If someone had told you prior that your childhood friend, Dan Dan, the quiet little girl you used to follow around until she moved away, was actually a boy. Well, a man. You'd have laughed in their face.

Dan Dan? Your Dan Dan? Who had long hair and was prettier and more polite than you? A man? Surely, it must be jest. Except for the fact that you could no longer deny it.

You'd come home from college just for your mother to say she had a surprise for you, leading you to your room where said surprise was supposed to be. And there she- he was. A tall buff man with long black hair tied into a neat ponytail, a black shirt and dark grey pants hugging his muscular form, but the exactly same pretty teal eyes you'd recalled Dan Dan having. You almost had a heart attack.

Your mother rambled about how your 'beloved Dan Dan' and his brother had moved back in next door and how he'd be attending college with you from now on. But none of that registered because clearly you'd missed an important memo.

In your defense, Dan Dan had been homeschooled, and no one corrected you when you called Dan Dan a she! Well, you did have a lisp at the time, but someone should have said something regardless! Was this why your older brother, Jing Yuan, always snickered under his breath when you spoke about Dan Dan?

This was... Dan Dan. Your Dan Dan. Who used to braid your hair and hold your hand when you got spooked by the pigeons at the park. The same Dan Dan who you used to dress up in your pretty dresses and who's hair you'd adorn with flowers and ribbons, and suddenly all the adults laughing and giggling and the humiliated flush that used to spread across Dan Dan's face made sense.

You were still speechless even as your mother left you both alone to catch up, Dan Heng's expression gentle and a little nervous. He broke the silence first. "Hello. Sorry for intruding. Your mother insisted I wait here. It's... been a while."