After a ride of 30 minutes, the car stopped. Yuan got out of the car first, and then he opened my side of the door.
"Oooo, the boyfriend is doing his duties pretty nicely," I said while stepping out of the car.
He smiled and said, "Look, silly girl." He made me turn around and said, "There is the changing room. Go there and get changed."
Then he handed me the dress bag.
I smiled and went to change the dress, and after 10 minutes, when I came out of the changing room after changing the dress, he was not there. My eyes started searching for him here and there. Then I saw him standing far away from me, but still very close to me, as always—like his existence in my life.
He was holding a glass of orange juice in his hands. His white shirt and white T-shirt were changed now. He was still wearing white, but different clothes this time—a formal white shirt with plain white pants and a white blazer coat on it. His hair was properly set, just two or three strands of his hair falling down on his forehead. He was looking like a prince who had just come out from a fairy tale.
My steps started approaching towards him. Then I looked down for a while as he saw me.
She is walking like a princess who just came into the normal world of people. Every approaching step of hers made me feel that she is not made for this world. She is too fragile for a world like this.
Then a faint laugh appeared on his face, and he thought, No, I was wrong. She is not some fragile princess. She is the queen of her kingdom who knows how to fight back against the wrong people. And now she is the queen of my heart.
Then I reached him and waved my hand in front of his eyes and asked him, "Where are you lost?"
He smiled immediately and said, "It should be illegal."
"What?" I asked him in shock.
He smiled again and said, "Being this pretty should be illegal, you know what, silly girl, because of you my heart is saying stop beating."
"Shut up, Yuan. Don't you dare to say such kinds of words about yourself, at least not in front of me," I said in a big angry tone.
He smiled again and said, "Sorry, sorry, for making the birthday girl mad at me."
I crossed my arms and said, "Not like this. Do it properly."
He smiled and said, "Fine, I know it."
Then he held my one hand very gently in his hands, like it was something sacred, and took me towards the round table which had a white tablecloth perfectly placed on it and two chairs just right opposite each other. The table was full of dishes, orange juice—my favourite one—and some of my favourite dishes. The table was fully covered.
He gently dragged the chair out for me, and then he sat in front of me on the chair.
After sitting on the chair, I looked around the location and moved my eyes 360 degrees. He noticed it but didn't say anything. He just poured some orange juice into my glass and gave it to me. I started drinking it slowly, sip by sip, while looking around here and there—the decorations, the whole setup. It looked like we were having a dinner ballroom.
The white plain curtains around the area where we were sitting were giving it a globe-like round structure. Everything was filled with the fragrance of white roses, as they were decorated circularly around the four strong pillars. The whole setup was in an open area, and the Shanghai cold breeze had started brushing against my skin, but I ignored it because for me right now the only important thing was him.
Then I noticed something and asked him, "Yuan, why are you seeing me like this? Do I look strange?"
He smiled and said, "I should not have made you wear this white-coloured dress."
"Why, do I look bad in this?" I asked him.
He smiled again and said, "No, it's just that you are looking way prettier than I expected."
I slightly smiled and said, "Oooo, so you were underestimating my beauty, isn't it?"
"No. It was just that you are already very pretty, and after wearing this white dress that I bought for you, you are looking even prettier, and that is making me scared."
I got a little shocked after hearing this from him, so I asked, "Scared for what?"
"Scared that if evil eyes were here, then definitely they would affect you. You are already so pretty, and after wearing this dress it works like a cherry on the cake."
I laughed hard while holding my stomach and said, "Yuan, no one is here. It's just the two of us. How could any evil eyes even be able to touch me?"
But he was about to say something, and I cut him in the middle and held his hands and said, "Unless and until I am with you, no one—not even a single evil eye—can ever be able to touch me."
"Why do you trust me so much, silly girl? Sometimes I think about it—do I really deserve this trust of yours?"
"Yuan, Yuan, Yuan… ooo my dear boyfriend Yuan, don't think too much. This trust on you I have developed way before now," I said while holding both his hands in mine.
"When?" he asked.
I smiled and said, "When I was 17 years old and saw you for the first time in that drama series. The first scene of your entry was when you were doing some robotics work in your lab on the computer, and the moment you lifted your eyes from the computer, my Mr. Heart had already forgotten to beat. From that moment my ordinary life changed, and you became my everything. So this trust on you is years of trust. This can't be broken because it's unbreakable, just like my love for you."
He smiled.
"You are blushing, isn't it?" I asked him.
He tried to cover it and said, "Stop teasing. I am not."
"No, no, see—your ears have become so red," I said.
The moment I said it, he covered his ears with both his hands and said, "You like it so much, isn't it?"
I nodded my head and said, "What should I do? You are so worth teasing."
"Don't test me, silly girl, because if one day I tease you, you definitely won't be able to handle it," he said in a tone that sounded like a warning.
"Ooo, I am so scared," I said, then laughed and said, "I know. I have already seen your teasing. It's just kindergarten level for me."
"Ooo really, don't challenge me," he said.
"You are too shy, I know," I said while sipping my orange juice.
"I am too shy, but I have enough strategies to make you shy," he said.
And I suddenly choked after hearing this.
He smiled proudly and straightened his back like he had already won some game. Then he handed me a glass of water. "Drink slowly," he said.
Then he smiled mischievously and said, "Look at you. Just a minute ago you were saying so much about me, and now you didn't even do anything. I just said a few lines and you already choked yourself. What if I do it someday?"
"Yuan, please come out of your teasing mood. You are so satisfied seeing me like this, isn't it?"
"Of course I am satisfied, because what I see is not that you are blushing or shy because of me. I see how much I affect you. And you know what, silly girl? I like it. I like the way I affect you this much. I really like that I have such a huge impact on you."
Then suddenly my phone rang. It was Wang Ruoxi calling. I picked it up and was about to say everything to her, but before that she said, "I know you are with him. Enjoy your day. Just come to the dorm on time."
I was a little shocked. I didn't even say hello properly and she already knew everything. "But how do you know? I mean, did Yuan tell you that he is—"
She stopped me midway and said, "I am not stupid. I have brains. I guessed it the moment I came back to the room. I knew that he would definitely take you somewhere. After all, it's his girlfriend's first birthday with him. How could he miss the chance to make your day memorable?"
I blushed.
"Stop blushing and go back to him. He must be cursing me for taking his girlfriend away from him even for five minutes," she said.
"No, not at all. It's not like that," I said.
"You go back to him and enjoy your day with the most precious person of your life. I know you have waited for years to celebrate this day with him. Don't ruin it. Just live every second of it," she said.
"I am already doing it," I replied.
"Okay then, I'm hanging up. I just called for this. And once again, before your birthday ends—happy birthday, my childhood bestie."
"Thank you, my childhood bestie," I replied.
"But you—" she was about to say something, and I completed it before her, "I owe you a birthday meal. Don't worry, it's on me."
"And it will be just the two of us, okay?" she said.
"Alright, now I am hanging up. Bye-bye."
"Bye-bye," she said, and the call ended.
I got back to the table and sat on the chair and said, "Sorry, it was Wang Ruoxi. She was just saying—"
"I know. It didn't bother me," he said calmly.
I smiled because I knew deep inside he was cursing her for taking me away from him even for those five minutes.
Then he offered me his hand and said, "Does the birthday girl want to dance with me? Her birthday will be incomplete without dancing."
I chuckled, put my hand in his without thinking even for a second, and said, "Of course, the birthday girl loves to dance with you, Yuan."
Then…