Because I Cannot Hurt You

Zizi straightened upon hearing his name.

"Heh. He is one bastard."

Zizi nodded in agreement.

I cannot deny that.

"He thinks he got his hands on us but he is a fool. Before he reaches us, he would already be dead haha…"

She froze. Her heart raced in panic.

Why are they so sure that he would die?

"How?"

"I have put one of my men on the lookout outside the bar. He is acting as a wasted drunkard, but he is keeping his eye on all the people entering the bar. Even if Soo Yunru disguises himself, he would not escape my informant's eyes. And once, he recognizes him, my other men will take him down."

"Do you think he would come alone?"

"I don't care about his support. Soo Yunru is the big fish because he is a smart ass. If he dies, the investigation is as good as dead. At the bar, he would surely come alone because he wouldn't want too many men and make it suspicious. By the time his team arrives, he would be dead. And with all the chaos, we will escape."

Zizi stumbled back.

This is bad. They have already planned for this! 

Fear gripped her heart and sweat formed on her forehead. Her legs were shaking and she felt her knees go weak.

I need to be at the entrance and warn him before he comes!

As she turned back, somebody suddenly grabbed her arm.

She paled upon seeing the same thug. He sneered and she saw his crooked teeth through his disgusting smile.

"Hello, Miss. We meet again. I knew I would see you. After all, you were behaving too suspiciously ever since I took that officer's name."

Zizi stammered. "W-what are you doing? Leave me. What officer are you talking about?"

"Nice acting but it's useless," he narrowed his eyes. "You were heading outside to warn him, right?"

She felt her stomach churn in fear. She nervously smiled. "I think it's a misunderstanding. I don't have any idea about what you are talking about…I-I just came here because it's loud downstairs."

Tears threatened to form in her eyes, but she didn't let them. 

"Heh. I saw your shadow from under the door's slit. You were standing here, listening to us."

She froze.

The thug tightened his grasp, making her yelp. "So he already planned for a spy huh? But too bad that you are a rookie. Now die."

---

Han villa.

Xinyi ran as fast as she could. She didn't think of anything and kept running until she reached the garden.

She stopped near a bench and gasped hard in breathlessness. Her heart beat so loud and fast that she could clearly hear it. Her knees finally went weak and she collapsed on the bench.

Her hand trembled as she put it on her chest. Then in a daze, she slowly touched her lips.

Kiss...We really kissed…

Even if it was an accident, she couldn't just shake it off and think of it as nothing. There was already tension between them ever since that night, and now it just turned way awkward by several notches.

Xinyi clasped her hands together. The anxiety and panic in her knew no bounds now.

What was she supposed to do now?

Zhiyuan…

Her cheeks blushed hard. Her mind was replaying that scene over and over again. She felt as if that warmth was still lingering on her lips. She shut her eyes and buried her face in his hands.

Ahhh...what will I do now?

Slowly, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. 

"Xinyi…"

She stiffened and her eyes widened.

Zhiyuan!

She abruptly got up and without anything, she was to run away again.

No, no! I cannot face him right now!

"Wait Xinyi!" Zhiyuan caught her wrist in time before she sped off again.

"I-I-"

"Please don't run away," he urged.

Xinyi bit her lip hard and she felt embarrassed. Zhiyuan noticed her body slightly trembling. The moment they parted away, Zhiyuan couldn't move from his spot for a long time. He was just as shocked to realize what happened.

He glanced at Siying. "Why did you do that?"

"I played a prank! Haha!" He giggled. "Mama and Dada fell for it. But why Mama ran away?" He pouted.

Zhiyuan sighed. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't reprimand his son. He was just innocently playing around.

"You stay here. I will come back."

I cannot let things stay as they are.

Zhiyuan caught up to Xinyi but now he was stumped.

"Umm...that…"

Xinyi's heart thudded faster.

Zhiyuan stared at her back. His hand reached her shoulder and he turned her to face him. His heart skipped a beat to see her flushed face. Her eyelashes that he loved to see were trembling once again. He felt a strange sense of joy.

Was she also affected by it just as I was?

He softly whispered, "Please look at me."

But she couldn't face him at all. She didn't have the courage to meet his gaze.

Zhiyuan nervously smiled. "Si-Siying must have seen it somewhere so…*cough* I mean what happened…"

His sight fell on her shivering lips and he gulped. He throated a slight cough and looked away. A fuzzy but equally scorching hot feeling erupted in his chest as if it would burn him whole.

What should I say?

Forget it? Don't think of it? Let it not affect you?

Zhiyuan didn't want to say those things. It felt as if he would be lying to himself and hurting her more by those words.

Things were awkward for sure but he didn't want to just move on from it as if it never happened.

So what do I want to really say…

Zhiyuan took a while to gather his thoughts. All this time, Xinyi was finding it hard to bear the silence.

What will he say? Will he a-apolo-

"I didn't hate it," he said.

She froze. She finally raised her head, looking at him, stunned. That unflinching gaze of his shook her heart.

"I didn't hate what happened...It was an accident but I didn't mind it... neither today nor...at that night too.

Xinyi parted her lips, but words failed her. She couldn't say anything.

Didn't hate it?

Zhiyuan slowly held her cheek and stared at her. "I won't lie. Something has changed between us."

Xinyi trembled.

"I don't know when and how, but I feel things are not the same as they were for all these years. I know I am being vague. I am sorry I cannot put myself more clearly but...I just want to let you know that I won't apologize and neither do I want you to feel embarrassed about it."

Xinyi softly nodded. The incident and then words right now were too much to take. She felt as if her heart would jump out of her chest any moment with these mixed feelings bubbling in her.

"B-But of course it's what I feel. I don't want to impose my thoughts on you. If you felt…" he felt nervous as he spoke, "I mean if you didn't like it...I will apologize-"

"No, no! You don't have to feel sorry," Xinyi quickly said. She looked away, slightly blushing. "It's not your fault. I-It's fine."

Relief washed over his heart. He felt as if a huge burden lifted off his chest.

"En. So-so... please don't *ahem* run away from me anymore…" 

Now Xinyi felt embarrassed for real. Of course, he noticed how she avoided him the last few days.

"I won't…" she shut her eyes, making an adorable expression that made him chuckle.

Ah, I want to run away!

He cleared his throat. "Also, don't scold Siying. He was just…"

"No, no. I won't," she shook her head.

Zhiyuan nodded. He felt as if the situation became a whole lot lighter now. At least even if a little bit, things were better than before.

Zhiyuan softly smiled. "Let's go back."

"En."

---

Zhu villa.

When Caihong read the medicine's label and its contents, she found that there was a part in it that was used to treat pain. She had read that it was used to treat headaches but overall, this medicine was new to her. She didn't have time to think about it so Caihong brought the medicine back and fed it to Xiaosi. 

This should do…

Now, Xiaosi only needed proper rest and sleep. But he was uneasily shifting and struggling on the couch. It was evident that he wouldn't be able to sleep properly.

'We will not be on the same bed!'

Caihong pursed her lips and clenched her fist. She let out a deep breath in frustration and wrapped his arm around her neck. She lifted him to make him stand.

Heavy!!

With herself as the support, she somehow brought him to the bed. 

That felt as if I climbed a mountain! She gasped heavily.

Caihong hastily wrapped the blanket over him, but when she was about to leave, Xiaosi had held her hand once again, stopping her.

He mumbled. "Don't go…I don't...want this dream to...end…"