171 The Valentine's Day Arc (27) : The voice within her
Under the darkness of the cold night, Guiying remained frozen on her spot. The loss at the Summit was already a big setback for her.
But now as she came to talk to Ai about clarifying what she told Yating, she had never imagined that she would see her so intimate with a man.
And not just any man…
Of all people, it had to be MrPerfect.
Guiying’s tear stained eyes kept gazing at the way even after Jun’s car had left long back.
‘So you are MrPerfect?’
‘You finally realized it.’
Ai’s question and Jun’s answer kept bugging her mind.
Guiying turned on her heels and blankly walked towards the road. She signaled for a cab and as soon as she got one, she jumped into it hurriedly..
“…Take me…take me home…”
The driver asked, “Mam, what is your address?”
He observed her shaking, and her eyes didn’t look focused. He heard her mumbling and talking to herself.
For a second, the driver gulped and felt scared for some reason watching her so lost and dazed.
“Ma-Madam?”
Guiying snapped and as she realized she was in a cab, she gave him her address.
The driver quickly nodded and drove off. He wanted to drop off the passenger as soon as possible.
As the cab left, there arrived a figure who rushed after her in the darkness. But Guiying was already gone.
His eyes flickered with a trace of anxiety, worry and sadness. He had watched Guiying lose the Summit. He didn’t care if she won or not. It would never change her place in his life.
But as a writer, he also understood how important this Summit was to her. She might have smiled as she congratulated Ai. But only he knew how her body trembled, and how she fought back her tears.
He wanted to be there for her tonight. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to convey that no matter what, she would always be the winner for him. He loved her story the most no matter what the judges said or what results were declared.
His fingers curled into his fist as he pursed his lips, his heart aching for her. His black business coat fluttered with the wind, and his regal figure exuded poignancy.
Guiying…
“You…”
His daze broke as he heard an incredulous voice. He turned and raised his brow.
“What are you doing here?” Yunru asked, his eyes widened in surprise.
—
Guiying threw away the heels and ran to the bathroom. She turned the tap on and splashed cold water on her face. She choked and gasped and coughed, severely feeling dizzy.
“Impossible…He cannot be…He cannot be MrPerfect…” she breathlessly said to herself.
She then stepped outside, not bothering to dry herself up. She opened the cupboard and the small box where she had stored all the cards and other small gifts she had received from MrPerfect from time to time.
Her quivering hand brushed on the things gently.
“Impossible…H-How can he and Ai…T-They don’t even know each other. All this time…All this time, he was talking to me. He doesn’t know her. Then how can they be in a relationship?”
Then suddenly a chuckle burst out from her lips.
“See? I told you so many times. You are so naive, Guiying.”
From shock and pain, her eyes flashed with iciness and menace.
“I told you, I kept telling you that you need to be careful of that woman.”
She threw away the box and casually opened a drawer from the bedside table. From inside, she took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one of them.
She put one end in her mouth and took a long puff with a smile on her face.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. My cute, naive Guiying. I told you so many times. You need to stay away from Zhou Ai. And look what happened? She snatched your award AND your man too. How do you feel about losing two important things all at once? The star of Dream High lost to someone who could never match her. And now the one person who you trusted your heart with also gave up on you. He also chose Zhou Ai over you. And do you know why?”
Her question was met with only silence.
“Because everybody only chooses winners~ Nobody likes losers. That’s why your brother favors her more than you. That’s why MrPerfect chose her over you. I warned you so many times not to fall for this shit. You will only hurt yourself. And every single time, you kept trusting Zhou Ai and this unknown card man,” she puffed out another ring of smoke.
She shook hard, and tears streamed out of her eyes.
“No! No, no, no! That’s not true! That’s all…it’s all my misunderstanding!” She clutched her head and buried it in her knees. “Impossible…”
Her body shook again as if something was trying to gain control of her. She jerked her head up from her knees and wiped her tears with disdain.
“If you cry one more time, I will bang this head on the wall until you get knocked out. Crying over things that I warned you not to do. That’s why I like your editor, whatever her name is. She understands the threat. But you are the one who keeps clinging onto people who only hurt you. Zhou Ai, your dearest brother and then MrPerfect. You are a fucking idiot. Look how slickly she took everything from you, and you could only watch helplessly.”
“N-No…That’s not true-“
“Shut up! I had enough of your nonsense! You need to think about yourself. You need to get selfish. That’s how this world works! That’s how everybody is. That’s how Zhou Ai is. Otherwise why would she say to Gu Yating that you like him? You never told her about your feelings about him or anybody else, so there is no basis to assume this,” she sneered. “She did it purposely. Maybe she got to know your feelings for MrPerfect, so she tried to create an illusion as if you aren’t in the picture with him at all.”
Her expression paled from the mockery and disdain, and her chest heaved in breathlessness once again.
She recalled how he embraced Ai. How he kissed her. How he spoke so lovingly to her.
The tone of her voice changed once again as her eyes narrowed. “That all belonged to you, but she took it away from you.”