He was going for a completely new look for her. As he cut and snipped, he mused over how he should convince her to go shopping with him; she would need a brand new wardrobe to move on completely, and to fit with her brand new look.

With a flourish of his hands, Hong made one last cut before running the comb over her hair. Staring at herself in the mirror, Jinghe was in awe. Her luscious, long black hair had been lopped off so short, she could almost be seen as a boy. The androgynous pixie cut on her naturally good-looking face would make anyone, male or female, swoon at the sight.

She looked... different. In a really good way. She wasn't sure if she liked it all that much yet, but she felt reborn. Somehow, her newfound hair seemed to give her a boost of confidence that she'd lost after Lan's betrayal.

Running her fingers through the cropped hair, she hesitantly asked, "Could you also dye it, please? Maybe with somewhat of reddish, copperish hue? I want it to still be black, but to glint in the light, if you know what I mean."

Hong's face lit up in a secret smile as he nodded.

"Of course!"

An hour later, Jinghe sat before the mirror, her hair finally cut, dyed and dried. Reaching up to scratch her head, she looked back at Hong, a bit embarrassed.

"If I still had my old looks, this would be exactly my type..."

Hong burst out laughing.

"Jingjing, I'm going to have to correct you there. This look of yours is everyone's type. A so-called, "universal hottie," you could say."

They both laughed at that.

"But, I don't think it really matches my..." Looking down at her outfit, she realized what she was wearing was what she normally wore. A nice, cashmere sweater in a beautiful, soft rose color, with a pair of white skinny jeans below. Lan had liked her dressed a little more feminine, so she'd altered her wardrobe and her style to accommodate him. At the time, she had told herself that a change was good. Now, though, she regretted it. A lot.

He had also had this vision of the "perfect couple," which went along with his feminine girlfriend vision. He made sure they were both active, exercising almost everyday of the week at a top-quality gym halfway across the city. He had also insisted on her long hair, in a subtle way, by hinting at his preference and lovingly running his fingers through it whenever he had the chance.

Interrupting her trip down memory lane, Hong suddenly broke in, after a period of thought, "I'll take you shopping then! We can go out and grab lunch first, and then hit all the stores. We'll visit everything, so you can see what you'd like. If you want, I'll even offer my expertise on fashion for any of the outfits you propose." His voice was teasing, and there was a bright sparkle in his eye.

"Hong, thank you so much for the offer! I can't wait now; it's like you have a sixth sense about fashion. The last time you recommended that bracelet for me; 10 weeks later, it was all the rage, and the price was almost 8x what I got it for," Jinghe said, her voice getting excited.

Laughing and chatting all the way, they decided to take Hong's car to the mall, then he would bring her back to the garage below the salon after the trip so she could drive her car home.