"I am," Wuxing replied honestly. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you."
Ash looked hurt, squinting her eyes as she got even closer.
"Why?"
"Because it's not only my secret. Unless everyone agrees for me to tell you, I can't. I'm sorry," Wuxing apologized. "It has nothing to do with our current situation."
Surprisingly, she wasn't mad at him and instead questioned without letting him go.
"So it's not something I can share publicly?"
"No, it's not. Only those involved can know the truth," Wuxing explained.
"Alright… I guess I will have to destroy all evidence then…" Ash muttered, thinking out loud. "They believed me for now but I'm not worried about the people under me. We are sending the tapes for review every day. If they find it and start to question, we would have some problems."
"Won't you get in trouble for that?"
He knew how serious offense that was. She could get fired for such activity and that would actually be the softest punishment. Just the fact that she was willing to protect him without even thinking about the consequences was really heart-warming but also alarming.
The last thing he wanted was to see Ash suffer because of him.
Heh…
She smirked, finally freeing his wrist by moving them onto his shoulders and then his cheeks, staring at him with a smile. He wasn't idle, catching her wrists instead but he didn't pull her away, waiting for her response.
Instead of replying, Ash caressed his cheeks for a moment before expressing while gazing at his lips, "I really want to kiss you…"
She neared her face onto his own and rubbed their noses together, keeping an inch between their lips.
"Don't you want to taste my lips again…? Tell me, do you still remember how much you liked to kiss me?" Ash asked as she closed her eyes, leaning her chest against his own. "Don't you want to refresh your memory?"
Wuxing was speechless, already expecting that to happen at some point.
"Ash… We talked about this already…" he said softly, dragging her hands away but then she forced them onto his chest.
"You know I would do anything for you…" Ash continued, staring at him lovingly. "So you remember, right? Do you recall our first kiss? Outside in the park… I was laying down, relaxing under the sun when you came from behind, kissing me out of nowhere."
His brain played tricks on him, displaying the exact scene in his mind. She looked so beautiful, her hair spread in all directions, soft lips he always wanted to taste. He didn't know what pushed him to do it but he did, breaking their friendship forever.
He started it all, with that one kiss.
"Why are you doing this?"
Her answer was simple.
"Because I love you."
She didn't push for a kiss anymore, hugging his chest instead, embracing his waist tightly.
"I told you already… There is no one else more important in this world than you and there never will be. You opened my heart and you are still living in it till this day," Ash confessed again. "Its reserved for you and no one else."
"Ash, I—" Wuxing tried to respond but she cut him off immediately.
"I know what you want to say but it doesn't change what I feel for you and it will never do," Ash muttered, tightening the hug even more. "Can I ask you a question? Are you seriously considering me your friend after everything that happened?"
"You are one of the few most important people in my life. You are definitely more than a friend," Wuxing expressed without hesitation.
Ash didn't seem to plan on going easy on him.
"More than a friend but less than a girlfriend you mean? Am I not a girlfriend material then?"
"You know that's not true. You are definitely wife material," Wuxing denied and finally embraced her as well. "I'm sure our life together would be great. I'm sure if our ways didn't suddenly part away, we would eventually get together because you are an amazing woman. Unfortunately, I can't rewind time."
"Would you?" Ash countered. "If you could, would you do it?"
They stayed in silence for a good minute when a single word left his mouth.
"No."
Dongmei's face displayed in front of his eyes. He couldn't say goodbye to her.
"Hug me…" Ash whispered after a moment, wiping her eyes against his shirt.
"I'm hugging…"
He felt the wetness on his skin but he couldn't do anything to stop it.
"Hug tighter then…"
Wuxing wrapped his arms around her head and let her rest, the least he could do.
The last thing he expected at that moment was a sudden appearance of Devil Face with his comment about the whole situation.
'God damn… You are really pathetic. To think I took lessons from you when you can't even handle such an easy situation…'
'Can I mute you?' Wuxing genuinely asked, not wanting to hear anything from him.
Unfortunately, he couldn't.
'Come on, look at her. She is clearly deeply in love with you. She will never love anyone else other than you. Are you going to sentence her to eternal suffering?' Devil Face questioned upset. 'That's essentially what you are doing. You know she won't give up.
Can't you just accept her already? It will happen eventually even if you want it or not.'
'And give up on Dongmei? There is no way I'm going to do that. I already decided to be with her and I won't change my decision,' Wuxing replied only to be cursed at.
'Idiot! Who is talking about giving up on Dongmei? You already heard about the best solution from Ash herself and you are still wondering? Obviously you need to keep them both!'
'You think I don't want to make them both happy? I wish this method would work but it's impossible. I can't be one hundred percent there for both of them. I can either pick one or the other. There is no in-between.'
Wuxing already thought about that many times the past hour yet he just couldn't close himself.
The expert in flirting Devil Face only snickered at that, countering, "Pfft, what hundred percent? Stop bullshitting me. The two of them would be satisfied with a mere ten percent of your attention yet you are going to give them fifty each! Trust me, they are not going to complain nor will they even notice the difference.'
'Listen,' Devil Face continued. "You are in a position that every man on the planet would want to be in. You can have two wonderful wives, both hot, smart, and talented. What's more, they are not crazy! My Sandra would immediately kill me if I ever thought about other women but yours are willing to talk about it! Imagine the possibilities!'
Devil Face was doing everything he could to convince him and Wuxing could understand some but everything led to the final point.
'No matter what you say, I don't have the last decision in this matter. Dongmei already expressed her stance about it and she was against it.'
'She will fight whoever wants to take you from her. She never said she is against sharing,' Devil Face quickly debunked it. 'Anyway, I'm just spitting facts and showing you the truth. Ash will do the rest on her own. I don't even need to do anything. In a few days, the new era of Wuxing's little harem will start!'
Beep, beep.
Wuxing was about to scold him when he heard a sudden beeping coming from Ash's waist.
"I wanted to hug some more…" Ash complained unhappily but still reached out to her pocket, pulling out her card. "It seems I need to go. Some commotion in the barracks."
She pulled away unwillingly and gazed at him with a smile.
"The more you push me away, the harder I will try."