Xiali closes the door as Ten takes a seat on her queen size bed. She turns around and walks to sit next to Ten.

Ten turns his head to see Xiali who is staring at him with a puzzled look. "I should have looked after you better," says Ten as he looks down on the ground. "I'm sorry, Xiali."

Xiali turns her head and glance down at the ground as she is at lost of words after hearing Ten's apology. "It wasn't your fault, Ten," says Xiali. "I should have listened to you and be more careful," Xiali adds.

Ten turns his head to see Xiali looking at the grown with disappointment in her face. "Xiali, It wasn't your fault. They were already after you in the first place. I should have been the one to protect you better," says Ten.

Xiali looks up from the ground and turns her head to see Ten staring at her. She stares into his eyes with guilt at the thought that she got herself in a lot of trouble with the stalker after her. She feels like she had put a burden in the boys life by having to protect her.

"I'm sorry for putting you and the guys in all this trouble," says Xiali.

"Don't be sorry, Xiali. It's not your fault. We're all friends and we're here to protect you," says Ten as he gives Xiali a small smile.

Xiali slowly forms a small smile as she stares into Ten's eyes. "Thanks Ten," says Xiali.

Ten's smile became bigger as he sees that Xiali is slowly starting to smile again. They stare into each other's eyes as both of them got lost in the moment, before getting interrupted by a sound of knocking at the door.

"Oh.." Xiali says to herself as she gets up from the bed and walk to open the door, leaving Ten sitting alone with confusion and thoughts on what could happened next if they didn't get interrupted.

Xiali opens the door to see Yangyang all cleaned up and holding a t-shirt and some shorts in his hand. "Hey Xiali." Says Yangyang with a smile as he walks inside. "Hey, Ge!" says Yangyang as he sees Ten sitting on the bed.

"Hey! I was just checking up on Xiali," says Ten as his thought was still lost from the little moment he had with Xiali before Yangyang cames in.

"Oh, same thing," says Yangyang with a small smile.

Ten walks over to Xiali and pats her back. "Well, I'll be going to bed now. Sleep well, Xiali," says Ten.

"Sure. Goodnight, Ten," says Xiali.

Ten nods at Xiali before he walks out of the room, leaving Yangyang and Xiali together. Xiali close the door and walks back to sit on her bed, follow by Yangyang.

"Here you go. You can change into these for bed," says Yangyang as he sits down beside Xiali and hands her the t-shirt and shorts, which are his sleep wears.

Xiali takes the t-shirt and shorts from Yangyang's hand. She had asked him if she could borrow his t-shirt and shorts for bed after she got sands on her t-shirt and jeans. "Thanks, Yangyang."

"No problem," says Yangyang as Xiali stood up and walk to the bathroom to change her clothes.

Xiali walks out of the bathroom wearing a big t-shirt and shorts that Yangyang had borrowed her earlier. Yangyang starts to stare at Xiali who walks back to the bed to sit beside him. He thought she looked adorable in his shirt.

"Done," says Xiali as she lays down on the bed.

"Do you need anything else?" ask Yangyang.

"No. That's all," says Xiali as she starts to rub her tired eyes.

"Ok. I'll be going back to my room now. Goodnight, Xiali," says Yangyang as he stands up and starts walking to exit the room.

"Wait..." Xiali says.

Yangyang turns his head to look at Xiali who is now sitting on the bed alone.

"Yangyang, would you mind to stay with me tonight?" ask Xiali with a nervous look. She could feel herself getting butterflies by her own sentence. "I'm still shock about what happened earlier."

Yangyang starts walking back to the bed and sits beside Xiali. He turns his head to face her who is now looking down with a nervous look.

"Sure, no problem," Yangyang says with a small smile.

Xiali looks up and turns her head to face Yangyang after hearing his answer. She forms a smile on her face. "Thanks, Yangyang."

"No problem. Now can we get some sleep?" ask Yangyang as he was starting to feel sleepy.

"Sure," says Xiali.

Yangyang walks to turn off the lights and walks back to the bed as he lies down next to Xiali.

"Goodnight, Yangyang," says Xiali before she pulls up the covers.

"Goodnight, Xiali," says Yangyang.

The next day...

8 AM...

Xiali's POV...

I woke up and feel Yangyang's strong arms wrapped around my waist. He must have fallen asleep while he was hugging me from behind. I'm happy knowing that he agreed to stay with me last night after what happened, and having his arms around my waist actually makes me feel safe and comfortable.

I guess the feelings never change. I've always feel safe when I'm with him, my best friend. I turn my body to see Yangyang peacefully asleep.

I start to stare at every inch of his face. He looks so peaceful like a sleeping child. Even when he's asleep, he still looks charming. I put my hand on his cheek as I start to caress it. I can't help it, he looks so good I just want to treat him like a child.

Out of my surprise, Yangyang slowly starts to open his eyes as I caress his cheek. I stare at him with an awkward look as I just woke him up from his sleep.

"Oh, sorry...I woke you up," I say with a low tone.

"No worries. I was already awake anyway," says Yangyang with a small smile.

"What?" I ask with confusion. "So you mean, you were awake?"

"Yeah...something was moving from my arms," says Yangyang as the two us continue having eye contact.

"Oh....ok," I say with an awkward tone.

Suddenly, Yangyang pulls me into a warm hug. I hug him back as I get lost in his warm embrace. He pulls back a little as he stares deeply into my eyes.
We both got lose in each other's eyes, before his face starts getting closer to me. I close my eyes as I just want to let everything flow naturally. Whatever happens, I just feel comfortable when I'm with him, and that I trust him fully.

I could feel our faces getting closer to each other as we could feel each other's breath. Slowly I feel a pair of soft lips on mine, brushing softly as the kiss gets deeper with our tongues exploring each other.

As the kiss continues, Yangyang pulls my waist and puts me on top of him. We slowly pull away to catch our breaths as we stare into each other's eyes.

Realizing what just happened, Yangyang looks at me who is still on top of him with an awkward yet happy look.

"Xiali," says Yangyang as he looks lost after the kiss. "Umm..let's have breakfast?"

I give him a nod as I also feel awkward after the kiss. I do care deeply for Yangyang, but I was surprised to find myself attracted to him in a different way since last night. Was it because I got lost in my childhood memories while we were at the beach? Or maybe it was the way he protected me last night from the stalkers? Or the way he hold me all night and made me feel comfortable? And by that I just let myself get into this moment with him. I get up from him and he gets up from the bed and walks to the bathroom.

I guess even though the feelings never change, the attraction just got deeper in a different way.

Downstairs...

8:20 AM....

Kun, Xiaojun, and Ten are having a peaceful breakfast together, when Xiali and Yangyang walks downstairs and enters the dining room to join them.

"Good morning, guys!" says Yangyang as he greets the three guys.

"Morning! Did you guys have a good rest?" ask Kun before he takes a sip of his warm tea.

"Yes," I say with a smile. I notice Ten who had been stealing glances at me a few times since I enter the dining room. I look at him and give him a small smile, in which he smiles back.

"Alright, let's have breakfast," says Yangyang as he puts his arms around my shoulder. I instantly look at Ten who's smile has faded into a puzzled look by now.

2 days later...

Ming University...

Since the incident that happened at the beach a few days ago, Ten started to be more protective of Xiali. This includes driving her to college, her work place, and picking her up after work everyday. At this point, Xiali has no other choice but to agree since she knew she could be in danger at any time.

"Wait, so you guys will be going to Seoul this evening?" ask Xiali.

"Only Kun, Xiaojun, and Yangyang. I'm staying here to look after you," says Ten as the two continue to walk through the hallway.

"Why so sudden?" ask Xiali as she sounds confuse.

"Well, Taeyong hyung said that he had to cancel coming to Shanghai and instead told us to come to Seoul for an urgent meeting," says Ten. "The guys told him that I have to stay in Shanghai in the mean time to look after you."

Xiali nods after hearing Ten's statement. She did heard from the boys that they have friends in Korea who are also involved in the gang world, and that Taeyong is their leader.

"And Taeyong doesn't mind that you can't come to Seoul because of me?" ask Xiali.

"Of course not. Yangyang told him that you are our friend, and that you could be in a dangerous situation now, so you need extra protection," says Ten.

"I see," Xiali says as the two continue to walk. "When will they be back?"

"They'll be back in 5 days. Since they're also gonna attend Taeyong's wedding in 3 days," says Ten.

"I see," Xiali says. "By the way, I haven't seen Ningning today. Did you happen to see her?"

"No. I haven't seen her," says Ten.

After college...

Ten drives Xiali to Retro Red Bar for her shift. He's planning to go to the supermarket to buy some groceries before picking her up again in a few hours.

"Bye, Ten!" says Xiali as she waves goodbye at him while standing in front of Retro Red Bar.

"Bye! I'll be back in a few hours." Ten says.

"Ok," says Xiali before she walks inside the bar.

At the supermarket....

Ten thought about what to cook for tonight since he wanted to arrange a special dinner for him and Xiali. He look through the shelfs of the supermarket to see if there's anything else he'll need.

I guess that's everything. Ten thought.

Ten walks to the cashier to pay for the groceries. After paying the groceries, Ten walks back to his car with his hands full of bags of groceries. He bought a lot of ingridients for tonight's dinner.

At Retro Red Bar....

7 PM...

Xiali is making some drinks in the back, when she hears a male voice calling her. She assume he's another customer and walks to the bar table to take his orders. To her surprise, the guy who's gonna order a drink is her own step-brother, Winwin, yet he's not alone. He's with his female friend, Yiren.

"Winwin ge?" Xiali ask in a surprised tone.

Winwin and Yiren's eyes were on the menu. Both of them then looks up to see Xiali standing on the other side of the bar table. "Xiali? What are you doing?" ask Winwin as he looks surprised to see Xiali. Yiren glance at Xiali who is just standing and looking surprised.

"I work here," says Xiali awkwardly. "Well, what would you guys like to drink?" she tries to not make the situation between them awkward.

Winwin takes a look at the menu on the bar table. "I'll have a glass of tequila," says Winwin.

"One tequila. Anything else?" ask Xiali as she writes down Winwin's order on the note pad.

"I would like a glass of red wine," says Yiren with an elegant yet stern look.

"One glass of red wine. Would there be anything else?" ask Xiali.

"No. That's all," says Yiren before she grabs her phone from her bag.

Hearing that, Xiali walks back to make the drinks for Winwin and Yiren.

Who is she? Xiali thought.

Meanwhile...

"Who is she?" ask Yiren as she looks at Winwin who is staring at his phone.

"She's my sister," says Winwin as he keeps his vision on his phone.

"You never told me you have a sister," says Yiren in a disappointed tone.

Winwin turns his head to see Yiren who looks disappointed at him.

Winwin sigh. "She's my step-sister."

Yiren looks at Winwin with a puzzled look. She definetly wasn't expecting that answer. She thought that Xiali was probably a girl who has a special relationship with Winwin, and it made her feel jealous just by the thought of it.

Yiren then puts her hand on Winwin's lap. "I'm sorry, Winwin. I guess I misunderstood," says Yiren.

Winwin turns his head to see Yiren staring at him. She gets up and sits on his lap. He starts to stare at his friend sitting on his lap, with her eyes sparkling eyes. Honestly he wasn't in the mood for going out tonight, but since Yiren had insisted him to go out, he thought that he just wanted to acompany her as a friend. Before he could say anything, Yiren leans closer and gives Winwin a kiss on the lips. She puts one of her hand on his cheek as they kiss.

"You know I care for you so much," says Yiren.

"Yiren," says Winwin as he stare at Yiren who is sitting on his lap.

Yiren leans closer and gives him another kiss on the lips. The kiss was getting deeper, when Winwin slowly pushes Yiren at the sight of a familiar female standing on the other side of the bar table with two drinks.

"Umm...enjoy your drink!" says Xiali as she puts down the tequila and glass of wine.

An hour later....

Xiali's shift has come to an end, and she walks out of the bar to see Ten already waiting for her in his car. She smiles and walks to enter the car.

"Hey! Thanks for waiting for me," says Xiali.

"No problem," says Ten as he starts drive. "By the way, would you like to join me for dinner at my place?"

Xiali thought for a moment about having dinner with Ten together. Well, she definetly didn't want to have dinner alone, and knowing that Ten will be alone tonight since the boys will be in Seoul for a few days, she thought it would be ok for them to spend some time together. Besides, she didn't want Ten to be lonely when he's always trying to make her feel not lonely.

"Ok," says Xiali.

Hearing that, Ten forms a smile on his face as he continues to drive.

To be continue...