Ten's POV....

My eyes slowly flutters open as I hear the sound of crying from a familiar voice. I see Xiali crying on my right side while kneeling down beside the bed. She has her face covered with her arms placed on his bed as she cries.

"Xiali?" I say as I stare at her who is crying beside me.

Xiali turns her head and is surprised to see that I am awake. She wipes her tears with her thumb as she stares at with a shocked look.

"You're...you're ok?" Xiali ask with a surprised look. I knew she had been crying for a while since her eyes looks really puffy. The thought of her crying for me actually made my heart broken. I never wanted to see Xiali crying, especially because of me.

"I'm ok," I say as I stare into her beautiful eyes that are filled with tears. The sight of it already kills me slowly. "Don't cry. I'm alright."

"You are hurt, Ten! Just look at you," Xiali says. She starts to study the bruises on my arm like the typical over-protective mother.

"These bruises just need time. I'm ok, Xiali. Don't worry," I say. I try to comfort her as I can. Though I find her to be extra cute when she's trying to study me, I didn't want to make her worry. "It's a good thing I was wearing my earpiece at the moment. Kun and Xiaojun arrived just in time to help me."

"But still, they attacked you, Ten! You could have died at that time," Xiali says. "Please....don't go..." she continues to sob while hiding her face with her hands.

"I'm not going anywhere, Xiali. Especially seeing you like this, I don't want to go anywhere," I blurt out. I really didn't want to see her crying all night.

Xiali slowly turns her head to face me with her puffy eyes. We stare into other as I get lost in her sparkling eyes. Even after all the sadness she's been through, her eyes are still filled with sincerity and hope. Her gaze is so beautiful, that it always gets me lost in her eyes when we stare at each other. Looking at her presence, though it hurts me to see her crying, but deep down I'm thankful to have the chance to see her tonight. I feel so bad that I wasn't able to pick her up since I got into this trouble.

"I wish I could give you a hug right now," I say as I feel disappointed, realizing that it's impossible to hug her at this state. All I want to do now is hug her into a warm embrace tightly, with her face buried in my chest as I caress her soft hair.

"You haven't recover, Ten. If you can't do it, let me be the one to do it," Xiali says as she stands up and gets closer to me before bending down to give me a hug. Her warm arms makes my heart beat faster. Feeling her touch just makes me want to put my arms around her more. She release the hug for a moment before planting a kiss on my forehead.

This girl, she's too sweet. I'm happy that I have the chance to be a part of her life, and I'm thankul for the care we share to each other despite our bittersweet past. After a while, I've come to realize that she was able to bring back my heart to life with love.

"Xiali," I say as she pulls away softly. "Thank you."

She looks at me with a confuse look. I'm guessing she's a bit surprise to hear that from me.

"Why?" she ask with a curious tone.

I take a deep breath. I guess it is time to let my heart talk. This time, I'm gonna let my heart speak for itself.

"Thank you for bringing back my heart to life. After a while of feeling numb, it's good to remember that my heart still has hopes for life and love," I say. "I don't want to be with anybody else."

"Ten...I care for you," Xiali says as she stare at me with hopeful eyes.

My lips slowly forms a small smile as her beautiful voice tinkles through my ears. At this state, though I'm not in my best condition, I am grateful enough to know that I've met someone like her in my life who always brings colors out of the dark.

"Zhang Xia Li," I say with a smile on my face as we stare at each other. "I care for you too. After all of this is finish, let's continue to walk together."

Hearing those words, Xiali forms a small smile. She nods at me with her eyes sparkling with joy as we stare at each other. Seeing how happy she is already makes me feel a lot better. Before I knew it, she comes closer and embraces me in a warm hug. Despite the pain, I slowly start to move my arms to hug her back.

Meanwhile, outside the room....

Yangyang's POV...

I stood in front of the room with the door opened. I saw Xiali embracing Ten with his arms struggling to hug her back, yet she told him not to since she didn't want to make his arms hurt.

"Put your arms down!" Xiali says as she continues to embrace him.

"Ah, but I want to hug you," Ten says in a whiny voice.

I watch as the two of them continue to embrace while teasing and laughting at each other. Looking at them, I feel a sting in my heart making me feel uncomfortable. As much as I look up to Ten like a big brother, I couldn't help but feel irritated at the sight of seeing him looking too close with Xiali. The sight of her smile melts my heart, but when I see her smiling with Ten, my insecurities starts to kick in. In other words, I'm afraid to lose her to my own best friend.

Zhang Xia Li...I'll get back our old story with a new beginning. I thought.

9:30 PM....

At Lucas and Hendery's apartment...

"Let me guess...mission failed?" Lucas ask as he pours a glass of whisky on the table while waiting for the three guys standing behind him to give him a proper answer.

"I wouldn't quite say that, Boss," says one of the guy with black attributes. "We did beat him up."

"That wasn't my full request," Lucas says with a cold tone. He had a feeling the guys messed up for some silly reasons in which he hated to hear.

"We beat him up as you requested, but then some damn guys starts running to our directions. They started to attack us," says the man in the gas station uniform.

Lucas takes a sip of whisky before turning to face the three guys who had ruined his expectations. "My mother wants to see you tomorrow morning. You better get yourself to Hong Kong tonight before she cuts your fingers," Lucas says.

"Yes, Mr Wong," says the guy in the gas station uniform. "We shall go. Goodnight," The guy adds. With that final word, the three of them walks out to leaves the apartment.

Damn. Lucas thought.

"Well, look in the bright side, Ge! Now that Lee needs time to recover, we have a lot more chance to get inside Xiali's life," Hendery says as walks to the living room with his hair wet after taking a shower.

"You got a point there," Lucas says. "We don't have much time left."

"That's exactly the point, Ge! Mama's furious. And with Ten having to take time to recover is a great way for us to get Xiali to trust us," Hendery says as he on the chair near the dining table. "He won't be able to go to college for a while. Which is good news for us."

"Yeah," Lucas says, before he takes another sip of his whisky.

The next day...

7:15 AM...

Winwin and Xiali are in the car together as Winwin drives Xiali to college since he noticed that she wasn't getting picked up by her friend (Ten) today.

"Thanks for driving me to college, Ge," Xiali says.

"No problem. I'm glad to help," Winwin says as he keeps his vision on the road.

"Man, I told you I could've ride my bike," Xiali says. "I don't want to trouble you."

"It's ok. It's the least I can do for today. But later I won't be able to pick you up. I promise to pick up a friend of mine to her party," Winwin says with an awkward tone as he feels kind of guilty for not being able to pick up Xiali.

"Ah, it's ok. I can always walk home," Xiali says.

"Wouldn't that be too dangerous regarding your current situation?" Winwin ask as his thoughts starts to travel at all the dangerous posibilities.

Xiali lets out a sigh, "I can always call my other friend."

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you," Winwin says.

"I'll be fine, Winwin ge." Xiali says as she turns her head to gaze at Winwin.

At Ming University...

Xiali walks inside the college building. She notice the gaze from some of the girls who stares at her with a surprised look. Usually they would stare at her with envious look every time she is seen together with Ten. There were even rumours that said she and Ten are dating, which she chose to ignore. But today it's like they are all surprised to see her on her own.

Xiali reaches her class and start searching for a seat since class is about to start, when she notice a familiar guy waving at her to sit next to him.

"Zhang Xia Li!" Lucas says as he waves at the girl with a bright smile.

Xiali smiles at Lucas and takes a seat next to him.

"It's not usual to see you alone," says Lucas with a small chuckle. "Where's Ten?" he tries to bring up Ten's absense in hope that Xiali wouldn't eventually suspect him to be involved.

"He couldn't make it," Xiali says. She knew well it was gonna be a while before Ten could go to college again with her.

"Ah, I see.." Says Lucas as he slowly turns his head away from Xiali.

A few hours later...

At the cafeteria...

Xiali's POV...

I sit alone as I start to eat my sandwhich. Somehow, having lunch without Ten takes me back to my high school days, where I would have lunch alone. It wasn't fun, but it was ok. I was kind of used to it. That is, until I met Ten and everything change. Lunch hours became a lot more fun with his flirty jokes and charm. The thought of him already made me miss him. Oh great.

"Hey!"

A familiar male voice tinkles through my ears. I turn my head up to see Lucas standing in front of my table along with Hendery.

"Good afternoon, Meinu (pretty girl)," Hendery says as he gives me a cheerful smile. I smile back at him shyly.

"Is it ok if we sit here?" ask Lucas.

"Sure," I say to the two guys. They start to pull out their seats as they join me.

I notice the whole cafeteria starts staring at us. Most of them are girls who are known to gossip a lot. They all have their eyes on Lucas and Hendery with a flirty look, before turning their attention to me with an annoyed look. I pretend to not notice any of them since it would be a waste of time to show any attention towards them.

"I see the ladies are staring at you," Hendery says with a sassy wink. "You have the spotlight, Lady Zhang!"

"I don't care about it though," I blurt out casually.

"Xiali here is a smart girl. She doesn't care about what others say about her," Lucas says. His words makes me a feel a bit awkward.

"I can see she's awesome," Hendery says as he gives me a cheesy smile.

I smile at the two cheeky boys sitting across me. We eventually have a nice lunch together with Hendery being throwing his funny sarcasm every now and then, making both Lucas and I laugh. I have to admit, if it wasn't for these two, lunch hour would have been boring. Maybe there's a lot more to know about them. They could be genuine people.

A few hours later...

After college...

I walk through the crowded hallway as all the students starts to depart for the day. Today I thought about walking to Retro Red Bar for my shift, despite the fact that Winwin thought it could be dangerous. Weird...why would he care about me anyway? I'm just his step-sister. Besides we're not really close, especially since we started seeing other people.

Thinking about walking, I could always call Yangyang. He could pick me up and I didn't have to walk to Retro Red Bar. Yet, I didn't want to bother him since he and the boys (Kun and Xiaojun) are probably busy dealing with Ten and his condition.

I finally reach the college exit, when I see a tall guy already waiting for me outside the building. He waves at me with a bright smile as I approach him.

"Hey!" Lucas says. "You're going home?"

"I have a shift actually," I answer.

"Then can I drive you there before I take you out for dinner?" Lucas ask as he gives me another one of his charming sunny smiles.

"Sure," I say as I smile back at the boy.

"Cool. Let's go!" Lucas says before he suddenly grabs my hand and drags me to his car, making me feel a bit surprised at his sudden action.

One hour later...

Winwin stops his car in front of Yiren's house. He notice that the young girl had finished dressing up as she heads to his car. She opens the door and enters the csr as she gives Winwin a sweet smile.

"I hope you didn't wait too long," Yiren says as she gives Winwin a kiss on the cheek.

"No. I just arrived actually," Winwin says as he starts to stare at Yiren's look. She really took her time to dress up well, Winwin almost didn't recgonize her. She had her hair curled, smoky make-up complete with red lipstick, and is wearing a v neck maroon dress that falls above her knees complete with black Gucci heels.

"Are you surprise?" Yiren ask with a flirty tone.

"Umm..no. Sorry," Winwin says awkwardly. "Shall we go?"

"Sure," Yiren says as she smiles at Winwin.

A few hours later...

7:45 PM...

At Retro Red Bar...

Xiali continues to mix some drinks in the back, when she hears a familiar male voice calling her name. She turns her head and smiles at the man standing across the bar counter, which is none other than Yangyang.

"Hi!" Yangyang says as he watch Xiali approach him.

"Here for a drink before my shift ends?" Xiali folds her arms with a smirk on her face as she stares at Yangyang. It's pretty obvious that she is trying to tease her childhood friend.

"No. I was gonna pick you up and maybe we could go out for dinner together," Yangyang says with an awkward smile. He honestly love how he is starting to have good communication with Xiali again.

"Ah, I can't. I already promised Lucas that I'll go out with him tonight," Xiali says with an apologetic tone.

"Lucas Wong?" Yangyang ask as he starts to think twice whether he misheard her. "I thought he was a possible suspect to be associated with the stalkers."

"We don't know yet, Yangyang. For now, I think it's best if we don't jump to conclusions too fast," Xiali says.

Yangyang is disappointed to hear what Xiali said, but at this point he has no other choice but to accept it. Though the boys had told him to look after Xiali while Ten recovers, he didn't want to push things too fast knowing that they just reconcile after a misunderstanding. In other words, he didn't want to disappoint her again.

"Ok then," Yangyang says. "Just be careful..."

Xiali nods. "I will."

To be continue...