Chapter 28: REUNITED (2)

"Hmmmmm~"

Liu Yang stretches her joints to the point of hearing them click and gets out of the bed. She found Yu Mei is already gone on the other side. Peering down at the other two on the floor with the futon, Yu Mei is also not there.

"Whatever."

She walks to the kitchen to have some water. Wonder why she is parched this early morning?

Lazily opening the fridge, Liu Yang stares at the empty containers and pouts at the scene. Her fridge is already empty. There are only water bottles and a few cans of beer inside.

Liu Yang sighs in defeat. She needs to go to the supermarket and buy food supplies for today. Just thinking about it makes her groan aloud. Thankfully, her friends are here today to help her carry everything, and grocery shopping is a good bonding exercise.

While pouring in some water, in her periphery, Liu Yang noticed a silhouette moving from the living room. She tilts her to the side, thinking maybe it was just her cat, and ignores it.

But the silhouette seems larger than her cat. Liu Yang slowly turns her head to carefully check the situation, trying to confirm her eyes are not fooling her early in the morning.

"Shit!" the water spills as she jumps out in shock. "What the hell, Mei!" she yells at her while quivering.

Yu Mei did not budge and completely ignores her – continuing her yoga. She looks like a damn moving statue stiffly moving, and the mask plastered on her face made it worse.

Liu Yang stomps her feet towards her. "Hey!" kicking Yu Mei's thighs, purposely putting force in it.

"Ah!" Yu Mei stumbles over. "Shut up! I'm doing my daily yoga. Three more minutes, okay?" she returns to her original posture and completely ignores Liu Yang.

Liu Yang left, shaking her head in disbelief, and fetches herself another glass of water. She totally forgot that Yu Mei had a morning routine.

"Okay, I'm done! Good morning!"

Yu Mei leans against the counter, feeling refreshed. Liu Yang had just finished wiping the mess on the floor and is now washing her hands on the sink, witnessing Yu Mei removing the mask on her face and patting it lightly.

Liu Yang paused, noticing her friend's face glowed under the kitchen's dim lighting. It was mesmerizing that she forgot what she was going to say – staying her eyes glued on Yu Mei.

'Oh, to have good genes and money,' Liu Yang thought to herself.

"Hello! Yangyang to earth?" Yu Mei waves her hand on Liu Yang's face.

"What?" it woke Liu Yang up.

"I was asking, why are you up this early when it's the weekend?" Yu Mei says, wiping sweat all over her body with a towel.

"Uh? Ah, I was thirsty. And we should go to the supermarket to buy some food supplies. My fridge is already empty. I forgot to check the other day since we ate out yesterday."

"Okay." Yu Mei checks her wristwatch, "It's almost six, and I'm also starting to get hungry."

The door to the room bursts open, and out came Li Jun with his unkempt hair. Groggily in a beeline, he walks straight to Yu Mei and hugs her from the back.

"Ewww! Jun, it's poking me," Yu Mei tried to push him away, but he clung to her like an octopus.

"No worries, you're not the reason it's excited."

Liu Yang cackled because of what he said, her voice echoing in the whole apartment. "Hey! It's too early in the morning, and your mouth is already covered in filth! Scram!"

Yu Mei forcefully pushes Li Jun away in disgust. The latter stumbles backward while laughing and clutching his stomach.

"Why don't you go and wake Wan Li up? That way, you will be useful." Yu Mei rolls her eyes.

"Okay, okay, chill. Our Young Miss is energetic early in the morning. Yang~" Li Jun reaches out his hands to Liu Yang and hugs her by the neck. "Breakfast. I want to eat some fried rice," he mumbles and rests his head on her shoulder with his eyes closed.

"Ah…about that," Liu Yang scratches her not-so-itchy head and glances at Yu Mei – asking for help.

"Oi! Come here." Yu Mei removes Li Jun's arms from Liu Yang, "wake Wan Li, we are going to the supermarket."

"Huh?! Tsk~!" Li Jun whines, "You two can do it. I'll wait here with Wan Li."

"No can do. Come on!" Yu Mei drags him to the room, helping him to wake Wan Li up – deep in his slumber.

----

The four of them strolled down the early morning streets. Luckily, the supermarket is just walking distance from Liu Yang's apartment. It only takes a mere five minutes for them to arrive at their destination.

Wan Li yawns, following the other three on his hoodie – dragging his feet, purposely making a sound as a sign of protest into forcing him to wake in the early morn.

"Oi, a bit faster, Li!" Yu Mei commands.

"You shouldn't have brought me along with you. I was having a good time sleeping with Muse (Liu Yang's cat)."

He receives glares from the other three and has no choice but to obey.

"We brought you here for that purpose," Li Jun points him and the cart together. "See, picture perfect."

Wan Li slightly bumped Li Jun's foot with the cart's wheel, making the other wail in agony as if he was totally hurt.

"Hey, stop it! We're in public!"

Liu Yang scolds them while dumping a bunch of instant noodles in the cart. The other two look incredulously at the enormous amount of noodles she brought.

"Woah! Are we having instant noodles party or what?" Li Jun puts his hands on both hips, gawking at Liu Yang with his eyes turning wide. He sighs, "Very healthy, Yangyang!"

"Tell me about it," Wan Li seconded Li Jun's sarcastic remark.

"Shut up!" Liu Yang pulls the pushcart's rear to where Yu Mei is, of course, in the vegetable section - as always.

"Whose are these?" Yu Mei inquires at the noodle packs in the cart. Clearly, she is not impressed.

Wan Li and Li Jun shrug at her question. She scoffs and knew right away.

"Put it back," she tells Liu Yang.

Liu Yang gazes at her as if what she's saying is ridiculous. "No," she firmly rejects.

Yu Mei glowers at her and knew how hard-headed she can be when it comes to food she really likes. "Then, put some of it back."

Liu Yang contemplated but still obliged.

"Fine."

With her head hanging, Liu Yang returned some of the packets back to the shelf. She even saw Li Jun and Wan Li stick their tongues. As a response, she low-key raises her middle finger at them while grimacing.

After buying all the food and necessities, they went to Liu Yang's apartment. Muse greets at the entrance – meowing and purring as a welcome.

"Hello, good morning, Musie!" Liu Yang picks her up and kisses her head.

"Aggh!" Wan Li slumps on the floor, dropping the groceries in his hand. "Maybe we should've brought my car after all. It was such a wrong move to walk with these bags."

He is sweating buckets; his feet and hands hurt from walking and carrying two large bags full of grocery items.

"It's called exercise, idiot!" Li Jun kicks Wan Li's feet while putting on slippers.

"EXERCISE! I think I'm going to die!" Wan Li keeps on wheezing while the three look at him – completely hopeless.

----

The four enjoyed a home-cooked meal made by none other than – Liu Yang. They lazed around all day talking about stuff and whatnot. When the night came, they decided to have some drinks and watch some movies.

"The beers are here!" Li Jun announced while shivering, putting a bag on the counter. "Ahhh! It's cold outside!"

"Why wouldn't you be? You're only wearing shorts as if you looked good in them. For an assistant fashion designer, you need to step up your game."

"Oooh~!"

Liu Yang and Yu Mei glance at each other, silently laughing at the brewing storm between the other two. What Wan Li said was kind of offensive, and if other people hear it, they might think that a fight is brewing between Wan Li and Li Jun; but to them, it was just their playful banter. And it would not end with one not getting annoyed.

Li Jun lets out a breath and faces Wan Li. "Excuse you? For an editor, your vocabulary seems lacking."

Liu Yang bits her lower lip, preventing not to let out a sound.

"Hey, hey! Stop that! At least Li Jun has a boyfriend, unlike you." Yu Mei stood in between them while unpacking the beers from the bag.

"Uhm, about that," Li Jun's face turns solemn all of sudden, "we broke up not too long ago."

A beer slips out from Yu Mie's hand – rattling and rolling on until it is stopped on Li Jun's feet. All their jaws dropped from the news. They could not utter a word; they were just staring at him with emotions they could not explain.

What is this?

They were laughing and enjoying the moment a while ago.

Why did the atmosphere suddenly turn bleak?