The same evening, Jin stayed back in Shui's room to discuss the next day's presentation. Shui scooted closer to him to have a better look at the screen, and Jin would shift a step further away whenever she did so. This cat and mouse game went on for a little while until Shui banged her palms on the table, making him slightly jump.
He knew it. Shui's patience had thinned out.
Just then Shui received a message from her father, Zhiyuan, asking for the twelfth time in the entire day of her wellbeing. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
'That Liu boy isn't troubling you, right? Tell me if he is! I will set him straight! Hell, I will talk to Liu Jinhai and get you out of Guangzhou! Just give me the green signal.'
Her brow twitched, and she shook her head with her father's over protectiveness. She narrowed her eyes though, feeling an itch to really complain about him to Zhiyuan and starting a war. Jin would suffer like anything if Zhiyuan went onto rampage mode.
She smirked, thinking of her plan that wouldn't need Zhiyuan's intervention. She would have her own sweet revenge, an evil plan concocted by none other than Master Zhou Ai by taking into account all the time she spent with Jun.
The jealousy ingredient to force Jin to go on lunch with her worked great. The only spice needed to get them closer was to make Jin actually spend time with her. But looking at how Jin would always find a chance to steer clear from her, the distance between them seemed to not have any mood to shrink.
But that was soon going to change.
Shui first replied to Zhiyuan's message that she was doing all fine. Then she carried her fury-laced gaze and aimed it straight at Jin, lashing out at him. "You do realize that you are acting like a child, right? Do you want me to call Uncle Jinhai so that he could set your priorities?"
He immediately toned down as Jinhai's name came into the picture. Who knew what he would do to punish him? Maybe he would even extend the stay just to set him straight.
But after the super close encounter with Shui back in the restaurant, the caution within him to put up his guard was raised to the max. He didn't want any other such incident to occur in the rest of the evening that would change any equation between them.
Jin coughed a bit and avoided her gaze. "I was just feeling a little hot, so I was just making some breathing space."
Her expression twisted hard.
If only I didn't love this man, I would have dumped him in the ocean for good!
She stomped heavily on her feet, standing with a jerk to rebuke. "You are- Ah!!"
She stumbled back as a gasp escaped her lips. Jin was avoiding to meet her eyes but the moment he heard her painful cry, he wasted no time in jumping to her rescue and grabbing her waist to prevent her from falling.
The pitch of his voice rose by several notches as he saw Shui opening and shutting her eyelids and holding her temple with discomfort.
"W-what happened?" Jin anxiously checked her temperature which felt to be fine. He had no idea she exhibited such a sudden, strong reaction.
He noticed her biting her lower lip and clutching her abdomen as if that was the source of her pain.
"Is your stomach hurting?" He asked in a concerned, quiet voice. "Did the lunch not suit you?"
Shui inwardly rejoiced as this was the exact reaction that she had been expecting. However, she did feel remorseful of playing the pity card, but it was a trump card sureshot to work. Not just Ai but even Nana had given her green signal to adopt this method.
Liu family men were weak to the women they loved, especially when they were sick.
Sorry Jin but even Aunt is on my side here…
Shui weakly shook her head and looked down, seemingly embarrassed. "The food was alright."
"Then why are you hurting?" He asked with a pensive edge to his voice. "Should I take you to the hospital? This definitely seems like something serious!"
"No, no!" She vigorously shook her head. "I know what it is. You don't need to worry. You can go back to your room. I will work some more and then rest-"
His black eyes sent a deadly glare her way. "Don't be stupid! No work, only rest. Just tell me what is wrong!"
"Y-You really don't need to know…"
"I can hold you for the entire night until you say it."
"You! It's…it's my period!" She shut her eyes, her face turning red. Even though she wasn't on her periods, the mention of it to Jin did make her abashed.
'Master Ai…don't you have some other way to play the pity card…? P-periods are…'
'It's nothing embarrassing. It's a part of a woman's life. Embrace it with pride and use it thoroughly to your advantage.'
Shui could imagine Ai nodding her head seriously. Behind her innocent face, she had never imagined that she would get to hear these words from her.
'Jun was my servant for four full days. He was so cute when he took care of me. He would even pat my belly to soothe my period cramps.'
Shui coughed and her ears reddened with a flush. Ai might or might not have been blushing, but she surely was. But learning about Jun petting her stomach was so adorable that Shui squealed.
Will Jin do the same for me?
There was only one way to check out.
Jin blinked and formed an O with his lips, not really embarrassed with the turn of events. "Then you should definitely rest."
He didn't hesitate to pick her in his arms and walk the short steps towards the bed to lay her down. The entire time, Shui stared at him wide-eyed, unable to process the information overload.
Am I really…in his arms right now?
It was a short-lived happiness as he gently put her to bed.
"Wait, wait, this was too soon!"
"What was?" Jin didn't understand.
"Lying me on the bed! You carried me in your arms, but it was so shocking that I didn't even get the time to grasp the situation and feel myself in your arms! So carry me again."
"And this time, walk a little slower," she frowned.