8 The Timid Young Master and The Cold Assassin 8

Li Zhang ran through the hallway straight to the bathroom. His hair had juice spilled inside and it was sticky. He turns on the water tap of the sink, running hot so he can watch his hair.  

His hair had a few strands sticking out and as if they were a part of his body now, it was stuck together.  It takes a while for him to finish washing off all the mess but at least the juice is gone now, though he still looks like shit.

"What are you doing?"  A male voice sounded, 

 making Li Zhang jump up. He turned around, facing the mirror, and saw a smiling Dongming standing in the doorway of the male bathroom. Dongming stares blankly at Li Zhang, waiting for an answer. 

"I'm just watching this juice from my hair." Li Zhang says, grabbing a towel and wetting it before wiping away the rest of the orange juice that got into his hair. He puts the towel in place and looks at the reflection. The hair was sticking out even more than before, which means that his face is covered in the orange liquid too. 

Dongming looked surprised for a second, then his eyes narrowed. He walked closer to Li Zhang, took the towel from him, and started to dry his hair. Li Zhang didn't even know how to react but he could see from Dongming's expression that he just wanted to help.

"Why don't you just cut them? They'll grow anyway." Dongming asks.

"My hair is not allowed to be cut.!" Li Zhang argues, taking another look at his reflection.

From the information he got, whenever the host's hair is cut, he'll get seriously sick. Therefore he decided not to cut his hair again.

"Are you being bullied?" Dongming asked without looking back at him. He was busy drying his hair.

"No!" Li Zhang exclaims. He feels a little offended because why did he ask such a question? Does Dongming think that he is weak or something? Saying that he was being bullied by a girl, how embarrassing is that?

"If you say so...." Dong Ming says, not believing Li Zhang. They fall silent after that. Li Zhang doesn't mind because there isn't anything left to talk about and the two go back to their usual silence when the other doesn't have anything to say.

When the hair was done, Li Zhang changed his uniform shirt and put on the PE  uniform. He looks at himself in the mirror one more time and he is satisfied with how he looked. He grabbed his phone from his locker. 

"Do you have plans for the weekend?" Dongming asks suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Uh... No? I haven't gone out of the house since last summer." Li Zhang answers truthfully.

"I'll buy you lunch. You need food after this morning's exercise." Dongming explains. When Li Zhang said nothing he added "Just let me know if you want something to eat."

"Okay." Li Zhang agrees. He grabs his bag and walks out of the locker room.

***

The cafeteria was full of students talking loudly and laughing. Some people were eating their lunches while others were playing games on their phones.

Li Zhang sat down opposite Dongming who was already sitting at their table. He started eating his sandwich slowly because his appetite seemed to be nonexistent these days.

He can't think of any way to get close to Liu Cheng without the others turned him down. 

"Hey! What's wrong?!" Dongming asked him, startling him slightly. 

Li Zhang realized that he just stayed quiet the whole time staring into space. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem a bit weird today. Is something going on in your head?" Dongming asked again. 

He was right. Something definitely was going on in his head.

"No..." Li Zhang replies, his voice sounding empty. He doesn't know if he should tell Dongming what was actually bothering him but he doesn't know who else to talk to.  

Dongming didn't press on the subject. "Okay, since you'll be free tomorrow, I'd like to invite you over for lunch."

Before Li Zhang could reply, another voice sounded "Am I invited as well? Ming Ming?" 

 Someone said behind them, making both males turn their heads towards the direction of the speaker.

Standing behind them was Liu Hang. The latter was wearing his uniform and the shirt top was open. He was currently carrying a backpack.

"What are you doing here?" Dongming asks Liu Hang, obviously shocked by his presence.

Liu Hang looked at Li Zhang, confusion evident on his face. Then his eyes gently landed on Dongmin who was still sitting on the opposite side of the table and he immediately understood.

"Oh see." He muttered before walking in Li Zhang's direction.  

Jun Wu stood next to Li Zhang, trying to get closer to Dongmin while saying "Ming Ming, I thought we were friends? I'm not welcome here?"

"Of course, you're not." Dongming frowns at him. He turns to Li Zhang, giving him a questioning look.

Li Zhang shrugged lightly, not knowing what to say anymore, and decided to ignore everything that happened between Dongmin and Liu Hang. He looked back at Liu Hang again and gave him a small smile, causing him to chuckle slightly. Li Zhang felt the person was familiar but he couldn't remember where they met before.

"Ming Ming invited Li Zhang and not me. But if Li Zhang invites me, there won't be a problem right?"  Jun Wu looks at Dongmin expectantly.

"That's if he invites you." Dongmin scoffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

"Ming Ming is cuter and cuter whenever I see him." Liu Hang smiles sweetly at him. Li Zhang tried to hide his giggle by turning his head away. Dongmin looked a bit shocked by Liu Hang's statement but he didn't show any sign of discomfort. 

After a short moment of silence, Dongmin speaks up again. "Don't take me for someone easily fooled." 

"But I am easily fooled by your beauty and charm." Liu Hang smirk

Dongmin blushes a bit at this but he quickly recovers and turns his head away, muttering a small "Whatever" before returning to his lunch.

"See?! Even my best friend is falling for the enemy." Liu Hang said in an exaggerated tone. He then leaned down until he was close enough for Dongmin to hear. The latter looked up at him suspiciously. "And by the way, Ming Ming, you shouldn't try to compete with me with my good looks."

With those words, he finally got his attention. 

"What?!" Dongmin exclaims, clearly taken aback by Liu Hang's words.

Liu Hang then looks at Li Zhang and smiles teasingly. "Aren't I too handsome for him, Li Zhang?" He whispers, causing Dongmin to blush deeply.

"Didn't you say Dongming was cute?"  Li Zhang says instead of replying.

 That caused Liu Hang to laugh loudly.

"I think Ming Ming wants to date me but he doesn't have the courage. You think so too, right?"  Liu Hang asked, smirking slightly at Dong ming.

"Excuse me?!" Dong ming exclaims, finally getting upset.

Li Zhang laughed. The pressure of the mission was suddenly lifted off his shoulders. It's not bad making friends with someone and Dongmin sure does make him feel better.

After a few moments of laughing, Dongmin sighs, shaking his head. He looks at Li Zhang apologetically before he stands up from the bench and walks away from the cafeteria.

"Well... I gotta get going too." Li Zhang tells Jun Wu 

The two walk out of the cafeteria and stop at the entrance of the building. "Little cutie, have you thanked my cousin for his heroic deed yet?" Liu Hang asks, raising an eyebrow playfully.

Sighing softly, Li Zhang shakes his head. "No, I haven't." He said.

"How about you invite me to have lunch with Ming Ming? Then, I'll ask my cousin to join us. Fair right?" Liu Hang asks with a smile.

Li Zhang thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright."

"It's a deal. Bye, Little Cutie~"  Liu Hang waves at him happily before leaving the school premises.

... 

By the time school was over, uncle Zhu was already waiting for him at the gate with the car. Li Zhang walks to him happily and jumps inside the vehicle while closing the door. "How was school?" Uncle Zhu questions while driving.

"It was fine.." Li Zhang answered casually, smiling a bit when he saw his uncle look back at him confused.

"Are you okay?" Li Zhang nods, "You seem excited..."  His voice trailed off.

"I was invited to have lunch with a friend tomorrow." Li Zhang said, answering his uncle's previous question.

Uncle Zhu looks back at him, smiling brightly as he drives. "Really?!"

Li Zhang hummed. He looked outside the window and saw that they were heading to his home. 

"Can I ask who's your friend?" uncle Zhu asked curiously. He has already seen that it seems that Li Zhang likes this person very much.

"Ming Ming. His name is Lee Dongming." Li Zhang answered honestly, looking up at his uncle from the corner of his eyes.

"From the Lee family?"  Uncle Zhu was slightly surprised

"Yea, what's wrong?" 

"No, nothing. Uncle is just happy that the young master was able to make a friend."

Uncle Zhu was really happy. The Lee family is also capable in the city and their business is not inferior to that of the Li family. Being friends with the Lee family would end in corroboration. When the master hears this, he should be happy.

[Ding, Congratulations to master. The storyline has increased to 35%. The target affection level increased by 20%. The current affection level is 5%.] Li Zhang finally got positive affection but he was still wondering how he got it.