Li Meirong dragged her feet across the garden leading to her home, to him. She took her time walking over, her stomach tightening and twisting with nervousness. A large part of her just wanted to flee again… to avoid handling her troubles for another day.

She felt as if, somehow, Zhu Qingyue held a strange sort of power over her heart. The closer she got to him, the more the thudding, treacherous organ began to beat erratically.

Though she was unwilling, she couldn't help but stare at him. The dark robe he wore contrasted with his pale features and bright eyes. His unparalleled appearance and long limbs also didn't suit the way he so casually leaned against the door, shoulders slumped and hands folded together.

Her cheeks flushed pink as she realized that she had been caught gawking at him a tad too long. She could only imagine how foolish she must seem at that moment, tipsy and ogling the man who certainly spelt trouble. The man who was certainly off limits for her. The man she had pointedly tried to avoid talking to, after longing for his presence like the foolish woman she had been for all these many months.

Li Meirong thought she saw Zhu Qingyue's smile change into a sneer as he gazed back at her, but when his voice came out, it was deep and soft, and his eyebrows arched in query.

"Are you pleased to see me?" he asked.

Halting in her tracks, she paused to assess him. His expression made her think that he wasn't very used to politely smiling at others. The forced stretching of his lips looked unnatural to her, and made her wonder if he, too, felt nervous.

"Pleased. Angry. Both, I think." Li Meirong pondered aloud.

"Good, that's good." A breathy, baritone chuckle escaped his lips. "I would like to be given a chance to explain myself."

At least his reaction sounds sincere enough. She thought it was enough, at least, for her to be willing to hear him out. Li Meirong was in no mood to pretend politeness with him.

She strode forward to open the door and Zhu Qingyue immediately stepped aside, letting her through.

"You can come inside. Sorry about the way this place looks. It got a little messy here since the last time you let yourself in." She glanced back and told him, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

Zhu Qingyue didn't respond to her obvious verbal stab. He silently stared back at her with that same sheepish smile from before and followed her inside.

She sighed and went in. Whatever he was thinking was beyond her capability to decipher, and she had long given up trying.

Following the amount of time it took for an incense stick to burn, Li Meirong tried to focus on things to do to steady herself and prevent her own nervousness from showing. She arranged a tea tray and a plate of preserved fruits.

There wasn't a lot of space to sit around besides the bed, so she placed a few pillows on the floor around the shallow wood trunk which she used as a table.

Zhu Qingyue made himself at home on the floor, uttering not a word of complaint as he sipped a cup of bitter green tea. In fact, he seemed way too comfortable with the situation. He carelessly grabbed one of the fruits from the plate with two long, graceful fingers and stared at it inquisitively. It was a small, red, wrinkled looking fruit. After a short breath of hesitation, he brought the fruit to his lips and tried it.

The resulting grimace that followed brought a great deal of evil satisfaction to Li Meirong as she witnessed Zhu Qingyue bitterly chewing down the sour fruit.

She simpered, looking pleased with herself, as she sat down cross-legged in front of him. "What, you don't like it?" she teased, trying to sound as serious as possible.

Zhu Qingyue eyed her with a defiant look in his eyes and grabbed another piece of the same round fruit, shoving it right into his mouth, leaving Li Meirong speechless.

After he finished consuming the bitter fruit once more with an obvious struggle, he countered, "Who said I don't like it? If I cannot enjoy the bitter taste of fruits, how can I enjoy them when they're sweet and honeyed?"