Li Zhen was panicking. Her model for the fashion shoot was late and she needed to get this done in time to get the portfolio printed, or she can kiss her major goodbye. She doesnt normally get fazed at pressure. She always does her best on everything, from since she was young to when she started Nutrition in Mingde University. But she has changed so much since then. She was no longer the meek and quiet girl everybody sees as the goody-goody. She has finally found something she can be passionate about---Fashion. And today, she needed to get good photos for a mock spread she is doing with all the clothes she designed.

"Can you call her again? I cant believe she's not here yet! We have to finish this set today! And I paid her already! " Li Zhen fumbled with her phone as she asked her friend, Chao, who's also the photographer.

"I've been calling her for the past hour and she's not picking up." he said, completely relaxed while sitting on the sofa they setup for this shoot. His camera already docked on the tripod, the lights all setup. The sample clothes are already hanging on the rack, ready for wear. They were in a small studio space in the building that Xinghe's family owned. Li Zhen rented the space for her creative works, which is also their group hangout place-- Li Zhen, Ming Xi and Xinghe, though they rarely get to see each other, now that they are in different fields of interests. They jokingly called it, The Rental, since Xinghe is technically their landlord, who sometimes also chip in on the rent and utilities. This is usually their go-to place when they just need somewhere to relax and catch-up.

"She's probably drunk again. Remember when we did the midterm spread?" Lao Wei, the tall and curvacious pink-haired girl said. Wei, is Li Zhen's partner for this project and will be doing the hair and makeup.

"Oh my gaaaawd, I'm going to kill her if she doesnt show up today." Li Zhen groaned and dropped herself on the large sofa beside Chao. She almost jumped out of her skin when the door suddenly burst open.. "Hey! You're supposed to be here by now!" She shouted as she turned towards the entryway.

"What are you talking about? Did you know I was coming?" Ming Xi said, amused at her friends' outburst, as she balanced a large cake box in her arms.

"Ming Xi!" Li Zhen ran to her friend and hugged her.

"Hey! Careful! You might squish the box!"

"Hey Xi, thanks for the food!" Wei walked over and took the box from her.

"Wei, I love your hair, last time I saw you it was green!"

"Yup, that was soooo last week." Chao chimed in, imitating Wei's sassy voice, as he went to the table and started opening the cake box.

"What brought you here, Xi?" Li Zhen looked at her friend, suddenly worried, despite her current situation. It's been about a week since she last saw Ming Xi. And now as she studied her face, she feels like there's something different about her today.

Ming Xi glanced at Wei and Chao, who was busy diving in on the cake. She slowly pulled her friend away from their earshot and lowered her voice, "Li Zhen, I just wanted to talk to you about something."

Li Zhen froze. She studied her friend and realized what is going on. Suddenly nervous, she tried to control her facial expression. She knows.

They stared at each other, already knowing, but not saying anything.

"What are you two doing?" Wei asked, while taking another bite of cake, dropping icing on the table.

"For a girl who said she's on a diet, you sure are eating a lot of cake!" Chao remarked as he took Wei's fork and took some for himself.

"Uhmmm..." Li Zhen looked around, and tried to appear relaxed than what she is actually feeling. "Xi, Can we talk about this later? I'm really pressed for time right now."

"Hey! I have an idea!" Wei said as she made her way to them. "Why dont you do the photoshoot with us instead? Our model bailed on us, and since you're here.."

Ming Xi looked at them, confused "Who? Me? A model? No way!"

Li Zhen glanced at her friend, a slow smile formed on her lips.

"Hey! Dont look at me like that Li Zhen!"

"Wei's right Xi! You'd be perfect for this!"

"I can do your hair and makeup, and Zhen here can adjust the clothes a bit since it was designed for our taller model---" Wei, suddenly excited, walked backwards and began opening her makeup box.

"Dont mock my height!"

"I'm not! What I'm saying is, you're pretty and we can do with what we have here on you."

"She's right Xi." Chao added, "It's a simple concept. The girl-next-door vibe. You could even use the prints for your audition portfolio! We could even take extra shots!"

"Seriously, you guys are crazy. I am not model material. I can act but---"

"Well, if you become an actress, you're bound to model stuff too! Think of this as practice! It's a win-win for us!" Li Zhen excitedly said and pulled her friend, holding on to Ming Xi's hands. She lowered her voice "And I promise we'll talk later."

Ming Xi meaningfully looked at her friend and smiled. "About everything."

"Yes, everything."

"That about wraps it up!" Li Zhen clapped, very satisfied with the shoot. "I cant believe its better than what we planned!"

"Xi, I'll send you a copy of the photos. You look amazing!" Chao said, as he started disassembling the lenses of his camera and began packing up his equipment.

"I better, You all insisted that I wear a wig and change into a gazillion outfits I cant even remember what I wore!"

They playfully bantered with each other while everyone was cleaning up and putting the clothes back to the large suitcase Li Zhen brought.

Wei, who already finished packing up her makeup box reached for her Ming Xi and hugged her. "You really do look amazing, Xi. Now, me and Chao will go get lost. I know you have something to talk about with Li Zhen."

"You do?"

"We heard you. Hello, this space isnt that big for you two to whisper about, you know." Chao called out from his crouched position while closing his camera bag.

"Ah. Oh."

Wei rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, "And with that, this pink haired fairy is out. Hurry up Chao!"

Li Zhen and Ming Xi waited for the two to leave before they both sat down on the sofa.

An awkward silence filled the air. The room that was earlier filled with camera clicks and playful banter has become so silent, they could almost hear their own breathing.

Ming Xi didnt know where to start. The past week, she spent her days looking up articles of any major car accidents that happened in Sanya, Beijing and Shanghai involving 17-18year old girls. She began looking for any clues at home to anything that has anything to do with a past life. But she found nothing. She was getting roadblocks after roadblocks. And after mustering up the courage to finally ask someone, she decided to ask Li Zhen. One of the few persons she saw since she opened her eyes in the hospital.

"Li Zhen..." she sighed and looked down at their hands, holding each other but she can feel her friend tremble.

Li Zhen let go of Ming Xi's hand, and started fidgeting with the rings on her fingers. "Ming Xi.. I dont know where to start... I dont know how much I should be saying..what I should be saying.."

"Zhen.. I'm not mad. At you. Or at anyone. I just want to know.."

And with that, Li Zhen started to tell her everything she shows.