Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

957  Not so gentlemanly

"Is it really true?" Ai gasped as she stared at her son.

Ailun sincerely nodded with a troubled expression.

"That uncle confessed to Aunt Shui."

"A-and what did Shui say?" She broke into a sweat.

"I don't know. But pastry aunt and I made Uncle Kang go away from Aunt Shui so that Aunt and Uncle Jin can talk!" His eyes sparkled.

Ai threw an urgent look at Jun, who was just beside the mother-son pair in the car returning to the Liu villa from the exhibition.

Jun himself felt helpless. He pressed his temple and let out a sigh.

"I didn't know things would move that fast. We kind of knew about Kang Yuze's interest in her but I thought we still had more time and Jin would…"

Time…

Jun held a faint smile thinking about it.

"I forget time is never in our hands."

Ai's expression dropped. "What will happen now?"

She held Ailun's shoulders and keenly asked, "Did you see what Jin and Shui said? Or how they looked? Did it look like Jin confessed?"

Ailun pouted. "Aunt Shui would have told you herself if that had happened."

"Well…" she coughed.

He has a point.

"I was with pastry aunt anyway and we were walking with Uncle Kang away from them. I did not see much. Pastry aunt was holding me the whole time!" His eyes gleamed.

Jun smiled. "Is that so?"

He chuckled. "Oh."

"And she is very cool too! She explained the meaning of all the paintings to me. She didn't let Uncle hold me when he offered. Pastry aunt looked like an ice queen."

Ai grinned. "That's awesome."

"But I don't like Uncle Kang," Ailun scrunched his brows in displeasure. "He was bullying pastry aunt!"

They blinked at the same time. "Bullying?"

He nodded hard.

"First, he was telling pastry aunt that he likes Aunt Shui. He doesn't like that pastry aunt always lets Uncle Jin and Aunt Shui talk and be together. He also asked why pastry aunt always does this."

Jun sighed.

Well…

Then Ailun flared his nostrils.

"But then Uncle Kang was scaring pastry aunt! He rudely grabbed her hand and she did not like it at all. She really looked afraid of Uncle Kang."

Jun and Ai shared a puzzled look.

Ai asked, "Did he just hold her hand or say something too?"

"He said he held her hand because he was worried about her. Pastry aunt was looking somewhere far away. But she did not like it. She told him to never do it again. She said like a cool ice queen! But she was scared too so I gave her a big hug!" Ailun looked pleased and prideful.

Jun ruffled his head. "Good that you gave her a hug."

Ai kissed his forehead too. "You did the right thing."

"Hehe~ So like I said, Uncle Kang was bullying her. I don't like him!" He harrumphed.

Jun slightly tipped his head to the side.

Why would Ren Alix look afraid of Kang Yuze? He couldn't help but wonder.

"Are you sure she looked afraid? Or was she just angry?" Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Both. But first, she was very scared! Pastry aunt was sweating too. She was breathing hard too," Ailun said, "Then she was angry and told Uncle Kang to not touch her again."

Ai frowned.

She understood the discomfort and consciousness of being around one's ex because of the past relationship.

But would that include fear?

I don't think so…

—

Alix let out a soft sneeze and sniffled.

Jin glanced at her side with his right hand on the steering wheel. "Is the AC high for you?"

"The AC is alright."

But I feel chilly for some reason, she knitted her brows.

She leaned against the window, staring outside. She thought about Lin's body language and expressions when she met - or more precisely, caught him before leaving.

Why was he looking so troubled?

What is bothering him so much that he would stalk Liu Jin like that?

She couldn't figure that out. She glanced at Jin next.

Then there was another problem of Jin seriously backing out from his future with Shui.

What am I supposed to do now?

Alix held mixed emotions. She felt like she really wanted to be angry at Jin and twist his ear hard for making her life difficult. But on the other side, a part of her also understood his torn feelings.

She couldn't force Jin to act upon something which she knew she herself wouldn't be able to do. She couldn't be a hypocrite.

So what am I supposed to do now?

She let out an exhale and closed her eyes.

Jin wanted to ignore her sighs and discomfort, but finally he couldn't hold back his curiosity after a few minutes.

"What are you doing?"

"I am in zen mode now."

His mouth twitched. "Why?"

"You. You are the reason."

"Huh? What did I do?"

"Make my life super complicated. Why can you not be like an obedient kid and listen to the wise adults?"

"..."

What the hell is she talking about?

He smiled. "Yeah, it was a mistake letting my curiosity get the better of me."

Alix opened her eyes and squinted them at him. "Your sense of loyalty is very admirable."

"...Thank you?"

"But is it really worth it to lose Shui over it?"

He took a sharp breath.

"Did you not already punish yourself by being away for six years? Do you really think you should suffer the consequences until your last breath? And make Shui suffer the consequences too?"

He gave her a long, hard stare and then slowly and eventually looked back at the road.

Alix waited for some response but he remained silent. She closed her eyes back again.

Time to enter the zen mode again.

With closed eyes, she felt an uneasy chilliness gripping her once again.

You cannot do this.

Her lips quivered and her brows furrowed. Her teeth softly clashed against each other as if she was shivering with the cold.

Who is talking…?

Whatever those voices were, Alix didn't like it one bit. She didn't like the feeling of a noose hanging around her neck.

A while later, she felt the car stop and she opened her eyes, thinking they reached her home. But instead, she saw that they were parked beside a bar.

"You have some work here?" she asked, puzzled.

Jin shrugged. "Grab a few drinks."

"How will you drive me back then?"

"This area is very close to your home. Walking distance."

Ahh…she realized it as she looked around.

She sneered. "Not so gentlemanly of you to not drive me all the way back when you offered me a ride in the first place."

He sneered back. "You just said before you aren't a helpless princess. Would a few minutes of walking hurt your legs? Aww, are they so delicate to break with just a few steps? You are free to join me for some drinks. At least then, you would have an excuse to act like a helpless princess."

A faint green vein popped on her forehead as her lips curved into a dangerous, almost evil smile.

"Sure, I will join. Let's see who gets to make the excuse of being the helpless princess first."