Ever since Honghui had a conversation with Hua Jun, he knew that this man was somewhat vastly different from the other men in the army. Something in Hua Jun made him stood out from the rest of Honghui's comrade. But never in a thousand years, Honghui would have expected Hua Jun to be a woman.

When Honghui first met Hua Jun, he thought that he must have been from a rich and famous family, judging from the way that he reacted to him calling him "little man", and from his polished family sword, which had the characters loyal, brave, and true engraved near the base of the blade. However, it was Commander Tung's reaction to seeing Hua Jun's sword that was surprising to Honghui. Upon looking at Hua Jun's sword, the commander had immediately asked for his family's name. Honghui saw sure that the name Hua Zhou had struck something in Commander Tung and must've been someone important for Commander Tung to react as he did.

In all honesty, Honghui had expected that opposition to continue between them during their time in the army, maybe even for Hua Jun to start highlighting his family's name when the commander wasn't around and harass the other recruits, but, to his surprise, Hua Jun was more reserved and quiet than he had previously thought.

In the beginning, Hua Jun avoided everyone and kept to himself most of the time. Either avoiding advances or conversation with anyone else. As if he didn't know how to interact with the other men. Slowly, Hua Jun began to spend more time with the others, notably with those who slept in the same tent with him. He slowly began to join in their conversations and started talking more. But Hua Jun was still keeping a certain distance from them. However, as time went on, a day became weeks, Honghui was even more surprised and impressed by the man who had pulled out his sword to threaten him, the man whom he had thought was nothing more than a spoiled brat. Hua Jun had turned out to be completely different from the first impression that he had given Honghui.

During training, Hua Jun was never the first to quit and mostly was the last to leave. He never tried to bend the rules nor harass anyone. Hua Jun had even offered pointers or support to others who were struggling in camp. He had also offered himself for night guard duty every single night so far. Honghui was surprised that Hua Jun has so willing to do it every day. It'd had been one thing if Hua Jun had only done these things once or twice or had been looking for some rewards in return for her favors. Honghui won't have been surprised if that was the case. But Hua Jun kept on doing it without even requesting an admittedly justified thank you from the others. Beside that's, Honghui realized that Hua Jun had slept them least out of all the man in their tent. Hua Jun always seemed to return to the tent late and wake up extremely early. Honghui was impressed by how this man was so willing to sacrifice his time for others.

But there was just something about Hua Jun that seemed weird. Other than the fact that Hua Jun had volunteered guard duty for every single night so far and avoid showering with them. It was something she said during a recent conversation the group had during lunch about their ideal woman types.

When Honghui had asked what Hua Jun's ideal woman he was wasn't expecting him to say that he desires to marry a courageous and smart woman with a sense of humor. Hua Jun said that he didn't care what the woman looked like. Honghui was quite sure that the other men at the table weren't expecting that answer either, so he wasn't surprised to hear his comrades break into laughter, the mocking getting louder with every word Hua Jun spoke.

For some reason, Honghui decided to turn the conversation away from Hua Jun by jokingly mocking Yao. Then, Honghui had caught Hua Jun's eye and saw the look of discomfort and thankfulness in his eyes. Honghui just smiled at him and subtly nodded his head. "Perhaps there is more to Hua Jun than I previously thought," Honghui thought to himself, making a mental note to try to befriend and talk to him.

"Hua Jun," Mulan nearly jumped upon hearing Honghui saying his alias. She had thought that everyone had left for showers. Mulan was about to head for guard duty herself.

"Don't let them bother you. Especially that donkey Yao," Honghui said, as he laid down on Mulan's bed.

Mulan was slightly irritated by Honghui, who taunted her during their first meeting, was laying on her bed, having a conversation with her. Mulan wanted to ignore his antics and walk away. Then, she remembered what Honghui had seemingly done to help her during that awkward conversation during lunch and decided not to ignore Honghui completely.

"Are you matched? Can I ask?" Honghui asked as Mulan was thinking of how to get away from him politely, not wanting to say anything that might hurt him.

Mulan was a little startled by Honghui's question. "Why would he ask such a question?" Mulan wondered.

"No. I mean, yes. I was. Almost. Didn't work out," Mulan replied half-heartedly, remembering the disaster at the matchmaker.

"Lucky you. I mean, how do you even know how to talk to a woman, let alone to be married to one?" Honghui asked. Honghui didn't fully understand why he was asking Hua Jun this question, perhaps it was because that Honghui just wanted to start a conversation with him and simply asked a question. He was hoping he didn't come up too offensive.

"Just… talk to her like you are talking to me now," Mulan said. It was partly true. Seeing the way that Honghui had spoken during the first few weeks in camp, Mulan couldn't deny that Honghui was quite charming in many ways even he did mock her a few weeks ago.

"Yeah, I wish it was that easy," Honghui said remembering one of his past disastrous experiences, frowning, his got up and sat, moving a little closer to Hua Jun. "What if she doesn't like me?"

"She will," Mulan whispered more than she intended to. She didn't know why she was feeling a warm fuzzy feeling within her when Honghui spoke to her. Mulan also couldn't understand why would she tell Honghui that the girl he like will like him back, was it to comfort him? Mulan looked away from him, trying not to look at Honghui.

Honghui looked at Hua Jun. It was weird and comforting to hear him say that, but he couldn't help but feel that Hua Jun's voice seemed a lot more feminine for some reason.

"I mean… I think she will. You know. You never know women," Mulan quickly added to cover up her preceding answer.

Honghui knew that this conversation was getting awkward for both of them. He quickly found an excuse to end the conversation by quipping that Hua Jun should take a shower, leaving the man to himself, watching Hua Jun as he left the tent. Later that night, Honghui was internally rebuking himself for making the conversation so awkward for them. He had always been like that around women, making a fool of himself. "But Hua Jun is not a woman, why am I acting like this around him, why do I care?" Honghui wondered to himself as he drifted to sleep.

The next day. Hua Jun seemed to impress him even more. It seems that Hua Jun had been hiding his abilities from them.

The next day, during training. Honghui was purposely egging Hua Jun on. He had got a feeling that Hua Jun was holding back for some particular reason and felt that it might be connected to why Hua Jun acted the way he did and just wanted the other man to let go for once, to just be himself. However, Honghui didn't expect that he would be impressed by Hua Jun once again.

Mulan however was getting frustrated by how Honghui was seemingly enjoying seeing her angry. Mulan couldn't understand why was Honghui doing this, but she decided to give the man what he had asked for. This man has literally toyed with her ever since she arrived at camp and now, he is going hard on her. Mulan had enough and decided to go hard on Honghui.

Honghui was now the surprised one. It was like Hua Jun had turned into a completely different person. Instead of being unable to keep up with Honghui and losing his spear every other second, he was suddenly ten times more skilled, faster, stronger, and in some ways, more elegant. When Honghui finally knocked Hua Jun's spear out of her hand, Honghui thought that he'd gotten the upper hand, but he turned out to be so dead wrong. Hua Jun kicked someone's spear into the air, flipped in the air, and sent the spear flying at him. Honghui quickly dodged it and looked at Hua Jun. He couldn't believe that this was the Hua Jun that he had just talked to the night before. There was no way.

Honghui wasn't the only one impressed by Hua Jun's abilities. The entire camp had seen what happened and was clapping and muttering about what Hua Jun had just displayed. Even the commander seemed quite impressed. Honghui looked at Hua Jun's face expecting to see joy or pride etched on the man's face, but what he saw was nothing like that. Far from it, in fact. Honghui saw Hua Jun staring at him in anger as he had just committed some kind of unforgivable sin against him.

Instead of indulging in the claps and joy of his fellow comrades, Hua Jun had turned away from Honghui and left, leaving Honghui with the feeling that he was the one who had done something unforgivable. Honghui hadn't followed Yao, Ling, Po, and Cricket when they, clearly oblivious to the other man's feelings, went to congratulate Hua Jun. Honghui was left there not understanding what he did wrong.

During meals, Honghui could tell Hua Jun was angry at him for some reason as the group talked. Hua Jun had barely looked at him while Yao was blabbering about how Hua Jun needed to shower. Honghui didn't speak much as he didn't want to anger Hua Jun by accident again.

That night, Honghui watched silently as Hua Jun woke up in the middle of the night and headed out of the tent with a towel.

"Ah... he is finally going to shower," Honghui smiled as he thought to himself.

Then, at that moment, for some unknown reason, he had an urge to follow Hua Jun wherever he was going to talk to him about what had happened during training and try to apologize for whatever thing that he had done unintentionally. After making his choice, Honghui quietly got up and followed Hua Jun.

Mulan's mind pondered on how reckless she had been today as she nears the lake, sighing softly. She has revealed her powerful abilities in front of the entire camp during training and has probably drawn unwanted attention to herself. And there was Chen Honghui, the man whom Mulan felt hatred and gratefulness for. Mulan looked behind occasionally to make sure that no one was following her as she didn't want anyone to see her exposed and know that she is a woman. If that had happened, things would be terrible for her and her family. But, for some particular reason, Mulan felt that she was being followed by someone, and felt insecure about bathing in the lake.

As Mulan approached the lake cautiously, she looked around her once again, making sure that there was no one nearby. Mulan then quickly removed her coat. Then, Mulan thought she had heard something moving in the bushes and turned subtly in fear, moving her hands to cover her feminine chest. Looking in the direction where she had heard the sound coming from.

Honghui watched as Hua Jun's head turn sharply in the direction of him. Honghui moved backward behind the bushes, hoping not to be seen by him. Honghui thought that it was weird Hua Jun would be so self-conscious of his body as he watched Hua Jun cover his chest. Honghui felt curious and wondered why Hua Jun was covering his chest. There was obviously no need to do that, unless he was hiding something. Honghui slowly moved behind the bushes to get a clearer view of what the man was hiding. Honghui could hardly make out what Hua Jun was clutching against his chest due to the darkness that is only dim-lighted by the full moon. Honghui pondered on whether he should reveal himself now and confront Hua Jun. Then, Honghui had an idea. "Why don't I creep up behind Hua Jun and surprise him?" Honghui thought to himself. As bad the idea sounded, Honghui thought that it would be a fun way to break the ice between them. Smiling, Honghui made his moved as Hua Jun seemingly turned away from his direction.

Mulan turned away from the bushes, now facing the opposite direction, deciding to move her spot. Honghui slowly crept towards Hua Jun, trying not to make a sound. As he got closer towards Hua Jun, Honghui could see his body more and more clearly. Then, Honghui felt that something wasn't right, Hua Jun's body seemed feminine for a man. Mulan now took her top of and dropped it on the ground and was about to remove her pants, unaware that Honghui was right behind her. As Honghui's hand slowly moved and touched Hua Jun's back. Honghui expected the man to either jump in surprise or gasp in shock, but what happened next was even more shocking.

Mulan felt someone's hand touch her back out of the blue. She almost jumped from the shock, she immediately pulled her pants, letting out a soft gasp. Mulan turned around subtly as her hands moved to cover her chest. Honghui thought that his reaction was weird. It was as if Hua Jun was indeed hiding something.

"Hua Jun," Honghui began, chuckling awkwardly. "I'm glad that I've found you. I see that you are finally going to get clean, the Fifth Battalion thanks you."

"I… came here to be alone," Mulan said. Mulan was scolding herself internally for not being more observant. She should have known that Honghui would follow her here for some weird reason.

"Well, did you now?" Honghui said chuckling. "Well, don't be shy, Hua Jun, we are all men, there is no need to hide your body," Honghui said, trying to come off as friendly as possible while walking to the front of Hua Jun.

Mulan gasped in shock as Honghui walked in front of him and quickly turned the other way. But it was no use, Honghui had already seen the reason why Hua Jun was so insistent of hiding his body. Honghui wagered back in shock from seeing Hua Jun's front. "There is no way, Hua Jun, a girl?" Honghui thought as he tried to make sense of what he had just saw.

"You bastard! Why did you even follow me here?" Mulan asked angrily, her voice as she turned away from Honghui, who stood motionlessly in shock.

"Hua Jun… you are a…" Honghui stuttered, not knowing how to ask the question that was on his mind.

Mulan froze was she was about to head into the waters. Her worst fear has come true, someone has found her out. Honghui knows that she is a woman. Mulan closed her eyes, panicking internally, trying to think of a way to reply the man behind him.

"Hua Jun? What… your chest… are you a…"

"You have seen my chest, didn't you?" Mulan asked, now in her natural voice as she didn't feel the need to hide her voice in front of Honghui any longer. There was silence from Honghui, who didn't know how to answer the question. Despite Honghui not answering Mulan question, the girl already knew the man's answer.

"I… I…" Honghui stuttered.

"You did?" Mulan asked again.

"Yes," Honghui answered feeling confused and puzzled, not knowing what to do.

Mulan sighed to herself. She kneeled and picked up her clothes she from the ground and put them back on, before turning around to face a very puzzled Honghui. Mulan decided to tell him everything and hopefully, he would be sympathetic enough to not tell anyone. "Well, even if he does tell anyone eventually, who am I to control fate?" Mulan thought to herself.

"Honghui, I know that you have a lot of questions right now…" Mulan said, as soft as possible.

"I have tons of questions now," Honghui interrupted whispering, wearing a confused look.

"Don't interrupt me, please," Mulan hushed.

Honghui looked at Hua Jun, or whoever she is. Honghui could tell that she was worried and scared. Honghui knew that women weren't supposed to join the army, masquerading as a man. Whoever Hua Jun is, she and her family would be in big trouble if Honghui exposed her. "But then, if she is willing to be here, an act of torturing herself, there must be a reason that she decided to do that, right?" Honghui thought to himself. Honghui nodded subtly.

"Could you… please not tell anyone about this?" asked Mulan. Mulan felt that she had asked a foolish question. She wasn't even sure if she could trust this man. Her mind was filled with possibilities of how this scenario would end.

"Why… would you do this?" asked Honghui, ignoring Mulan's previous question. He needed to understand why this girl was willing to risk dishonoring her family to join the army.

"I…" Mulan sighed as she prepared herself to tell him the truth. "I have no brothers, and the only man in my family, my father, is old and frail. I knew… that he joined this war, he wouldn't return. I couldn't let that happen, so, I took my father's amour and sword… I took his place," Mulan revealed, her voice was filled with emotions. "Just please, don't tell anyone," Mulan pleaded.

At this point, Honghui had finally understood why Hua Jun has acted so weird in the past few weeks. It was because that Hua Jun was not a man but a woman. Honghui felt his respect for Hua Jun grow after hearing her story.

"Honghui, please…"

"I won't tell anyone else, you have my word," Honghui replied, giving an encouraging smile.

"Thank you," Mulan replied after a short pause.

"Hey, Hua Jun, whoever you are…"

"My real name is Hua Mulan," Mulan said. "Such a beautiful name," Honghui thought to himself.

"Mulan, I'm sorry for what I did to you when we first met, I really am. And… I'm really sorry for pushing you so hard... during training," Honghui apologized. Honghui felt that he needed to apologize right at that moment. It felt as if it was his last chance to do so. "And I'm sorry that I decided to sneak up on you… I wanted to talk to you, to make amends."

Mulan looked at Honghui in disbelief. She couldn't tell whether what Honghui said was genuine or it was because that he found out that he was a woman and wanted to please her to get her attention.

"It's okay, Honghui," Mulan answered half-heartedly, looking around to make sure that no one else was nearby.

"Well, I see I should get going…"

"Wait, Honghui," Mulan said, grabbing his hand.

"Could you do me a favor… stay and help me keep a lookout. I don't want to have more people knowing about my secret," Mulan asked.

"I… sure," Honghui stuttered at Mulan's request.

"Thank you, Honghui." Mulan said gratefully.

"You're welcome, Mulan," Honghui replied, turning around automatically to give Mulan privacy as she striped.

As Mulan swam in the lake, cleaning herself, Honghui sat on a rock, looking around to make sure that no one is watching them. Even after knowing that Hua Jun is, in fact a girl named Mulan, he still has a lot of questions, why is she so skilled? Then, Honghui remembered something his own father told him about, chi, the life force that flows in every single being. Some people were born with strong chi embedded in them. While such people were exceedingly rare, others can train to master it. Was Mulan one of those rare people? It seems that she is. "No wonder she was so disturbed after training." Honghui realized.

A warm feeling fluttered in Honghui's heart as he watched Mulan, who had gone far into the middle of the lake. Out of all this girl Honghui met, Mulan was a special one. This girl was admirable, courageous, even smart and funny in some ways. Honghui then vaguely understood why Mulan described her ideal woman in those ways. It was because she was describing her ideal partner, a man. Honghui couldn't tell if the conversations he and his comrade had with Mulan were genuine, but there had to be some truth to what she said previously. "This girl is something else," Honghui thought to himself as he looked around the lake.

As Mulan swam in the cold waters, Mulan felt both refreshed and relieved. Mulan knew she was never going to take shower time lightly ever again when she returns home, if she ever return home. Mulan looked back at Honghui who was walking around, keeping a lookout for her. "Honghui is really a gentleman," Mulan thought as a blush unknowingly tingled her cheeks. At this point, Mulan had forgotten about all the things Honghui did to her in the beginning. She was just so grateful that Honghui didn't run off and tell everyone about her and hoped that he wouldn't. "Hmm… he is funny… and looks… cute," Mulan thought. Mulan shook her head in awe of what he was thinking about Chen Honghui, washing her face wildly.

"Wake up, Mulan. You're in a camp full of men. Don't get yourself distracted from what you are supposed to be doing here," Mulan scolded herself internally as she washed herself. "There is no way he would like me." Mulan thought. After a while of cleaning herself, Mulan headed back to shore. Honghui turned away to give Mulan privacy as she wore clothes. Mulan couldn't help but smile. Honghui was really such a gentleman, unlike Yao or Po.

"Honghui," Mulan said after she wore her clothes.

"Mmm?" Honghui asked.

"Can you please accompany me… whenever I decided to come here and… clean myself?" Mulan asked, knowing that she is asking for too much. But, it would be good if there was an extra pairs of eyes to make sure that no one else follow her again.

"I will," Honghui answered.

"Why… are you so kind to me?" asked Mulan after a pause.

"Well, because I had unintentionally done some bad things to you in the past few weeks… and I wish to make amends and help you," Honghui said, turning around slowly.

"I don't really know if I can trust you now but still… thank you," Mulan thanked Honghui.

"So, you're done, Hua Jun?" Honghui asked jokingly. Mulan chuckled softly.

"I'm done cleaning myself," Mulan answered in her man voice.

"Well, let's head back then," Honghui said.

"Wait… you should go back first," Mulan said. "If we both return together at the same time, anyone who see us together would be suspicious."

"You're right," Honghui agreed. "This girl is really quite smart," Honghui smiled as he thought to himself. "Well, then I will see you tomorrow, Hua Jun," Honghui nodded before walking away from the lake.

That night. Mulan was still worried that Honghui would tell the commander about her as she laid in her bed. "But there is no way. If he wanted to tell Commander Tung, he would have done it already," Mulan thought to herself, frowning. 'Why be so nice to me if he was going to expose me?" Mulan wondered. "Well, if fate decides that he will tell Commander Tung, so be it," Mulan thought to herself as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.