red hair tied in a high ponytail running to my direction. She has an excited look on her face that made me wonder.

"Xiali! Good morning," says the girl with the red hair, Ningning.

"Good morning, Ningning! So what's so exciting about today?" I ask as I give her a small smile.

"Well, have you seen the new transferred student?" says Ningning with excitement.

"No," I say before closing my locker. I didn't even know there's actually someone new around here. In a weird way, somehow hearing that there's a new transferred student gives me a vision of Yangyang in my mind. I start to wonder if the transferred student was actually him, yet a part of me kind of doubt that. Even though he promised me that he would return to Fuzhou one day, I never really got the chance to tell him that I've moved to Shanghai a few years after he went to Düsseldorf. It was all so unexpected since my step-dad got a new job at the time and we had to move to Shanghai. I feel bad for him, and I still miss him so much.

"Well, you gotta meet him at some point. He looks so cool, I saw a group of girls staring at him from a distance," says Ningning with dreamy eyes. "I actually bump into him this morning. His name is Ten Lee. He's from Bangkok, Thailand."

My small smile slowly fades away as I hear that it wasn't Yangyang. Well, I guess I wasn't wrong when I doubt that it could be him.

"Well, I haven't even seen this guy. Maybe I'll eventually catch a glimpse of him in class," I say to Ningning as we continue to walk through the hallway. I was never interested in meeting new people since I'm not good at it. That pretty much explains why I don't have much friends.

"He's not as hot as me though!"

I turn my head to see a familiar guy who had been following us this whole time.

"Morning, Junhui!" says Ningning.

"Hello pretty girls! And you, my little Xiali," says Junhui as he gives me a flirty wink. "So how about you go out with me this Saturday?"

I roll my eyes at the sight of this player. This guy really doesn't get tired of trying to ask me out. "In your dreams, Junhui. I'm busy," I say before I drag Ningning away from the sight of Junhui.

At class....

I sit next to Ningning during class. I was pretty much focus on today's class, when I realize that a guy had been standing next to me, asking if someone is sitting on the empty seat beside me.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

I turn my head to look at the guy standing next to me. He had on a white t-shirt with a denim jacket, complete with black jeans and some white sneakers. I've never seen him around here before. Maybe he's the new transferred student Ningning was talking about earlier.

"Nope," I say as I welcome him to take a seat next to me. I glance at Ningning and see that she is smiling at the guy.

"Ten! I guess you've found your way to class," says Ningning as she puts her arm around my shoulders.

"I'll say...this place is pretty big," says Ten as he lets out a small chuckle. His eyes then stares into me with as he smiles. "And you...what's your name?"

"My name is Zhang Xia Li!" I say with a small smile.

"Xiali...it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ten Lee. I just transferred here from Bangkok, Thailand," says Ten as he gives me a bright smile.

"Yes, Ningning told me about you this morning. It's nice to meet you," I say as I smile back at him.

A few hours later, our first class eventually comes to an end, and the three of us decides to have lunch together at the cafeteria.

I eventually get to know Ten a lot more. He's actually pretty funny and humble, I think he's a cool person.

After college...

I walk out of the college building and wave goodbye at Ningning and Ten. I look at the time on my phone.

"What the hell? I'm almost late!" I say to myself as I rush to a small dumpling shop not far from here for my first shift. Today's gonna be my first day at my new part time job, and hopefully everything's gonna be ok.

At Dumpling's Express...

8 PM...

"Thank you," I say as I hand the lady her takeaway dumplings.

I look at the time on my phone and see that my shift has come to an end. I put my phone in my pocket and start getting ready to go home.

I walk out of the dumpling shop and start heading home. The dumpling shop isn't too far from my home, but it's not as near as the bubble tea shop I used to work at before moving here. I should really start pumping air into my bicycle tire so I could save so much more time.

As I continue to walk on the street, a familiar dark figure suddenly appears from the left corner. The man was wearing a black mask and some sunglasses. He stood in silence as I stop walking at sight of him. I was ready to turn back at this moment.

How does he keep finding me?

I thought to myself as I turn back, hoping he won't chase me like some villains in movies.

My steps became faster as I refuse to turn back to see if the guy was following me. As far I hate to say this, I had a feeling he's following me now that he knows I'm running away. So far, this is the first time I ever stood close enough with that guy to see him quite clearly, and honestly I regret it. I should have been more careful and focus on my surroundings. I didn't even know he was gonna appear from the corner. Now I have to find another job so I can avoid him for the 3rd time. I'm in trouble.

I could feel myself starting to sweat as my heart starts beating faster at the thought of this creep still following me from behind, when I saw a black car suddenly stop beside me. The car door suddenly opens revealing a familiar guy inside. Wait? How in the world did he find me?

"Hop in!"

To be continue...