Yating woke up and stretched his arms, he let out a yawn. He exhaled a breath and opened his drowsy eyes further. For a long moment, he sat in silence as if he was meditating. But he wasn't. Instead, a storm set forth in his mind and he covered his face with his palms.
What was I thinking!?
The memories of last night came gushing through like a tornado ripping him apart. The problem wasn't the club or even the ice cream parlor. But what happened during the fireworks festival made him wish he could bury himself somewhere.
What if I want that woman to be you?
"Had I gone crazy? Why will I even ask her that? Why would that thought even come to my mind?"
Yating collapsed back on the bed, exhaling another deep sigh.
"Seriously, I was saved by the fireworks. What if she would have heard me? Aaaahhhh I had nearly fucked up!"
He continued the string of curses towards himself for a long time. He finally calmed down and grabbed his phone.
He got up with a jerk the moment he scrolled down to the news flashing everywhere. Several of the pictures from last night were plastered on social media. What was more outrageous were the headlines.
He got up with a jerk the moment he scrolled down to the news flashing everywhere. Several of the pictures from last night were plastered on social media. What was more outrageous were the headlines.
"Somebody really wants to die today, don't they?"
"What were you thinking, Chyou?"
Sun Jiang had her fingers pressed on the temples as she massaged them. The atmosphere at the Zhu villa also took a grimmer weight to it.
Chyou paced back and forth in the same room, trying to get in touch with Yin.
Damn it! I just hope Yin doesn't misunderstand!
His heart swelled at the thought and her face lost its color rapidly. But until now, there wasn't any reply from him. Every passing second only made her heart sink further.
"Are you listening to me, Chyou?" She snapped.
"Huh?" She looked back in a daze. "Yes, yes! I am listening to you. I am really sorry Jiang-Jiang…"
The latter stared at her in disbelief. Then from disbelief, her gaze became grim. "I didn't apologize on your behalf to Qiao Kang or the President, then why are you apologizing? Are you insinuating that you actually made a mistake?"
Chyou was taken aback. "I don't understand. I should have been more careful. All these pictures have made it a lot difficult for Stellar-"
"Who cares about that?"
"Jiang-Jiang, are you reading the chaos on the internet?"
"There is always chaos on the internet. Tell me something new," she rolled her eyes.
"As a manager, how come you are so chill?" She gasped.
"How come the Queen herself is so worried?"
"But weren't you scolding me just now? All massaging your temples?" she looked down.
"Of course, I will!" She glared at her. "How dare you break your promise and eat ice cream? I saw the pictures! I clearly told you to refrain from sweets for some time, didn't I? But you betrayed me! Tell me the truth. What is your weight now?" She asked with her eyes closed as if she had already accepted defeat.
Chyou's mouth twitched. "You are worried about my weight now?"
"What else is there?"
"How about public relations and arranging for a press conference?"
"You are not giving any press conference."
Her eyes widened. "Then how will everything stop?"
She shrugged. "How does anything on social media stop? People talk, talk and talk some more. Bla, bla, bla. Then they get bored and tired. Then they stop because they find another hot topic to bla bla upon."
"You are way too relaxed about this."
She shook her head. "You are way too stiff about this."
Sun Jiang faced her and peered into her eyes. "I was expecting you to be chill like me, Chyou. I am chill because I am that confident in you. But aren't you confident in yourself?"
"O-Of course, I am! Nothing happened between Yating and me."
"Then why are you scrambling for your defense? To whom?"
Her hands fidgeted. "I am worried about what Yin would think."
"If you are worried about what he thinks, then why are you even in a relationship at all?"
"...It's not like that, Jiang-Jiang," she pursed her lips, disappointed. "Look, Yating and I had some marriage talks history so it makes him a little uncomfortable that-"
"Those marriage talks happened ages ago. Like you said, it's history. Why is it affecting your present?" Her eyes narrowed.
"He isn't wrong, Jiang-Jiang. I might have felt the same way if I was in his place. And he is doing a lot. He is trying to change himself."
She froze and threw a stupefied look at her. "...I didn't tell you about it."
"I found it anyway. Don't ask how I got to know about it either. So you are saying he is trying to change himself. That's good. I admire that. But what does it have to do with the current situation?"
"Um…I mean…" Chyou couldn't answer properly.
Sun Jiang kept staring at her.
"Chyou. I will be honest. It's for the best if you end things with Cheng Yin."
Her eyes stretched wide. Her body shuddered involuntarily. "Why would you say something like that?" Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
"Because I can see you changing, Chyou. I don't see the spark of the Queen within you but the dimness of subservience. And this change is not good at all. Relationships should make you grow for the better, not drag you down. Your presence is helping Cheng Yin to be free of addiction. But his presence is shackling you instead. It's like he is getting all the glitter while you are left with only dirt."
She trembled. A bit of frustration seeped in her heart. Chyou knew that Yin wasn't like that. So hearing such things about him hurt her.
"Wooo wooo! Have you seen the news?" Xiang barged in all hyper and excited.
"Oof!" Sun Jiang glared at him. "At least knock before entering a woman's room."
He rolled his eyes. "Sis is sis. And are you a woman?" He looked thoughtful.
"I will kill you for the disrespect, Zhu Xiang."
"Kill me later but have you seen the statement from Gu Yating?"
Sun Jiang gasped in horror. "No, no, no! I don't want him defending Chyou at all! It will only insinuate that something compromising actually happened. It will only fuel Cheng Yin's fans further!"
Xiang laughed out loud. "Just read his statement. It's far from any defense."
"Oof, show it to me!" Chyou grabbed his phone and quickly scrolled down while Sun Jiang also peered from aside.
'It seems that people have real problems with a man and a woman being just friends. Which means either they can only be sons and daughters or siblings or husband and wife. Cool. Then I want every person in this country to break all their intersex friendships right now. It's only fair that this rule is applied to everybody, right?'