Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Li Yang was able to be with Yi Mian the very next day much to his satisfaction. He had checked out the campus cafeteria in late afternoon on the off chance she might be there. Fortunately for his headache she was; his dose of painkillers had worn off all too quickly.
*It's Li Yang again. I keep running into him.*
He was able to detect that she was happy to see him which made him feel appreciated. The problem with the situation was that she was sitting next to a male student. The student was brown haired and green eyed. Li Yang waited for his thoughts to reach him and was confused to find he couldn't hear anything except Yi Mian's.
*He's giving Charles quite a glare. Did he do something?*
Li Yang took a second to react and stopped staring into Charles' eyes. He sat down on the unoccupied chair at the table.
"Sorry if I am glaring by accident," he said. "I just haven't met you before."
"I'm Lin Charles," the brown haired student said in accented Chinese. "I'm in a society with Li Yang and we were discussing the next meeting."
Li Yang was glad for the explanation because he still couldn't pick up Charles' thoughts.
"Charles is studying Theology," Yi Mian told him. "I need to know about exorcisms so I was asking him."
*He knows a lot about exorcisms- I'm glad I asked him.*
It was a relief to know that Yi Mian didn't have a romantic interest in Charles. He wanted to spend more time with her and a boyfriend would just be an obstacle.
Charles took a glance at the clock on the wall and hastily stood up when he saw what the time was.
"I've got to go. It was nice meeting you Li Yang," he said and rushed off.
This left Li Yang alone with Yi Mian. He guessed that she didn't have an impending lecture as she had a relaxed posture and was eying up the menu card on the table.
*Charles didn't get to tell me how a Catholic priest would do an exorcism.*
He could feel her disappointment and he decided to make it up to her. He always did like demonstrating that he had more knowledge than other people. Li Yang had spent his childhood reading any books that his parents thought would help explain his abilities.
"Catholic priests will use things such as holy water, crucifixes and reading passages from the Bible," he explained. "Shouldn't you have known that?"
"We haven't got into the Catholic part yet in lectures," Yi Mian answered as she noted down what he said in her notebook.
*Li Yang is very knowledgeable about things that he isn't studying. It's an attractive trait.*
Li Yang concealed a smirk. It was always nice to hear compliments that weren't about his looks. Not that he completely minded ones about his looks. They just felt too shallow sometimes.
"I see. Do you have any more lectures today?" he asked.
"I have one in an hour, then nothing else for the rest of the day," she answered. "What about you?"
"I don't have anything else," Li Yang lied.
He was smart enough to survive skipping a few lectures. It was missing lab practicals that would get him in trouble.
"Would you like to go somewhere after?" Yi Mian asked what Li Yang had been hoping she would ask.
"I would. I don't have much to do at the moment," Li Yang said which was only partly true. He had upcoming deadlines, but they weren't impending.
*I wasn't expecting him to agree so quickly. He must have enjoyed yesterday more than I thought.*
"I had fun yesterday," Li Yang commented casually. "Do you know any other student places to go?"
Yi Mian was silent and lots of suggestions flicked through her mind. Most of them were too fast for Li Yang to catch properly.
"How much do you like eating?" she asked. "There's somewhere new that I keep hearing about from everyone on my course."
*I heard that the desserts are to die for. Li Yang doesn't look like the type of person to enjoy sweet things though…*
Li Yang was struck again by how much she worried about other people than herself. He hadn't really heard anything selfish from her or anything negative that would change his perception of her. It was a refreshing change.
"I am happy to go anywhere you want to go. I don't mind sweet things either."
***
The place that she led him to turned out to be a new American diner style restaurant that had more of an emphasis on the desserts than anything else. He could tell that Yi Mian was more transfixed by the dessert counter than by the burger menu without even hearing her thoughts.
*Ooh there's lemon meringue pie. No, the death by chocolate looks better, no I should have the cheese cake. Wait, there's a chocolate sundae.*
Did those thoughts count as being selfish? Li Yang didn't consider them to be. It was easy to get caught up in her excitement for sweet things and he was finding her inner struggle to choose amusing until she asked him for help.
"Li Yang, what should I have?" she questioned. "I can't choose…"
"Lemon meringue," he suggested.
He had a weakness for anything with meringue in. His mother's was the best one, he would have to see how good they were in China. The lemon meringue pie turned out to be massive with the meringue layer being double the thickness of the lemon layer and the pasty base combined. Li Yang ordered fish and chips.
*He must think I'm a pig for only ordering a dessert…*
Li Yang raised an eyebrow when he heard that.
"You can share my fish and chips if you like," he offered. "It's a big portion for one person."
What had he done? He didn't want anyone's germs in his mouth. He didn't have chance to retract the offer.
"Thank you!" she chirped and began to dig into the pie.
Five minutes later he caught hold of a dissenting thought.
*I feel sick.*
He looked at her in concern and noticed that her pace had seriously slowed down. Her face was a normal colour so he judged that it was just a combination of an oversized and oversweet portion.
"You can stop if you feel sick," he suggested, having absolutely no idea what else he could say.
The brunette groaned and placed her fork down on the plate.
"At least it was cheap," she sighed.
*Maybe I can freeze it and eat it tomorrow?*
"You should feel better after an indigestion tablet," Li Yang told her. "Try not to skip dinner either, you will regret it later on."
He put down his knife and fork and moved the remainder of her dessert towards him to take a bite. It was too sweet for his tastes, but he didn't want her to feel bad about leaving such a big portion. He managed a few bites before giving up.
After they split the bill, Yi Mian rushed to the toilet and when she came back her face didn't look as green. She was her cheery self until they reached her apartment block. Her thoughts took a turn for the strange then.
*I wonder if Li Yang will kiss me?*
Li Yang flinched. Where had that come from?
*Shall I invite him in? Er Xi and Cheng Mei won't be in. There won't be any interruptions then.*
That made Li Yang take a hasty step back from her and his face heated up. He felt uncomfortably hot and very keen to leave the scene.
"I had fun today. I'll see you another time," he said quickly.
She looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. For a moment he could swear that she could hear his thoughts.
*Li Yang, can you hear me?*
He was in trouble now. He took another step back. Someone knew he could read thoughts. He needed to get away.
*If you don't answer me, I'll start thinking of things that will make you squirm... I've read lots of smut.*
Li Yang held up his hand. It was too much. She had got him there.
"Okay, I can read your mind," he admitted reluctantly.
Yi Mian smirked at him. "I thought so. Shall we discuss it in private?"
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