26 Kiss n Tell Cafe 2 (1/2)

Ben Zi's eyes bulged and he began to stutter \”That's.. That-that-that that is!\” he pointed towards the trio that were buying rainbow milkshakes at the bar.

Ray Xi looked over, \”Which one?\”

\”That one...the tall one with the blue ripped jeans!\” Ben Zi said excitedly.

\”Ohhh, nah he's way out of your league Ben.\” Qui Ten gave Mao Lu a quick glance, \”That guy looks like a model. He's tall, extremely handsome, and that watch on his wrist is a rolex. He probably won't even look at your poor ass twice.\”

\”Yh I agree with her.\” Ray Xi nodded.

Ben Xi stared at them both blankly, \”Th-That's not what I meant…. And what do you mean out of my league? I'm handsome too, and sure I'm not super tall and I'm not rich right now but I will be wealthy one day.\”

\”Yh but if your handsomeness is like the $1 edition then his is like $10,000, you're not in the same league.\” Ray Xi smiled as she said these cutting words.

Ben was offended. As far as he was concerned he was an exotic beauty. Half American half Chinese, he had nice green eyes, an above average face, good natural brown hair.

Sure he wasn't as tall as that guy but saying he was out of his league…. That was just cruel. These two were his best friends and yet they could be so savage.

Ben Xi felt like his self esteem had been attacked…But wait this wasn't what he'd wanted to talk about.

\”No you're wrong, it's not because I like him, no I meant it is him. As in the guy from the story I was telling you about. The one that faded away in the middle of the street that night. He's the guy!\”

Ray Xi and Qui Ten curiously looked over to Mao Lu.

The guy had a gorgeous smile, he was laughing with his friends and seemed perfectly normal.

Ray and Qui didn't want to question Ben Zi, he was their best friend and they had known him long enough to know he was being serious. But for someone to just fade away in the middle of the street. Such a thing couldn't be possible right? They'd assumed Ben Zi had just been seeing things or it was a prank of some sort. But now that the guy that had apparently mysteriously disappeared was now right in front of them, they both didn't know what to think.

…

Mao Lu was laughing as Tanaka bitched about some new girl at the cafe. But his mind was distracted.

Due to 'Sense of the Realm' Mao Lu had realised a while ago that there was a mortal named Ben Zi who witnessed him being carried away by Gates on the night that he'd met Chàng Bo.

Mao Lu had mentioned this to Gates but Gates had said it didn't matter. \”This mortal has no power, he can not affect you and has no evidence of the event. No one will believe him. It does not matter if he saw something or not.\”

But, luck would have it that they were both coincidentally at the same cafe. \”Oh joy.\”

Mao Lu easily heard Ben Zi's conversation with his friends and easily felt them all staring at him.

Mao Lu felt nervous, what if the guy made a fuss in the middle of the cafe. Mao Lu wanted to keep his normal life and his Gatekeeper life as separate as possible. He didn't want to drag his innocent and powerless friends into dangerous situations.

As the bartender gave them their rainbow pride milkshakes, and Tanaka dragged him and Bei Lao to a seat near the window, Mao Lu decided that if Ben Zi came up to him he'd pretend the guy was crazy and go into full denial.

Although he felt a tad bad for the guy Mao Lu wasn't going to complicate matters just to help Ben Zi find some closure.

As he sat and chatted with Tanaka and Bei Lao, he heard Ben Zi talking to his friends, \”I want to approach him during the speed dating event, and then ask him one on one about what happened that night.\”

Mao Lu felt relieved hearing this. A One on One conversation wouldn't involve Tanaka or Bei.

\”Listen up ladies, gentlemen and the non-binary!\” Said a Kiss 'n' Tell employee. He was holding a microphone and standing on a large round stage. \”It is now time for Speed dating Saturday to begin. Now everyone who wanted to enter the speed dating event should all have your wristbands on, if you don't then quickly head to the counter and get your wristband.

The wristbands are in 4 different colours based on what you identify as. Our cafe decided that Red is for gay, green for lesbian, pink for bisexual and yellow for transgender.

You have to find a person you like that's wearing a wristband suited to your tastes before the music starts. And then you have 5 minutes to get to know them.

Everytime the music stops your 5 minutes are up and you have 1 minute to find a new partner before the music starts again.

Even if you really hit it off with someone straight away we recommend that you try talking to three different people before you make a decision.

Okay! Is everyone ready. You need to find your partner…. NOW!\”

A loud buzzer went off.

Tanaka, who remained seated whilst snuggling up to Bei Lao shouted \”Good luck Mao Lu, you can do it!\”

The moment the buzzer went off and Mao Lu stood up, as expected Ben Zi came running in his direction, but it wasn't just Ben Zi. There were ten other guys all walking towards Mao Lu. And just as Ben Zi got close, Mao Lu felt his shoulder being grabbed by someone else. The music started.

\”Hi I'm Scott. I'm originally from Australia but I've been living in China for five years now. My Chinese is good right?\”

There was a tall Australian man in front of Mao Lu. He had nice blue eyes, sun-kissed blonde hair and a slight tan.

Mao Lu smiled at Scott and shook his hand.

\”Your chinese is very good. Nice to meet you. I'm Mao Lu, I've lived in China all my life.\”

\”Never travelled?\”

\”Never really had the chance to, but I plan to travel a lot in the future.\”

Mao Lu enjoyed his conversation with Scott. He was a nice guy, but neither of them really felt a spark during their 5 minute conversation and didn't have much in common.

When the music stopped everyone went running around again like headless chickens. This time Ben Zi pushed right past a man that was heading towards Mao Lu, and jumped in front of him. The music started.

Ben Zi just stared at Mao Lu. Mao Lu smiled back at him.

\”Nice to meet you, my name is Mao Lu, and you are?\”

\”B-B-Ben Zi!\” Now that Ben Zi was up close to Mao Lu, he could understand what Ray Xi and Qui Ten meant. He was out of his league. Mao Lu's skin was literally flawless and looked so soft and silky. His eyes were bright like jewels, he had such a gentle and yet powerful presence. Like he was some kind of benevolent ruler. He was definitely 100% out of Ben Zi's league.

\”I'm a taxi driver. I saw you when I was working three weeks ago near Roaring Tiger, do you remember me?.\” Ben Zi blurted out.

Even though he was nervous he was also curious. How would Mao Lu react? Ben Zi was certain that he was the person that faded away that night.

\”Maybe Mao Lu is a vampire or some kind of demon, or perhaps he has some kind of supernatural ability. Since I've uncovered his secret will he kill me or find a way to shut me up? Maybe I should have thought this through before confronting him about it.\” Ben Zi thought excitedly.

\”Hmmm three weeks ago. I have no idea what I was doing then, but I don't remember meeting you. You might be confusing me with someone else.\” Mao Lu said this with a bright smile.

\”....\”

\”So he's decided to completely deny it\” Ben Zi's brain whirled. Maybe this was for the best, if he pushed it and tried to force a confession he'd end up angering him. And who knew what that could lead to.

But then again Ben Zi had always wished for a life of adventure. Who hadn't once wished that they could be Bella from twilight or one of Marvel's superheroes. This could be his big break. He couldn't let this chance slip away.

\”I saw you fade away that night. I know you're going to deny it and pretend to be confused, but I know what I saw, and I know that I'm not crazy. I'm not going to spread your secret or anything I swear. I'm just really curious about you and about your powers. So let's meet up one of these days, I'm really curious about you.\”

Ben Zi took out a small slip of paper that he'd written his number on and shoved it into Mao Lu's hands before running off.

Ben Zi knew that it was unlikely that Mao Lu would ever call him, he had no reason to, but Ben Zi gave him his number because he was hopeful. \”I know his weird secret right? Then he should contact me.\”

Ben Zi didn't really want anything from Mao Lu, he just wanted the satisfaction of knowing that the supernatural existed, and he also wanted the excitement that came from knowing Mao Lu.

\”I really hope he calls me!\” Ben Zi wished as he scampered away.

Mao Lu was dumbfounded as he watched Ben Zi run.

He had played dumb because he thought that if he pretended not to know what Ben Zi was talking about, Ben Zi would just drop it. But who would have expected the guy to be so stubborn.

\”And he even gave me his number. Does he really expect me to call him. He doesn't know anything about my secret, and he just stated that he wasn't going to spread rumours, and it's not like he knows me. So what does it matter.\” Mao Lu just sighed as he crumpled the piece of paper into his pocket.

At that same moment there was a loud \”bleeeeeeppppppp\” from the buzzer. The music stopped and another guy was soon in front of him, trying to start a conversation.

Mao Lu generally enjoyed getting to know these people, and he was flattered that they seemed to like him. But he wasn't exactly feeling it. Some of these guys were drop dead gorgeous, yet Mao Lu felt like something was missing. His heart wasn't beating, his blood wasn't rushing, and he wasn't blushing. That spark was missing. That spark that he'd felt when he'd spoken to Chàng Bo. That powerful feeling of attraction. He didn't feel it with any of these men.

In the end, after an hour of the speed dating Mao Lu sat down with Tanaka and Bei. \”I don't think this speed dating thing is for me. I'm just gonna sit this one out.\”

\”Sit this out!\” Tanaka stared at him with round eyes.

\”I'm just not really feeling it.\”