I wasn't really ever expecting to write any fanfiction for The One, but I was re-reading the manhua and I became bizarrely attached to the pairing of Lou Shang (the crazy editor dude from W magazine) and Ye Fei Hong (Lele's aunt). So I wrote this scene that supposedly takes place a number of days after the events of the Volume 3 side story, in which Lou Shang dumps Night Cane thanks to a great deal of interference on Lele's mother's part.

It's ridiculous, but hopefully as fun to read as it was to write. :)

Disclaimer: The One belongs to Nicky Lee, not me.

Paradigm Switch

Ye Fei Hong jogged up the flight of stairs leading to her apartment, finishing her morning run. She stopped at the top and bent over, panting slightly, satisfied to see no protruding bulges in her stomach through her tight tank top. Keeping in shape, physically and mentally, was a vital part of any model’s life, and she found that an early jog every day energized her and firmed up her legs and abdomen nicely.

She straightened, pulling her elastic headband off in one fluid yank, then froze. There was a man curled up in the hallway, sitting with his back against the door of her apartment, arms wrapped around his knees and head hanging down like a miserable child. She looked around, and saw one of the tenants of the next room down peer out apprehensively into the corridor, then withdraw quickly upon seeing the pitiful figure.

Prepared to shriek, and clenching her fist to give the stranger a beating if necessary, Fei Hong had taken a step forward when she suddenly recognized that light, short hair, sticking up in small, unruly fluffs here and there.

Pursing her lips, she strode over to plant herself in front of the man, crossing her arms over her chest and twirling the headband imposingly around one finger. “You’re scaring the neighbours, Auntie Lou,” she said loudly, nudging him with her foot.

His head snapped up, his eyes shining with relieved hope and what looked like unshed tears. Oh, jeez, she thought.

“Fei-Fei!” he exclaimed in a tremulously joyful voice, extending his arms upward as if for a hug. She stepped away from it, giving him a warning look which he ignored, promptly leaping up and engulfing her in a crushing embrace. “You’re here! I thought you had abandoned me like everyone else!”

She rolled her eyes at his melodramatic attitude, growling into his neck, “Don’t call me Fei-Fei.” He was uncomfortably big in comparison to her petite, pixie-like build, and she hated feeling so overpowered. She wriggled away and neatly ducked around him to unlock the door, saying irritably, “Why wouldn’t I be here? It’s my apartment.” She walked into her apartment and waited for him to follow. When he didn't do so at once, she turned and demanded exasperatedly, “Lou Shang, are you coming in or not?”

This time his tears overflowed, and he practically lunged inside. “I knew you would never abandon me, sister of mine!”

She shut the door behind him, sighing. Lou Shang, her best friend since high school, was a lot to handle, which was why she only missed him a bit when he travelled with his current gay lover, supermodel Night Cane. Until recently he’d been in India for Cane’s photo shoot at the Taj Mahal, a joint project with her older sister, also a supermodel, Ye Fei Yi. Fei Hong had known Shang would get in touch with her upon his return, but she hadn’t thought it would be in quite such a dramatic fashion. Then again, what else could one expect from Lou Shang, aspiring magazine editor and celebrity boyfriend extraordinaire?

He threw himself onto her bed, still sobbing his heart out, effectively rumpling the neatly-made covers. But it was a hopeless cause, so she just ignored him, hopping into the bathroom and taking a quick cold shower, emerging a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around her, her short-cropped hair damp and smelling faintly of shampoo. She selected a clean outfit from her closet, not bothering to stay out of sight; she had changed in front of Lou Shang countless times before. He was her best friend, and anyway, he was gay.

Finally she turned to her sniffling companion and ordered, “Stop crying. You’re a big boy now.” He was; and more man than boy, at that. He had some potential in the modelling field himself, she reflected, with his youthful charm, but his passion was for the magazine industry. It happened to be the fashion magazine industry, however, so he was still quite involved in the world of skin-deep beauty.

He had propped himself up on one elbow to look at her, hardly whimpering now, and she figured a distraction would help, so she struck an audacious pose in her bra, exposing her bare torso to him for feedback. “How do I look?” she asked, pinning him with an intense glare, daring him to offer any criticism.

“Hmm, nice,” he approved, sobering immediately and cocking his head, concentrating intently. “You’ve been working out, haven’t you, Hong? You’ve filled out that skinny little tummy with some muscle.” He grinned and winked at her when she stuck her tongue out, resenting his “skinny little tummy” comment. She’d always been on the thin side, but that was good for a model. Well, at least he was no longer bawling like a baby.

She sat down on the bed beside his sprawled form. “What was all that ridiculous talk of being abandoned earlier? Did you have an argument with your precious darling Night?” Fei Hong had always somewhat discouraged Shang’s relationship with Night Cane, as it was clearly a one-sided affair and Cane was a cold, aloof character whose only true love was his career. But Lou Shang wasn’t one for taking advice, and so she had retreated to merely lightly needling him about his devotion to the supermodel.

Shang’s voice was unusually devoid of emotion as he spoke. “We broke up.”

“What?!” That was a bolt from the blue. As far as Fei Hong knew, there hadn’t really been any bumps in their relationship, aside from the obvious one. “Really?”

“I broke up with him,” Shang repeated hollowly, tearing up again.

“You broke up with him.” That was hard to believe - Shang worshipped the ground that that arrogant Cane walked on. She was having trouble processing this. “How did that happen?” A sudden thought sent a wave of foreshadowing dread through her. “Wait...it wasn’t...Fei Yi?” Her crazy sister, so nonsensically enamoured of Night Cane - Fei Hong didn’t believe that she was low enough to actually try to sabotage Shang, but her persistent pushiness was sure to have ignited Shang’s feelings.

“Ye Fei Yi. Her,” Shang bit out painfully. “That terrible, evil, man-stealing...woman,” he finished hastily, noticing Fei Hong’s glare. She was well aware of her sister’s faults, but she was also unfailingly loyal to her and tolerated no insults toward her. She’d let it pass this once, because it was a just-jilted Lou Shang, but he was duly warned.

“What exactly did she do?” Fei Hong wanted to know, already slightly sorry she’d asked, but also genuinely curious.

“She...well, she came on to him, of course,” Shang recounted, closing his eyes and shuddering as if remembering it was too much to bear. “Who wouldn’t, with an amazing, gorgeous hunk like Night? It wouldn’t have meant anything, but he was actually affected by it. He rejected her, but she had captured his interest. With the eyes of one who has known true love, I could tell.” He flung an arm over his face dramatically, proclaiming in anguish, “My heart is broken, Fei-Fei!”

She whacked him. “Don’t call me that.” But she did feel kind of sorry for him. He was an all-or-nothing sort of person, and in this case he had given his all to Night Cane and received nothing in return. So she set about comforting him in the way she found most suitable: insulting his ex.

“To be honest, I always thought that Night Cane didn’t deserve you. You’re a weirdo, and you get overly emotional over dumb things, but you were a good boyfriend, and he wasn’t.” She paused for a beat to let that sink in, then continued in a brisk tone, “It’s as simple as that. So hurry up and get over him, move on or whatever, and find someone better to salivate after in your usual disgustingly overeager way.”

“Hey! I don’t salivate!” He sat up, injured, then looked away, muttering sulkily, “And persistence pays off.”

“Yeah, right. I definitely caught you drooling over that nude cover that Cane did,” she contradicted him, giving his shoulder a shove. “Take my constructive criticism like a man. Someone has to keep your head from bursting from ego-inflation. When you get complimented, you practically melt and it’s completely revolting. A few insults keep you firm and healthy.” Frowning severely at him for a few seconds to make sure he got the message, she then smiled and commanded authoritatively, “Be strong, Lou Shang. You’re a decent man. And you don’t know my sister like I do - Night Cane will have his hands full. In a few weeks he’ll be thinking back longingly on the days when you used to cater to his every whim.”

Shang lay back down, satisfied with that. “Ah, you’re such a comfort to me, Fei-Fei,” he sighed, as if she were his granddaughter or something similar.

Patience at an end, she grabbed a pillow and began to smother him with it. “I said, do not call me -” Muffled, he protested, grabbing her arms to restrain her, and she tumbled on top of him. He succeeded in ridding himself of the cushion, sputtering to get the taste of linen out of his mouth, and she broke off abruptly, staring at him. Or more like staring right into him - her eyes were just above his, their noses almost touching, lips mere centimetres apart. His hands, large hands, were wrapped around her slender wrists, and she was very conscious of her upper body, only her breasts covered by her bra, all that bare skin pressed against him. Flustered, she wrested her right hand from his grip, and it dropped of its own accord to his chest, feeling the hard ridge of the shapely sinew there. It sent an electric shock through her, and she stopped struggling, now afraid to move, breathing slowing as her heart raced, lying there over him.

His eyes, lively, playful eyes, penetrated her, his forehead smooth and wrinkle-free but his gaze strangely serious and intense, and he unexpectedly reached up behind her head, his fingers stroking her hair. A fingertip brushed her scalp, the slight touch breaking her out of her daze, and she sprang away from him to stand stiffly by the bed, hands clasped in front of her stomach.

“I - I need to put a shirt on!” she blustered, whirling over to her dresser and whipping open drawers in a wild search. She yanked a blouse out at random, then turned to face him, clutching it to her protectively. He was now fully sitting up on the bed, one leg hanging off the edge, rubbing his neck and watching her with a focus that scared her.

“Um, Lou Shang?” she said hesitantly. He had that extremely grave look that sometimes flashed across his face the moment before he burst into noisy, exaggerated tears, but in this case it was lasting much longer than a moment, making a disconcerting impression. His eyes followed her every move, down to the tiniest twitch of her eyebrow.

She realized that she was still kneeling by the open shelf, holding the blouse, and she clumsily stuffed her limbs into it, blinding herself in a mess of white fabric and hair that was tangling in front of her face. Suddenly there was a firm tug on the bottom of the shirt, pulling it the rest of the way down over her head, and she felt two hands close around her waist, raising her to her feet.

“Lou Sha -” she panicked, seeing just a blur of a sharp nose and messy hair before his lips were on hers, silencing her. Shang’s lips were smooth, soft, obviously well-taken care of, but their pressure on her own was rough, needy, dominant. She dimly heard a thud by her ear - he’d slammed his hand against her wooden dresser - and his other hand came up to cradle her cheek, his thumb hooking under her chin, tilting it up towards him. He leaned forcefully into her, his lips moving fluidly along hers, so easily that it was almost as if they had been made to fit together.

Ye Fei Hong had been kissed before, but never like this.

When he broke away at last, the taste of his reluctance lingering, she recovered only after a few deep breaths. Then she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him hard down to her height, glowering and still breathing heavily, all set to beat the daylights out of him for pulling a stunt like that.

“Lou Shang! You...why you...that...why you...what was...you’re...you’re gay!” she blurted. It wasn’t exactly what she’d meant to say, but it essentially summed up the extent of her confusion.

His lips, when they moved, were too close for comfort, and she shoved him a few inches back while still keeping a hold on his collar. He gave her a naughtily enticing grin, one previously reserved for good-looking men he spotted at parties.

“I’m straight now.”

She released him, eyes nearly bugging out of her head. “WHAT?!”

“Isn’t it wonderful news for the female sex?” he said with a superior, self-adoring smirk, fixing his askew collar. He blew her a kiss. “But there’s no need to worry, Hong my love, you’ll always be my only darling!”

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, unable to express her feelings in words. “If...if this is some kind of joke, Lou Shang, I’ll kill you! In fact it had better be a joke! If it’s not I’ll really kill you!”

Clearly he thought himself invincible, because he kept right on smiling, with no existing trace of his earlier heartbreak. Fei Hong just gaped, a fresh rush of red flowing into her cheeks as she recalled the sensation of his...his kiss. Lou Shang, kissing her. The world had turned upside-down.

He pranced to the door, in a terrific mood, and let himself out, poking his head back in just long enough to say with utter confidence, “I’ll make you fall in love with me too, Fei Hong!”

She lost her chance to retort when the door clicked shut behind him - not that she had anything to say. The ability to speak was beyond her. She dashed into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was in disarray, her lips slightly swollen, her face flushed, her hands shaking as she lifted them. She looked terrified, appalled, mortified, bewildered, astounded, outraged, and maybe just a teeny-weeny bit flattered. She did not look, she decided with great relief as she exhaled and composed herself, like she was in love.

Still, she highly doubted that she’d ever be able to think of Lou Shang as “Auntie Lou” again.

A/N: For anyone who doesn't remember, Auntie Lou was Lou Shang's nickname from high school when he was known to be homosexual. And while Fei Hong does call him by it at one point in a later chapter, she only does it to upset him, so I don't think it contradicts that last statement.

Anyway, that was an amusing little foray for me into the The One fandom. Feedback would be much appreciated!