[SJFF] Stuck With You - Chapter 21
Title: Stuck With You
Characters: Zhou Mi, Sungmin, OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy
Type: Novel
Summary: What happens when you suddenly get pulled out of a band that you've known for years, just to be placed with a trainee and is expected to help her rise to fame the fast way?
~ * ~
Chapter 21
Sungmin observed the girl seated across him in the restaurant with deep interest, wondering what she was thinking about. Ever since he had picked her up from the apartment next to his, Huiying had been acting rather distracted and uncharacteristically quiet for the entire journey. It was as though her mind was off playing somewhere while she allowed him to drag her empty shell everywhere else.
Deciding that she probably wasn't going to talk at all until he called her back to Earth, Sungmin waved his hand in front of her as he glanced at the clock behind her, wondering how much time he would need before she would her return her focus to reality again. To his surprise, all he needed was thirty seconds.
"I'm sorry, were you saying something to me," she asked with a panicked voice, smiling apologetically at him for acting so distant and not listening to him at all. Probably.
Sungmin's lips automatically assumed a pout at her query, having every intention to play a small practical joke on her. "Yes, I was actually asking you to marry me, but I guess you didn't hear that," he expressed melancholically, trying to keep a straight face as the words left his mouth.
The attempts of preventing himself from laughing out loud became a greater challenge when Huiying's eyes flew wide open at the sound of his words, and she choked on the water that was going down her throat in alarm. "Wh-what? Did- did you just say that y-you're asking me to marry you?" she spluttered, evidently flustered by the turn of events. He couldn't blame her, though, because it had barely been three months since they had started seeing each other after all. Marriage was definitely out of the question at this point of time.
Sungmin finally chortled his heart out at her comments when he couldn't hold it in any longer, to the extent that his eyes were welled with tears as a result of him laughing too hard. "I'm just kidding, Ying! Don't take it too seriously!" he managed between laughs. "I just had to make fun of you after you've ignored me for so long."
"Well, you definitely succeeded in doing that, Ming," she muttered dryly, a hand still clutching her chest in an attempt to slow her heart rate down. "Gosh, please don't use that as a joke next time, or I won't be able to differentiate between a prank and the real thing when you propose to me in the future," she pouted, trying to suppress the smile when she saw how Sungmin's face lighted up at the mention of the topic.
"You'd really agree to marry me if I pop the question?" he asked enthusiastically, a mischievous glint in his eye. And as he had expected, Huiying turned a deep shade of pink at his prompt, immediately pulling her scarf higher to cover her face. Sungmin laughed a little as he took hold of her hand, caressing it gently with his thumb. "So, what do you say about it?" he pressed on, curious to find out whether she would consider it.
He bit back the disappointment when Huiying pulled her hand back and placed it neatly on her own lap beneath the table. "Ming, this is really not a good time to ask me questions like that," she laughed nervously. "I'd like to see our relationship last longer before I even consider things like getting married," Huiying then added, though Sungmin could see that she felt apologetic about it.
"It's alright," he shook his head. "I'm sorry; I probably shouldn't have joked around with things like that. Anyway, that aside, why have you been so distracted today?" Sungmin asked, reaching forward to cup her right cheek, as the left side of her face looked as though it was still swollen. His heart wrenched slightly at the sight of it, still regretting the fact that he couldn't really help her out when Jingxi had slapped her across the cheek.
"Nothing," she insisted. "I'm just slightly miffed that you actually told Zhou Mi about the incident."
A sheepish grin appeared on his face at her statement. He knew what exactly she was referring to. "I was just looking out for you, Ying. You certainly can't expect me to stay quiet when my girlfriend gets treated in such a manner, can you? I still think that Zhou Mi should at least have the knowledge that his girlfriend was going around assaulting people," he shrugged.
Huiying let out another sigh, stirring her juice disinterestedly. "Forget it, Ming. I shouldn't have brought that up. What's done is done," she murmured, before completely changing the subject, putting on a bright smile once again. She was determined not to let whatever that was in her mind disrupt her from her date with Sungmin. It wouldn't be fair for her boyfriend after all if she kept thinking about a different person.
* * * * *
He downed the last bit of coffee in his cup, indicating the end of the time frame that he had allocated for himself to think things through, before taking another look at his wristwatch. Heaving what seemed as though it was the umpteenth sigh that day, he vacated his seat and proceeded to pay at the cashier.
Zhou Mi was currently at one of the busiest hotels around in Seoul, the very same one where his girlfriend would habitually stay at whenever she was in Korea for business-related meetings. Considering the fact that he and Jingxi were supposed to be cooling their heads off after their previous argument that stemmed from him asking her not to bother Huiying anymore, Zhou Mi didn't even know that Jingxi was in Korea. That was until Sungmin told him about the incident on the previous day.
Although as a good boyfriend, Zhou Mi knew that he was supposed to be standing on his girlfriend's side, but he couldn't fathom the reason behind the extreme anger which had bubbled up within him when he found out that Jingxi had actually slapped Huiying. That particular feeling of lividness was directed at none other than his girlfriend of nine years, and it was the first time he felt this way.
While he tolerated Jingxi's past actions of confronting his other friends of the opposite gender, he definitely couldn't stomach her ruthlessness in making sure that no other female species would get close to him. He didn't even get in her way when she hung out with other guys throughout their relationship - that was how much he trusted in her.
Hence why he decided to talk things out with Jingxi - face to face - once and for all. It was high time that they had set some new ground rules in their long-running relationship; the older ones were obviously obsolete. Zhou Mi was thankful that the receptionist at the front desk had kindly informed him about Jingxi's room number, though he suspected that she was secretly fawning over him. Not that he wasn't used to having girls squealing all over him, really.
After he was done paying for his drink, he strolled towards the lifts and headed to the floor which his girlfriend was staying at, hoping that she was indeed in her room - otherwise his trip to the hotel would have gone to waste. He didn't know why, but his heart had been feeling relatively uneasy ever since he had decided to pay a visit to Jingxi's room. Something was telling him that he might regret it if he went to the hotel, but Zhou Mi finally waved it off as him being overly paranoid.
The moment he came to a stop in front of Jingxi's room, Zhou Mi took in a deep breath, and was completely poised to ring the bell, when some noises that reached his ears made him frown in response. He shook his head and dismissed them, thinking that it was probably coming from the room behind him. He mentally chastised himself for being suspicious of almost everything, and made up his mind to go ahead with what he was here for. He snapped his eyes shut as his finger applied some pressure on the doorbell.
"Mi? What are you doing here? You should've called me beforehand!" Jingxi exclaimed when she had finally answered the door after what seemed like hours. She sounded genuinely surprised at his appearance, but her voice also revealed that she was slightly thrown off balance by his mere presence.
"We need to talk. Do you have a minute?" he stated simply, before leaning slightly to the side so that he could look within the room. She didn't seem to be alone, because there was a slight ruffling of bed sheets behind her. However, before he could catch a good glimpse of the condition inside the room, Jingxi had managed to slip out of it and closed the door behind her.
"Sure, Mi. What do you want to talk about?" she asked gently, which surprised Zhou Mi even more. Normally, if they were in a cold war that was initiated by her who refused to admit that she was in the wrong, she would never employ such a docile intonation. Those would be the times where his patience would be tested to its limits, because she would act as haughtily as she could.
"You're not going to invite me in?" he raised an eyebrow at her. The hallways were one of the places that he would've liked to avoid having conversations with his girlfriend - mainly because he was afraid that their discussion would escalate into a full-blown argument if either of them lost their temper. Him being a celebrity definitely wasn't a good thing either, lest someone managed to recognise him and exposed the fact that he has a girlfriend. The fans would probably be in an uproar because of that.
"I… uh…" she hesitated, throwing a glance at the already-closed door before turning back to him, evidently fretting over whatever or whoever was inside the room. "My room isn't exactly suitable to be seen right now; I just had a meeting in there yesterday night with my team, and things are still strewn all over the place. Sorry," Jingxi explained, though Zhou Mi couldn't find himself buying her explanation.
However, he felt that other things took precedence over arguing about the place for them to chat. He also decided to ignore the fact that she was only clad in a bath robe. That was when her voice disrupted his thoughts again. "So what did you want to talk about again?"
"Jingxi, seriously, when will you start listening to me and pay heed to my requests?" he began, but immediately continued with his words because he knew that she would feign innocence. Nine years with her made him crystal clear about her actions and behaviours. "I told you that I have nothing going on with Huiying, and asked you not to bother her any further, yet you went up to her and slapped her across the cheek? When will you stop all this nonsense, Jingxi?"
"How did you find out about that?" Jingxi asked, surprisingly not denying the fact that she did it. "The girl ratted me out just like before, didn't she?" she laughed mirthlessly, eyes narrowed into slits at the thought of it. Zhou Mi's jaw went agape at the amount of remorse she had for her actions - or rather, the lack of it.
"No, she did not tell me anything about it; someone else informed me about the matter," he stated bluntly. "That still doesn't give you the right to do such things to her, Jingxi."
"Why are you siding her now? Do you even remember who your actual girlfriend is, Mi? Or are your allegations that you have nothing going on with her a complete lie as well?" she pressed forward, still refusing to accept that she was at fault for whatever that had happened a day ago.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jingxi. You're making it dead obvious that you have never trusted me from the beginning. It has been almost ten years, Jingxi - ten years. I have never cheated on you even once during that period of time; what makes you think that I'd start n-" Zhou Mi lambasted her while trying to keep his volume as low as possible, but before he could finish what he intended to say, the door to her room suddenly opened up, causing both Zhou Mi and Jingxi's eyes to widen in horror.
"When will you come back into bed with me, Jingxi? The bed's getting c- Oh. I'm sorry, am I interrupting something here?" the man, who was clad only in a towel around his waist area, had cuddled up to Jingxi and rambled on, only to hold his tongue when he finally noticed Zhou Mi's presence.
Zhou Mi narrowed his eyes as he watched how his girlfriend frantically tugged at the man's arm, whispering something in an angry manner to him before turning back to face her boyfriend. He realised that the man was none other than Zhiming, who was also his duet partner's ex-boyfriend.
"Mi, I can explain-" she reached for his hand, only to be brushed off in an unkind manner by him. Jingxi flinched when he shot a betrayed and livid glare at her.
"So that's why you refused to let me enter your room? So that I won't stumble upon your newest fling? I should've known," he snapped, breathing rapidly in a failing attempt to keep his anger in check. It was difficult to remain calm when he had literally walked in upon his girlfriend screwing another man behind his back.
"It's not what you think it is, Mi. Please, listen to me!" Jingxi pleaded, attempting to hold on to his arm again. However, before she could even grab hold of him, he fluidly moved away from her grasp.
"Not what I think it is? Do you think I'm blind or something? Aren't you sick of finding excuses for every single thing that you do?" he asked scathingly. "I should have listened to the rest of my friends whenever they tell me that you're cheating on me. It's over, Jingxi," Zhou Mi announced, then quickly took his leave from the hallway without sparing another look for her. She could only call after him helplessly, not knowing what else she was able to do to make him stay.
He obviously didn't want to be around her any longer.
* * * * *
She had a small smile on her face as she bade a final good night to Sungmin, something that they had been doing for the past ten minutes. She was feeling rather light-headed from the feathery kisses they had exchanged just moments ago; it was very common for her ever since they had started dating. He had a way to sweep her off her feet at any given moment.
"Ming, seriously, go back inside. It's late," she giggled when she caught sight of him still staring at her. The man nodded obediently and disappeared through the gates almost immediately, but not after giving her another flying kiss and waved his phone in the air, indicating that he would like to continue with their conversation inside the house. That made Huiying laugh again.
However, the moment she had entered her dorms, the smile on her face fell, and she froze in her steps when she was met with a completely pitch-black house. Normally, she wouldn't feel as alarmed by the situation, but on that particular night, there was a strong smell of alcohol wafting in from the direction of the living room. She knew that her manager wasn't around because they no longer had schedules to attend to, so that left her with only one possible explanation - Zhou Mi.
As she had expected, a pained groaned erupted from the direction of the sofa when she flicked on the lights. Whoever it was in the house was definitely irritated by the sudden increase in light intensity. Huiying gasped when she found the living room floor covered with beer bottles strewn everywhere, and amidst the mess, Zhou Mi was lying on the floor next to the sofa, barely conscious from the intoxication.
"Mi, what the hell are you doing?" she hissed after abandoning her house keys on the dining table, rushing forward to help her duet partner onto the sofa. Huiying grimaced at the strong smell of alcohol coming from him, though she tried her best to ignore it.
When Zhou Mi merely responded with more incoherent mumblings, Huiying shook her head in dismay and went to fetch a wet towel so that she could help him sober up a little. "Seriously, why did you get yourself so drunk?" she berated him half-heartedly, knowing that he probably couldn't really understand her at that particular moment. To say that she wasn't remotely worried about him was a lie; she probably worried about him a little too excessively for her own liking.
Nonetheless, much to her surprise, Zhou Mi suddenly pulled her down onto the sofa with him while she was still wiping his face down, effectively pinning her closely against his chest. She was definitely taken aback by the amount of strength left in him after all that liquor, because she couldn't even budge from her position.
"Mi, do you think you can let go of me?" Huiying asked. Even though she felt slightly awkward with their current position, she couldn't deny that she kind of enjoyed being in his embrace. It strangely gave her a strong sense of security. However, when she remembered about what Sungmin might feel about his girlfriend being in such a close proximity with his good friend, Huiying started to struggle against Zhou Mi's hold again. The guilt was beginning to eat her up from within.
She was momentarily distracted from her attempts when the first few coherent words left his lips. "It's over…" he mumbled, voice on the verge of breaking, even through his drunken state. "She was cheating on me…" he continued, and she suddenly felt the hold around her loosening up as he proceeded to cover his face with his arms.
Huiying wasted no time in straightening herself on the sofa, though her expressions were replaced with that of melancholy. Although Zhou Mi had uttered no more than two simple sentences, she found herself understanding the entire situation without any further explanations. Her duet partner must have found out that his girlfriend was flirting with someone else - Zhiming, most probably - with his own eyes, leading to him drowning himself with beer after beer. He wasn't someone who would get drunk that easily, so he must have drank quite a substantial amount of liquor to have ended up in such a state.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Mi. I really am…" she whispered back, brushing his damp hair out of his face so that she could take a closer look at him. "If only there's something I could do, I would…" Huiying said again, smiling sadly at her duet partner's condition.
"Just stay like this with me for tonight," came the surprising reply, as Zhou Mi changed his position again. This time, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his head on her thigh. She could only concede to his words without even having the opportunity to protest, because he fell sound asleep in the next moment.
Yet another forlorn sigh escaped her lips. Only for tonight.
Characters: Zhou Mi, Sungmin, OC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy
Type: Novel
Summary: What happens when you suddenly get pulled out of a band that you've known for years, just to be placed with a trainee and is expected to help her rise to fame the fast way?
~ * ~
Chapter 21
Sungmin observed the girl seated across him in the restaurant with deep interest, wondering what she was thinking about. Ever since he had picked her up from the apartment next to his, Huiying had been acting rather distracted and uncharacteristically quiet for the entire journey. It was as though her mind was off playing somewhere while she allowed him to drag her empty shell everywhere else.
Deciding that she probably wasn't going to talk at all until he called her back to Earth, Sungmin waved his hand in front of her as he glanced at the clock behind her, wondering how much time he would need before she would her return her focus to reality again. To his surprise, all he needed was thirty seconds.
"I'm sorry, were you saying something to me," she asked with a panicked voice, smiling apologetically at him for acting so distant and not listening to him at all. Probably.
Sungmin's lips automatically assumed a pout at her query, having every intention to play a small practical joke on her. "Yes, I was actually asking you to marry me, but I guess you didn't hear that," he expressed melancholically, trying to keep a straight face as the words left his mouth.
The attempts of preventing himself from laughing out loud became a greater challenge when Huiying's eyes flew wide open at the sound of his words, and she choked on the water that was going down her throat in alarm. "Wh-what? Did- did you just say that y-you're asking me to marry you?" she spluttered, evidently flustered by the turn of events. He couldn't blame her, though, because it had barely been three months since they had started seeing each other after all. Marriage was definitely out of the question at this point of time.
Sungmin finally chortled his heart out at her comments when he couldn't hold it in any longer, to the extent that his eyes were welled with tears as a result of him laughing too hard. "I'm just kidding, Ying! Don't take it too seriously!" he managed between laughs. "I just had to make fun of you after you've ignored me for so long."
"Well, you definitely succeeded in doing that, Ming," she muttered dryly, a hand still clutching her chest in an attempt to slow her heart rate down. "Gosh, please don't use that as a joke next time, or I won't be able to differentiate between a prank and the real thing when you propose to me in the future," she pouted, trying to suppress the smile when she saw how Sungmin's face lighted up at the mention of the topic.
"You'd really agree to marry me if I pop the question?" he asked enthusiastically, a mischievous glint in his eye. And as he had expected, Huiying turned a deep shade of pink at his prompt, immediately pulling her scarf higher to cover her face. Sungmin laughed a little as he took hold of her hand, caressing it gently with his thumb. "So, what do you say about it?" he pressed on, curious to find out whether she would consider it.
He bit back the disappointment when Huiying pulled her hand back and placed it neatly on her own lap beneath the table. "Ming, this is really not a good time to ask me questions like that," she laughed nervously. "I'd like to see our relationship last longer before I even consider things like getting married," Huiying then added, though Sungmin could see that she felt apologetic about it.
"It's alright," he shook his head. "I'm sorry; I probably shouldn't have joked around with things like that. Anyway, that aside, why have you been so distracted today?" Sungmin asked, reaching forward to cup her right cheek, as the left side of her face looked as though it was still swollen. His heart wrenched slightly at the sight of it, still regretting the fact that he couldn't really help her out when Jingxi had slapped her across the cheek.
"Nothing," she insisted. "I'm just slightly miffed that you actually told Zhou Mi about the incident."
A sheepish grin appeared on his face at her statement. He knew what exactly she was referring to. "I was just looking out for you, Ying. You certainly can't expect me to stay quiet when my girlfriend gets treated in such a manner, can you? I still think that Zhou Mi should at least have the knowledge that his girlfriend was going around assaulting people," he shrugged.
Huiying let out another sigh, stirring her juice disinterestedly. "Forget it, Ming. I shouldn't have brought that up. What's done is done," she murmured, before completely changing the subject, putting on a bright smile once again. She was determined not to let whatever that was in her mind disrupt her from her date with Sungmin. It wouldn't be fair for her boyfriend after all if she kept thinking about a different person.
* * * * *
He downed the last bit of coffee in his cup, indicating the end of the time frame that he had allocated for himself to think things through, before taking another look at his wristwatch. Heaving what seemed as though it was the umpteenth sigh that day, he vacated his seat and proceeded to pay at the cashier.
Zhou Mi was currently at one of the busiest hotels around in Seoul, the very same one where his girlfriend would habitually stay at whenever she was in Korea for business-related meetings. Considering the fact that he and Jingxi were supposed to be cooling their heads off after their previous argument that stemmed from him asking her not to bother Huiying anymore, Zhou Mi didn't even know that Jingxi was in Korea. That was until Sungmin told him about the incident on the previous day.
Although as a good boyfriend, Zhou Mi knew that he was supposed to be standing on his girlfriend's side, but he couldn't fathom the reason behind the extreme anger which had bubbled up within him when he found out that Jingxi had actually slapped Huiying. That particular feeling of lividness was directed at none other than his girlfriend of nine years, and it was the first time he felt this way.
While he tolerated Jingxi's past actions of confronting his other friends of the opposite gender, he definitely couldn't stomach her ruthlessness in making sure that no other female species would get close to him. He didn't even get in her way when she hung out with other guys throughout their relationship - that was how much he trusted in her.
Hence why he decided to talk things out with Jingxi - face to face - once and for all. It was high time that they had set some new ground rules in their long-running relationship; the older ones were obviously obsolete. Zhou Mi was thankful that the receptionist at the front desk had kindly informed him about Jingxi's room number, though he suspected that she was secretly fawning over him. Not that he wasn't used to having girls squealing all over him, really.
After he was done paying for his drink, he strolled towards the lifts and headed to the floor which his girlfriend was staying at, hoping that she was indeed in her room - otherwise his trip to the hotel would have gone to waste. He didn't know why, but his heart had been feeling relatively uneasy ever since he had decided to pay a visit to Jingxi's room. Something was telling him that he might regret it if he went to the hotel, but Zhou Mi finally waved it off as him being overly paranoid.
The moment he came to a stop in front of Jingxi's room, Zhou Mi took in a deep breath, and was completely poised to ring the bell, when some noises that reached his ears made him frown in response. He shook his head and dismissed them, thinking that it was probably coming from the room behind him. He mentally chastised himself for being suspicious of almost everything, and made up his mind to go ahead with what he was here for. He snapped his eyes shut as his finger applied some pressure on the doorbell.
"Mi? What are you doing here? You should've called me beforehand!" Jingxi exclaimed when she had finally answered the door after what seemed like hours. She sounded genuinely surprised at his appearance, but her voice also revealed that she was slightly thrown off balance by his mere presence.
"We need to talk. Do you have a minute?" he stated simply, before leaning slightly to the side so that he could look within the room. She didn't seem to be alone, because there was a slight ruffling of bed sheets behind her. However, before he could catch a good glimpse of the condition inside the room, Jingxi had managed to slip out of it and closed the door behind her.
"Sure, Mi. What do you want to talk about?" she asked gently, which surprised Zhou Mi even more. Normally, if they were in a cold war that was initiated by her who refused to admit that she was in the wrong, she would never employ such a docile intonation. Those would be the times where his patience would be tested to its limits, because she would act as haughtily as she could.
"You're not going to invite me in?" he raised an eyebrow at her. The hallways were one of the places that he would've liked to avoid having conversations with his girlfriend - mainly because he was afraid that their discussion would escalate into a full-blown argument if either of them lost their temper. Him being a celebrity definitely wasn't a good thing either, lest someone managed to recognise him and exposed the fact that he has a girlfriend. The fans would probably be in an uproar because of that.
"I… uh…" she hesitated, throwing a glance at the already-closed door before turning back to him, evidently fretting over whatever or whoever was inside the room. "My room isn't exactly suitable to be seen right now; I just had a meeting in there yesterday night with my team, and things are still strewn all over the place. Sorry," Jingxi explained, though Zhou Mi couldn't find himself buying her explanation.
However, he felt that other things took precedence over arguing about the place for them to chat. He also decided to ignore the fact that she was only clad in a bath robe. That was when her voice disrupted his thoughts again. "So what did you want to talk about again?"
"Jingxi, seriously, when will you start listening to me and pay heed to my requests?" he began, but immediately continued with his words because he knew that she would feign innocence. Nine years with her made him crystal clear about her actions and behaviours. "I told you that I have nothing going on with Huiying, and asked you not to bother her any further, yet you went up to her and slapped her across the cheek? When will you stop all this nonsense, Jingxi?"
"How did you find out about that?" Jingxi asked, surprisingly not denying the fact that she did it. "The girl ratted me out just like before, didn't she?" she laughed mirthlessly, eyes narrowed into slits at the thought of it. Zhou Mi's jaw went agape at the amount of remorse she had for her actions - or rather, the lack of it.
"No, she did not tell me anything about it; someone else informed me about the matter," he stated bluntly. "That still doesn't give you the right to do such things to her, Jingxi."
"Why are you siding her now? Do you even remember who your actual girlfriend is, Mi? Or are your allegations that you have nothing going on with her a complete lie as well?" she pressed forward, still refusing to accept that she was at fault for whatever that had happened a day ago.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jingxi. You're making it dead obvious that you have never trusted me from the beginning. It has been almost ten years, Jingxi - ten years. I have never cheated on you even once during that period of time; what makes you think that I'd start n-" Zhou Mi lambasted her while trying to keep his volume as low as possible, but before he could finish what he intended to say, the door to her room suddenly opened up, causing both Zhou Mi and Jingxi's eyes to widen in horror.
"When will you come back into bed with me, Jingxi? The bed's getting c- Oh. I'm sorry, am I interrupting something here?" the man, who was clad only in a towel around his waist area, had cuddled up to Jingxi and rambled on, only to hold his tongue when he finally noticed Zhou Mi's presence.
Zhou Mi narrowed his eyes as he watched how his girlfriend frantically tugged at the man's arm, whispering something in an angry manner to him before turning back to face her boyfriend. He realised that the man was none other than Zhiming, who was also his duet partner's ex-boyfriend.
"Mi, I can explain-" she reached for his hand, only to be brushed off in an unkind manner by him. Jingxi flinched when he shot a betrayed and livid glare at her.
"So that's why you refused to let me enter your room? So that I won't stumble upon your newest fling? I should've known," he snapped, breathing rapidly in a failing attempt to keep his anger in check. It was difficult to remain calm when he had literally walked in upon his girlfriend screwing another man behind his back.
"It's not what you think it is, Mi. Please, listen to me!" Jingxi pleaded, attempting to hold on to his arm again. However, before she could even grab hold of him, he fluidly moved away from her grasp.
"Not what I think it is? Do you think I'm blind or something? Aren't you sick of finding excuses for every single thing that you do?" he asked scathingly. "I should have listened to the rest of my friends whenever they tell me that you're cheating on me. It's over, Jingxi," Zhou Mi announced, then quickly took his leave from the hallway without sparing another look for her. She could only call after him helplessly, not knowing what else she was able to do to make him stay.
He obviously didn't want to be around her any longer.
* * * * *
She had a small smile on her face as she bade a final good night to Sungmin, something that they had been doing for the past ten minutes. She was feeling rather light-headed from the feathery kisses they had exchanged just moments ago; it was very common for her ever since they had started dating. He had a way to sweep her off her feet at any given moment.
"Ming, seriously, go back inside. It's late," she giggled when she caught sight of him still staring at her. The man nodded obediently and disappeared through the gates almost immediately, but not after giving her another flying kiss and waved his phone in the air, indicating that he would like to continue with their conversation inside the house. That made Huiying laugh again.
However, the moment she had entered her dorms, the smile on her face fell, and she froze in her steps when she was met with a completely pitch-black house. Normally, she wouldn't feel as alarmed by the situation, but on that particular night, there was a strong smell of alcohol wafting in from the direction of the living room. She knew that her manager wasn't around because they no longer had schedules to attend to, so that left her with only one possible explanation - Zhou Mi.
As she had expected, a pained groaned erupted from the direction of the sofa when she flicked on the lights. Whoever it was in the house was definitely irritated by the sudden increase in light intensity. Huiying gasped when she found the living room floor covered with beer bottles strewn everywhere, and amidst the mess, Zhou Mi was lying on the floor next to the sofa, barely conscious from the intoxication.
"Mi, what the hell are you doing?" she hissed after abandoning her house keys on the dining table, rushing forward to help her duet partner onto the sofa. Huiying grimaced at the strong smell of alcohol coming from him, though she tried her best to ignore it.
When Zhou Mi merely responded with more incoherent mumblings, Huiying shook her head in dismay and went to fetch a wet towel so that she could help him sober up a little. "Seriously, why did you get yourself so drunk?" she berated him half-heartedly, knowing that he probably couldn't really understand her at that particular moment. To say that she wasn't remotely worried about him was a lie; she probably worried about him a little too excessively for her own liking.
Nonetheless, much to her surprise, Zhou Mi suddenly pulled her down onto the sofa with him while she was still wiping his face down, effectively pinning her closely against his chest. She was definitely taken aback by the amount of strength left in him after all that liquor, because she couldn't even budge from her position.
"Mi, do you think you can let go of me?" Huiying asked. Even though she felt slightly awkward with their current position, she couldn't deny that she kind of enjoyed being in his embrace. It strangely gave her a strong sense of security. However, when she remembered about what Sungmin might feel about his girlfriend being in such a close proximity with his good friend, Huiying started to struggle against Zhou Mi's hold again. The guilt was beginning to eat her up from within.
She was momentarily distracted from her attempts when the first few coherent words left his lips. "It's over…" he mumbled, voice on the verge of breaking, even through his drunken state. "She was cheating on me…" he continued, and she suddenly felt the hold around her loosening up as he proceeded to cover his face with his arms.
Huiying wasted no time in straightening herself on the sofa, though her expressions were replaced with that of melancholy. Although Zhou Mi had uttered no more than two simple sentences, she found herself understanding the entire situation without any further explanations. Her duet partner must have found out that his girlfriend was flirting with someone else - Zhiming, most probably - with his own eyes, leading to him drowning himself with beer after beer. He wasn't someone who would get drunk that easily, so he must have drank quite a substantial amount of liquor to have ended up in such a state.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Mi. I really am…" she whispered back, brushing his damp hair out of his face so that she could take a closer look at him. "If only there's something I could do, I would…" Huiying said again, smiling sadly at her duet partner's condition.
"Just stay like this with me for tonight," came the surprising reply, as Zhou Mi changed his position again. This time, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his head on her thigh. She could only concede to his words without even having the opportunity to protest, because he fell sound asleep in the next moment.
Yet another forlorn sigh escaped her lips. Only for tonight.