The same night at Jinhai’s condo.
Jinhai was standing in the balcony, watching the city’s night view lit in lights.
Somebody was secretly creeping up to his side from behind when Jinhai smiled, “Jing.”
Jing pouted, “Bro! You always foil my plans. At least for once, let me win and give you a scare.” He observed him and narrowed his eyes. “Did something good happen? You seem to be in a good mood.”
He raised his eyebrows. “En. I have cast a net to catch my prey. And that somebody now doesn’t even need any bait to get trapped. They are themselves caught in it. And…”, he smiled. “I also heard that one thing for which I was waiting for so long.”
“Tell me too!” he said excitedly.
“You can know only this much for now. I will tell you the rest when you tell me what is going on with you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. A little birdie told me that you are secretly following and keeping tabs on a certain someone day and night. In other words, stalking.”
Jing awkwardly smiled. He said sheepishly, “Teehee…”
“Who is that lucky person?”
He immediately noticed. Usually, the question would be, “Who is that lucky girl?” But Jinhai vaguely mentioned a “person” that didn’t clarify the gender.
So he knows…
Jinhai patted his shoulder, “It will be tough, but I’m always here for you. You know that you can come to me anytime, right?”
He nodded, “En!”
Jinhai smiled and ruffled his hair.
—
The next morning Nana woke up with a terrible headache.
“What happened? It is so painful…It feels like my head will split into two.”, she mumbled.
“Of course it would. It was the first time you got drunk last night.”
She saw Yukito coming in with a bowl of soup.
“Huh? Oh yeah…Serena and I were in the bar. Then what happened?”
“You don’t remember?”
“Ah, my head is aching read bad. Why?”
“Last night, it was brother Liu Jinhai that brought you back home.”
“Huh? W-what?” Then she widened her eyes as it finally registered. “What!? Liu Jinhai? But why?”
She tried to recollect what happened, and one by one, the memories came flooding in. She was aghast remembering how she flirted so boldly with Jinhai.
I hugged him, danced with him. Gosh, I even kissed him in the car!
She gulped.
I even touched and felt him like a pervert. How can I change so much in just three pegs! I feel like some alter ego took over me. I was the one who told him to keep his distance in the office, and now I crossed the limits!
She wanted to dig a hole and bury herself so deep that nobody could find her.
Wait a minute…She also remembered the last words she said to him before dozing off.
The whole earth shook beneath her feet.
I…I…I… I confessed to Liu Jinhai!!! What will I do now!!?
She buried her face in her hands in remorse, “I’m never drinking again…Ever! I was right. I should not have listened to Serena and the whole drinking plan.”
Yukito sighed. “For now, have some soup. You will feel much better.”
Better? Nothing can make me feel better now! I have to meet him today. Obviously, he will remember everything!
She got a bad feeling. She also thought about it a lot yesterday. When she met Jinhai the day before, for the first time, she felt that he was perhaps very shrewd. When he proposed to work with Liu Corps again, she got the feeling that she was falling in a trap, like he had predicted everything, and he was merely putting a bait for her to catch.
My instinct says that he wouldn’t let this go.
—
Liu Corps.
Nana entered his office and found him already waiting for her.
He said, “Why are you still standing there? Come in.”
Nana awkwardly smiled. She observed him carefully. He didn’t have a smile on his face, but his eyes revealed a mischievous glint in them. She could practically hear the unsaid words, ‘Now this will be fun.’
“How are you feeling now? It must be quite a hangover considering how last night was the first time you got drunk.”
She cleared her throat.
It’s better to pretend that nothing happened. Just keep a neutral face, Nana.
“I’m fine now. Thank you for dropping me back home, although it-it wasn’t necessary. I came to tell you that I don’t need to buy the place. You have bought it, and you can remain as the owner.”
“And I already told you that you cannot convince me otherwise.”
She looked at him dryly, “You cannot force me to buy the place. It is my wish if I want to purchase something or not.”
“Now it is not.”, he said calmly.
“Huh?”
He smiled, “You will be buying as a part of the compensation and responsibility for what happened last night.”
Her heart drummed loudly. She thought it would come out of her chest.
I knew it!
“Last night? What do you mean?” she tried her best to feign innocence.
“Don’t you remember?”
“No, I do not. I only know from Yukito that you brought me back home.”
He looked at her amusingly and asked, “So you don’t remember how you flirted with me, how you hugged me, or should I say latched onto me…”
Thin beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
“How you made me dance with you, how you thoroughly felt me in the car, how you even undressed me and-“
“I clearly didn’t undress you! The most I did was to kiss you-” she bit her tongue in sudden realization.
Silence.
Jinhai leisurely sat back and smiled, “Seems like Miss sober Nana does remember what drunken Nana did last night.”
