Friendships

When Chan Lee arrived for her morning class, seating down and scrambling to read her textbook— a shadow loomed over her. "You skipped classes." Someone greeted her with a slight disappointment in their tone.

Chan Lee raised her head to meet Mei, "Technically yes, but I did something."

"I see, well if it was that important." Mei pouted.

"I ended up oversleeping..." Chan Lee admitted. "I must have been too tired." Well, she was still tired even now. She probably shouldn't have stayed up last night browsing for work.

Mei pursed her lips together, tapping her cheek. "Well there's nothing wrong with missing classes if you can catch up with the lectures." 

"Exactly." Chan Lee didn't imagine that she'd be saying this. It was vital for one to attend their classes and get the bang for their buck—tuition expenses and all of that. "So would you let me borrow your notes?"

The young woman paused, pushing up her glasses. "No?"

"I'll treat you." It was normal to bargain, nothing was free after all.

"You don't have to bribe me, Chan Lee." Mei grinned at her. "But I'd be happy if we ate lunch together. I think it'd be nice if I introduce you to my club mates."

A grimace graced her visage while she tapped her fingers on her textbook. "I...I'm not really good with groups. I think you know that, right Mei?"

"Just one time?" Mei pleaded with a hopeful smile. "It'd be good to meet new people, even if you don't really like them? Though I have the feeling that you'll like them. They're all nice."

"I get what you're trying to say." Chan Lee sighed inwardly. "It's important to make connections." Unlike her, Mei had managed to befriend a group of people and hung out with them. It was almost hard to imagine that during their first year the two of them were both shy. Somehow Mei managed to get out of her shell, eyeing her friend, there was a resolute look on her face. She wasn't able to back out of this one. "Alright, just this one time—better get back to your seat, our professor will get here soon."

"Yay. Let's meet at the cafeteria this lunch and don't go running home, okay?"

"Yes, yes." She rolled her eyes, Mei really wanted this for some reason. She was too sweet of a girl. "I'll be there."

It was for this reason that after a couple of hours, Chan Lee was in the dining hall. She found herself carrying a tray of her lunch to an eager girl waving at her with at least three more students with her. It wasn't as large of a group as Chan Lee expected for a 'club' but that was a good thing. "Um, hello there." She nodded her head in greeting.

"Come, sit here." Mei patted to a spot beside her, moving a bit to let her sit down, "Scoot a bit, Suyin. Anyhow, I'd like you guys to meet, Chan Lee. We worked together in our research last year."

"Oh, so you're also under the Natural Sciences division?" One of the guys spoke up, slurping some noodles into his mouth. "Your name sounds familiar? Where have I heard it before?"

"She's our classmate, Gen." The other man rolled his eyes, he turned to her and nodded his head. "Nice to meet you, I'm Guo Xiaobo." Chan Lee couldn't find the right time to reply and instead chose to sit down. Xiaobo, this was the guy that Mei had mentioned that one time. 

The 'big' one. 

Chan Lee fought back the urge to say something stupid and merely bowed her head. "I'm in your guys' care."

"I wouldn't put my hope in them." Suyin told her with a friendly smile. "Unreliable these two, they're also in another organization." She was a pretty girl with indigo streaks in her dark hair.

"That hurts my feeling, Suyin." Gen chuckled, wiping his mouth with a napkin. He leaned over towards the young woman. "I would say I'm reliable in that very important area, if you know what I mean?"

"Can't you hold down your flirting, Gen? You're ruining our club's reputation." Mei shook her head. "We're trying to make a respectable appearance aren't we?"

Xiaobo nodded his head, "Yeah, Mei is right. It's embarrassing to have that uncouth mouth of yours."

"Geez, ganging up on me like this." Gen sighed and continued eating his noodles, looking at her. "Run away while you can, Chan Lee. These guys are up to no good, Mei here wants to recruit you into our organization."

It made the girl beside her turn red and pout, "Hey! I'm just introducing her to you guys, she doesn't have to join the club if she doesn't feel like it."

"You guys get along so well." Chan Lee couldn't help but point out. The four of them stared at her for a moment, it seemed like this was her first input in the conversation… and it seemed to be a bad one. "I think it's really nice." She added while trying not to hit her head on their table. 

"Aw, she's such a sweet bean isn't she, Mei?" Suyin chuckled and looked over towards the guys. "Try not to be a bad influence, Gen."

The guy raised his brows, a mouthful of noodles in his mouth. He gulped them down and rolled his eyes. "I didn't even do anything!"

"I hate to be the one to point it out, but are you not yet hungry, Chan Lee?." Xiaobo suddenly spoke up, his own tray of food still untouched unlike Gen. Now that he mentioned it, except for the guy—they all haven't touched their food yet. 

Chan Lee blinked, had they waited for her to touch her food? "You guys didn't have to wait for me, we're all rushed with our own schedules right?" Her stomach churned, not only with her hunger but also with one of them having to speak up. She immediately picked up a dumpling and shoved it in her mouth.

"See? I told you that she'd say something like that."  Gen muttered and continued his own devouring of his food.

"It's called respect." Suyin rolled her eyes before breaking off her own chopsticks, a similar bowl of noodles in front of her. "But also, let's eat first. Talk later."

Mei scratched her cheek, "I'm now a bit embarrassed that you have to deal with us, Chan Lee."

"It's fine, you should start eating too." Chan Lee nudged the girl to start picking her food. "I'm pleased to meet the three of you, Mei here has a good set of friends." She added with a sheepish smile. "It'd be nice to share a meal once in awhile."

Suyin managed a smile, "Of course, sweetheart~ You're more than welcome to hang out with us. Right, guys?"

"Yeah, a fresh face is something we need." Gen chuckled. "It's getting boring seeing Xiaobo's ugly mug everyday."

"Hey, don't say that!" Mei protested. "That's quite mean."

Chan Lee chewed on her food. Meeting these new people… it wasn't as terrible as she imagined it would be.