Ha Na walked as fast as she could in her embroidered midi skirt. Her eyes sparkled as she approached Jia Jia's desk.
"Guess who's going to be in charge of the new protein bar?"
Jia Jia grinned back in return, "Guess who's going to be assisting the team leader for the new protein bar?"
They exchanged high-fives and made arrangements for daily check in meetings for their new project.
Back at her desk, Ha Na felt her phone buzz.
[We're back! Dinner tonight?]
It was her best friend, Meg. The half-Spanish stunner was the woman that other women wanted to hate. Tall and leggy with exotic features, it was easy to see why all the girls avoided her when they were at school. As the new kid, Ha Na didn't really have friends either so the two naturally gravitated together and had been inseparable ever since.
Meg had recently gotten married to SHEN Li Jun who happened to be Ha Na's family friend. I guess you could say that she was the matchmaker that brought the couple together, albeit unintentionally. The newlyweds had been gallivanting across the globe for their honeymoon and had only gotten back recently.
As happy as she genuinely was for them, she really did miss having Meg to herself. They had been friends through many ups and downs but lately it felt like their lives were progressing at slightly different paces. She herself was nowhere close to settling down. If anything, she felt like she was still trying to figure out what she wanted in life. On the other hand, Meg was newlywed and a doctor who had a very clear idea of what she was working towards.
Gone were the days when they could take an entire month off work to explore new cities together. Gone were the spontaneous late-night movie night and girl talks. Gone were the fashion shows they used to do in each other's closets.
Brushing the sudden wave of loneliness aside, she quickly texted back.
[Of course, what do you want? Wonton noodles?]
[You def know me. 7?]
[Yup, see you there. Order first if you get there before me]
She put her phone aside and turned on her imaginary turbo mode switch to power through her list of to-dos for the day.
Meg was already at the restaurant by the time she got there. It was a small little shop that they had discovered after trying just about every wonton shop in existence in the city. For some reason, Meg had an undying love for wontons.
Waving, she made her way to the table and hugged her friend.
"How was the honeymoon? I had to block you on social media because I was going crazy from jealousy," she joked.
"It was amazing, I nearly cried on the way to the airport in our last city," Meg gushed. This was an exaggeration; Meg was the complete opposite of her and hardly ever cried. At their wedding, it was big bad MMA fighter Li Jun who had shed the tears.
"Best city?"
"Petra, hands down. I can't even describe it, it felt like I was in another world," Meg smiled her thanks at the auntie who brought their orders over.
"Mm I've got to get there someday, it's been on my list for so long."
"Istanbul was not bad too but I started to get sick of eating meat after being there for a week. You don't know how much I've been craving for this wonton soup during the trip."
Laughing, Ha Na raised a brow, "Mr Newlywed didn't spoil you by giving in to your cravings?"
"None of them tasted as good. This one, right here, is my one true love," Meg gestured to her bowl, "Anyway, what's been up with you? Your brother told Li Jun about some commercial that you shot that is apparently going viral."
Nodding, Ha Na beamed proudly. "Yup, you remember how my colleague went on maternity leave? They needed someone to cover for her and that person ended up being me. We shot the ad with one of the idol groups and people seem to be really liking them."
"Oh yeah? Cute?"
Ha Na's eyes darted shiftily, "They're okay I guess."
Meg pointed at her, "I saw that. They must be freaking hot for you to react that way. Come on, show me pictures, which one took your fancy?"
"It's not like that! I'm a professional okay. It's not like it's the first time I've worked on a shoot with male celebrities."
Extending her palm, Meg rolled her eyes, "Whatever, hurry up and show me already."
Slightly embarrassed, Ha Na pulled up Hao Jie's morning call video and played it for her.
At the end of the video, Meg grinned at her. "Good taste. So what's the story then? You guys got something going on?"
"Don't be crazy. I only met him once and it's not like we fell in love at first sight. I just thought he was really hot and had a good personality. He seems really nice, we were having hotpot after the shoot and he lent me his hoodie cause I was wearing white. That's all and there's nothing else to it," she rolled her eyes.
"You totally have a thing for him. You should go for it, you never know what will happen."
Ha Na looked at her exasperatedly, "I have to work with his group again for my next project. I'm not going to embarrass myself by trying to hit on him." Sometimes Meg forgets that the rest of us normal people don't have a modelling career past like her to bolster our self-confidence.
"That's even better, next time you guys work together you can just start off a friendly non-work related conversation. Then you can see if you guys are compatible and you can suss out whether he returns the attraction."
"No way. What's the point? He's a guy with thousands of screaming fangirls. There's no way anything would even happen."
Meg scoffed, "So what? I'm married to a guy which thousands of screaming fanboys. Weirder things have happened."
Ha Na snorted in laughter at her comment. Li Jun had just started his career as an MMA fighter when the two first got together. It was a really rocky start considering Meg was a doctor and had a rough idea of how badly he was hurt every time she watched one of his matches. She herself had doubted if the relationship would be able to last given how difficult it had been for Meg to get used to it.
The two friends continued chatting until the auntie came to tell them that she was about to close up for the day. Ha Na rejected Meg's offer to drop her off, preferring to take a little stroll after dinner. The wonton shop was about 20 minutes away from her apartment and the weather was perfect for walking.
She pondered over Meg's words. 'Am I just reading too much into it? He seems like the type to treat everyone well though. There's definitely no way I'm going to hit on him at the next shoot. But maybe... I could try to get to know him better next time?'