MIRA
In my life, I have met all kinds of people.
It never really mattered what their age, skin color, gender, or personality was—good people and rude people existed everywhere alike.
But somehow, despite all those differences, many of them shared one similar perspective when it came to me.
My eyes.
Those sharp, slightly narrow eyes inherited from my North-Eastern features that always made me look "different" from everyone around me.
Back in school, my friends used to joke around with each other casually all the time.
But when it came to me, there was always one particular sentence I heard more often than anything else—
"Arey, tu apne ghar China wapas ja."
Go back to China.
Funny thing was…
I had never even been to China back then.
Yet people had already decided where I belonged just by looking at my face.
Maybe that was why hearing others react so strongly after learning I was actually from India never surprised me anymore.
I had gotten used to it long ago.
But strangely, the people here—even after knowing where I was from, never even told me to "go back" to my real home back in India.
No one looked at me like I didn't belong.
Maybe I had never truly learned how to understand people properly.
Or perhaps… I had always avoided understanding them in the first place.
Just like right now.
Seeing the look on An-An's face after hearing that I lived in Chun Yuze's house made me feel as though I had accidentally committed some serious crime.
I genuinely could never understand what was going on anymore.
"Do you even know him?" An-An asked dramatically.
"I live in his house, so of course I do…" I paused slightly. "…I guess?"
Though honestly, even after meeting him so many times already, understanding Chun Yuze still felt impossible.
"Do you have any idea how famous he is in this university?" An-An whispered loudly.
I looked at her in disbelief.
"Him? Famous?"
"Mira, I'm serious," she said, placing a hand dramatically on the desk. "He's literally the hunk of the Architecture Department. Girls lose their minds just trying to talk to him."
I stared at her for a few seconds.
Then sighed deeply.
"Society is truly collapsing, I must say."
"Mira… I'm so sorry to ask this, but by any chance are you not into men?" she asked carefully, lowering her voice a little.
"What made you think that?" I stared at her in shock.
Xian An immediately started counting dramatically on her fingers.
"Well, first—you say you don't have a type."
"Second—you've never dated anyone."
"Third—you just said society is collapsing because girls like Chun Yuze."
She pointed at me accusingly.
"The evidence is evidence-ing."
I nearly laughed out loud.
"An-An, I never said liking men is a problem."
"Then what's wrong with Chun Yuze?"
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it again.
…Actually, what was wrong with him?
Besides his horrible personality.
His sharp tongue.
His emotionally constipated face.
His unnecessarily intimidating height.
Okay, maybe there were quite a few things wrong with him.
I crossed my arms stubbornly.
"He's rude."
Xian An gasped dramatically.
"RUDE? Chun Yuze spoke more than three sentences to you?"
"…What?"
"Mira, that man avoids social interaction like it personally insulted his ancestors."
I blinked twice.
"…No, because why is that actually accurate?"
"Most girls can't even get him to look at them for longer than five seconds," An-An continued proudly like she was revealing university secrets. "And you're here calling him rude like you've unlocked some premium version of him."
Premium version?
Absolutely not.
If this was the premium version, then the free trial itself must have been terrifying.
I rubbed my forehead tiredly.
"Trust me," I muttered. "You do not want the Chun Yuze experience."
Xian An immediately leaned closer with sparkling eyes.
"Oh my God."
"…What now?"
"This is becoming tea."
She was practically hovering over me, looking one second away from grabbing my collar and demanding every detail out of my soul.
But before I could say anything else, the professor finally entered the classroom.
I let out the biggest sigh of relief internally.
God truly had saved me today.
Yet when I looked toward Xian An again, she was already pointing two fingers at her eyes and then at me dramatically—
clearly signaling that I was going to tell her everything after class.
I could only give her an awkward smile before quickly turning my attention toward the board.
Surprisingly, the afternoon classes went rather smoothly after that.
Between taking notes, listening to lectures, and trying not to fall asleep from emotional exhaustion, time passed faster than I expected.
Once class ended, I immediately started packing my things, mentally preparing to escape before a certain purple-highlighted tornado could interrogate me again.
Unfortunately for me—
Xian An had other plans.
"See, An… I still have a lot of shifting work left," I explained while putting my notebook into my bag. "I'm not even properly settled in yet. I'll tell you everything tomorrow, okay?"
At this point, I was practically pleading for mercy.
Xian An suddenly looked at me with exaggerated sadness in her eyes.
"Girl," she sighed dramatically, "I'm not as scary as you think I am."
…Oh no.
Guilt immediately punched me in the chest.
Once again, my stupid mouth had made someone misunderstand me.
She genuinely just wanted to be friends, and here I was trying to escape like a criminal.
Ugh.
Mira, you idiot.
"No, wait—I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that—"
"Okay then," she interrupted instantly, her sad expression disappearing suspiciously fast. "Take my number. I'll call you tonight so you can tell me everything about your concrete angel."
…Concrete angel?
That sounded way too poetic for Chun Yuze.
I stared at her for a second before finally laughing helplessly.
Maybe I really was terrible at understanding people.
Because for some reason…
I genuinely wanted to become friends with her too.
At least she expressed herself honestly instead of hiding every emotion behind a cold face and sharp words.
We exchanged numbers before finally walking out of the campus together.
I bid goodbye to An-An near the university gate as she rushed off toward her part-time job after the lectures.
Apparently, she worked as a singer at a café somewhere in Beijing.
Honestly… that sounded incredibly cool to me.
Managing studies, work, music, and life all on her own wasn't something easy at all. Yet she carried herself so lightly, as if none of it weighed her down.
I wondered briefly how much effort a person had to hide behind such bright energy to appear that carefree.
As for me, I quietly continued walking back home alone.
The streets were calmer compared to the crowded university campus. Long rows of trees lined the sidewalks while the soft evening breeze brushed gently against my face.
My steps gradually slowed on their own.
For once, I didn't want to rush anywhere.
I just wanted to walk like this a little longer—
without pressure, without overthinking, without the noise inside my own head constantly chasing after me.
The sound of leaves moving with the wind, the distant traffic, the cool air settling against my skin…
somehow made this unfamiliar city feel slightly less lonely.
And maybe for the first time since arriving in China,
I felt a tiny bit free.
By the time I got back home, the bakery downstairs was still open as usual.
Warm lights glowed through the glass windows while the faint smell of fresh bread drifted through the evening air.
Yet this time, I didn't dare go inside.
At this point, my inner soul had fully convinced itself that something unexpected happened every single time I entered that bakery.
And honestly?
I valued my remaining peace too much today to take that risk again.
So without looking back, I quietly headed upstairs into my own apartment instead.
Surprisingly, the rest of the evening passed rather smoothly.
I cooked myself a simple Indian dinner using whatever vegetables and spices I had bought on the way home.
The familiar smell of the food alone made the room feel warmer somehow.
After dinner, I studied properly like I was supposed to, organized a few remaining things around the apartment, and tried my best to make myself feel refreshed again after the emotional chaos of the morning.
Maybe the day had not been entirely terrible after all.
Strange.
Eventually, I finally laid down on my bed, exhausted both mentally and physically.
Before sleeping, I quietly prayed to God for yet another successful day of survival.
Even though today had been embarrassing… tiring… and emotionally confusing,
somewhere within all that chaos, there had also been something oddly comforting too.
Hoping that nothing else would go wrong tonight, I reached over and turned off the lights.
Darkness settled across the room.
Silence followed.
DING DONG.
The sudden sound of the doorbell nearly sent my soul out of my body.
"Who the hell could this possibly be at this hour not letting this poor soul even breathe…" I muttered under my breath while dragging myself toward the door.
Still half sleepy and fully annoyed, I unlocked the door and pulled it open—
only to freeze immediately.
A familiar tall figure stood right in front of me.
The man was so ridiculously broad that he nearly covered the entire doorway by himself.
I slowly lifted my eyes upward.
Of course.
Chun Yuze.
Just how should I thank God for making sure my day ended with this absolute disaster standing in front of my room?
Wasn't he the same person who warned me to stay out of his way?
Then why was he here now?
I needed to end this interaction as quickly as possible.
"Look at you," I whispered tiredly. "Do you realize normal people try to sleep at this hour?"
"Oh Mira dear, did we disturb you?"
A soft voice suddenly came from behind him.
Aunt Shu-Zhen peeked out from behind her giant son, somehow almost disappearing behind that concrete pillar of a human being.
I immediately coughed awkwardly.
"N-No, Aunty," I corrected myself quickly. "What brings you here this late? Please come in."
Aunt Shu-Zhen smiled warmly before holding up a covered bowl in her hands.
"I made sweet sesame tangyuan for dessert tonight," she explained gently. "You didn't come downstairs, so I thought maybe you hadn't eaten properly."
…Oh.
My heart softened instantly.
Why was this woman so painfully kind?
Before I could even respond emotionally, Yuze suddenly spoke from beside her.
"She definitely ate."
I frowned instantly.
"Excuse me?"
He glanced down at me lazily.
"I could smell enough spices from downstairs to kill a small country."
My jaw dropped in offense.
"THAT is called flavor, Mr. Boiled Food Culture."
Aunt Shu-Zhen immediately burst into laughter behind him.
Meanwhile Yuze looked mildly offended for the first time in his life.
"Boiled food culture?" he repeated slowly.
"Yes," I crossed my arms proudly. "One sneeze of Indian spices and your ancestors would wake up."
Silence.
"You two started again already?" Aunt Shu-Zhen finally said.
"He started it," I replied immediately.
"You insulted an entire country's food culture."
"And you insulted my dinner."
Yuze stared at me for a second before speaking flatly,
"You're still awake enough to argue, so clearly you weren't sleeping."
…Okay, that actually made sense and I hated it.
"What does it have to do with you, huh?!" I said, shooting him a death glare.
Then my phone suddenly rang. I quickly walked out to see who was calling..It was Xian An. How could I forget I was supposed to call her? Never mind—I would call her later. I switched my phone to silent mode and returned to the dining room.
"Aunty, give me that bowl. I'll keep it," I said, taking it from her carefully.
She let out a small scoff.
"Well, Mira," she began, her tone softer now, "about what happened this morning… I just came here to say that Yuze and I are really sorry."
She bowed slightly as she spoke.
I paused.
"Aunty…" I said immediately, stepping closer. "You don't need to bow like that."
Before I could say anything further, Yuze spoke from beside her.
"There's no need for this."
His voice was calm, almost indifferent as always.
"Shut up, Yuze, will you?" Aunt Shu-Zhen snapped, turning toward him. "Because of your words, things got worse at the café tonight."
Yuze didn't react.
She then turned back to me, her expression softening again.
"He didn't want to come, but I forced him to," she admitted. "You deserved an apology."
For a moment, the room felt still.
I looked between them slowly.
I knew that this night was going to be another rollercoaster of my day again today.
But somehow I really wanted an apology from him, and I will make him do so.
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