Zhai Mei's hand landed on his shoulder as she smiled down at him, and Gu Wei's lips twitched, forming a grin of their own as he gazed at the beautiful creature behind him.
Zhai Mei's hair was styled differently today. Hair packed up in a ponytail, fringe let down around her face.
She looked like a completely different person, the style making her look sharper and bringing out the light streaks in her brown eyes.
Zhai Mei's hair was always in one style or the other whenever Gu Wei saw her, from leaving it loose to the cute pigtail.
Gu Wei preferred the loose one flowing over her shoulders, it would be easy to run his hands along the length that way.
But Gu Wei wasn't familiar with the sign Zhai Mei had made just now.
Wrapping her hands around herself and tapping twice, was it something they made up, and he couldn't recall?
Gu Wei didn't dare ask about it, it would mean admitting he remembered next to nothing about that day on the bench.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Mo Ran gesture, 'Did you find the bathroom?'
Zhai Mei's hand left his shoulder as she replied, 'Yes, I did. Thank you,' moving away from Gu Wei and taking a seat beside Ling Jie.
Gu Wei snapped out of his staring reverie and folded his hands together so he wouldn't reach out to stop her.
With Zhai Mei seated, Ling Jie folded their arms together, shifting Zhai Mei's cushion over to meet with hers.
"Did you get the coffee out? I should've been more careful. Hope your jacket isn't ruined?" Ling Jie said, her back turned towards Gu Wei as she turned fully to her Jie Jie.
Gu Wei couldn't see what Zhai Mei replied with as she took out her phone, and he eyed Ling Jie's turned figure annoyingly.
Apparently, his baby sister had sloshed her drink accidentally on Zhai Mei during her excitement to get to Gu Wei's building.
Looking away from his baby sister, Gu Wei came upon Mo Ran's suspicious eyes boring into his.
'What?' Gu Wei signed.
Mo Ran tilted her head towards Zhai Mei, a question in her eyes.
Gu Wei still didn't understand, and he leaned slightly over the table, saying, "What?"
Mo Ran shook her head and pushed the book in her hand to Ling Jie, advising her to read through the textbook for the basics, then learning straight on from them.
Ling Jie nodded and flipped through the book, exclaiming triumphantly as she saw familiar hand signs Zhai Mei had used before.
Excited beyond repair, Ling Jie bounced more in her seat.
"I'm finally learning sign language! All these years, Ge rubbed it in my face, and now I'm learning, ha ha! You'll teach me right, Gu Wei Ge?"
Shaking his head at her bobbing knees, Gu Wei pointed at Mo Ran, "Nope. That's your teacher. I'm too skilled for you, she's more qualified."
Ling Jie pouted and glanced at his accountant/manager. "Well… I can't complain. Gege is indeed high-class in signing. Anyway, Mo Ran Jie is prettier than you. I can't complain too much."
The whole of them laughed at Ling Jie's shamelessness. Mo Ran cleared her throat, standing and leading an excited Ling Jie to the other side of the room where the mirror was.
With Ling Jie gone, Gu Wei could see Zhai Mei clearly now. She was looking around his shop fondly, head tilting this way and that.
'You own all this?' Zhai Mei asked, gesturing around the space.
Gu Wei relaxed in his chair and nodded.
Zhai Mei's lips formed a 'wow' as she took in her surroundings again. 'Show me around?'
Gu Wei stood gladly and signed with a small bow, 'After you.'
Giggling at his display, Zhai Mei straightened, leaving her ruined jacket on the back of her chair, and held out a majestic hand with her head raised haughtily.
Having dug his own grave, Gu Wei obliged and took her hand in his like a precious gem.
They were both laughing by the time Gu Wei led them to the office, and Zhai Mei adjusted her hand, not letting go and holding Gu Wei's more tightly.
They held hands throughout the short tour.
The office, Gu Wei's unorganised desk full of abused paper, Mo Ran's compact one, and then Gu Wei led her to his favourite secret place.
A small staircase led up to the roof, where cute colourful ribbons were twisted around the protective railings and rectangular chaises were set along each of the four walls.
The wind rustled Zhai Mei's thick ponytail and blew a few strands to Gu Wei's face, a sweet smell of shampoo filled his nose, and he closed his eyes briefly, letting it wash over him before the wind did its tricks and blew it off again.
Zhai Mei's head was tilted back, face taking in the sun, eyes closed, mouth stretched into a smile.
A smile that hadn't left her face since she'd laid eyes on Gu Wei.
Zhai Mei opened her eyes and looked at Gu Wei, wanting to tell him how nice the roof was. But she stopped short at the look on his face.
Gu Wei was staring, eyes roaming over her like he wanted to take everything in.
Zhai Mei looked away before their eyes met, tugging her hand away from his and moving to the railing.
Gu Wei clutched her tighter for a second before letting go, watching as she placed her hands on the iron rail and gazed beyond it.
The street below was empty, and buildings stretched over in stacks, some taller than others.
Gu Wei joined her, placing an arm on the iron as he faced Zhai Mei fully.
Her lips were pressed tightly together, eyes pressed forward.
Gu Wei waited for her to gather her thoughts, his fingers itching to reach out and run through her packed ponytail. He fisted them instead.
'That day at the bench…' Zhai Mei began, and Gu Wei's heart stopped for a second before resuming at an unsteady rhythm.
Gu Wei did not fully recall all the things that had occurred on that bench.
He didn't want Zhai Mei to know that, but if she was referring to whatever was stuck in his mind, Gu Wei couldn't reply truthfully.
He waited, hoping Zhai Mei would shed light on his mind.
Tugging at her ponytail nervously, Zhai Mei avoided his eyes and motioned, 'I didn't know… You… I didn't…'
Appearing to be frustrated at herself for not getting the right signs out, Zhai Mei clapped her hands together, held them, breathed, then signed rapidly.
'On the bench i know you didn't mean to and i'm sorry if i made it weird after and even if you did mean to it doesn't have to mean anything i mean it can be something if you want but not like that and i'm sorry again if you felt weird cause i wasn't sure what to do after and then you went home and i felt bad for not giving you a ride but you just seemed like you needed space so i said nothing but that might be rude but i don't know and i guess i just wanna tell you… that it doesn't have to be weird.'
Gu Wei blinked at the nonstop gestures and stood there confused as he put the signs together and articulated what Zhai Mei was telling him.
When he was done and he understood everything, he hesitated before replying.
How was he going to reply when he didn't know what she was talking about? Should he play it by ear, or should he be honest?
Hands hovering in the air, Gu Wei dropped them, clenched his fingers, cursed his damned head, then gestured slowly.
'You don't have to apologise, but… What exactly did I do?'