do not open.
This isn't the way to the mall.
It's salt air and the quiet rumble of the car's engine. The sleek car climbs up the side of the highway with ease, and you must've been too absorbed in thoughts of your looming deadline to notice where Xiao Yi was taking you until the breeze streamed through the open windows.
And the rush of the waves reached your ears.
"Wh- Where are we?"
"Taking a detour," He flashes a smile, black strands of hair caught in the wind. And you want to yell at him, you really do, but the words die in your throat once you reach the top and the highway slopes down.
Blue. Green. White. Beautiful, glittering blue as far as the eye can see, and something in your chest instantly loosens at the mere sight of it.
You tug at the skirt of your dress, letting out a sigh as he skillfully drives along the highway. "I'm gonna be late."
There's a chuckle, far too pleased. "A deal is a deal. You said you'd have lunch with me."
"I don't like seafood." You grumble, bottom lip jutting out just slightly, but your eyes stay stuck to that glittering vastness.
"Bet I can find a plate you like."
You scoff, hand drifting towards the radio. "Dream on."
"I know the best place around here, and bet I can get you back just in time for the end of your lunch."
"Will you kill us in the process?"
He laughs, loud and delighted. There's static as you switch channels, and another thread loosens in your chest.
"Doubting my skills? I thought you'd sincerely cheer me on from now on."
"T-That's different!"
Xiao Yi's large hand wraps around your own, turning the station with you. A crackle, then a bass, drums, a guitar. An old familiar tune, upbeat and fun.
"It's a little finicky." Another smile, and you draw your hand away from his in the same beat your heart decides to skip.
"Thanks."
The music flows around you, along with the breeze and the sea. You cup your hand with the other, right over where the heat of his skin remains.
There's a hum to your left, the drum of his fingers on the steering wheel, and your own feet keeping a timid rhythm with the music.
The wind plays with the loose strands of your hair and that glittering expanse before you takes your breath away.
You press your lips together, the urge to sing slowly building up in your chest. But someone else isn't as mindful as you, and that voice that gets more familiar each day blurts out the lyrics as soon as the chorus hits.
An exasperated exhale leaves your mouth, but all it takes is one teasing "Come on, join me."
And you're following along to lyrics you haven't heard in a while but still perfectly remember somehow. You wanna dance, you wanna scream, a loose thread unfurling from your chest and taken away by the wind. The salt of the sea lingers in the air soothing you.
Another chuckle, "That's a better look on you."
The comment makes you pause for a moment, the drumming of your hands on your knees faltering. "Huh?"
"Nothing, continue."
"T-The song is over anyway." You answer, as the last notes die out.
"Pity," The lift of a corner of his lip, eyes as green as the sea behind him and glittering with the same brilliance glance at you for the briefest moment. "I guess I'll have to drive you here again next time."
Heat blooms on your cheeks as you tear your gaze away from his profile, focusing on the winding road stretched out before you instead.
"I... I haven't agreed to another lunch with you."
But with the sea on one side, the mountain on the other, and his steady hands on the wheel he might as well be your North and your South.
