EXULANSIS • METEOR GARDENS

EIGHT

It had been a week since they came back from the trip.

Gina hadn't talk to anyone since then. Her plan was to avoid Shan Cai, and to do that she had to avoid everyone. Though part of it was not wanting to see Jing nor Lei. The words the tiny girl said to her kept replaying in her head, chewing her up from the inside. She tried to get her mind off of things, to think they were probably discussing something silly.

The Korean just prayed they weren't talking about her health. She didn't need pity.

It was lunch, and her long legs walked around the school, avoiding anyone that had anything to do with F4. Her fingers continued to play with a small gifted key chain to keep her concentrated on something. She saw a small staircase, leading up to another level. Her eyes took one look around, before darting it up the stairs and straight into the door. She opened it with a loud thud, and it was too late to see notice someone. The girl dropped the keychain she was playing with.

Their gaze met, and Gina clutched onto her bag tightly. The girl was embarrassed that she made such a big entrance to the last person she wanted to see. She glanced at the wall he was drawing on, seeing it was some sort of portrait. Abstract maybe. Her legs started taking slow steps back, but Lei held out his arms to stop her.

"Are we going to pretend you didn't just ninja style your way onto the roof?" The man had a small smile on his face, tilting his head at the now reddened girl. She took a deep breath in, looking everywhere but him. Gina's heart was racing fast, scared that he held secrets about her.

"I didn't know someone was up here. I apologize," she bowed slightly, but he shook it off. Just like the first time they had met. It wasn't like they had many encounters, but it still scared the hell out of the girl when she'd see him.

"I see you've ignored us all week," Lei went back to drawing on the wall. The girl just shifted her weight back and forth, not knowing what to do. It was no surprise that he noticed something was off, she had gone full out to not see any glimpse of them. Her thought process was, out of sight, out of mind. Didn't seem to have worked effectively.

"Are you drawing Jing?" Ignoring his statement, she got the courage to stand next to him, closing one eye to try and understand his art. The man let out a hearty laugh, nodding. Gina held out her palm, and he placed the chalk in the center. She started adding many small details about Jing, that even Lei hadn't noticed. He picked up a chalk of his own, hiding it behind his back.

"Gina... there's some chalk on your face." The man pointed to the middle of her eyes, and she quickly went to rub it off. Instead the chalk dust from her hands transferred to her face, making the girl groan out in anger. He held out his hand to help, but instead dragged the chalk he had across her forehead. The girl was shocked at the sudden change in mood, he always seemed so glum. It must've been the kiss he shared.

She took the chalk in her hand, running it up and down Lei's nose. He started light laughing, music to any onlookers ears. Gina didn't want to go to class with chalk all over face, and the man just continued to pile more on. After a while they both stopped, small smiles evident on their faces. The sat down in silence, staring at the sky, chalk everywhere.

"Gina... Lei?" They both turned their heads, watching as a shocked Shan Cai stood with her bag clutched to her chest. Gina immediately stood up, trying to dust off all the chalk. The smile from his face dropped, and he stood up with eyebrows raised.

"Aish, I should go. Bye Shan Cai," the Korean quickly left the roof, running to the nearest bathroom. She tried to get most of the chalk off, and she successfully did. Some was left in her hair, but everything was off her face. Gina went to her classes, ignoring the upset face of Shan Cai that kept popping up in her head. She didn't want the latter to think wrong about what happened, but she didn't know what else the situation could look like.

The girl finally let out a small sigh, reaching for her keychain. It wasn't in her pocket, so she quickly reached into her bag. Gina finally started getting nervous, afraid that she had lost it. She retraced her steps of the day, she had dropped it on the roof. The bell rang, and she quickly sprinted to the top. Her eyes fell onto the keychain, but when she went to pick it up she stopped herself.

Mr. Daoming pacing around angrily, a few steps away from him was phone. The door opened again, showing Shan Cai. Gina quickly waved her off, signalling for her to leave. The smaller left, leaving the pair on the rooftop alone. The Korean didn't know what the man was like when he was mad, and she didn't exactly want to find out. He was already an annoying abusive brat when his anger issues weren't seeping through.

"Daoming Si," the girl made sure there was a good distance between the two before she spoke, and he looked up to see her. His eyes were filled with rage, and Gina held her breath. She didn't even know what her next move was, but right now her mind was going blank. His eyes fell to her hair, stepping a few steps forward quickly. He grabbed it, but not as hard as she thought he would.

"You were up here too?" The words rang through her ears, and she then understood why he was here. Shan Cai, and Lei. The girl nodded slowly, seeing veins pop out on his neck. He harshly let go of her hair, biting his lip until it bled. Gina let out a small whimper, but grabbed his arm. He tried to get out of her grip, but she quickly grabbed both of his hands.

"Ah Si you're going to hurt someone. You're acting irrationally... I need you to just look at me," her voice was soft, like a mother singing a lullaby. Si's gaze met her's, and now all his eyes held was sadness. He fell to his knees, hitting his head against the girl's upper thigh. Gina couldn't believe that it had worked, she let out a sigh of relief. Her sister had to do that technique many times before, but now she was the one doing it.

"I was going to hurt you..." he mumbled. The girl hummed, nodding her head even if he couldn't see her. He was hurting, and obviously his mind had shut off through the pure madness. She knew what if felt like, to not be noticed by someone. Though the way he was trying to show his affection wasn't the best route, Gina had tried it once before.

Her hands met his hair, running her fingers through it. She got through the tangles and gel, making his hair not spiky anymore. This wasn't what she expected her Thursday afternoon to be like, but she never really expected anything.

There she was on a rooftop, comforting the guy she saw herself in.

___

Now this is one of my
favourite chapters.
Why you may ask. Gina obviously
cares enough to think about Shan
Cai's feelings, and to take
care of Daoming Si instead of
turning the other way.

They made him seem like
a major asshole that had major
anger issues that can do
whatever he wants without
consequences. It literally put me
off the show. So I changed that!

Hope you enjoyed.