At Retro Red Bar....

6:30 PM...

Xiali's POV...

"I'll have a bottle of your best white wine," says a middle age man as he keeps his eyes on the menu.

"One bottle of white wine. Anything else?" I ask.

"No. That's all. Thank you," says the man as he returns the menu to me.

I grab the menu and walks back to get the bottle of white wine for the man. I grab a glass and a bottle of our best selling white wine. I walk back and pour the glass of white wine for the man. I'm lucky enough that tonight I didn't meet a lot of middle aged men trying to hit on me with corny pick-up lines, which was annoying enough.

"Thank you," says the man.

"You're welcome," I answer before walking back to the bar kitchen.

"French fries!" says the chef as he hands me a plate of french fries which a customer had ordered.

I almost forgot that a lady had actually ordered french fries. Maybe I've been thinking too much about all the things that's been happening. Sometimes I even think that there are some things I shouldn't be thinking about too much. I already have enough stress thinking about my mom and the stalkers. For some reasons, I still can't get over about what happened between me and Yangyang. Till now I'm still avoiding him. The last time we even had little interactions was at my mom's funeral, in which I avoided him most of the time, and I'm guessing he knew it. Sometimes I think that maybe I was the one who expected too much, by that I feel like I ruined our friendship due to my expectation. The more I avoid him, the more I start to miss him more. Damn.

I walk outside the kitchen and sees the lady who had ordered the fries is now sitting with her friend. I approach her and hands her the fries.

"Enjoy!" I say with a smile. I was about to walk away when I hear a voice calling me.

"Wait! Miss!"

I turn around and see her friend looking at me. Turns out I've recgonize her. I think she's the lady who was it Winwin back then.

"I would like a glass of red wine," says Yiren with a snobbish look.

"One glass of wine. Would you like anything else?" I ask.

"Nope," says Yiren as she has her vision on her phone.

Hearing that, I walk back to prepare her glass of wine.

At the boys' house...

7:10 PM...

Kun, Xiaojun, and Yangyang are busy cleaning up after dinner. Kun is cleaning the table, Xiaojun is cleaning the kitchen table, while Yangyang is washing the dishes.

Yangyang's POV...

I put the dishes back in the small counter beside me. I wash my hands and dry it with a small towel. I saw Kun had finished cleaning the table and is now on his laptop.

"Where's Xiaojun ge?" I ask Kun who looks busy with his laptop.

"He's taking a shower," Kun says, who's vision continues to focus on his laptop.

Being the person who is easily bored most of the time, I walk upstairs to enter my room. I slam the door shut before sitting down on the chair near my desk. Since there's nothing interesting going on, I might as well just sleep earlier tonight after taking a shower. Yet.....I wasn't gonna do that right away, at least not before checking my phone.

I check my phone to see that I have no notifications. Xiali's been avoiding my calls and texts since she saw what happened between me and Karina. How I felt like an idiot now knowing that I can't make her believe that it's not like what she thought. But on the other side, I can't blame her for thinking of it that way. It's normal for a woman to express feelings of disappointment when she sees her guy getting too close with another woman. Maybe it's a sign that she was afraid to lose me and thought that my feelings were not sincere. So it kinda make sense for her to be disappointed when she saw me with Karina. After all, I was brave enough to kiss her, yet didn't have the courage to be clear of my feelings to her. She probably already hates me now and doesn't even want to talk to me. Yet, I'm not gonna give up on my childhood friend just like that. I'm not gonna lose her again when I did before. I'm gonna make her believe in me again.

Thinking about it, I let out a sigh. It's gonna take a while for me to crawl back into her life since she's not gonna make it easy for me. I couldn't blame her. The poor girl had been through hard times. Luckily Ten is there to comfort her, though it kinda makes me jealous to see Xiali spending more time with Ten these days.

I won't deny that I'm jealous, just like I won't deny my feelings for Xiali. When I get her back, I no longer want to be her friend, because I'm gonna make her my girlfriend.

Zhang Xiali... I thought of her name.

You're messing with my heart. Please, just pick up my call

8:20 PM...

At Lamian House....

"Here is your order," says the waitress with a flirty tone as she puts two bowls of lamian on the table.

"Thank you," says Ten to the waitress, in which she smiles at Ten before walking away.

Ten turns his head to see Xiali who's eyes are busy looking at the waitress from a distance. She has an upset look on her face, making Ten wonder. Could she be jealous or is there something else?

Ten lets out a small smirk. "Hey! Zhang Xia Li!" Ten says as he moves his hands in front of her eyes, trying to get her attention. "You ok?"

Xiali's vision moves to Ten as she realize that he had been trying to get her attention. "Oh, what?" Xiali ask.

"It's dinner time. And you were too busy staring at a random waitress?" Ten ask. "I wasn't flirting at her though." Ten smirks.

Xiali lets out a sigh. "Sorry, I spaced out," Xiali says as she frowns and looks down at the ground.

Ten starts staring at Xiali's expression who doesn't look happy at the moment. "Are you ok?" Ten ask.

Xiali turns her head slowly to face Ten. "I just wondered what did those stalkers want from me that they had to attacked my mom," Xiali says. "I'm not even attractive or interesting or whatever. So what would they want from me?"

Ten stares at Xiali with a surprised and puzzled look on his face. It surprised him to know that Xiali didn't see herself as an attractive person. "Why would you think that you're not attractive? You're adorable, Xiali," Ten says.

"There are a lot of women who are prettier than me, so why would the stalkers want to get me?" Xiali says with a depressed tone. "They're just giving me more trouble."

Ten puts his chopsticks on his bowl of lamian before he turns his head to face her. "That's because they saw something special in you that maybe you haven't figure out yourself," Ten says with a small smile. "Or do you want me to show you just how special you are?" Ten ask with a rather flirty tone.

Xiali rolls her eyes at Ten's flirty words, yet she starts to secretly enjoy hearing his flirty sentences. The way he would make her heart flutter got her addicted to his sweetness. Though she is still trying to survive from all the dramas that happened in her life, she is starting to consider her growing feelings towards Ten. Little did he know that to her, he is definetly more than a friend now.

Xiali starts to form a small smile on her face, making Ten forms a smile himself at the sight of the girl sitting in front him starting to smile again.

"Your words are too smooth, Ten," Xiali says before she takes a sip of her orange juice.

"I'm being serious," Ten says with a smile.

"And how am I suppose to believe your words?" Xiali ask before she starts to eat her lamian.

"I'll be giving you prove tonight," says Ten with a flirty tone.

"Yeah right. The words that were spoken by the king of flirt," says Xiali in a sarcastic tone.

"You haven't seen the prove and you're already doubting me?" Ten ask.

"You said that to all the ladies, including the waitress!" says Xiali with a sulk tone.

Ten is surprised for what he just heard from Xiali. "Zhang Xia Li, are you jealous?" Ten ask in a seductive tone.

"No. Why would I? We're not even dating. I don't have the rights to be jealous," Xiali says, though deep inside she knew how jealous she gets everytime she sees Ten getting close with another woman. Even though she thought about not letting her feelings get the best of her expectations again, she already lost herself in Ten's romance after what happened between them during movie night.

"Aren't we actually dating now?" Ten ask, again with a flirty tone.

"Going on a date doesn't make someone get into a relationship just like that," Xiali says.

"Then can we start dating?" Ten ask as he stares into Xiali's eyes deeply as their eyes gets lost again by staring at each other. He noticed how she's starting to blush at his sentence. Xiali eventually breaks their eye contact by turning her head shyly with an awkward look on her face. She didn't know how to react. On one point she do want to be more than friends with Ten, but on the other hand she didn't want to let her feelings jump into another expectation too quickly.

"So? What do you say?" Ten ask.

"After all that happened, don't you think it's a little too fast?" Xiali ask. "I don't want to jump into another expectation before I heal myself first."

Ten lets out a small smile as he stares at Xiali. "Then we'll go slowly," says Ten before he takes a sip of his green tea.

Hearing that, Xiali turns her vision back to her bowl of lamian. She continues to finish her dinner though she could feel butterflies fluttering in her heart after hearing Ten's statement. This man can be flirtatious at times, but again he's a gentle and sweet guy who never fails to make her smile again even when she's upset.

Ten Lee...you always know what to say.
If you keep doing this, I'm afraid my feelings will just grow deeper.
Xiali thought.

"So...how's the case?" Ten ask.

"Well, the police are still searching for the culprit," Xiali says. "Uncle had been drinking more since the incident. He still couldn't believe that it happened."

Ten looks at Xiali who takes a sip of her orange juice. Her eyes tells him just how broken she is without her lips having to let out a single word. Looking at her in this state broke his heart. Ten knew well how it felt to lose someone you loved so dearly, maybe because he had experienced it before when he lost his first love.

Zhang Xia Li...I promise myself to protect you from any danger, and to find the culprit who took away your happiness. Ten thought.

The two eventually finish their dinner and Ten is ready to take Xiali to another place. After paying for the food, Ten walks out of the restaurant with Xiali by his side. Ten opens the car door for Xiali and she enters, before letting himself in.

"Let's go to our next stop," Ten says.

"Where are we going?" Xiali ask.

"Let's say, it's place where we could let loose after a stressful day," says Ten with a small smile, making Xiali more curious.

9:45 PM...

At Liu Xing Bar & Club...

A tall guy is standing near the bar counter while taking a sip of his martini. Though the club isn't too crowded tonight, yet that doesn't mean he didn't get approached by the ladies. Tonight, there were already a few women trying to get his attention, from trying to seduce him to asking for his number, in which he declined politely.

"All alone, Ge?"

The tall guy, Lucas, turns his head to see his brother, Hendery walking from the dance floor and heading to his direction.

"I see you prefer to be lonely tonight," Hendery says.

Lucas takes another sip of his red wine. "As much as I admire the beauty of a woman, that doesn't mean I will get a random woman to acompany me through the night," says Lucas as he watches some people dancing on the dance floor.

"I could see that, Ge," Hendery says with a small chuckle before he grabs his glass of wine from the bar counter.
"So you're not getting laid tonight?" Hendery ask with a cheeky smile.

Lucas turns his head to face his brother with a small smile. "If I'm not getting the vibe, I can't grow the passion," Lucas says before he takes another sip of his martini.

Hendery lets out a small chuckle. "Well, looks like the fire is here to heat you up," Hendery says.

"What?" Lucas ask in confusion.

"Our sweetheart target," says Hendery as he turns his vision to look at Ten and Xiali entering the bar together.

Lucas turns his head to see Xiali from a distance walking together with Ten as the two hold hands. They start walking to the bar counter to order some drinks, in which the bartender hands them the menu.

"What would you like to drink?" the bartender ask.

"I'll have a glass of white wine," says Ten.

"One glass of white wine. And how about the lady?" the bartender ask.

"I'll also have a glass of white wine," says Xiali.

Hearing that, the bartender writes down their orders before going back to prepare their drinks.

Meanwhile, Lucas and Hendery had been staring at both Ten and Xiali from a distance. Hendery had been encouraging Lucas to approach Xiali, but Lucas insisted that he wanted to wait for the right moment.

"Oh come on. Are you afraid of that so-called boyfriend of hers?" Hendery ask as he stares at Lucas who was staring at Ten and Xiali.

"I'm only afraid of scaring her by approaching her at the wrong time," Lucas says as he stares at the two friends with an annoyed look. "She's a hard target. She needs process, and she needs patience."

"Looks like she's already "in process" with Ten," Hendery says.

"That's why, I'll be her progress," says Lucas as he walks away from Hendery and heading to Ten and Xiali.

"What the heck?" Hendery says to himself as he stares at his brother trying to approach the happy "couple".

To be continue...