Dàiyù, a simple girl from Ta-Lo, only she's not all that simple. Her mother died from childbirth and her father neglected her too much during her childhood. Dàiyù stayed with her grandfather, he was the one who taught her everything she needed to kn...
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They stopped at a hut, it wasn't as small as the rest but it wasn't large enough to look out of place. Diana stared at the place she used to call home. Shang noticed her hesitation and slipped his fingers into hers, squeezing her hand comfortingly. She gave him a smile before opening the locked door with a key her father gave her. The door creaked open, the house had been left alone since she left and Diana was thankful for that.
Diana smiled at the feeling of déjà vu while walking into the house. The first room that they walked into was the lounge room. The front of the room was filled with storage shelves and the back was the kitchen. In the middle, there was a large rug that was below the dinner table. There were armchairs and pillows scattered next to the window on the left.
"What's this?" Shang picked up a framed drawing Diana drew when she was younger. It was a stick figure drawing she did of herself and her grandpa, holding flowers. Diana smiled at the picture, "You know you really captured how you look," Shang laughed, "I mean this looks exactly like you!" Shang held the frame up next to Diana's face jokingly comparing the two and she shooked her head at his antics with a smile on her face.
"If you like that, you're going to love my room," Diana chuckled. "C'mon," she led him to the right of the building, pushing the curtains out of the way, revealing her bedroom. Her room was cosy, it was small but fitted everything she needed at the time. There was a single bed pushed against the wall with a desk made out of bamboo next to it. Covering her walls were her art sketches and finished pieces.
"Didn't know you were an artist," Shang gaped as his eyes were drawn to her drawings. There were sketches of the native creatures Shang had seen a few hours ago. Paintings of the landscape around them. All these illustrations portrayed the love that Diana once had for this small village. The love that was lost when her grandfather died.
"I stopped drawing after he was gone. Couldn't put my mind to it," she shrugged, picking up a piece that had fallen down. It was a drawing of what her younger self imagined the city to be like. Younger Diana had heard stories and fallen in love with the concept of leaving and going outside her town's borders. It hadn't surprised anyone who knew her younger self that she left to travel beyond the portal.
"Are you okay?" Shang inquired sincerely, "A lot has happened these past few days and I haven't really checked upon you," Diana stared at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Diana replied, a bit too quickly.
"Uh-huh."
"Yep."
"Totally," Shang said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Totally."
"Okay, so what's wrong?" Shang stepped towards her, decreasing the space between them. She wanted to run and he probably knew that because he gently grabbed her forearm, "And don't lie. I know you enough to tell when you're lying," he lifted his fingers and tucked in a strand of hair behind her ears. Diana sighed and looked up at his eyes, which held concern and fondness for the girl in front of him.
"I didn't think I would ever come back."
"And?"
"And, everything's so different," Diana confessed.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," he gently caressed her cheek. Diana internally panicked, realising how close they were. If she wanted to- all she had to do was pull him closer.
"I'm so glad you're here with me," she whispered, her face centimetres away from his. Diana raised her hand, touching his cheek. He leaned into her touch as he leaned towards her, their foreheads touching. Diana's heart was doing a little dance in her chest, she was so close to him. This was driving her crazy.
Frantic knocks from her door made them jump away from each other, warm blush coating both of their cheeks.
"Diana!" Katy screamed from outside, banging on the front door, "Come out! I know you are there!" She gave a small smile to Shang before untangling herself from his embrace. Leaving him standing there, she walked over to the front door, opening it to reveal an excited Katy.
"Guess what I just did?" Katy bursted, excitingly.
"What?" Diana asked questionably, trying to remove every effect Shang just had on her.
"I shot something! Like I actually hit something!" Katy almost squealed in delight as she hugged Diana. Diana was glad that her friend's spirit was lifted as Katy rocked her, celebrating her achievement.
"Wait, I'm confused," Diana let out, not trying to ruin the moment. Katy rolled her eyes and pulled away.
"Me. I. Katy got handed a bow and arrow and guess what?" she grinned, "I actually hit bullseyes!"
"I'm so proud of you," Diana praised and brought Katy in for another hug. When they pulled away, Katy spotted someone behind Diana's shoulder.
"I didn't know Shang was here," Katy whispered so only Diana could hear. She gave Diana a look and Diana could only guess what she meant.
"No," she shook her head.
"Yet, I'm still rooting for you two," Katy countered, "I'm going to go and leave you two be. Kinda hungry. Any good food recommendations?"
"There's a woman down the corner who makes the best dumplings and I'm pretty sure she still does," Diana smiled and with that, the two friends bid each other goodbye.
"Where's she going?" Shang asked, suddenly appearing next to her.
"Just getting some food."
"I'm going to go with her," Shang prompted and without another word he walked off, following Katy down the road.
'Ugh, how could I be so stupid,' Diana groaned thinking back to their moment, a few minutes before. He had shown no positive reaction which puzzled Diana even more. She felt like she was back in high school having a crush on someone who didn't even notice her. Except this time, the stakes were even higher. If she ruined everything here, what would happen back at home?
