"let lazy rats lie"

  It was normal to feel nervous, at least in her opinion. She could never get rid of the butterflies in her stomach whenever she though of Cha-dol, get rid of the warm and pleasant feeling in her chest whenever she was around him. She really did like him a lot, like a lot.

It took her some time to get ready, rummaging through her closet for hours until she found the perfect outfit. Nothing that screamed ‘she’s trying too hard!’, just a nice date outfit. Thank goodness her brother was out of the dorm for the day, doing god knows what. Meili didn’t want to deal with Yusheng’s nosiness. He was still in the judging phase and she didn’t want Cha-dol to feel not welcomed.

After making sure her hair was nice, two buns with no hair out of place, and her outfit cozy and warm… she opened the door for Cha-dol, like as fast as possible! Don’t want him waiting out in the cold!!

   “Hey-” His yelp startled her, her smile freezing in place. “Cha-dol are you okay?”  

Cha-dol immediately regretted his daydreaming, one look at Mei’s frozen face and he felt the guilt stab him right in the gut. Not a good feeling, honestly.

“Y-yeah, was just thinking about something else and it was ‘boom !’“ Here he raised his gloved hands in an explosion-like effect, making a silly surprised face. “Door open and I saw very pretty girl. Anyone would be shock.”

Ah, his coping mechanism comes out once more: body gags and humor. It worked for him, at least, and it always elicited a laugh from Mei. And Mei’s laughter always made him feel better.

“You look very nice today.” Cha-dol began to change the subject, and while the statement was quite generic he had the utmost genuine emotion behind it. Mei clearly knew how to coordinate her clothing, and that was just one of the many things he admired about her. But, enough wondering about stuff, they had a date to go to, and getting moving will warm them up a little.

Once they were out of the store, Al felt a little less horrified. Maybe a lack of fresh air, y’know. Claustrophobia and that jazz. Maybe now, he could actually think !?

Come to think of it, Al didn’t know where exactly Mei lived- he wasn’t that creepy. Best to let Cha-dol lead and not be- overly concerned. Play it cool.

Heck, if there was anything Alfred had learned in high school, considering that there wasn’t much overall, he did remember the old adage, passed from father to son. Bros before hoes. Therefore, he was going to try to be friendly with Cha-dol until the very end. The first person he’d befriend formally, in Port City. Not bad.

Ah, but to be friends, there was a small bridge that needed to be crossed. The bridge of actually knowing stuff about each other. In this context, there was no right way to go about breaking the ice. And yet, Alfred would try. “So, what’s your favourite movie?”

He waited for a little while. But even a second after, the silence got hopelessly awkward. “Mine’s probably 2001: A Space Odyssey. Star Wars is up there too.”

Cha-dol was looking down into his plastic bag, rearranging things inside the basket so it looked like some semblance of a gift (he was never the best at the artistic things, sadly) when Alfred spoke up on films. Cha-dol had to grin. He could talk on and on about movies, even if the situation itself was a bit awkward.

Anything to ease that tension, right ?

“I never heard of that movie, but I like Star Wars too. Favorite film of all time have to be Hello Ghost, Korean movie. But American film Captain America was good too. Big Hero 6 is also one of favorites.”

Cha-dol hummed to himself, flashbacks of when he had gone with his parents to see Big Hero 6. He had bought the promotional poster while there as well, along with a Baymax limited edition theater cup. Never before had he fallen so hard in love with a marshmallow-ish character.

   Internal screaming. 

“Yeah! Sure! The more the merrier!” And to some degree, he probably meant it. It would be horrific to visit a girl all by himself and try to give her a present, especially after that stellar first meeting. But if he wanted company- it would rather be his dog. Not another guy who also wants to give her stuff. Thanks. @God.

Alfred rushed over to the counter to pay for the chocolates- $8.60, not bad. He considered picking up one of those little keychain things that tempted many a weak man around the cashier- and yeah, picked it up. 

His foot tapped incessantly as Cha-dol got his own stuff. Inferiority complex goin’ strong. God, what was he gonna do if she picked him ! He seemed like such a good potential friend, but once he got a girlfriend, that could fly out the window ! 

“Lego,” he said thinly, once all of it was over. 

“Alright, meet me at the door !”

Something just felt... Off, about Alfred’s behavior. And it just screamed crush, or something of the like. So ! In other words...

Cha-dol’s intuition, for once, was right ! Oh no ! He had competition ! 

A piece of him inside held just the largest doubt about it all. Like, Alfred wasn’t a bad looking guy, he’ll admit that easily. Listen, he’s accepted that part of himself, he can admit a guy is attractive, yeah ? And he seemed like a nice enough guy, past the touch-of-death and the overly-eager puppy-like behavior he exhibited most of the time.

So... Yeah ? He slowly meandered to the cashier despite the urgency in his chest, checking out his goods (teddy bear, chocolates, candles, lotions... $35.98, a decent amount below his budget) before packing them in the basket he had prepared and shuffled over Alfred. 

Lego? Was this some sort of slang? He knew it was a toy, but never used in this context. He’d have to look it up later. But you know what they say: when in Rome...

Buzzfeed was certainly the place to go for advice on relationships; most of their staff seemed like they were happy. 

The problem, was that Alfred was no longer so. He was suspicious. “Y-yeah, Lin Meili. Do you know her?”

Port City sure as hell was turning out to be a really, really small world. First it was Matthew showing up after like eight fuckin’ years. Then, his sister. And then, this. If Mei was getting gifts from other guys- that would mean- fuck ! He’d have to fight for her love ! Too much pressure !

“Together.” He pronounced, still quite shook. What was the point of a friendly competition if they were gonna collude ! Nevertheless, Alfred would feel a pang of misery at knowing that he’d have to one-up Cha-dol of all people. He seemed like a really cool guy. 

       “Sure. Yeah. Why not.”

Cha-dol was a bit nervous, even if he was initiating this whole “dual-gifting” experience. It wasn’t everyday you found out that the girl you have a crush on had multiple male friends. I mean ! Not that there was anything wrong with it ! It was just... Like, Cha-dol isn’t really a jealous guy, but he was definitely a bit nervous. Yeah.

“Yes, together ! I help you pick gift, yeah ? So you do this much for me, friends together give gift together ?”

Cha-dol wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying, but at this point he was desperate to just have Alfred come with him. If Alfred went alone, who knows what might happen... What if he asked out Mei ?! And Mei said yes !?

Cha-dol would die.