Chapter 15

Huh? Date? Me?
Zhu Xinyue crouched down, looking up at Ji Qingyuan. Seeing his confident expression, she then turned her gaze to Ji Linyu.
Ji Linyu narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
Zhu Xinyue quickly stood up but lost her balance from rising too fast, swaying slightly.
Both men beside her reached out to steady her at the same time.
Ji Linyu extended his palm upward, offering it to her, while Ji Qingyuan directly grabbed her arm to support her.
Before Zhu Xinyue’s hand could touch Ji Linyu’s palm, Ji Qingyuan had already pulled her steady.
Ji Linyu lowered his gaze, his eyes fixed on the spot where Ji Qingyuan was holding her arm.
“Be careful,” Ji Qingyuan reminded her.
Once Zhu Xinyue regained her balance, she tried to pull her arm out of Ji Qingyuan’s grasp, but he let go first.
Ji Linyu’s eyes flickered.
Zhu Xinyue cleared her throat and said to Ji Qingyuan, “About the date, I haven’t agreed to it yet.”
Ji Linyu turned his gaze to his brother along with her.
Ji Qingyuan froze. It had never crossed his mind that Zhu Xinyue would refuse him. His heart skipped a beat as he quickly glanced at his brother before looking pleadingly at Zhu Xinyue.
“A-Yue? Aren’t you going to sit at the main table with me?” His tone carried a hint of grievance. Hadn’t they agreed? Why was it different now?
Ji Qingyuan had an exceptionally handsome face.
Even the director had once remarked that no expression could diminish his good looks. Even now, with a pitiful and innocent look, it didn’t come across as if he was scheming.
Zhu Xinyue scratched her cheek, avoiding Ji Qingyuan’s gaze.
“This… isn’t appropriate, is it?”
Ji Qingyuan clenched his fist, sensing something amiss. His heart felt hollow, as if some “unspoken understanding” was quietly shifting.
As perceptive as he was, he knew that taking a step back now would lead to smoother sailing.
He asked again, “Even as a temporary date, it’s not okay?”
He deliberately emphasized the word “temporary.”
Just as Zhu Xinyue was about to speak, Ji Linyu, standing beside her, didn’t want to hear any more.
He placed his hand on the handle of her suitcase, pulling it along for her, and said, “Whatever you have to say, let’s talk about it back at the hotel.”
The night sky in Country Y at four in the morning was exceptionally gloomy.
Ji Qingyuan parted his lips, wanting to say something, but the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He waved at Zhu Xinyue, signaling her to go ahead to the car, while he stayed behind to take the call.
Zhu Xinyue decisively followed Ji Linyu, who was pulling her suitcase.
Walking right beside him might seem a bit too intimate, so she chose to walk alongside her suitcase instead.
The two of them kept a suitcase’s distance between them, their shadows stretching from short to long.
Ji Linyu caught sight of Zhu Xinyue following him out of the corner of his eye and slowed his pace.
“How was your time at the training base?” he initiated the conversation.
Seeing that he didn’t ask about the “female companion” matter, Zhu Xinyue wasn’t sure if she should explain. After all, they weren’t in any kind of relationship, and he had previously made it clear that he had no romantic interest in her. If she brought it up, it might seem like she was overstepping.
“Aside from the meals still being nutrition-focused, everything else was great. It was very fulfilling.”
When she hadn’t seen him, she had so much she wanted to say to him, so many messages she wanted to send, but she felt too shy to be too proactive, thinking she should maintain some restraint. Now that they were face to face, she didn’t know what to say.
Ji Linyu opened the trunk of the car, lifted her suitcase with one hand, and placed it inside.
Watching the smooth muscle lines of his arm, Zhu Xinyue thought of something and said proudly, “My recent martial arts classes have been really effective, I’ve even developed some muscle! When I was sparring with Teacher Liang, he said my action sequences were very fluid and that I could try developing in the direction of an action star. But he also said being an action star is really tough and might not suit me well.”
Ji Linyu rested one hand on the roof of the car, leaving the trunk open as he waited for Ji Qingyuan, who was still on the phone, to bring his own suitcase over.
He turned slightly to speak to Zhu Xinyue: “Teacher Liang?”
“Yeah! Liang Yuyu. Do you know him? He was the male lead in Director Wen’s last film, what was it called again…” Zhu Xinyue tilted her head, as if trying to recall.
Seeing her struggle to remember the film’s name, Ji Linyu smiled and reminded her, “Gazing at the Butterfly. Jin Huan Group invested in that film.”
Zhu Xinyue’s eyes lit up: “Yes, that’s it, Gazing at the Butterfly! Teacher Liang’s acting is amazing. He even taught me lines and performance techniques. He’s such a great senior.”
Ji Linyu's eyelid twitched.
Hmm, so Liang Yuyu was also a "good" senior in her eyes, she really handed out "nice person cards" quite frequently.
Zhu Xinyue still wanted to talk to him, but Ji Linyu lifted his gaze toward Ji Qingyuan, who was still on the phone in the distance, seemingly uninterested in her earlier topics about the training base and Liang Yuyu.
The air suddenly grew quiet.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ji Linyu noticed her lowering her head, lost in thought.
Just moments ago, she had looked so happy to see him, but now she seemed inexplicably downcast, her moods were even harder to predict than the weather.
As Zhu Xinyue was pondering what topic to bring up next, she saw him hand her a chocolate ball.
She followed the chocolate in his palm and looked up, blinking.
"Want some?" Ji Linyu asked.
Zhu Xinyue took the chocolate ball from him, unwrapping it as she asked, "Where did this come from?"
How unfair, he actually carried chocolate balls with him!
How did he know she was hungry?
Ji Linyu paused silently. Before coming to pick them up, he had been catching up with his childhood friend.
His friend had asked whom he was picking up, and Ji Linyu replied, "My brother and...a little friend. His friend picked up a chocolate ball he had bought at the airport that day to cheer up his daughter and tossed one to Ji Linyu, advising him to offer it to the "little friend" whenever she seemed upset, a foolproof method.
"Yeah, a friend gave it to me," Ji Linyu said vaguely.
Zhu Xinyue didn't dare bite into the chocolate, afraid it would melt between her teeth and look unsightly if she spoke with her mouth open, so she held the chocolate ball in her mouth without saying a word.
But this chocolate was just way too sweet! It made her throat ache from the sweetness.
After finally swallowing it, Zhu Xinyue murmured softly, "So sweet. Thank your friend for me."
Ji Linyu glanced at her and silently made a mental note to ask his friend later what brand that box of chocolates was.
Zhu Xinyue looked over at Ji Qingyuan, who was still on the phone under the streetlamp, unsure how long he would take. Feeling tired from standing, she leaned against the car.
"If you're tired, get back in the car and rest for a bit," Ji Linyu guessed she must be sleepy too.
Zhu Xinyue stuffed her hands into her coat pockets, her elbows propped up less than a fist's distance from his body, close enough to touch him easily.
She lowered her gaze to their shadows on the ground; this distance felt just right, not too far, not too close.
"Brother Linyu came to pick us up at 4 a.m. and didn't even complain about being tired. How could I, who slept for hours on the plane, dare say I'm tired?"
Her tone was light and cheerful. Ji Linyu thought to himself, all thanks to that chocolate ball.
Zhu Xinyue watched his profile, shifting her gaze away just as he was about to turn toward her.
Ji Linyu looked at her. The evening breeze gently blew, lifting her long hair, which brushed against the skin of his arm like a feather, there one moment, gone the next, leaving a slight itch. She reached up and tucked the unruly strands behind her ear, revealing her small ear and delicate profile.
Without a trace of makeup, she looked clean and pure, like the moonlight tonight.
Out of the corner of her eye, Zhu Xinyue noticed him looking at her and wondered if he had something to say, so she turned to face him again.
But he was the first to avert his gaze, as if he had nothing more to say to her.
Zhu Xinyue tightened her hand inside her coat pocket, feeling that if she didn’t say certain things, she might not be able to sleep tonight.
"Linyu, you got a haircut?" Zhu Xinyue began tentatively.
Ji Linyu smiled faintly. "Mm."
He seemed to be in a good mood. Zhu Xinyue studied his expression and suddenly didn’t want to ask anymore.
Ji Linyu waited for a moment, but she didn’t continue. Their shadows were cast on the ground by the streetlights, but her shadow no longer turned toward him.
His previously buoyant mood gradually settled back into calm.
"Does it not look good?" he suddenly asked.
Zhu Xinyue’s heart, which had already sunk to the bottom of the sea, bobbed back up at his words, beating powerfully as it rose and fell on the surface, sometimes breaking through to breathe fresh air, sometimes sinking back down, leaving her breathless.
What did that mean? Did he care about her opinion?
"It’s not that it doesn’t look good," Zhu Xinyue glanced at him, her voice gradually softening as if she were muttering under her breath, "...it’s just too good-looking, and it’s kind of annoying."
Was he dressing up for someone he liked? And who was that "someone"? If it wasn’t her, she couldn’t bring herself to feel happy.
At first, Ji Linyu didn’t understand, but as the meaning dawned on him, his throat tightened, and the air around them grew unusually warm.
He touched his earlobe and took a step to the side, leaning against the trunk of the car next to her.
Zhu Xinyue pulled her hand out of her pocket and let them hang at her sides.
Placing them at her sides felt too close to him; crossing her arms seemed like she was pushing him away, so she simply rested her hands casually on her legs.
The evening breeze blew, clouds veiled the moon, and a few stray insects fluttered around under the streetlights. The shadows on the ground seemed to blur.
He had changed his perfume.
Perhaps because her eyesight wasn’t great, Zhu Xinyue was particularly sensitive to scents. She remembered that when they first met, Ji Linyu had carried a faint fragrance of grass and plants. Now, his scent was a rich, oriental woody note, like an ancient, unchanging forest, calming and steady.
It felt like as long as she didn’t confess outright like she had at their first meeting, there was room for everything to work out when she was by his side.
"Earlier, Ji Qingyuan mentioned that thing about the female companion..." Zhu Xinyue brought it up again. "What do you think, Linyu?"
Ji Linyu had intended to say it was their private matter and the decision was hers, but meeting her gaze, he felt there was more to her words.
"What do you expect me to think?"
It wasn’t a retort, but a genuine question.
"If you don’t want me to be his female companion, I won’t agree." She was being sly, playing a little word game.
Zhu Xinyue appeared calm on the surface, but her heart was racing inside. She knew that Ji Qingyuan needed her status at this moment to add icing on the cake for him. As his friend, not to mention a childhood friend, it was only right for her to back him up at a time like this. Besides, it was just as a female companion; it wasn’t like he actually wanted her to be his girlfriend.
As Ji Qingyuan’s older brother, Ji Linyu must have understood this perfectly well.
Over there, Ji Qingyuan finally finished his phone call and walked toward them.
"...Objectively speaking, everyone knows you two are good friends. It’s perfectly reasonable for you to support him and accept his invitation to be his female companion." Ji Linyu had known just how close they were ever since that party at Ji Qingyuan’s place, where others had referred to her as Ji Qingyuan’s childhood sweetheart.
Seeing Ji Linyu stand up to leave, Zhu Xinyue rose as well and tentatively asked, "And subjectively?"
Ji Qingyuan, dragging his suitcase over, waved at the two of them, completely oblivious to the undercurrents between them. He immediately apologized, "Sorry, sorry. Brother Hu just called, there’s a minor issue with the variety show I signed up for, so the schedule might need to be rearranged."
Standing between the two, Ji Qingyuan hoisted his suitcase and stowed it in the trunk. Then, he patted his arm and flexed his bicep at Zhu Xinyue beside the car, saying, "Choose me as your male companion, I’m really strong. In the future, you can handle the shopping, and I’ll carry your bags. When you go out, I’ll carry your backpack. 24/7, at your beck and call! Just think about it, okay?"
Zhu Xinyue couldn’t help but shoot Ji Qingyuan a disdainful look, then brushed past him to catch up with Ji Linyu. She grabbed his arm just as he was about to get into the car.
She asked again, "Subjectively, then?"
Ji Linyu lifted his head and looked over at Ji Qingyuan, who had casually walked to the passenger seat, opened the door, and settled in.
Zhu Xinyue clutched Ji Linyu’s shirt so tightly she was about to wrinkle it, but she still hadn’t heard his answer.
Three strikes and you’re out, if she couldn’t get an answer... then so be it.
Just as she was about to let go, the man’s palm rested on her slightly cool fingers.
The clouds obscuring the moon drifted apart, and pale moonlight fell, illuminating their overlapping hands, the joints of their fingers tinged with a faint peach-blossom pink.
It felt like being touched and kissed by an elusive butterfly, so very light.
She wanted to keep the butterfly, and even her breathing slowed.
His palm closed around hers, gently pulling her hand down.
The light was blocked by the shadow of the neighboring car, and their lowered hands were hidden in the darkness.
Zhu Xinyue tilted her head up slightly, their eyes meeting as she fell into his deep, dark pupils. A faint glimmer shone in his eyes, like a tiny light piercing through a dense fog.
She heard his voice, low, secretive, as if confessing a secret.
"If I said I didn’t want you to, would I still be a good person in your eyes?"