"My beautiful and wonderful best friend," I heard Ximen attempting to sing and I groaned slightly as I felt him getting onto the bed and wrapping his arms around me. I felt him kiss my head gently before resting his chin on my shoulder. "Wake up."

"Let me sleep for another hour," I sighed tiredly. My mind was slipping back and forth from being awake to my dream. We arrived in Sanya an hour and a half ago and we were brought to the villa Daoming Si rented out for the weekend. Once we arrived, everyone went to their rooms to unpack and I went to my room to sleep.

"You slept at Lei's, the airport, on the plane, and I allowed you to sleep here for an hour. Everyone is changing into their swimwear and heading to the yacht to explore a bit."

"I don't want to go," I whined to my best friend and turned over so he would get off of me and I put my arm around him to snuggle. I could hear a chuckle from him. "I'm still recovering."

"Should I stay then?" Ximen was on his back and I had my head on his chest. He began massaging my head.

"No, you can go. I'll be ready to hangout when you come back. I promise."

"Promise?" I hummed in response. "You, me, and Meizuo are going to the beach, alright?"

"That sounds great to me," I smile sheepishly. "And later when we're all snuggling together, I want you to massage my head like this."

"Your requests are very different from the girls I go on dates with," Ximen chuckles.

"I'm not any girl," I smiled. "I'm your best friend who you chose to stick with."

"Hmm... I agree to that. There's no one who can replace you." We both heard commotion from downstairs and I sighed tiredly knowing Ximen would have to get up. "Don't start any trouble while we're gone."

"Ha.. ha. Very funny. I would be telling you that." I slowly lifted myself from Ximen's chest so he could get up. I plopped back onto the pillow and I heard someone coming in.

"Is Faye not going?" I heard Meizuo ask Ximen.

"No, she's still tired it seems. We'll go to the beach with her when we get back." I heard a hum before I heard them heading out the door. I turned over and went back to sleep.

...

My body was telling me it was time for me to get up and eat something. I wasn't sure I had slept after Ximen and Meizuo left the room. I rolled onto my side and squinted as I reached for my phone to check the time.

2:45pm

Wonderful. I've missed breakfast and lunch. I wasn't so sure if there would be food in the kitchen and I wasn't quite comfortable taking food knowing it wasn't mine. I slowly got out of bed and walked over to my luggage and found a pair of shorts and t-shirt to go along with my swimsuit to have underneath. I knew the moment Ximen and Meizuo were back, they would take me to the beach, which was right across the street.

Quickly changing, I took my converse out to put on and took my purse before making my way out of the room and found myself walking right into the kitchen. The place seemed quiet. They must not be back yet. The kitchen was huge. There's definitely enough room for the three of us to bake later. I realized I would have to find a grocery store to get the ingredients. I walked through the doors of the kitchen to see the patio where there was a table and a view of the beach. I walked over to the gate and opened it. I closed the gate and turned around letting out a gasp seeing someone right in front of me so suddenly.

They looked up from their phone and I realized it was Meizuo. It seemed there was something on his mind, but he quickly covered his expression with confusion to see me.

"Faye?" He questioned.

"Hi," I waved. Today he wore a blue striped white shirt and loose dark pants and a pair of flip flops. I almost did not recognize him with his reflective sunglasses on. He took them off and put them into his pocket. I noticed he had a paper bag of containers and I could now smell food.

"Where are you off to?"

"I was going to find something to eat nearby and find a grocery store to buy ingredients for the cookies." Meizuo breaks into a tired smile and shakes his head. He gently took my arm and turned me around and opened the gate for us to walk back into the villa. We were in the kitchen standing at the large marble island as Meizuo took out the containers.

"There's no need. I have food for you and Ximen is out now getting the ingredients for tonight." Meizuo explained how they ran into Shancai and her friend Qinghe at the docks. "Jing and Shancai should be back here soon to get ready for the party on the beach that will be going on. Lei and Ah Si should be back soon after as well." I only nod thinking about avoiding Ah Si and wanting to hide from Lei.

Last night's event flashed before my eyes and I took a step back from Meizuo without realizing what I was doing. I took a shaky breath. When Ximen told me I was coming here with everyone and it was Daoming Si who planned the trip, I knew he couldn't decline Ximen by not taking me. It did not mean he couldn't give me a hard time the next time we were face to face alone. I hoped to avoid him as much as possible. Then there's Lei... Meizuo noticed my sudden movement and put the bread down before turning to me. He gave me his full attention looking concerned.

"Meizuo..." I saw Lei walking into the kitchen. Lei noticed I was here and looked towards me expressionless. Meizuo turned to his friend and looked at him with uncertainty for a moment before frowning slightly. Now that Ximen wasn't around, he didn't have to hide what was going on. "Can I talk to Faye in private," he asked calmly.

"So you can upset her again?" Meizuo said coldly. "What was that about you inviting her to your home?" Lei looked towards me and walked closer to us. He stayed on the other side of the island.

"That is none of your concern Meizuo. This is between me and Faye. Faye," Lei said softly towards me. The tone he used towards me was different. I thought about what Jing and Lei were talking about earlier this morning. I already knew what he wanted to talk about.

"You regret what you did," I said softly. "It's not hard to figure out you love Jing and it was a mistake for you to kiss me, because you regret it. I understand perfectly. You are not interested in me and that I should move on." I took the containers and put them back into the bag before taking Meizuo's arm and walked past Lei. I did not want to face Lei after this morning. I'm walking out the door with Meizuo not realizing Jing from a distance and Lei would be following us.

"Faye!" I stopped walking and looked to Meizuo who seemed unsure if he wanted to interfere anymore than he had. I turned around and Lei looked bothered. "I-" Meizuo stepped towards him slightly and brought me closer to his side before cutting him off.

"Enough!" Meizuo cut in. "You've done enough Lei. She doesn't want to talk to you and clearly you're into Jing. I wouldn't think otherwise, but since Faye knows that you're not into her, I'm going to pursue her." I looked up at Meizuo surprisingly to see he looked serious. Feng Meizuo likes me?Nothing gave away that he was joking. I looked back to Lei and noticed Jing was slowly approaching with someone beside her. This must be Shancai. Both of them seemed worried about what was currently happening. Lei looked at Meizuo in disbelief.

"That's unlikely Meizuo. You like older women."

"Faye is an exception."

"How are you going to date Faye? You're with another girl every week. What happens when you have another girl with you next week?"

"You don't think I'm interested in Faye? I have the moment Ximen introduced me to her." Both Jing and Shancai looked in my direction and I felt the heat rushing to my cheeks. "I want to actually get to know Faye and I'm sure I can make her happier than whatever you have been doing since she has been here." Lei crossed his arms.

"You're going to go behind Ximen's back? For her?", Lei gestured to me and I lowered my eyes. This was the problem. He made me feel... unwanted at times. "What do you think he's going to do when he finds out? This won't sit well with him." Meizuo glared at him before turning away with me beside him and he walked away with me following behind him. I glanced back to see a frustrated Lei and two worried girls.

🙀

🥺