Fiddling with his hands, he made his way to the counter.

He drew in a shaky breath, tapping the man's shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir?"

The man turned around, clearly not impressed to see him.

"Do you know which room is ours again?"

The man sighed deeply, his face wrinkling as his grimaced.

"There are four rooms in this motel," he said. "How can you keep forgetting yours?"

"I know, sir, but..."

"Room three," he said, pointing at the door labelled, well, three.

"Thank you..." he said awkwardly, running a hand through his auburn hair as he left.

He was hesitant to knock on the door, but luckily for him, it opened before he could.

A burly teen welcomed him on the other side. "Dude, where were you? Sensei's already left," said Cole, drying his messy hair with a towel.

"I just wanted to check out the fields but I followed the wrong path," he said and flopped down on one of the beds, finally relaxing. Then, he got up and frowned. "Wait, where did Sensei go?"

"He wished to speak privately with our new teammate at first," a voice came from the bathroom.

When his lean, pale friend stepped out, having organised all their belongings inside, he smiled.

"So that's why you were taking so long," Cole looked inside the clean, organised bathroom in amazement. "And here I thought you had eaten something."

Zane raised an eyebrow, his gaze innocent. "How does eating affect my ability to organise efficiently?"

The two teens looked at each other, smiling at him awkwardly.

"Nevermind," they said unison.

Zane turned away from them, but he still wasn't satisfied.

"So, did Sensei tell you anything else? I mean, we didn't come all this horrible way for him to have a chit-chat with a blacksmith, right?" he said.

"You're the only one complaining, bud," Cole told him, stretching. "I just see this as a nice vacation."

"Yeah, but there's nothing to really do here... No TVs, no video games..."

"But there is food."

The coins in Cole's sturdy hands raised more questions than before.

"Sensei told us to eat if he doesn't return soon," Zane explained to him.

"And he's been gone for long enough, so..." Cole finished for him.

Geez, how long had he been gone for? And he hadn't even gotten to explore the rest of the village in the time he was out. Perhaps it wasn't as small as he had initially thought, after all.

As they rather loudly exited the old motel, they couldn't help but notice the weird looks the villagers were giving them as they walked past.

What to them was even more unusual, however, was the lack of teens. They'd see the occasional child and not-so-occasional elder, yet their peers were nowhere to be found.

Out of all of them, Jay cared the least. He simply admired the view as they walked along the town, even if it wasn't his cup of tea.

It was all so... red. It was autumn, after all, but still, it was a bit too red for his liking. And, despite it only being noon by that time, even the sky looked too... orange.

It was a beautiful place, sure, but not one he'd like to stay in for much longer, especially considering the fact that he felt like an alien on a foreign planet.

"Do you know where we're going?" he asked Cole, unimpressed.

"I always know how to find food," he said with a proud smile. He gestured at the wooden sign a small distance away. "There."

"Bao's Bao," he read the sign in his mind and chuckled.

"Come on, hurry up," Cole called out to the two as he stepped inside.

When they walked in, he felt as if he was in one of those cowboy movies Sensei used to watch in the early days. Everyone was looking at them, but quickly returned to their business as they approached one of the tables.

"I haven't seen you around before," a voice spoke up.

The middle-aged woman was staring at them curiously, yet they couldn't help but see her as scary in appearance. Her sweaty face and red-stained apron quite obviously came from her cooking, but it didn't make her any less scary.

Still, her voice was sweet enough, albeit a bit loud.

It was as if the entire restaurant was looking at them, waiting for their answer.

"We arrived here a few hours ago," said Zane politely. "No need to worry, it will only be a temporary stay."

"I see..." the woman said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, it's not every day that we get tourists in here. How about I make you an extra special baozi dish for you to try?"

"Yes, please," Cole said without missing a beat and the woman wrote it down in her notebook, satisfied.

"I'll have a chow mein," said Jay.

"Your wonton soup seems delightful," Zane remarked as he handed back his menu.

As the woman finished writing down their orders, she made her way to the small, open kitchen.

When they looked around, they were shocked to finally see some peers. They even got a bit excited, but that was "what living in a Monastery could do to someone", as they described it.

Still... were other teens always that... loud?

"I don't think they get that many tourists..." Jay whispered to the rest as he discreetly looked over to the table of teens, who were, in contrast, not-so-discreetly staring at them back.

"I believe that gossip is common amongst small communities like this one. It's no wonder they are intrigued by us," Zane stated.

"Hey, we're just here for a meal, not to be the talk of the town," Cole interrupted. "Just lay low."

For someone with such a big stomach, he couldn't help but wonder how Cole became the unofficial team leader sometimes. Then again, his heart was big enough to make him worthy.

The wait wasn't long until their dishes arrived one by one, and they wasted no chance digging into their food.

Suddenly, the bell hanging above the door rang.

A teen girl rushed inside, her red cheongsam flowing in the wind as she ran.

She slammed a wooden box on the counter, getting the woman's attention in an instant.

She tried to fix her messy hair before she could turn around, but she was caught in the act.

"How long have you been running for? You look puffed," the woman said.

"No worries, Ms Bao," said the girl as she fixed her hair. Her eyes were locked to the counter, not daring to look back for whatever reason. "Just... running a bit late today."

"Well, thank you darling. You're of real help," she said, smiling.

Taking out some coins from the box below the counter, the woman handed them to her one by one.

When the girl shoved them in her backpack, her next reward was already waiting for her.

"And as promised, two special treats." The woman handed her the two bento, but when she saw her leave, a frown appeared on her face.

"Aren't you staying?"

She looked off to the table of her peers discreetly, slowly making her way for the door. "I don't think so. I'm sure that Kai needs my help anyway."

"Come on, Nya, you always wander around the village running errands, but you never stay," the woman said, admiring her new set of kitchen knives. "When will I get to treat my favourite blacksmith?"

Nya couldn't help but smile as she sat down on one of the corner tables, taking out the bento she presumed to be her own.

"I'll just put these in the back for now," she said, putting the knifes back in their wooden case. "Busy day today..."

Her gesture towards the stranger's table caught her attention, but she didn't bother to spare them another glance. She needn't be involved in people's business anyway.

But what she didn't know was that said stranger's table had an admirer amongst them.

He had to admit, choking on his dish was totally worth it when he first saw her. Was it normal to be that lovestruck? For him, probably.

He couldn't help but stare at her as his friends just went along with their conversation, not sparing her a glance.

But that girl was too cute not to glance at, as embarrassed as that made him feel.

A few discreet stares later, he watched as she pushed her bento box aside, opening her backpack and taking out what looked to be a metal... bird.

When she pulled out a toolbox next, his interest was piqued.

How lucky could he possibly have been? She was pretty and smart and an inventor. Or was she a blacksmith? He still couldn't tell.

Nya was her name, and he already adored every letter in that word.

"Whatcha staring at?" said Cole, wiggling his eyebrows.

He blushed and turned away. "Nothing..."

Before his ridicule could continue, a boy from the other group of teens stood up, walking to her table.

He snatched up the bird from her hands, holding it up high so she couldn't reach.

"Give it back," she said, her voice stern.

"Jump for it, pipsqueak," the boy said as his friends laughed along. "Big bro won't be here to grab things for ya forever."

Jay looked around. How was no one even reacting to that?

He sighed and got up, quickly making his way to the boy. He prayed that he'd be tall enough to reach the thing, and luckily, he was.

"Hey, what gives?"

He put the metal bird on the table, standing between it and the boy. "That doesn't belong to you," Jay told him.

The smug smile on the boy's face was too punchable. "How do you know? You just got here."

Jay kept his stance, his friends gesturing at him to come back from their table.

Then, a sharp voice interrupted the tension.

"Lei, what did I say about bothering my errand girl?" the woman's (Bao, was it?) loud voice echoed across the counter.

Said boy backed down, his friends' laughter dying down and being replaced with fear.

"It's okay, I was about to leave anyway," said Nya, packing up her things all over again.

She then locked eyes with Jay, somewhat shocked.

"Thanks," she told him awkwardly before squeezing through the two boys, making her way to the door as fast as she could.

"Thanks again, Ms Bao," she said as she left.

After a single glare, the boy sat back down, his eyes on Jay the entire time.

But as he returned to his table, Jay could only think of that weird meeting and nothing else.

And when his gaze turned to the forgotten screwdriver on the counter, he was sure it wouldn't be the last.