Because I Cannot Hurt You

When Yunru saw the board of a hotpot restaurant, he looked at Zizi, amazed. "Are you sure that we are at the right place?"

Her mouth twitched. "What do you mean?"

"This is a hotpot restaurant."

"I can read."

"And I know that you don't like places like these."

She averted her gaze. "N-not like we have a choice. This is the closest restaurant here and I am damn hungry. I am adjusting here."

He narrowed his eyes. "Hmm~? You don't really have to. In one of the food guides the hotel staff kept at the table, I saw one five-star hotel nearby. I think you would be more happy to eat there."

She coughed.

"Plus, I took you to the hotpot restaurant last time so it's only fair that we go somewhere that you want this time," he smiled. "I won't mind a classy hotel for a change. So, let's go."

Yunru turned and already started walking away but Zizi quickly pulled him back. "W-wait! We are already here. I don't want to waste any more time."

"It's only five minutes away."

"..."

"Well…" she bit her lip.

Yunru stared at her for a long time before he burst into laughter. "You seriously... Princess, if you want to eat hotpot, then say so. You don't have to hide that you have started to like something which you considered lowly before."

Her cheeks flushed red as Yunru exactly read her mind. "I...I…"

Indeed, it was hard to forget the taste of that spicy hotpot soup and the delicious meat that instantly melted in her mouth. It was so sizzling and addictive that she wanted to eat it again but was embarrassed to admit it.

"Let's go. I can hear your stomach grumbling," he chuckled.

"S-shut up! You don't say that to a woman."

He rolled his eyes.

After their delicious meal at the hotpot restaurant, Zizi had no strength to lift even her foot.

"You are truly a carnivorous woman whether you are chasing me or food," Yunru smirked.

"W-well I don't usually overeat like that…"

"And now to burn those calories, let's take a walk."

His sight fell onto a board outside the exit and smiled. "Well, it seems that we got just the place. We will be walking and we won't be bored either."

Zizi beamed. "Oh, there is a festival going on!"

One of the locals who heard their conversation couldn't help but get excited too. "Yes, yes! It's a fun local festival that happens every year. The whole street is filled with lanterns and shops. There is music and dance and lots of games too. It's filled with tourists all around."

Zizi clapped her hands. "Then we should definitely take a trip to this festival!"

So they went and as soon as they entered their destination, the whole atmosphere was so colorful and vibrant that Zizi and Yunru got sucked right into it.

"So many shops…" she murmured. 

People were hustling and bustling in the street, gathered at various fun shops to enjoy. There was still a little daylight left so the lanterns weren't lit up yet. 

"It's beautiful," her eyes sparkled.

She soon found herself being swept with the crowd so much that she couldn't even see her way ahead.

"Umm...it's fun but too crowded."

She gasped as she was suddenly pulled back by a strong but firm force. She bumped into Yunru's chest and looked at him, startled. His hand securely held her wrist and his deep eyes stared at her.

"Stay near me."

She blinked her eyes and her cheeks suddenly turned crimson. "Y-you are flirting with me in the middle of the road? Not that I mind…"

"Ah? I am warning you. Do you want to get lost in such a huge crowd? You are so small that you almost got swept away."

"..."

She whined. "What? So you weren't flirting with me?"

His brow twitched.

"Why would I suddenly think of that?"

"What do you mean? I always think of flirting with you," she pouted.

He choked.

She shyly smiled. "But I don't mind. At least, you are holding my hand. Let's walk together like this or I will get lost."

"..."

You are throwing my words back at me now?

Zizi tightly intertwined her fingers against his. "Let's go!"

He peeked down and slightly coughed.

They roamed around a bit in the street. Zizi's sight fell on a certain shop and she curiously stared at the board.

"Yunru, Yunru, let's go there!" She pointed her finger.

Yunru asked, "You believe in fortunes?"

It was a fortune telling shop.

"Hm? I don't know...But I want to try and know when you will finally fall for me!"

"..."

Do you have to join everything with me?

Zizi eagerly hopped to the shop. The owners, who were a couple in their mid-fifties, greeted them with a smile. "Welcome, welcome!"

"Hehe, I want to read my fortune. How does this work?"

"Oh yes!" The elderly woman beamed. "We have fortune cookies. You pick one of the cookies and break it to get the strip of paper inside. You will have your fortune!"

"Oh!" Zizi, who was doing this for the first time, cluelessly got happy.

Yunru chuckled.

So it's basically luck to grab the right cookie.

"Show me all the cookies that have love and relationship fortunes in them!"

At this point, Yunru had already given up.

"Yes, yes," the woman's husband smiled. "Here they are."

Zizi eagerly picked one of them. She broke the cookie and took out the piece of paper.

As she read it, she frowned. "Hmm...is it supposed to be good fortune or bad? I don't understand."

Yunru asked, "What is written in there?"

"Your love will be awaiting you but not without going through dangerous hardships."

Zizi didn't know whether to feel happy or afraid about it. The hardships part gave her an anxious feeling.

Yunru lightly knocked on her head. "It's just a fortune, Princess," he smiled. "Don't read too much into it."

"En..."