1:30 AM...

Xiali is laying down on her bed, tossing and turning as she tries to fall asleep again after waking up 15 minutes ago from a nightmare about the stalkers.

"I can't sleep," Xiali says to herself. Maybe a glass of water could help. She thought.

Xiali gets up from her bed and opens her door. She walks downstairs slowly, not wanting to wake anyone up. However, she notice that the lights in the living room are turned on.

Who could be awake at this time?
Xiali thought. She walks to the living room. To her surprise, she sees her step-brother asleep on the couch with 3 empty bottles of beers scattered on the floor.

Winwin ge? Why is he drunk? Xiali thought to herself, wondering why would her step-brother be drunk on a Wednesday night. They still have to go to college tomorrow morning.

Xiali takes one last look of her step-brother sleeping on the couch before she slowly walks to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She walks back from the kitchen with a glass of water in hand.

"Who's there?" Winwin says in a slightly drunk tone. He slowly opens his eyes and sees Xiali walking with a glass of water.

Xiali stops in her steps and turns back to see Winwin who had woke up from his drunken sleep. He is now sitting on the couch with tired eyes.

"It's me, Xiali," says Xiali as she slowly walks back to the couch to approach Winwin.

"What time is it?" Winwin ask Xiali.

"I think it's past 1:30 AM," says Xiali as she sits next to her step-brother.

"Here, have a drink," Xiali says as she hands Winwin her glass of water.

Winwin takes the glass of water from Xiali and drinks it. Xiali could tell he looked quite drunk.

"Thanks," says Winwin as he puts his hand on his head.

"Would you like me to take you to your room?" Xiali ask.

"No, thanks," says Winwin as he gets up from the couch before he walks upstairs to his room.

I wonder what's up with him. Xiali thought.

A few hours later...

7 AM....

Xiali's POV....

I woke up and have breakfast along with my mom and Winwin since his dad had left earlier for work. I look at Winwin from the other side of the table to see that he still looks tired. Maybe he hasn't fully recover from last night's hangover. And for some weird reasons, he's been acting more and more quiet these days. Well, Winwin has always been quiet. He's not the type of guy who likes to talk much, but I swear that this time it's totally different. He doesn't even say a single word. I wonder why.

Winwin then gets up from his seat to put his bowl in the sink. He washed his hands and dries them quickly, before walking back to the living room to grab his backpack. He walks out of the door to ride his bike and heads off to college.

I glance at my mom who is still in the middle of eating. "What's up with Winwin ge?" I ask.

"He's just having some trouble these days," says mom before she takes a sip of her tea.

"Oh," I say before I continue to eat.

A few minutes later, I finish my breakfast and put my bowl in the sink. I was about to check my bag and when I hear a loud honk coming from outside.

"Who is that?" ask my mom.

The thought of Ten suddenly came across my mind. I let out a sigh. "Probably just my friend. He promised to pick me up for college today."

"Ah ok," says mom. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No. We literally just met at college," I say. "I gotta go now. Bye mom!"

I grab my bag from the living room and walk out of the door to see a black car parked in front of my house. The car window slolwy opens as Ten gives me a sassy wink.

"Good morning, Beautiful!" says Ten with a bright smile.

I roll my eyes at his cheesy greeting.
"Yeah, good morning, Ten," I say as I open the car door to enter and sit next to him.

"So did you sleep well last night?" Ten ask as he keeps his vision on the road as he drives.

"Yes," I say. "How about you?" I ask him as I glance at him.

"Good," says Ten. "In fact I actually slept better last night than before. You want to know why?" he adds.

"Why?" I ask with curiousity.

"Well, my bed kinda smells like lavender now," says Ten as he turns to face me for a second and gives me a quick wink.

What the hell? I thought after hearing his cheesy statement. He couldn't be talking about my perfume right? Yes, I use lavender perfume at some points, but did it really made his bed smell like lavender? Maybe he's just messing with me.

"Really?" I ask.

"Well yes," Says Ten with a small laugh.

This boy can be so playful at times.
I thought.

Meanwhile, at the boys' house...

Xiaojun and Yangyang are working out together in the work out room while Kun is busy sorting out some files in the office room.

"23, 24, 25..." Xioajun continues to count as he lifts some dumbbells.

"So Taeyong hyung says that he'll be having his little meeting with us next week," says Yangyang as he continues to do sit-ups.

"So he's coming to Shanghai next week?" ask Xiaojun.

"Yes, along with the guys, and Yeri," says Yangyang. "He also said that there's gonna be a little party."

"Ohh..sounds spicy," says Xiaojun.

The two guys continue with their work out for an hour before getting themselves cleaned up with a nice shower.

At Ming University...

Xiali's POV...

"So you just quit your job? Again?" ask Ningning.

"I had to," I say to Ningning as the two of us continues to walk through the crowded hallway. "I was being chased by a freak!"

"Ah, it's a good thing Ten was there to save you that time," says Ningning.

I told Ningning about me not working at the dumpling shop anymore. I needed a new job and I was wondering if she might have gotten any suggestions, since she told me she was also looking for a job since two weeks ago. I also told her about Ten saving me, but I didn't quite tell her all the details since the guys told me to keep the gang thing a secret.

"Yes, I was lucky," I say to Ningning.

Speaking of Ten, I happened to saw him flirting with a bunch of girls earlier. They were smiling at him and being flirty, in which he flirted back. As silly as it sounds, I don't know why but looking at him flirting with other girls makes me feel uncomfortable. I should't feel like this. I should stop.

"By the way, I finally found a job," says Ningning. "But they are still looking for another part time worker. Maybe you would be interested?"

"Hmm..I guess. Is it far from here?" I ask Ningning.

"Not too far actually," says Ningning. "It's at Retro Red Bar."

"So we'll be bartenders and serving drinks?" I ask.

"Pretty much," says Ningning. "Luckily, we won't be working late."

"That's good. I was starting to worry I won't get enough sleep," I say in which Ningning answers with a small laugh.

"Haha, and we need our beauty sleep," says Ningning. "So you up for it?"

"Yeah. When do we start?" I ask.

"My first shift starts today after college. You can come with me after college. I can introduce you to the manager," says Ningning.

"Ok," I say as I form a small smile on my face. Despite having to be extra careful these days knowing that someone could be after me, I was happy that Ningning actually introduced me to a new job.

A few hours later...

Ten insisted to drive me back home for safety reason, but I told him that I wanted to visit Ningning on her first day of work and I could go home together with her.

"I'm an adult, Ten. You don't have to worry about me," I say to him as the two of us stands near the exit door of the college building.

"The reason I'm here is to protect you, Xiali," says Ten. "I have to keep you safe."

"I'm not a kid or am I your girlfriend, Ten. Please, you don't have to worry about me so much," I say.

Ten raises one of his eyebrow as he stares at me with a smirk on his face. "Then do I have to be your boyfriend first so I could keep you safe?" he ask.

I could feel my cheeks blushing just by hearing his sentence. I try my best to look chill and not broke the eye contact between us, though deep inside I'm already screaming of awkwardness.

"Why would you even like me?" I ask him. I don't really know why I suddenly asked him that silly question.

"Why wouldn't I like you?" Ten ask with a small smile. "You're cute."

"I thought you liked the girl you talked with in the hallway earlier," I say as I look down at my white sneakers. Great, I let my feelings get the best of my mind (and mouth), and now I'm starting to regret what I just said.

"Shuhua? I was just talking with her," Ten says.

"You were flirting though," I say as I still avoid looking into his eyes.

"Well, a little...but you're still the cutest girl I've ever seen," Ten says.

Though I still doubt that he actually finds a girl like me cute, I slowly look up to face him as I see his mesmerizing eyes staring at me. Man, I wish I could I stare into his eyes forever and just get lost.

I let out a sigh.

"Look, Ten, I appreciate your kindness. But this time I'm gonna go with Ningning, ok? You don't have to worry about me. I'll be ok. Besides if anything happens I can call you and the guys," I say as I try my best to form a small smile on my face as I stare back at him.

Ten lets out a sigh. "Fine. But if anything happens you know we'll be there for you. Don't hesitate to call us."

"Sure, Ten. Well, I gotta go catch up with Ningning now. Bye!" I say before I start to run out of the building to catch up with Ningning who is waiting for me outside the building.

A few hours later....

8 PM...

At Han's Car Service...

"That's it for today," says Luhan as he puts away some cloths that were used to clean the cars. "You ok, man?" ask Luhan.

"I'm ok. Thank you for today," says Winwin as he puts back the car wash products in its place. "I shall be going home now. Goodbye."

With that final word, Luhan waves goodbye at Winwin as he sees his friend walks out of the car workshop. Luhan had noticed that Winwin's face hasn't been like usual for the past few days. He doesn't speak much and rarely smiles, which Luhan thought was a bit odd.

Meanwhile...

Xiali and Ningning decides to take the bus to go home together before they part away.

Xiali's POV...

"Bye Ningning!" I say to my friend as I exit the bus and watch her wave to me from inside. I walk a few minutes and arrive at my home.

A few hours later...

11 PM...

I just finished brushing my teeth and is ready for bed. My first shift at Retro Red Bar starts tomorrow and I'm quite happy that I got a new job, plus I get to work with my best friend, Ningning.

Before going to bed, I thought about getting a glass of water would be nice to put in my room. I wouldn't have to go downstairs every time I get thirsty in the middle of night, or maybe every time I'm having a hard time falling asleep. With that thought, I walked out of my room to get a glass of water. Just when I exit my room, I happen to see the door of the room next to me opened. It's Winwin's room. Weird, usually he would always closed his door, especially around this time.

My curiousity got the best of me as I try to take a quick peek at the room. To my surprise, I see Winwin staring at his phone with a blank expression.

I was about to walk away downstairs when he caught me staring at him. He has a confuse look on his face as I stare at him with a froze look, knowing that I just got caught peeking at my step-brother.

"Xiali?"

To be continue...