377 Shui's birthday banquet arc (7)
While Xing Bi talked with Liu Hai and Nian, Jian dashed into a corner to quickly ask for help to the only last hope of his life.
The phone rang a few times and when it didn’t answer, Jian’s forehead began to sweat.
Pick up…pick up damn it or I will kill you!
“Bro?”
Jian’s call of mercy got finally picked. “Jin! Jin! My dearest and cutest little brother!”
“…”
“Bye.”
“No! No, no wait! You cannot leave me alone here!” Jian tragically cried. “Only you can help me out now!”
“With what?”
“With my gift! That stupid Grandpa forgot ny gift for Shui back at home and now I have nothing to give her. I will be so screwed. The cake cutting is already done here.”
“Then buy a new gift for her. Bye.”
“No, don’t hang up! Look, I would have bought a new gift for Shui without any issues. But the thing is that Leina and I selected the gift together…” he burst into tears. “Now she is after me to bring the gift, but that stupid old grandpa abandoned it back home! If I tell Leina that I forgot it and there is nothing to give Shui, she will be so pissed off. She will eat me alive. She will kill me. She will break up with me. You know how close she is with Shui. She treats her like her sister!”
Silence.
“So hehe…hehehe…” Jian sheepishly grinned.
“Bye,” Jin ruthlessly dumped him.
“No! Why are you being so mean to me? Please help your elder brother here! It’s the question of my relationship with Leina. Will you please bring the gift here?”
“No.”
“Please!”
“I am chilling at home.”
“So send it out through any driver or butler.”
“I have already retired them to take the evening off. Nobody is here anyway.”
“So you are the only person left!”
“Bye.”
“Jin pleaaaaaase…” he sniffled. “Aren’t you my cute little brother? Please help me out with this just once. I will do anything you want!”
No answer.
“Please, please, please. You will have my gratitude for the rest of my life!”
“I am sick and supposed to be resting.”
His brow twitched with an arrow filled with guilt passing straight through his heart. “Th-th-th-that…Hahaha…Just come to the party and all your sickness will fly away! There is so much good food here!”
“I am not a foodaholic like you and Bro Nian.”
“…”
“Jian! Where is the gift?” Leina’s voice and her clear question cut through the air. “We are getting late.”
Jian saw his future crumbling. “Jiiiiiiinnnnn…”
“Fine!” He gritted his teeth and relented.
“Really!?” Jian beamed.
“But I will only hand over the gift and leave. Don’t force me to stay at the banquet.”
Jian furiously nodded. “Of course! Just give it to me and you can immediately leave. Promise!”
—
“Happy Birthday, Shui!”
Shui smiled and took the gift. “Thank you.”
The guest’s wishes and presents poured to congratulate her. But Shui felt tired by now. The banquet went on full swing and Shui sat by the couch to take some rest.
She didn’t know why but her chest felt uneasy. It was her birthday, and she was supposed to be full of joy but somehow, she couldn’t sink into this feeling of bliss.
On one side, there was Xinyi and Zhiyuan talking to the guests. There was Siying and Nuo who were laughing together as they ate the cake. Her Aunt, Soo Zixi and uncle Soo Yunru, seemed to be having fun too. There were her grandparents, Han Tian and Han Liqin too who danced together.
Then there were Jian and Leina and Nian and Xing Bi who hung around each other. Jinhai and Nana enjoyed the party together. Yating and Chyou seemed to be having a good time together too and then, there was Jun and Ai. Jun was flicking her forehead and apparently, flirting with her.
She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of loneliness set in. Everybody had a special someone to share their smiles and laughter with. But what about her?
Where should she go to feel even a little bit of doting and spoiled? Not the kind that parents showered their child with. Not the kind that siblings and cousins comforted her with. But a partner with whom who would share your life with.
It was her twenty-first birthday and considering that she had just barely crossed her twenties, she had no hurry to find someone to date. Life was just starting for her. She knew that.
Yet the feeling of desolation gripped her heart. She thought back to the days when Jun broke up with her. It was painful and filled with tension, but she also felt a burden lifting off her shoulders.
She felt free.
Shui faintly smiled, recalling the day of Jun announcing his breakup to the family. The day when she had realized for the first time that she was in love with Jin.
She had felt heart race faster like never before. The butterflies tickled her stomach endlessly as she looked at Jin romantically. She never expected it would be instantaneous, but she had a teensy tiny hope that this birthday for her would be very special for her if she would have confessed to him before and if he had accepted it.
Even if not as a boyfriend, she still had hopes that they would grow much closer to each other, maybe more than just childhood friends.
But the dream was crushed tonight. The dream was already crushed the day Jin said how much he hated her the first time.
So much so that he refused to attend the banquet tonight and so much…
That he refrained from even wishing her happy birthday.
Shui trembled as she bit her lip, but she didn’t let her disappointment show.
“Sis Shuiiiii!!”
Her cousin Soo Zhenya, Yijun’s twin sister, hopped over to her side. “Why are you sitting so lonely here? Come on! It’s your birthday. Let’s spice things up!”
Shui quickly smiled. “Spice things up? What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s your banquet and how can there not be any dance?”