*Flashback*

  It was their first summer break during the first year of college. Wu Wang, Lin Shen, He Jian, and Li Qiao along with Xu Mey went to City S to spend the summer break on the beach. On a bright sunny day, they planned to have some cold drinks and went to a small cafe.

  The cafe was small but it was decorated in an exquisite manner bringing a homey feeling to it. They chose a corner table near the window and ordered for their drinks. Everyone ordered a cola or lemonade except for Lin Shen who got himself an iced coffee.

  Instead of talking about random topics, they decided to play truth and dare but since all the friends knew every single detail about each other. The game got a twist that only dares were given. The dares could be anything like Li Qiao had to kiss a random girl, Wu Wang had to flirt with someone but he wasn’t allowed to touch her or see her ever again. To make it worse for Wu Wang, Xu Mey picked the prettiest girl for him.

  He wasn’t happy about the dare and eventually lost it. Xu Mey was dared to get a random guy’s number which seemed the easiest to her. When it came to Lin Shen, being the good boy he was, they couldn’t give him anything related to flirting. So, Xu Mey gave him the dare to spill his coffee on the next person who walks inside the cafe.

  It seemed pretty easy until Lin Shen saw a brawny guy coming towards the entrance of the cafe. He gulped visibly with his Adam’s Apple bobbing up and down. Lin Shen closed his eyes in the fear of receiving a good beating from the guy and when he heard the ding from the bell above the door, he just walked straight and spilled his coffee.

  What he didn’t anticipate was the fact that brawny guy moved to the left at the last moment and a small petite figure clad in a white sundress took his place and walked inside. "Ah!" Her shriek made Lin Shen open his eyes mechanically. To his horror, he saw her looking at her ruined dress. She was trying to clean the coffee with her handkerchief while making a cute pouting face.

  Lin Shen smiled a beautiful smile and kept his gaze glued on her. "You ruined my dress," Her statement broke his reverie, startling him. She looked up at him and whatever insults she was going to throw at him went back down her throat. His charming smile along with his noble presence left her in awe.

  They both were staring into each other’s eyes. Two pairs of brown eyes drowned in each other forgetting the world around them.

  Being the nosy friends they were, Xu Mey and others dry coughed and startled them awake. "Look, boy, you ruined the pretty lady’s dress." It was Wu Wang who started trying to hide the smile on his face but failing miserably.

  "Yeah, yeah, you should compensate her for it," He Jian followed the lead with his suggestion.

  "How are you going to compensate the pretty lady, Student?" Li Qiao added with an angry tone to add some effect in the conversation.

  Xu Mey came around Lin Shen and placed her arm around his shoulder and said, "Boy, you should compensate the young lady with a fancy dinner." Xu Mey looked up in a thoughtful manner and patted his shoulder in encouragement.

  Their acting skills made Lin Shen want to beat the crap out of them but he didn’t want to ruin his image in front of the pretty lady. So, he stayed quiet. He was throwing daggers with his eyes towards all of his shameless friends when they heard a cheerful chuckle. They eyed the young girl as she covered her mouth in an attempt to hide her chuckle.

  "I should give you guys ’The best actors’ award for this performance," She stated as she made another attempt to stop her laughter. "Clearly, you guys are friends and it had to be a dare."

  All of them dry coughed and hummed a tune before walking back to their table leaving a laughing Lin Shen behind. He seemed happy to see his friends embarrassment. "But that compensation with dinner is not a bad idea," Lin Shen choked on air that went the wrong way at her words.

  He looked wide-eyed at her, she stretched her hand out and introduced herself, "I’m Sun Ju."

  Lin Shen stared her stretched hand like he had seen an alien before he heard Xu Mey’s voice, "He’s Lin Shen and he’s saying nice to meet you." He glared at Xu Mey and smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

  "Well, then Lin Shen I’ll hold you for that dinner promise. This is my contact information." She passed a note to him and turned to leave. Lin Shen held her wrist, she turned to look at his hand on her wrist which he left instantly and moved her eyes up to see a bright red color tinting his cheeks.

  "Wait here for a second!" He ran out of the cafe leaving a confused Sun Ju and amused best friends behind. Those shameless friends behind him made a bet on what he went to do and eventually, Xu Mey was the winner. Lin Shen walked back after 5 minutes with a shopping bag which had a pretty pink dress in it. "You should change out of that before leaving."

  This thoughtful and caring gesture dug a grave of feelings for Sun Ju. She fell in love with him at first sight but this gesture intensified those feelings by 1000 folds. She saw the way his friends tried to set him up with her and it brought an infectious smile to spread on her face.

  *Flashback Ends*