Things don't seem to be going Jun's way, but today is a new day and he's sure that, despite yesterday’s rocky start, everything will progress smoothly.

"Dad, there's a hike in the program this afternoon." Yunying, the apple of his eye, tugs on his black t-shirt. He knows what that look means and it's just a bit heart breaking.

"Is our usual hike not enough anymore?" he asks, putting up a pitiful expression, he tries to mask it by making a parody out of it, but it really does sting a bit.

"That's not what I mean!" She says quickly, "...But they might have discovered different paths. What if we manage to get to the top of the mountain?"

She is right. Jun has to ignore his bruised ego and nod his head. "That's not a bad idea." he smiles and pats her head.

She smiles back and pats his shoulder before running off to a small group of kids her age that she must have just met, Jun has no idea how someone so outgoing could have half of his genes inside her. 

He decides to go bother his older daughter to kill the time, but he hesitates when he sees her being engaged in another fierce combat with her mother.

Jun stares at his wife waiting for her to either ask him to intervene or stay away. When she finally notices him she makes a shooing motion and a thumb up.

He sticks around for a moment longer, trying to listen in the conversation, but when he hears the name of one of her male friends being thrown around he quickly sets off. He is not ready to deal with the possibility of his daughters getting boyfriends just yet.

He walks out, filling his lungs with clean, mountain air will surely lift his mood. That’s what his mental voice tells him, but instead of listening to it, he looks far into the mountains and takes out his pack of cigarettes.

“Sir, smoking is not allowed in this area.” Someone talks to him among the clicks of his lighter.

Jun moves his gaze away from the scenery, to send a displeased look at the person interrupting him. He’s not surprised to see the cause of all his problems speaking. He knows it sounds horribly childish, but that’s how Jun feels as he meets the new staff member’s eyes. 

“The smoking area is there.” He is pointing at a plexiglass structure a few steps to their left and at the huge Smoking Area written above it, neither of which Jun had noticed.

“Oh, sorry, I hadn’t realized.” He keeps the unlit cigarette between his lips and sighs, moves his gaze back on the green and the dark stone of the landscape  “Many things have changed.”

“For the better.” the man speaks quickly, so confident, so sure of himself. Jun side eyes him and wonders what are the pros of behaving so cockishly.

“I found the old Bear’s den quite good.” Jun can’t help himself.

“Well, it had its qualities, most of which we’ve kept.” Jun isn’t sure why he’s indulging this old man’s complaints so seriously. Why instead of finding an excuse to walk away he steps closer to him, “But it had so much unused potential, it needed to change to stay in business.”

Jun just hums at that, he has nothing to retort, he is a marketing professional, he’s given this same advice too many times to act like he doesn’t agree with it.

“I know we’ve already been introduced, but... Nice to meet you, my name is Zhang Yixing.” Jun sees him offer his hand from the corner of his eye, out of politeness he turns towards him and shakes it.

“Zheng Jun,” he introduces himself after taking the cigarette out of his mouth, “It’s nice to meet you too, I’m sorry for sounding so unpleasant.”

“No problem,” Yixing smiles and Jun wants to look away, but can’t bring himself to do it, “Do you have any interest in hiking?” he asks, not letting Jun's hand go.

“Ah, yes, that’s one of the reasons we always come here, the trails are fantastic and the sights…” Being able to talk about his hobby puts him at ease, but he’s interrupted; his passionate declaration cut short by fingers sneaking up his wrist insistently, brushing openly against the strap of his watch.

“Oh, that's nice, I'm working here as a guide for the hikes,” Jun feels Yixing’s amber eyes burn him, the polite curl of his lips instilling fear in Jun’s system "We have a lot in common, then." Jun pulls his hand away and listens to his flight response.

“I’ll go to the smoking area.” he announces somberly, avoiding Yixing completely. He turns his back on him and beelines for the transparent room, his hands are shaking when he picks up his lighter again.