It was almost half an hour later when Lu Zihao finally finished the phone call. Something unpleasant must have happened at his work because his aura when he once again returned inside the unit was quite scary. Fortunately, he noticed her wariness and immediately retracted his leaking bloodthirst.
She smiled at him and called him over to the small dining table. “I reheated the food. Let’s eat. It’s getting late.”
He made a sound of agreement. As usual, he kept her close by his side while eating. One arm was wrapped around her waist while the other was used to move the chopsticks.
It took Long Jinjing quite some time before she got used to this kind of closeness during meals. Now, however, it felt normal to her to the point that she would start missing his body heat during times that she had to eat without him.
In the days following her sister’s wedding, there was a restless energy between her and Lu Zihao. She tried several times broaching the subject of their breakup but he would always refuse to talk about it. All she wanted was to clarify everything with him so that there would hopefully be no bad feelings between them after their agreement was supposed to end in a few more days. It was clear to her that he had been avoiding the topic of their breakup.
She couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated and helpless that he was so uncooperative regarding this matter. However, she also had to admit that their relationship had improved so much after her sister’s wedding.
For some reason, he had become gentler with her—well, not in bed. He was still a rough beast most of the time whenever they had sex especially after they stopped using condoms. That alone made him extra enthusiastic and energetic in bed. His previous lethargy was long gone.
After dinner, he not only helped clear the table of dirty dishes but also rinsed everything she washed. This had become their routine whenever they ate together. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l. c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profiting from my hard work. Please support the original author, ArriaCross. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]
There was also that one time when he tried helping her cook but it turned out to be a big failure. She never expected him to know his way around the kitchen but still allowed him to wash some vegetables while she did all of the chopping, slicing, and the other preparations. For the most part, he only stood on the side and watched her while she busied herself cooking their dinner.
The problem was that after she returned from a quick bathroom break, she found out that he had dumped a bunch of random condiments, herbs and spices into the simmering food without any regard to the clashing tastes.
“More flavour should make it more delicious” was what he said.
Right at that moment, she felt like the tall, big, muscled and devilishly handsome Mr. Yummylicious standing in front of her was like an innocent kid sometimes. In the end, the food had become inedible. Shun and Robin had to order and deliver takeout for them instead.
Back to the present, they finished washing all the dishes and lounged on the couch in the living room while watching TV. This had also become a routine to them. He quickly learned that she needed some down time to digest her food before feeling ready to get down and dirty with him in bed for the rest of the night.
Taking a deep breath, Long Jinjing sat up straight and faced Lu Zihao. He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow but otherwise didn’t say anything and waited for her to speak first instead.
“Nikolai, I think we should talk about the end of our—”
“No.”
His eyes returned to the TV, indicating his clear refusal to talk to her about the topic.
Sighing, she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV so that he wouldn’t have it as a reason for distraction.
“Let’s talk, please.”
“No.”
The urgent feeling consumed her. She no longer had any patience to deal with his stubbornness, so she snapped at him. “I want to talk!”
His aura became scary once again but she didn’t care. They glared at each other. If this was before, she would’ve been the first one to look away. But right now, she had no intention of backing down.
“We need to talk, Nikolai,” she told him in a firm voice.
He continued glaring at her for a few more seconds but finally sighed in frustrated resignation upon realizing that she wasn’t going to change her mind this time. He crossed his arms over his wide chest and looked surly.
“Fine,” he said and gestured for her to start speaking.
Finally! She felt relieved that he was now willing to talk at least. At the same time, she also felt nervous.
“We both agreed to end our relationship after 30 days—”
“It wasn’t me who thought up that condition in the terms of our agreement.”
She became momentarily speechless at his accusing tone. “You agreed to it, Nikolai.”
“I agreed to it—no, I agreed to ALL of your terms because I wanted to fuck you so badly. If I didn’t agree, you wouldn’t let me sleep with you again after our one-night stand.”
Her rare temper flared at his words and tone. “Well, Young Master Lu—”
His temper also flared. “Don’t call me like that. My name is Nikolai!”
“Fine! Well, Nikolai, I already knew from the beginning that all you wanted from me is a convenient body to…to…f-fuck—”
“Yes.”
The words she was about to say next failed to come out of her mouth after hearing his whispered admission. It was so hard to breathe all of a sudden. Her chest felt tight. Her eyes also started to water. However, she wouldn’t allow herself to cry. Not in front of him. The seconds of silence ticked by as she realized the pain his yes was causing her right now.
Then he whispered, “That was what I thought at first.”
Her brows wrinkled in confusion.
He looked at her straight in the eyes.
“Jinjing, let’s not break up yet.”
###
Chapter Title: Let’s Not Break Up Yet
