160 The Valentine's Day Arc (16) : Mr. Liu entertains Ai's hide and seek game
The break was about to end, but Ai had yet to head back to the hotel for the results announcement. There was a small problem with her trip back.
Which was Jun’s reply to her reply.
Ai pursed her lips, feeling the threat seep from his message.
‘If you don’t tell me where you are right now, then I will break apart the infinite cosmos inside which you are hidden. Before I do that, it’s better that you come out of your hiding place wherever it is or else…’
Jun didn’t complete his sentence after that. He didn’t need to because she could already imagine the consequences.
She genuinely wondered if he was furious at her confession or the fact that she used him as a character in her story which she was told by him not to do.
Ai was hiding behind a tree and contemplating her options. It definitely seemed like Jun was keeping an eye out on her somewhere. If she went out in the open, then she will be dead.
It wasn’t like she wanted to avoid Jun but right now, she felt too overwhelmed to face him. The tiredness from running like a marathon had already disappeared from body, but her heart was still drumming in her chest, imagining what would Jun’s answer be..
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she froze. Her eyes slowly widened, and she couldn’t even gasp.
J-Jun…He found me…
Her heart sped even faster now as she trembled. She shut her eyes and steeled her heart for this moment whether it was his acceptance or rejection.
Ai slowly turned and lifted her gaze. But she stiffened upon recognizing someone else stand on before her.
“…Gu Yating?”
She felt calmer now knowing that it wasn’t Jun. Her expression came back to normal as she faced him. “Yes?”
Yating looked at her, his fingers clenching and unclenching. “Ai…I need to talk to you.”
—
Jun impatiently kept tapping his foot on the other, waiting for her response. But after not getting one for several minutes, his lid of patience finally snapped. He oozed menaced and intimidation into the air, turning it darker and cloudier.
He sneered.
So you have chosen death, Zhou Ai. Fine. If you want to play a game of hide and seek, then I will entertain you.
His gaze darkened.
But beware of the consequences once I find you.
He was about to head deeper into the garden to find Ai, but the corner of his right eye noticed Yating coming out of the hotel’s exit door and rushing in a hurry towards somewhere.
Jun narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t in any mood to meddle in his affairs now. But his senses tingled with an annoying feeling that it might be related to Ai.
Ever since he knew that Ai was MissImperfectlyFine and realized Yating’s connection with her, his presence irritated him even more than when he thought of him as just Sky’s rival. Yating’s whole existence irked him immensely.
Jun decided to follow him just to confirm if he was meeting Ai or not. If he wasn’t, then Jun would continue playing Ai’s hide and seek game.
He noiselessly followed him and after a certain distance, he finally saw the person he was looking for. His countenance instantly turned frigid upon realizing that Yating was indeed looking for Ai.
You…
Jun headed closer and the snippets of the conversation reached his ears.
“Ai, you have been misunderstanding the whole time!”
Ai looked confused.
Yating continued. “Ai, on New Year’s when I confessed to you, you said that it’s not possible between us because Guiying likes me. But it’s not true! She doesn’t! She said so herself! Guiying doesn’t feel anything for me!”
Jun froze. His dark brown irises stared at them unblinkingly. The words which Yating spoke rang in his ears as if it bled him.
On New Year’s when I confessed to you…
He recalled that night vividly. It was the same evening when he had shared the kiss with Ai as they both cried over their fates and lost love.
He had confessed to her…? He had confessed to Ai?
He trembled, unable to comprehend his emotions. There were two very distinct feelings riling within him.
One was anger over the fact that he confessed.
And one was fear about imagining what would have happened if Ai had accepted Yating?
At the other side, Ai stiffened for a different reason. “You…you asked Guiying about this?”
“I had no choice, Ai! I had to clarify this! Because if Guiying indeed had feelings for me, then I couldn’t have let her stay in that bubble for any longer. It’s because I love you, Ai.”
Jun stared at them blankly.
“I love you, Ai,” Yating shook. “I thought you love me too. But then you said that Guiying likes me? I couldn’t believe you at all. I never thought she looked at me that way. At first, I tried to fulfill my promise to you that I wouldn’t ask her anything about this until the time came like you said. But tonight…tonight, I just couldn’t. I just had to ask her. And she confessed it herself! She doesn’t like me, Ai. She convinced me that she wasn’t lying to me. Ai, Guiying really doesn’t like me. There is no need for you to think about her or sacrifice anything here.”
Ai watched him in a daze. “How…How could you do this, Gu Yating? I told you-“
“I know, Ai, Yating grabbed her shoulders and said, “You can punish me however you want for this. But isn’t it more important here that Guiying doesn’t feel anything for me! I am not sure how you got this misunderstanding, but it’s really nothing just a misunderstanding!”
Ai felt at a loss. If what Yating said was right, and Guiying genuinely meant that she didn’t have any feelings for him, then why did they get into a relationship in her past life in the first place and betray her?
Yating trembled. “That’s why, Ai…Now that you know that Guiying doesn’t like me, will you…will you accept my confession? I really love you, Zhou Ai. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. There is nothing to separate us now. Will you accept my love for you?”
Ai had only just parted her lips to speak when Yating was suddenly knocked off his place as a punch landed on his face.