Wei focused on his job trying to avoid everyone. Whenever he saw a customer he changed direction, and whenever he saw Yunlan looking at him he blushed and turned the other way, annoyed at his own reaction.

He suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to check his phone for messages, so he turned a corner looking for any member of the staff and when he saw none he took it out of his pocket.

Still no reply from his friend.

He put it back and focused again on work. Someone had left two packets of pencils in the soap area, so he went to put everything in order.
He didn't notice Yunlan approaching, but he felt a hand gently holding his own for a moment and then releasing it as he walked further along inside the store.

Wei's heart jumped and he quickly looked around. There was only a child but Wei doubted he had seen the gesture, he was too busy running around touching everything and moving stuff providing him with more work.
He calmed down and looked at his own hand, he could still feel the brush of Yunlan's hand over it...

His phone beeped in his pocket and he looked at the new message.
>Just checking if you have changed your mind, because if you're still going for that insane idea I might have something. Need to check it through though.

Wei's face was torn between a frown and a smile, he missed his friend a lot.
He quickly typed a reply.
>Still insane. Go through with it and let me know.

At lunch break, Yunlan was quick in joining Wei. They ate in the back in a comfortable silence until Yunlan asked out of the blue,
"Can we eat together again tonight?"

Wei was in desperate search of a nice way to let him know that he couldn't eat out every night, but he didn't need to because Yunlan added, "Let's go to my place."

Wei's phone beeped and he looked at the message, it was from his younger brother Yezun.
>You free tonight for a chat? Mom is complaining a lot that it's been too long since she saw you.

Wei sighed, he had called her in video chat last week, but he couldn't refuse so he sent:
>Ok, you set everything up and I'll call as soon as I'm free.

At least he had a real excuse to gain some time before he'd have to face Yunlan alone again.
"Sorry Yunlan, family matters, I can't go out tonight."
He himself couldn't say if he was relieved or annoyed, but they'll have other chances for sure and he actually wanted to see his family as much as they wanted to see him.

Yunlan nodded in understanding. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry about. We can meet another time right?"

Yunlan smiled. "Of course, it's not like I'll give up so easily," and he winked at him.

Wei's heart jumped in his chest, his breath caught in his throat, was it happening again? Was it real this time or was he so desperate to believe that someone liked him?

They worked separately until it was time to go home. Wei greeted Yunlan goodnight and received a soft "goodnight" and a wink in return.
He blushed looking around, then he hurried home to switch on his computer.
He made the call and waited for Yezun to answer, instead it ringed a long time then the call was cut off.

Wei frowned, what was Yezun doing?
He called again, and after a while finally the call was answered and he saw his mother's face.
"Mom? Where's Yezun?"
The woman sighed. "He went out with his friends, he told me what I had to do but I must have done something wrong before. Sorry."

Wei got upset. "Why didn't he wait for me? He knew I was going to call tonight!"
Mrs Shen sighed again. "Don't get mad, you know how he is, he takes everything lightly, he's a free spirit like that."

'Free spirit' was not the term Wei would have chosen. 'Irresponsible' sounded better. 'Little brat' would do whenever he was upset. 'Dear little brother' still had precedence over all the others though, and he worried about him.
"Do you even know where he went?"

She paused biting her lip, and Wei sighed too.
He decided to give her a break and he changed the subject.
"How's dad? Is he not here?"

"He's resting. The work is hard and he tires easily, but he sends his love."

"He shouldn't work so much, if you need more money I can send you more..."

"Don't you worry son, your father is stubborn and you'll never see him doing nothing as long as he breaths."
That didn't really put him at ease, his father was getting old and a farmer job was too hard for him now, but he understood her words. It was useless to talk about it with him, he was the most stubborn man Wei had ever known.

"And you mom? How are you?"
"I'm fine, you know I'm a rock, you really shouldn't worry about us."
She paused and he saw that there was something weighing on her.
"What is it, mom?"

"... I just... sometimes I really wish you were here, maybe you could come back, I shouldn't have told you to go away, we can make it work, you know I love you, it doesn't matter..."
"I don't blame you." He interrupted her. "This is for the best, here I can live my life and make dad happy at the same time. Actually..."
He wondered if he should tell her, then he opted for a vague disclaimer.
"I might give you important news soon."

She startled. "What happened? Did you.. meet someone there?"
"I have to go now, but I'll tell you all about it next time." He already regretted having said anything, it would have been better to wait until things were more settled.

"Can you at least tell me if this... person is Chinese?"
That he could, no doubt about it.

He smiled at her awkward question, if he was Yezun she would have said 'this girl' but she wasn't sure and had never dared to ask. He loved his mom, and she had always loved him in her own way.
"Yes, mom. Definitely Chinese."

She smiled. "Well, as long as you are happy, I'm happy too."
"Thanks mom, talk to you soon, bye."
She sent him a kiss and he closed the call.

He opened his emails but there was no news. He suddenly wished he had gone to Yunlan's house, he felt guilty for cutting the call so short and if he had Yunlan's number maybe now he could give him a call and hear his voice, his cheerful demeanour would surely lift his spirits, maybe tomorrow he could ask him if he would like to exchange their phone numbers... after all, it was always good to have the numbers of your coworkers, you never know when you might need them...yes, he would ask for all their numbers, so he could ask Yunlan too...

Now Wei looked at his phone as if it could magically connect him with Yunlan. He had to admit that he liked him a lot and that kiss the night before had felt so good...
Things were complicated though, and he wanted, he needed to take it slowly.
Maybe they could spend some time together, get to know each other... suddenly Wei couldn't wait for tomorrow to arrive, so that he could see him again.