Spill The Tea

"No worries, dude, I'm just about to take my leave." Zhao turned back to her, a soft smile on his face for once. "It seems that they really missed you huh?" 

The smile disappeared in a moment's time as he handed the grocery bags to Xue. After that he then leaned to her, close enough to feel his breath fanning over her ear.

She felt her face heat up. "What are you—?"

 "We have a reading to get done right? I actually have some questions I'd like to ask, so I'll contact you. See you around, Lee!" Pulling away, he gave a salute.

Without even a moment's delay, he sauntered past Han Jing. The latter involuntarily giving a wide berth for him.

Chan Lee felt her head pound for a moment. Contact her? That felt like some kind of dream.

"U-uh…it's actually a little heavy." Xue murmured with an awkward laugh.

"Oh, my bad." She immediately grabbed one of the bags to help him, "Let's get inside, shall we?"

"Oi, what about me?" Han Jing made his way to her door, a slightly irritated look evident on his face. "Aren't you going to invite your neighbor?"

She pursed her lips, "Do I have to?"

"I brought more clothes for our friend." Han Jing held up a duffel bag, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, alright, come on in." She smiled and motioned for him to get in.

"You're in an awfully good mood, who was he?" Han Jing asked her once they settled in her place. 

She frowned and approached her table. "No one important."

"Will you just spill the tea?"

Shrugging as she unloaded the fruits and vegetables, "That was Hua Zhao, a classmate of mine." 

"Yeah, he seems quite nice, huh?" Xue sat on her bed—something she didn't really mind for some reason. Perhaps it was because she had left him for hours, so it made sense that he'd choose a comfortable spot.

Han Jing snickered. "Nice? He's suspicious if you ask me."

"Don't project your insecurities on him." Chan Lee sighed and threw a look at him. It was like one of those movies, the popular and outcast finding one another irritating and pulling each other's strings. 

"I'm not!" He protested.

She shrugged in reply, "Well, you're being too hostile for some reason."

"For a good reason," He countered. "Are you two close friends?"

"Not really." 

Han Jing frowned. "Why'd he come here then? And he met Xue too! What if he noticed that there's something weird about this guy."

"I-I'm not that weird, am I?" 

"You have long silver hair and blue eyes, you're a sight."

"Thank you, Han Jing."

"That wasn't a compliment, but you get my point right, Lee?"

"You're overreacting, we happened to meet at the market and he decided to be nice and help me carry my groceries." Chan Lee brushed him off. So what if he met Xue? The guy looked like someone who dyed their hair and wore contacts, especially with Han Jing's stay at home clothes.

Han Jing grabbed his head. "Guys don't just do that for no reason! He must have some hidden motive or intent of some sort."

"If that's the case, then you being here means you have some hidden motive too, Jing?" She raised a brow.

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Well, clearly I'm a different case."

"Oh, really?"

"You know me... he's practically a stranger!" The man was almost fuming.

Xue chuckled, a melodious sound amidst their squabble. "You two fight like a married couple…"

"We're not!" Both of them eyed one another, with obvious distaste. Han Jing looked away first, muttering to himself.

She wasn't sure why she had decided to be honest with Han Jing out of all the people she could have opened up with. Maybe it was because she didn't have many options. Eyeing the duffel bag in his hands, the answer was a bit clearer.

It was for the clothes of Xue.

Once she was finished with her groceries, she turned to the Moon Rabbit."By the way, Xue, how'd your day go? I hope you weren't too bored while I was gone."

"A-ah, it wasn't so bad." He smiled at her. "Thank you so much for lending me these texts. They're quite informative and the illustrations are so real-life."

She felt her lips twitch, it was amusing to see him marvel over something as mundane as her textbook. "I'm glad you like them…" 

"Sure, ask him how his day went. Not me—not the one who got chewed out and almost castrated by madam Dongxia." Han Jing grumbled.

"Huh?"

Chan Lee cleared her throat, "Well I saved up some of the steamed buns she gave earlier, want me to heat them up for you?" She didn't want to hear of it, even though she probably should.

"Yes, please." He grumbled. 

Somehow, food was always a good way to appease someone. And even though she didn't really feel like Jing made sense for being upset, she didn't want the guy to get a heart attack."Alright, we got steamed buns for dinner and fresh salad, I'll whip them right up."

"You say that as if you're some kind of chef."

She gave him a stink eye but proceeded with her dinner preparations. And soon, they were all gathered around sharing their meal together.

"...are you staying at my place again?" she asked the man in front of her.

Han Jing nodded, "Yeah, I don't trust you with this rabbit fellow—you know how rabbits are."

"What?" Shaking her head, she sipped some water. She wouldn't bother with his odd reasonings and instead sighed. "First you don't trust Zhao, now even Xue?"

"Well, you don't exactly trust me, right Miss Chan Lee?" Xue pointed out.

And he was right. Or he was wrong. She let out a sigh, it hadn't even been more than twenty-four hours but she was already quite accommodating of him.

"Well yes… but argh, I think you're a good person-rabbit, or whatever you are. And somehow, I just can't leave you to fend for yourself." She clutched her face. Finally, finally putting it into words. 

"A-ah, I see… thank you."

She felt responsible for Xue, she didn't want anything to harm him. Just like any normal decent person, really...

A harried cough broke the silence. "Excuse me, I thought we were talking about me?"

"You have your own opinions, while I have mine...but let's stick up for one another?" She eyed Han Jing, hoping for a resolution to end his  complaints.

"Sounds good on paper, but—"

Ping.

She grabbed her phone. 'Hua Zhao' wants to connect with you immediately popped up on the screen.

"Ahem."

"Oops, what was that?" Chan Lee sheepishly looked up.

"Nevermind, go reply to pretty boy already." Han Jing waved her off.

"He's not a pretty boy."

"Whatever, oi, Xue, I brought a board game—let's play."

Tuning out their chatter, mostly Han Jing's, Chan Lee stared at her phone. Hua Zhao contacted her, it was for school reasons—but, but it felt different somehow. Different from when her other classmates worked together with her on research projects.

'Hey, good evening! Zhao over here, still haven't actually read the chapter.  ^^" How about you?'

It was such a simple text, but she couldn't type back for some reasons. What could she say?

Well, not yet for once. But…

'Hi! I'm going to read it tonight or tomorrow.'

Sent.

She stared at her screen and winced. She was overreacting too much. But she really should have said something else didn't she? Or added an emoji or emoticon...

A few minutes passed.

No reply.

Why was she even waiting for a reply? 

She should tidy up and then read her textbook, not because she wanted to answer his questions or anything. It was for her own benefit, she didn't want to disappoint her professor too.

"Looks like somebody should turn that frown upside down."

She looked up to see Han Jing and Xue sprawled on her bed. Somehow they managed to fit with the board game of what looked like to be checkers.

"How'd the talk go?" Han Jing continued, frowning at the board.

She picked herself up, "I replied to him is all, he's probably busy with work or something." 

"Work at night? I knew he looked shady." 

"Well, he didn't exactly say he worked during nights," she paused, recalling their time together. "But if he stayed with me all afternoon then it must mean he works at night… can you guys scoot over?"

"We're kinda busy—"

The two of them didn't really talk that much, it was mostly him making silly remarks. She sighed and plopped on her bed, tipping her head back a bit.

Her head landed on someone's shoulder.

"O-oh, are you sleepy?" Xue's voice was muffled, shifting slightly.

Han Jing coughed. "Your hair is in the way, princess." 

Her cheeks warmed. "Oops, my bad—" 

"It's fine, this is your bed after all." Xue's hand rested on her head for a moment before patting her. "Han Jing shall we move to the floor?"

Han Jing got up from her bed. "Alright, looks like somebody's off to her bedtime now."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I can't help it that my sleeping routine is better than yours."

"Well sweet dreams, I say it's better than waiting for that jerk's reply."

Chan Lee frowned. "I wasn't waiting or anything!"

"And I'm a loony nincompoop." Han Jing snorted.