Chapter 27

“No.”
When Huo Jing heard her answer, his first thought was: Did I mishear?
Not that he was so arrogant as to think Yun Zhuoqing would accept him outright. Sure, his head was kind of spinning right now, but he wasn’t that delusional.
He just expected her first reaction would be to explain: no, she wasn’t dating Yue Hao.
Yeah, Huo Jing flat-out didn’t believe Yun Zhuoqing would say yes to Yue Hao’s confession. Even if Yue Hao had come back looking elated, Huo Jing stuck to his guns.
What he hadn’t expected was for Yun Zhuoqing to give him a straight-up “no.” Which kind of implied the premise was true, that she really was with Yue Hao.
Compared to Yun Zhuoqing’s rejection, that was what Huo Jing really couldn’t stomach.
“You’re kidding, right?” Suddenly Huo Jing started to laugh.
Yeah, that had to be it.
Yun Zhuoqing frowned, genuinely baffled. “Why would I joke with you?”
Right. Only friends kid around, and they weren’t even friends, so why would she joke with him?
Huo Jing broke out in a sudden, almost unhinged laugh.
Yun Zhuoqing just stood and listened in silence.
He seriously seemed unwell.
In a flash, the laughter vanished from Huo Jing’s face, replaced by a forced calm, a calm tinged with just a hint of madness.
“Yun Zhuoqing, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things about you the other day.” He sounded perfectly even, like he’d achieved some kind of self-mastery.
Only he knew what he was really thinking inside.
“Can you forgive me?”
His mood shifts were almost whiplash-inducing. Yun Zhuoqing needed a few seconds just to recall what he was even talking about.
It surprised her. She never figured Huo Jing for the sort to apologize, unless he absolutely had to, and even then it would just be to some young heiress from the elite families he ran with.
Not that Yun Zhuoqing thought too highly of herself, she really wasn’t anyone’s storied young lady, so Huo Jing’s sudden apology truly threw her off.
Huo Jing caught every nuance of her expression, feeling a twist in his chest. He’d earned this, after all.
“Okay.” Yun Zhuoqing nodded carelessly.
But just that one word rekindled desperate hope in Huo Jing’s eyes. He stepped closer, still looking up at her from the bottom of the stairs. “Really? You actually forgive me?”
Was there even such a thing as fake forgiveness? Given Huo Jing’s weird mood swings, Yun Zhuoqing figured he might actually be a bit unwell, so she was a little more patient. “Really.”
Since that day she caught him in the act, Huo Jing had felt like a boulder was crushing his chest. Now, with that weight gone, he could almost breathe again. It was almost intoxicating.
Desperate, he clung to the one thing that had set him free. “Date me instead. Please.”
This truly startled Yun Zhuoqing, even more than hearing him apologize.
Some things, once spoken, drag your dignity down with them.
But oddly, after spitting those words out, Huo Jing felt strange relief. He’d always thought begging was pointless, entrusting your hopes to someone else. Might as well just give up.
But now, he thought, maybe begging would buy him just a sliver of a chance with her. And frankly, even a sliver would be enough.
"My family's way richer than Yue Hao's, and let's be real, I look better too. Besides, I actually know how to make you smile. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it, no empty promises. I never lie." Huo Jing had never pictured himself doing this, selling himself like a product. But the words just rolled off his tongue, smooth as if he'd rehearsed this a hundred times.
"I get you might have some…misconceptions about me, but I'm not the playboy everyone says. I’ve never even touched any of those girls, honest. I just wanted to piss off my dad, that's all. But hey, don’t worry, he’s obsessed with girls who get straight A’s; if anything, he’d ship us. No way he’d be against us together." He threw everything out there, explaining away his so-called 'dark history.'
When Yun Zhuoqing didn't say a word, he started to get anxious. "Well…do you…do you believe me?"
After a moment, he finally heard her soft reply: "I do."
Huo Jing's head snapped up. There wasn’t a hint of doubt on Yun Zhuoqing’s face, she must really believe him.
That little taste of sweetness just made him push his luck. "Then…then could you, maybe…go out with, "
"Nope." This time, her answer was firm, almost unshakeable.
Huo Jing deflated instantly, like a weed wilting on the sidewalk, all energy draining from his face.
Before Yun Zhuoqing could say anything else, he suddenly tilted his head, a strange glint in his eyes, and laughed.
"You don’t have to break up with him, you know. I’m totally fine being with you at the same time. I don't mind sharing."
If being cast out forever was the alternative, Huo Jing would use any trick to stay by her side, whatever it took, in whatever role.
Afraid Yun Zhuoqing didn’t get his meaning, he added, "I can be the side guy."
I mean, who says the side guy never gets promoted? Just because you start out as second string doesn’t mean you stay there forever. After all, if you're the unloved one, that’s the real side guy.
Yun Zhuoqing stared at him like she could barely find words.
Yeah, she was sure of it now: Huo Jing had genuine mental issues, serious ones. No way he'd say this kind of crazy stuff if he was sane.
"First off, I’m not dating anyone," she said, worried he'd get the wrong idea. Then quickly added, "And I don’t need a side guy, either."
Huo Jing completely ignored that second part. All he heard in his head was one thing,
She says she’s not dating anyone.
Which means…he could skip the side guy stage. He could be her real boyfriend.
The sudden thrill hit him so hard he was almost dizzy. His breath turned sharp, needy. "You're serious? You're really not dating anybody? You turned Yue Hao down, didn’t you?"
Huo Jing was being so over the top that whatever forgiveness Yun Zhuoqing had just worked up for him fizzled out completely. She didn’t bother to answer.
Not that it stopped Huo Jing from taking her silence as consent.
He was over the moon, already gearing up for another round of self-promotion, only for Yun Zhuoqing to cut him off again.
"Why do you want to date me? You don’t even like me."
She sounded genuinely confused.
Yun Zhuoqing wasn’t buying it for a second, Huo Jing never acted like he liked her. She still remembered what he’d said back in the classroom; his attitude had been anything but affectionate. From day one, he’d been almost hostile, not to mention constantly teasing her. All evidence said the same thing: zero interest.
She chalked it all up to something being wrong with his head, and earnestly told him, "Getting together only works if both people actually like each other. You don’t like me, I don’t like you, so what’s the point?"
"And, honestly, I’m not planning on dating anyone." She meant it, she didn’t even need to think about it. Dating any of these drama magnets? No way she'd ask for that mess.
Huo Jing wanted to argue, he really did like her!, but the second those words left Yun Zhuoqing’s lips, every protest crumpled to dust.
"I don’t like you."
No matter how much he hyped himself up, no matter how outrageous his credentials, it was pointless if she just didn’t feel it.
Huo Jing was stunned. Yet at the same time, it made sense. Of course she wouldn’t like him, why would she? If anything, the idea that she might would be the real fantasy.
Who falls for someone who always snaps at them? Masochists, maybe, but not normal people.
He tried to reason with himself, a hundred different ways. But even so, his chest still ached, his breath coming short.
"Do you hate me?" he muttered.
Love’s opposite is hate, right? He knew the answer wouldn’t make him happy, but he had to ask anyway, almost like he liked the pain.
"Not really," Yun Zhuoqing replied with total honesty.
Hating or loving someone, those were such intense emotions. Yun Zhuoqing barely ever felt either. Yes, she’d been annoyed overhearing Huo Jing talking trash about her once, but she said plenty of things back about him to those girls afterward, so that evened the score. And that chaotic first meeting between them? Already ancient history. So Huo Jing showing up now with this dramatic confession? She truly hadn’t seen it coming.
Thank god, she didn’t hate him.
Huo Jing let out a huge sigh of relief.
Not hating was a start. He still had a shot.
"Then…how about we be friends? Just friends, I mean." He tried to look totally innocent, as if he had no ulterior motive at all.
"Or…do you secretly hate me, so you don’t want to even be friends?" His tone was dripping with fake sadness, as if turning him down would make her some heartless monster.
In the end, Yun Zhuoqing agreed. She had no idea that this tiny, throwaway “yes” would give Huo Jing unlimited ammunition for chaos in the future.
So, even though he’d been rejected, Huo Jing was practically skipping as he walked Yun Zhuoqing back to the dorms. She’d insisted she didn’t need an escort, but he’d claimed he just felt too guilty for wasting her time and bringing her trouble, he’d just feel better if he saw her home. Yun Zhuoqing could only let him tag along.
After Yun Zhuoqing’s figure finally vanished from sight, something dawned on Huo Jing. Now he understood why Yue Hao had looked so weirdly happy even after getting shot down.
Did Yun Zhuoqing give him the same answer?
Meanwhile, over on the other side of campus, Chen Huo was finally getting the story out of Yue Hao.
"She turned you down? Then what are you grinning about, you maniac?" All day he’d worried, nerves stretched tight, terrified he might lose it and drag Yue Hao outside for a fistfight.
Yue Hao looked put out, so getting rejected means he can’t smile? Was he supposed to sob instead?
"Well, yeah, she rejected me. But honestly, I’d already braced myself, so it didn’t hurt." If he was being totally honest, Yue Hao wasn’t sure he liked Yun Zhuoqing the traditional way. Confessing wasn’t about wanting to date her, it was just so she’d know how he felt.
And Yun Zhuoqing’s answer, weird as it was, made him feel like he’d been right to care this much. No regrets about putting his heart on the line.
Chen Huo, meanwhile, was secretly celebrating.
Thank god, Yun Zhuoqing said no. She wasn't with Yue Hao. Also, his own friendship with Yue Hao was still (just barely) intact.
Telling himself not to look too smug, he realized he ought to play the concerned bro. After all, Yue Hao had just been rejected. Some comforting words were in order.
So Chen Huo mustered every ounce of self-control to put together a sentence: "Uh…don’t take it too hard, man. Getting turned down is totally normal. You’ll definitely meet a girl even better suited to you."
Yeah, keep dreaming.
Chen Huo added silently to himself.
But maybe his acting skills were garbage, or maybe his face was just too easy to read, because Yue Hao suddenly gave him a look and asked,
"Bro, don’t tell me…do you like her too?"