Because I Cannot Hurt You

Xinyi looked at him in surprise at first. "Dinner?"

Zhiyuan nodded. "Yes. A dinner."

She beamed. "Oh! That's a great idea. Let's go back and pick up Siying too."

"..."

Zhiyuan coughed hard. He could hardly blame her for assuming it to be a family dinner. After all, he never went anywhere alone with her as a couple. He felt as if to hit himself hard with no mercy.

Zhiyuan quickly caught her wrist. "No!"

She stopped and looked at him questioningly.

He stared at her beautiful irises and smiled. "...It will be just the two of us. Siying won't be there."

Xinyi rapidly blinked her eyes and went in a daze as she realized it.

O-only the two of us? But that... doesn't that mean a d-date?

"I…"

She was at a loss of words and didn't know how to respond. She thought it to be a family dinner. Suddenly, she felt as if her heart wasn't prepared for this. She didn't know what was happening. At the store, he confessed that he felt jealous of Qin Fuhua and now he asked for a date.

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

Zhiyuan asked, "Are you okay with it?"

"Y-Yes!" She stammered.

Zhiyuan chuckled. "Alright then. Let's go."

---

In one of the high-end restaurants that was linked to the Han Corps, Zhiyuan stepped in with Xinyi. The manager respectfully bowed. "Mr. Han. Mrs. Han. Welcome," he flashed a smile.

"We have arranged it as per your orders. I will take you."

Xinyi's heart rapidly beat in her chest as she walked with him. At first, she was walking alone, but then she slowly felt Zhiyuan intertwining his hand against hers. She bit her lip and peeked at her hand which was tightly captured in his palm.

Zhiyuan observed her little expressions and couldn't help but laugh.

So cute.

They rode the elevator to the topmost floor that was the terrace. Xinyi was stunned to see it breathtakingly decorated. Small candles were sweetly lined up on the railing and on the floor and flower bouquets were placed all over the terrace, giving off a pleasant smell. He pulled her towards the centre and she only followed him in a daze. A strong gust of wind fluttered her hair in the air. 

"Sit."

He pulled back the chair and urged Xinyi. She snapped out of her stupor and nodded. The food was already served piping hot, and he personally placed it on her plate.

Xinyi looked at all the decorations and then at herself. She panicked. "That…"

"Hm?"

"Is there any special occasion today?"

She wondered if she forgot some important event. "I mean I would have dressed properly…"

She felt embarrassed. Zhiyuan made so much effort for this dinner and she didn't even look the part.

Zhiyuan placed his palm on top of her hand and gently squeezed it. "You don't have to worry about that. This is just for us to spend some time together. Recently...a lot of things have happened and now that Siying is also fine, I thought that we should take some time for ourselves too."

Xinyi's heart skipped a beat. "Oh…"

He smiled in satisfaction. "En. Taste the food."

"Ah yes!"

For some reason, Zhiyuan seemed really anxious as he quietly but nervously observed her. He was tapping his fingers on the table, noticing every moment as she took a bite.

"How is it?" He leaned and asked.

Xinyi chewed onto the bite of exquisite curry topped on the rice and her brows slightly furrowed. "I wonder if the chef was sick today."

Zhiyuan blinked his eyes. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh I mean that the proportion of spices is a bit haywire. Plus, there is a little pinch of extra salt."

"..."

As if a bucket of ice-cold water was mercilessly poured on top of his head, he froze. He shut his eyes, completely embarrassed and awkward. He quickly took the plate away from her and said, "You don't have to eat it if you don't like it."

Damn I am so stupid!

"Ah?"

Then Xinyi finally noticed his expression and his demeanor that had suddenly turned strange. He seemed to mumble to himself as he hurriedly kept away the plate. 

"Wait!" She stopped his hand from moving her plate any further. "By any chance...did you make the curry?"

He froze. He felt as if he completely lost face in front of her. A gulp passed down his throat and his smile broke and faltered like a broken record. "Haha...o-of course not…"

He thought that he could impress Xinyi if he cooked for her. He imagined hearing her praising her and scoring brownie points along the way. But everything fell flat and instead, he lost her favor! It was so utterly embarrassing that he wished to disappear forever from this planet.

Xinyi narrowed her eyes and looked at his twitching fingers. "You are lying!"

She widened her eyes in disbelief. "You-you cooked the food but why didn't you say anything? Otherwise why would you look so defeated?"

He quickly said, "I just tried my hand at it. Haha. You don't have to think too much about it. I-I just thought you always make such delicious food for me and the family. So well...I just thought...it looked simple enough. But I guess cooking is not for me. You don't have to eat it really."

Xinyi felt horrible and guilty. If she realized it just a tad before that he had cooked it, she wouldn't have said those words. In other words, she would have refrained from being too honest.

Xinyi pursed her lips and pulled the plate back towards her. 

He widened her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Eating of course. Didn't you make it?"

Zhiyuan quickly pulled it back. "No, no! How can I let you eat it if it was so horrible?"

"It's not horrible! I never said that. I just said that the proportion was a bit off. Doesn't mean that it's not edible."

"You said that there is extra salt too."

"Not to the point that I cannot eat it."

"Xinyi, please," he sighed, "you don't have to force yourself. I will ask the chef to prepare-"

"No. I want to eat this curry only!"