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“You don’t really love him, do you?” Pearl asked, her voice no more than a whisper, yet it still rang clear as day despite the blaring music and screams around them. Pearl’s breath was hot on her ear, and she was close, close enough that Lei Ling could hear her heartbeat without the air telling her. She didn’t take her eyes off of their friend, Seolhee, and her group 4L1T up on the stage in front of them, fearing what she might say if she looked Pearl in the eye. She took a controlled breath before she answered.
“I do love him. He’s good to me.” Lei Ling, using the wind to make sure her words traveled directly to Pearl’s ear, who jumped. She pulled away from Lei Ling’s side sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.
“I guess you can hear me without getting close huh?” Pearl said, now leaning against the railing.
“Yeah.” Lei Ling said, cracking a small smile. Her eyes traced the way 4L1T moved perfectly in symphony, never getting in each other's way or bumping into each other despite their proximity on stage. She watched them for a while longer before she gathered the courage to ask, “What makes you think that?”
“It’s just, you don’t really seem happy around him.” Pearl said, raking a hand through her hair. She turned to face Lei Ling directly. “And you never listen when he talks. It’s like he’s background noise to you.”
“That’s cause he nags all the time.” Lei Ling said, sparing Pearl a glance. “I know he means well, but I really don't want to hear all of that after a long day. And even if it leads to a fight, we always make up afterwards.” She adjusted her glasses. “Plus I’m a busy woman. My relationship has to take the back seat sometimes.”
“You workaholics.” Lin Lie said, shaking his head disapprovingly. Lei Ling nearly flinched. She had been so consumed in what she was saying that she hadn’t felt him approach despite his unmistakable chi. He popped a kernel of popcorn into his mouth and glanced up at the stage. “Did Jimmy only recruit workaholic women to be in the new agents of atlas or something? Because it’s not all of us, but it’s a good handful of us.”
Pearl snickered, and reached behind Lei Ling to steal some of Lin Lie’s popcorn, who unsuccessfully tried to smack her hand away.
“What do you mean?” Lei Ling complained, there couldn’t have been that many of them fitting that description.
“You.” Lin Lie started, his words muffled by a mouthful of popcorn. “Silk, Ami, and sometimes Seolhee. But she’s the only one with a good work-life balance.”
“I have a good work-life balance.” Lei Ling grumbled, although her voice grew quiet towards the end of the statement. She felt a familiar string of chi approach then, and she turned her head to see Zou Yu, who had finally returned from the concessions stand.
“Uhuh.” Lin Lie said unconvinced, “Sure you do.”
Pearl moved away from the railing, and from Lei Ling, and walked over to stand on the other side of Lin Lie which left an empty space that Zou Yu quickly filled.
“Sorry it took so long, there was a long line.” Zou Yu apologized, and he handed her a cup of lemonade, half of the straw wrapper still neatly on top. He himself held a large bag of popcorn that seemed like it contained way too much salt for one sitting, and a cup with a dark liquid inside that Lei Ling assumed was cola.
“It’s okay.” Lei Ling said, a little louder than she had been speaking before. Turning to face Zou Yu, she offered him a small smile. She took the wrapper off the straw and crumpled it before pocketing the trash to throw away later. Taking a sip of the lemonade, she leaned towards Zou Yu, cupping his ear so he would hear her over the sounds of 4L1T’s venue of fans. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Of course.” Zou Yu shouted back over the noise. “By the way, how did you get VVIP for a 4L1T concert?” He lowered his voice, and Lei Ling almost pulled away when he leaned closer to ask, “And how do you know these people?”
Lin Lie gave her a wide eyed look before turning (not) inconspicuously away, shoving another handful of popcorn in his mouth. Despite Zou Yu’s efforts, he had clearly heard, and by the way Pearl was raising an eyebrow at her, she had too. She sighed quietly to herself before she replied to Zou Yu.
“They’re the agents of atlas. I was hired to design a base for them, here in Shanghai.” Lei Ling said, which wasn’t far from the truth.
“Oh. That group Aero is in.” Zou Yu said, his tone becoming almost bitter as he said the Shanghai hero’s name. Lin Lie chewed faster, and turned slowly to exchange a look with Pearl. She too, although reluctantly, shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
“Yup.” Lei Ling said, and she tried her best to keep her tone neutral. “Aero did save the world with them.”
“Good for her.” Zou Yu muttered, taking a sip of his drink. Lei Ling glared at him. “What? All the more reason the people of Shanghai should look to her instead of helping themselves.”
“Can’t you just be happy that she helped for once?” Lei Ling snapped, whipping her head to face her boyfriend. “She makes a difference. Isn’t that enough?”
Zou Yu looked at her, stunned, and Lei Ling felt a little guilty, but not enough to apologize. She turned away from him, refusing to meet his eyes even in her peripheral vision, and redirected her attention to the stage where the lights were already dimmed and workers were cleaning up the confetti and flowers thrown on stage.
A heavy blanket of silence seemed to fall over the group standing in the VVIP section, despite the occasional crunch. The silence broke when the members of 4L1T themselves shuffled into the VVIP area, still hanging on to the adrenaline from the performance. Pearl went up to hug Seolhee, who grinned and rocked her back and forth before letting go and walking over to Lei Ling, oblivious to the tension that had been in the air.
“Lei Ling! Glad you could make it!” Seolhee greeted before opening her arms for a hug. Lei Ling obliged, and was instantly enveloped in a warm embrace. Despite having just performed for a good two hours, the idol’s skin was cool to the touch, which Lei Ling deduced as a side effect of her powers.
“Glad to be here.” Lei Ling said with a smile. Seolhee pulled away from and turned to Zou Yu.
“And you must be..?” Seolhee asked, maintaining a friendly smile.
“Zou Yu.” He introduced himself, bowing slightly. “Lei Ling’s boyfriend.”
“Oh!” Seolhee said, and turned to Lei Ling with a smile that read You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend before looking back towards Zou Yu and extending her hand. “Pleasure to meet you!”
They shook hands, and she felt Pearl sidle up to her, who placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and shot her a worried look. She shook her head and mouthed later . The other three members of 4L1T went around exchanging greetings, and Seolhee took the chance to walk over to the two of them. Her eyes narrowed as she read Lei Ling’s stiff posture, and Pearl’s poorly concealed concern before she linked her arm with the architect’s and started dragging them towards the doors.
“I’m kidnapping these two for the night!” Seolhee announced, and was met by a chorus of ‘okay’ from her group mates.
“Wait!” Lin Lie called out, running to catch up with them. “I wanna go too.”
Pearl looked at him, and bit back a smile, instead scanning him from head to toe. “Do you have elemental powers?”
“No, but I have a magic sword.” Lin Lie said, and turned around to show the green greatsword strapped to his back.
Pearl shrugged. “Close enough.”
“Hell yeah.” Lin Lie cheered, and sped up his pace in order to walk side by side the three elementals. “Where are we going?”
“Hotpot?” Lei Ling suggested, and by Lin Lie’s vigorous nodding, she concluded that he agreed. Seol Hee and Pearl nodded in agreement as well, although with a little less energy than Lin Lie. “It’s settled then.”
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“So..” Seolhee started, sliding the entirety of the plate of imitation crab meat into the soup. “Why are you sulking?”
Lei Ling shot her a look from across the table. “I am not sulking.”
“I didn’t even direct the question at you.” Seolhee pointed out, setting the empty plate down on the table. “You so are sulking.”
“Is it cause of what I asked earlier?” Pearl asked, the slightest hint of guilt on her face as she glanced towards Lei Ling, who quickly shook her head. Lin Lie looked between the two of them before raising an eyebrow.
“What did you say earlier?” He asked, reaching with his chopsticks towards one of the pieces of imitation crab that Seolhee just put in, only to have his hand smacked away. He sighed and defeatedly set his chopsticks down momentarily before turning to look at Lei Ling.
“Pearl asked me if I really love Zou Yu, and I said I do.” Lei Ling explained simply, and the table fell quiet around her. Lin Lie tried to hide a laugh with a cough, but it was a fruitless effort. Lei Ling glared at him. “What? I do!”
Pearl offered a gentle smile that was deteriorating into an amused grin, and Seolhee straight up laughed. Lei Ling looked at them, exasperated.
“It’s just..” Seolhee smiled. “You’re so defensive. Just who are you trying to convince here, Lei Ling?”
“I’m not trying to convince anyone.” Lei Ling grumbled, and Pearl placed a piece of cooked meat into her bowl. “Thank you.” She smiled. Lin Lie and Seolhee exchanged a look.
“Alright, alright. We’ll stop teasing you.” Seolhee said, using her chopsticks to grab food from the hot soup and put it into her own bowl.”But seriously, what’s got you upset?”
Lei Ling sighed, and she stared at the bowl of rice in front of her, letting her thoughts collect before she spoke. “It’s just, the things he says can be so upsetting sometimes.”
“What do you mean by that?” Pearl asked, her eyebrows creasing in concern.
“Nothing bad, it’s just. He doesn’t like Aero. and he doesn’t know I’m Aero.” Lei Ling said, and despite Seolhee’s jaw dropping, she continued. “He’s so critical of everything Aero does, and over time it wears you down, you know?”
“But I thought everyone in Shanghai loves Aero.” Lin Lie said, this time successfully picking a piece of meat out from the hot pot and setting it down in his own bowl of rice. He teased,“Shanghai’s very own hero. The one and only, Aero.”
Lei Ling rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. “He said that Aero makes the citizens of Shanghai reliant on her. So much that they don’t think to help themselves.”
“I can see where he’s coming from, but I don’t think he’s totally right.” Seolhee said, reaching over the side of the table to grab Lei Ling’s hand. “I think it’s nice they have someone to look up to.”
“Yeah, plus people don’t rely on you completely. Just for the things that normal people can’t do.” Lin Lie said, using his chopsticks to gesture. “You’re like, hope in otherwise hopeless situations. Plus merchandise of you sells really well.”
“It sure does.” Pearl tacked on, holding up her keychain, which had a small acrylic version of Aero attached to it. Lei Ling gasped, and she grinned. “Cute, isn’t it?”
“Y-Yeah.” Lei Ling agreed, scooping the meat Pearl had left in her bowl earlier into her mouth to hide her embarrassment. Lin Lie snickered, and Lei Ling sent a draft of air down his back.
“Ack!” He exclaimed, suddenly sitting up straight. He turned to glare at Lei Ling, who smiled innocently and placed a piece of imitation crab meat into his bowl.
“Anyways.” Lei Ling said, “Thank you guys for talking it out with me.”
“Of course!” Pearl said, smiling warmly. Lei Ling felt her chest warm at the notion, and she offered a small smile in return.
“Yeah, anytime!” Seolhee added on, and Lei Ling’s smile grew.
“What those two said.” Lin Lie said, and before any of the elementals could reprimand him, he quickly added on, “Kidding. We got your back, jie .”
Lei Ling grinned. Her heart filled with warmth, and she decided that there was one thing in the world she loved as much as Shanghai, and that was her friends.