After their lunch meeting, Xue Jinxu bid farewell to the two since her schedule was tightly booked in the afternoon. She would have to meet with potential suppliers of flowers and decorations for her wedding ceremony.
Xue Guangxi offered to send Kang Sola home.
"No need, I can go alone from here."
"Oh, come on. My task wouldn"t be complete if I don"t send you home. I mean home – where you stay here in Beijing."
Kang Sola stared at him for a while, but then she obliged. "It"s in the university"s dormitory."
They boarded the car again and hit the road.
"Come to think of it, you haven"t shared your real address before." Xue Guangxi threw a side-glance towards the girl seated beside him.
"I live far away so I stay mainly and mostly in the dormitory while I"m still in the university. I can"t go home frequently or rent outside the uni. I can"t afford it." She shyly admitted. There were evident signs of disconcertment in her features.
"Where do you live outside uni? I mean, your family. Where are they? What"s your province?"
"My roots are from Yuncheng. It"s in Shanxi province down south. But my family is from South Korea."
"I see." Xue Guangxi could sense the discomfort and hesitancy of the girl from her fidgety actions, although she was trying to answer his queries. Apparently, she was trying to be transparent to him as was needed in a healthy friends.h.i.+p.
He let it slide for consideration. After all, what kind of friend would press further when he could see the apparent uneasiness his friend was experiencing from his inquisitiveness. He did not want to pry nor go overboard unnecessarily.
They drove in silence.
This time, Xue Guangxi was edgy. He seemed to be waiting for the right moment. When they were nearing the university dormitory, he broke the silence. "Here."
Xue Guangxi"s ears were red, but his face was unreadable. He stretched his arm towards the girl. His hand was balled into a fist facing down, most probably holding something small.
"What is it?"
Kang Sola asked without moving. She did not have any intention of accepting it. After all, it was from Xue Guangxi. "What if it"s a prank?"
"A welcome gift. Some small trinket. Take it."
"Oh." She cupped both hands underneath his balled fist cautiously. It revealed small miniature Kang Sola – with purple highlights and across hairclip on one temple, wearing a school uniform, and beside it was a miniature… Xue Guangxi with his spiked hair and headphones that hung on his nape. The miniatures sat with folded knees and were facing opposite directions, leaning at each other"s backs. It was the chibi type.
Kand Sola"s face turned purple. "You… you shouldn"t have. It"s customized…"
Turning it in all angles, she inspected it closely. "Such detail…" She was struck in awe.
"You like it? Xu-jie made it."
"I have mine, too." He dug into his pocket and retrieved the same figurine. It had the same familiar form of a girl and boy, with plump rosy cheeks and just a slight dotty point for a nose, heads bigger than normal, and cute caricature bodies – it was them shrunk into a size no more than five to six centimeters."Xu-jie made it?"
"Yeah. Or at the very least, one of her store"s talented workers."
"It"s her business, remember? I had it made."
"You like it?"
They arrived at the university dormitory. Butler Lee parallel-parked along the sidewalk. They weren"t in a hurry to send the girl off. Butler Lee kept his silence.
Kang Sola turned her body towards Xue Guangxi.
"Why?"
"It"s just a welcome gift and a token of our friends.h.i.+p. It"s a friends.h.i.+p thing."
"I hope you like it."
"Please keep it. It won"t mean anything if you prefer it not to mean anything."
"There"s a small hole at the edge. You can attach a string to it – make it a keychain or a bag or mobile phone accessory, though it might be a bit heavy for that. Or you can leave it as is – keep it in your room or something."
"Whatever."
Xue Guangxi was blabbering non-stop. He tore his gaze away and looked far far away into s.p.a.ce beyond Kang Sola, out of the window. He was scratching his nose, bowing her head – simply fidgety.
He was agitated, and almost peed his pants. Almost.
While he was blabbering, Kang Sola, on the other hand, was speechless. "It was too special not to accept. After all, it came from Xu-jie"s shop."
"He really made an effort this time."
"You can think of it as a peace offering, even. All in one. Just… Just…" Xue Guangxi trailed off nervously. His voice cracked. He appeared cool but his voice betrayed him. He forced himself to lock his gaze with the girl beside him. "Just don"t throw it away, please."
Kang Sola"s mouth gaped. She had not seen Xue Guangxi beg like this, not after he knelt before her. But even then, there was still a tinge of arrogance in his tone. He was the prince, after all. But, at that particular moment, it was all pure humility. He was imploring with his eyes. She could certainly feel his sincerity this time.
"O-Of course not. I"ll keep it."
"I appreciate it. It"s… It"s… over-the-top. You certainly know how to be climactic." Her lips curved upward, and her eyes arched in glee.
"Thanks."
"I"ll get off now. We"re here."
She smiled again for the last time before pus.h.i.+ng the pa.s.senger door open. "See you at school."
"See you. Welcome back, Sola."
Xue Guangxi stared at her in a stupor. He caught her smile, the way her hair with purple highlights swayed in the wind, as was her skirt when she disembarked from the car. He recorded in his memory how she bid farewell that time. She waved her hand before pus.h.i.+ng the car door close and proceeded towards the compartment.
"d.a.m.n, heart. Calm down. You"re just a friend, anyway. Just a friend."
He clutched his throbbing heart, bowed his head and blinked several times. He was. .h.i.t with cupid"s arrow – d.a.m.n luck.
Then, he found himself elated. "She accepted my gift." He grinned inside the pa.s.senger seat of his car and closed his eyes, oblivious of the activity of Kang Sola and Butler Lee who were busy retrieving the girl"s bags from the car"s rear compartment.