"Is that puppy-like xiansheng your boyfriend?"
5 minutes along the drive back to where they were meant to meet Li Cheng, Xuemei found herself choking on her own saliva as she stabilised her grip on the steering wheel. Chenju, realising that his speculation was wrong judging from her reaction, handed her a bottle of water that was already beside the driver's seat and glanced through the window as Xuemei gulped from it.
"He's someone my cousin knows. I personally don't think I'm formally acquainted with him," she answered whilst glancing at the rear-view mirror. "He came here coincidentally to retrieve something that I had. What made you leave the classroom at such a dangerous moment anyway? Did you need to go the bathroom or something?"
She felt judgemental, sharp eyes pierce through the side of her head as she silently waited for a response. It was the first time she had ever had a proper conversation with her fellow student who seemed so distant from the rest of the class; although the consequences of the incident was on the more unlucky side, she was at least glad that he was not the type of person she labelled him to be.
Xuemei made sure to never judge others by their appearance and attitude ever again.
Chenju finally spoke up as he readjusted himself on the passenger seat. "I'm pretty sure that intruder was aiming for me."
"Why so?"
"I've already told this to the police, but he's one of those obsessive shut-ins who stalk people from his house windows. It's like an everyday loop of the movie Rear Window. There was this female student that he was looking at while she was walking home one day –– I walk the same route as her for a short time so I realised that creep was staring from his second-floor window. So just in case I wasn't wrong, I walked right beside that girl and he immediately closed his curtains. Because of my reputation, the girl who I walked next to speed-walked as fast as she could, though."
"How long did it go for?"
"About a week."
"But wouldn't it be more plausible to assume that he was aiming for that female student instead? Also, it wouldn't be a smart idea to intrude the school grounds during school hours," Xuemei questioned, tilting her head as she exhaled. "For some reason, something doesn't match."
Chenju blinked for a moment before realising that his hood was off the entire time. Flipping it back on, he was met with a disappointed groan from his student-teacher.
"It wouldn't hurt to have some sunlight on your head, would it?" She joked as concentrated on her front. "Also, I finally realised something."
He scrunched up his face and asked a quick, "what?".
"Those cigarettes aren't yours," came her reply.
Surprised, the male rose from the back support of the seat. "How did you––"
"You just have no signs of it. Also, when I thought about it when going down to the first floor, the scent of the cigarettes didn't come from you but from Lan Jinghai xuesheng. He was eating the snacks to get rid of the scent, it seems. I'm sorry I put on that attitude with you."
The student said nothing and sunk back on the seat, pulling on the hem of his hood.
Before they noticed, the cafe that they were meant to meet Li Cheng at was right in front of them. The familiar head bopped around in excitement and waved his hands; the sight of the immature Li Cheng grinning for the two to notice where he was caused them to crack up.
"I'm glad you two are safe," Li Cheng sighed in relief as he sipped on his previously ordered cafe au lait. He then put his hand up to order again, a young worker glanced at her customers and shyly handed Chenju and Xuemei copies of the menu.
Xuemei glanced at the student who's eyes were sparkling at the slice of strawberry shortcake and smoothie combo. With a smile, she handed the menu back saying: "The strawberry shortcake and smoothie combo along with a slice of tiramisu and a cappuccino, please."
"I always thought our Xiao Chen was bound to find himself being questioned in the police station one day, but I'm glad it's not because of a misunderstanding due to his reputation," Li Cheng continued as he smiled brightly at her.
Xuemei returned him a lopsided smile, the other part of her mind thinking: He gets called Xiao Chen?
"If he didn't appear out of nowhere, I would have had to treat myself from the cut wounds because I was the closest to the window," she praised as if she were a proud parent. "As long as he wasn't hurt in the process, I'd say he's quite useful. I was thinking of investigating a bit further into the intruder since other people could be associated with him, but I hope the answers we gave to the police were enough for them to solve on their own."
"Oh, right. What about that mysteriously handsome young man who helped out?" Li Cheng queried. "I heard he was waiting for someone all morning –– even until the fifth period when the incident broke out. Some of the female workers were thinking that he was waiting out there to confess."
Xuemei rolled her eyes and chuckled. "What a joke. He was just there to pick something up that was important to him. Anyone would wait outside for hours and hours if they knew they were receiving something from the hands of the beauty icon Mingzhai. There was no way he would just help out for no particular reason."
Before any of them got to say anything further, the same female employee delivered the strawberry shortcake and smoothie combo to Xuemei whereas the tiramisu and cappuccino rested in front of Chenju. The two exchanged confused looks and simultaneously stared at Li Cheng who was already on the verge of laughter.
The day finally ended with them snickering at each other due to the serving mistake and Xuemei waving goodbye to the two siblings.