80 Isn't the solution simple?
This particular morning at Jun’s condo was unlike all the pleasant mornings Ai had before. Her public image as MissImperfectlyFine was deteriorating rapidly as she read the comments slashing her left and right. Not only her, but Dream High was also implicated.
I cannot let this go on…
MrPerfect vowed to teach her a lesson and if he didn’t stop, things could take a turn from bad to worse.
She saw multiple missed calls from Yating, but she didn’t answer any of them. When her phone flashed with Xing Bi’s number, she immediately picked it.
“Ai! Don’t get stressed because of this nonsense on social media at all. Yating is taking care of it. I cannot believe Sky would do this!”
Ai pursed her lips. “It’s a big misunderstanding, Xing Bi.”
“I know. I trust you. Ugh! I feel like cursing Sky so much!”
“No. I mean. It’s because of me.”
“What? I will smack you if you say you really plagiarized!”
She quickly replied. “No, no. I didn’t plagiarize. But I did something stupid that caused this whole mess.”
Xing Bi sounded confused. “Tell me clearly, Ai.”
Ai sighed. “I am sorry, Xing Bi. I have been hiding something from you for many days now.”
Her voice got sharper. “Out with it, Ai.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear, slightly flustered. “You won’t be mad at me, right?”
“That depends on the seriousness of what you have been hiding, young lady,” she alarmingly retorted.
Ai could imagine herself guiltily kneeling in front of Xing Bi while she held a big wooden scale in her hand, waiting to strike her. She gulped. “Well…”
Ai confessed everything from the beginning. Xing Bi listened to it patiently in the beginning but the more Ai went on, the more her jaw dropped.
“What!? I don’t know where to begin scolding you, Zhou Ai!”
“I am sorry,” she lowered her head.
“You-you…so you lied to me for not moving in with me!” She expressed, aggrieved. “No, wait. Before that. The hell you have been living with a man all this time! Unmarried yourself and living under the same roof with another unmarried man! What if he is a pervert?”
Ai clarified. “Jun is not a pervert. He is a nice, respectful man.”
“Is he violent?”
“I said he is a respectful man. I wouldn’t have agreed if he was violent.”
“Is he handsome?”
“…”
“What does it matter?”
“I mean it would be a cherry on the cake if he is a treat to the eyes,” she shrugged.
Ai tilted her head, thinking of his sharp and well-defined features. “Well, he is very good-looking indeed.”
Xing Bi smelled something fishy. “So, have things progressed…?”
She furrowed her brows. “Progressed?”
“Ugh! You are a romance writer. How can you be so naive about love? Things progressed between you two as in looooove.”
Ai coughed hard, and she almost stumbled. “O-of course not. It’s not like that. I am living here only temporarily, and he is just helping me out.”
“Yet you refused to come to my house when I offered you. What should I make of this? My inner romantic senses are tingling. You two are not just friends.”
She opened her mouth but failed to give a comeback. “H-He is…not my type.”
Xing Bi grimaced. “Ai, do you even have any type? For all I know, you were always buried in books. Did you ever have the time to wonder what type of man you prefer?”
Her brow twitched because it was right on the mark.
“Shit, you diverted me off topic! We have such a serious problem going on. I will have a detailed conversation with you about this later, Zhou Ai,” Xing Bi narrowed her eyes.
“Yes, Mam.”
“But for now, isn’t the solution so simple? It all happened because Jun turned out to be helping Sky which you didn’t know before. Fine. But now, you just have to clarify that you are not Butterfly but MissImperfectlyFine. You and her are the same person, so there is no scope of plagiarizing.”
Ai’s gaze dimmed. “…I know.”
Xing Bi sensed her pause. “Ai, why did you even lie to him in the first place? You were always so straightforward. You even hid things from me now.”
Ai didn’t have an answer to that. She was confused herself. Why was she so affected by all this? Why did it matter to her if Jun hated her about the fact she lied?
Xing Bi, on the other side, was perceptive and caught on to her silence.
I was right. There is something going on between them. Otherwise, Ai wouldn’t change like this.
“Ai, whatever your reasons are, you cannot compromise the trust you have built as a writer. Your career is at stake here. Plagiarism is a serious accusation. You have to stop this before Sky or the community fan more flames on this matter. If he is a really nice and respectable man as you have claimed, then he won’t be disappointed in you. He might get angry at you for lying to him for sometime, but then I am sure he will understand.”
Ai’s crestfallen face glowed. “Really?”
“Yes. Tell Jun everything, and he would clarify it to Sky in turn. The problem will get solved, and Sky will retract its statement.”
She nodded in determination. “I will. Thank you, Xing Bi.”
—
Ai took a deep breath and exhaled. She stood in front of Jun’s bedroom door and knocked twice.
Jun didn’t respond. She heard some whispers coming from inside. She knocked again, and the door moved. It was ajar.
Ai paused and slightly widened the gap to check. “Jun?”
She peeked inside and saw Jun’s tall figure standing near the large windows as he talked to someone on the phone. His right profile faced her. He held a gift box in his left hand. She watched his eyes grow dimmer and somber as he silently heard the other person speak.
A minute later, Jun answered with a weak smile, “Yes Dad, I know. I won’t show my face at Mom and your wedding anniversary celebration. Rest assured. I won’t be there.”