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February 14th.
Although it was broad daylight, the artificial lights decorated the street with a romantic red and pink theme that accentuated the various banners with texts such as 'Valentine's Day Offer!' and 'Share it with your loved ones!'
Yes, it was Valentine's Day, and as Leonard had come to learn, a day that celebrates love. The people of this era usually spent this day with their loved ones, and this day was quite famous among couples as the perfectly romantic day.
Then, what was Leonard doing on the streets, dressed up in 'modern' clothes, on such a day? Well, he was invited by Klein— that is, Zhou Mingrui— to a cafe.
The most normal thought to such an invitation would be: 'Is this a date?' But knowing Klein, it probably wasn't; most likely that Zhou Mingrui had something to share and that the date of the invitation happened to coincide with Valentine's Day.
Leonard was an angel who had lost quite a bit of his humanity. Still, a selfishly human part of him wished that this was truly a date. A pipe dream, really. He knew better than to expect as such, but the stubborn embers of this idiotic hope refused to extinguish.
Well, it was whatever. He was running late, so he didn't have time to waste on such meaningless thoughts.
As Leonard entered the cafe building, a warm and buzzing atmosphere surrounded him. This was the perfect atmosphere for a romantic date, wasn't it? He looked around.
Couples.
Couples everywhere.
Oh there he was. Zhou Mingrui!
Leonard walked upto his table and took a seat.
"Sorry I'm late."
"No, it's fine."
Zhou Mingrui said. He had a polite smile on his face as he waited for the other to settle. Leonard spoke again.
"So, why did you invite me here?" And on this day too?
"Oh, you know. I was free today, and thought that if you were free too, we could hang out or something. That's all."
"That's all?" A pause. "And here I thought that you had something urgent to talk about."
It was strange, and utterly out of character for Zhou Mingrui. Leonard knew that whether it was Klein or Zhou Mingrui, neither was impulsive, so, what he said had to be a not-so-well thought out excuse. Also, he could swear the Zhou Mingrui looked a bit impatient, as if waiting for something to happen.
"Leonard, what are you going to order?"
This broke him out of his thoughts.
"Just a black coffee for me, no sugar."
Zhou Mingrui called a waiter and placed their orders. A sweet iced tea for himself and a black coffee for Leonard. But then, he said something strange:
"I had placed a special order earlier. It can be served now."
"Okay, sir."
And the waiter went away. Zhou Mingrui turned to Leonard.
"I think this is the first time I'm seeing you in something other than a collared shirt. What's up with that?"
"I decided that a change would be nice. Why, do I look too handsome?" It was actually because if this was somehow a date, he wanted to be as integrated with Mingrui's time period as possible. But he didn't need to know that.
Seeing that Zhou Mingrui rolled his eyes, Leonard changed the topic.
"What is that about a special order?"
"You'll see. Anyway, what have you been upto recently?"
Leonard noticed that Zhou Mingrui avoided the topic of the 'special order'. But he ignored it despite his curiosity, as Mingrui must have had his reasons.
"Nothing special, just patrols. The police didn't get any new cases recently." Leonard took a breath. "But Mingrui, you invited me out on Valentine's Day and now you say it was nothing urgent..." Then why?
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you have plans with someone?"
"No, it's not that." Leonard sighed internally. The embers of his idiotic hope had been fanned by Zhou Mingrui's odd behaviour. A playful look appeared in his face but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Is this a date—"
"It's here!" Zhou Mingrui suddenly cut in.
"? What's here?"
The answer to his question was now in front of him. The waiter served a small chocolate cake, some utensils, and two plates.
"Happy birthday, Leonard. I didn't expect you to actually forget your own birthday. Uh, this was what I was waiting for."
Ah.
That's right.
Today was also his birthday.
Leonard was visibly shocked. When did he tell Zhou Mingrui his birthday? Klein knew, sure, but not him. Does that mean he remembers? And Leonard's birthday of all things?
"I never told you when my birthday is!"
"I don't remember exactly when, but you told me. How else could I have known?" Zhou Mingrui looked at him like he was stupid, before handing him a wrapped present.
"What's this?"
"A gift. Open it."
Leonard unwrapped the present carefully. There were two books inside— 'Collection of 101 Famous Poems' and 'A Guide to Poetry for Beginners'.
"Poetry books?"
"Well, you said that you were into poetry, and I couldn't think of anything else. Now, cut the cake."
Leonard smiled gratefully, and if Mingrui's eyes seemed to squint at that, he brushed it off. It had been a long time since Leonard had received pleasant surprises, so he didn't expect this from Mingrui, much less here. He happily obliged and cut the cake.
Then, the two divided the cake among themselves equally. But, Leonard insisted that he didn't have much of a sweet tooth, and so, Zhou Mingrui recieved two extra slices, despite him protesting against it. Truthfully, both of them knew that he protested just to be polite— Mingrui wasn't one to refuse extra food.
Soon, their drinks arrived. The duo alternated between bickering about something mundane and sitting in a comfortable silence while enjoying their food. It was nice. It almost reminded Leonard of the past. After a while, he spoke up.
"Thank you, Mingrui."
"No need to thank me. It's what friends do. Besides, it's just two books, a drink and a cake, and that too I ate most of it."
"No, I'm serious. Thank you for surprising me. Thank you for remembering my birthday. And, it was in no way lacking; the best gift was being able to celebrate it with you."
Zhou Mingrui looked away briefly before replying.
"You're welcome."
Whether it was his imagination or that Mingrui's ears truly turned a light pink, Leonard wasn't sure. Nevertheless, he gained a sudden confidence.
"But, you didn't answer my question from earlier."
"What question?"
"Is this a date?"
Seeing that Zhou Mingrui was hesitating to reply, he continued.
"Oh, I suppose not. This was just a birthday surprise, wasn't—"
"Do you want it to be?"
"What?"
"A date. Do you... want this to be a date?"
Leonard's eyes brightened. He replied without hesitation—
"Yes!!"
Perhaps it was because of Leonard's enthusiastic reply, Mingrui looked like he was struggling to keep a smile off his face as he locked eyes with him.
"Then it's a date."
"It's a date? It's a date! Now, this is the best gift ever!"
Leonard was grinning ear to ear. All his thoughts of apprehension and how his 'idiotic' hope hade been just a 'pipe dream' flew out the window. This man had decided that involving his head in the matters of the heart was one thing he'll never do again; it wasn't fruitful that way.
Zhou Mingrui too was smiling. Not only was Leonard's happiness contagious, he himself was elated with the unexpected(was it?) turn of events.
Who could have known that they'd have their first date on February 14th?
—————
If they met up the next day, the day after that, the day after that and the day after that, it's all history!
And if this dream ended up being the last dream Mr. Fool had before he woke up from his slumber, that must have been pretty fortunate too, isn't that so?
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