WARNING! Tsundere President

The butler wheezed at the sight. The old mistress had already left the house hurriedly yesterday and now the master decided to move out as well.

Did they have another fight again? He thought. 

They certainly looked displeased. The maid and the butler confirmed the theory when Huo Yunting left with a roaring door slam

Well, Huo Yunting was suffering. It did not mean Lu Zhaoyang was actually enjoying her freedom.

She heaved her briefcase to the door as she reached for the key in her pocket. It was a simple space with one bedroom that faced the south on the apartment’s third floor.

She liked how she could view a huge sycamore tree by the window at the kitchen. Too bad it was not autumn yet or it would feel like a scene from one of those Western poetic romances she watched during her university days. She opened the room to her door wide and started playing beats on her phone as she unzipped her case and got into setting up her room. Dresses to her wardrobe, teddy mug to her desk, a drape at the bathroom and a plushie on her bed. She swept the floor clean and wiped the windows. The landlord was right about the condition of her room—it was cleaner than she imagined.

After a few hours, she finally got most of the things done. Zhaoyang fell onto her little single bed and closed her eyes yawning. The white noises from the heater were fairly calming to her long-fatigued spirit, that even curling right on her own bed felt like heaven. It was till her stomach growled that reminded her that she did not have any food the whole day.

It was 12 a.m. by then.

She thought of calling for delivery but no one would pick up an order at that point of time. She spent the next few minutes searching for restaurants online. But the search engine only returned her a phone number to the local KFC. The new fried chicken sounded not so bad. She was tempted to dial till someone’s voice rang in her head.

“No fried food, no barbecue, no spicy food!” She somehow remembered what Huo Yunting once warned her. It was ridiculous how he still haunted her as she complied to the advice. She put on her fur coat and headed out for “healthier” food nevertheless. The landlord replied her message, informing her that there was this noodle shop that operated on a 24 hour basis.

“Sounds like a plan,” she muttered as she hit the street. She forgot to ask the name of the noodle shop but the landlord said it was the only shop that opened at midnight so she could not miss it. Nonetheless, it took her a walk through four streets, her drumming stomach in hunger till she found it.

“Mushroom chicken soup noodle please.”

“Any side-dishes?”

“No thanks.”

It was a shop surprisingly crowded at this hour of the day. Young men and women, while embracing the cold air of winter, were enjoying every slurp sitting outside. She eventually picked one quiet corner inside the shop after making her order at the counter.

The soup warmed her stomach. It was the typical comfort food she wished for on a winter night. Ironically, she felt it was a better choice than fried chicken.

I’m all by myself now. Got to take care of my own life properly. Alright, plans for tomorrow: shopping for daily necessities at the supermarket. 

But—I wonder how Huo Yunting responded to me running away from the house…Will he be okay? 

She no longer feared the frigidity of the night as she exited the shop and ambled back to her new home. Under the dimly lit street lamps, she remembered those little journeys she had with Chen back when they were in university. They always wandered the street after having meals together.

Good old days —She thought with a smile.

Right, I wonder how’s Chen doing now… 

I never heard anything more from him ever since that final phone call.

The old lady meant it. He did disappear from my life. No news from him at all.

Well, that’s better for him…maybe for the both of us. Chen will slowly forget me and move on with a better woman who would love him more than I do. 

I should do the same too. 

Move on. Forget whatever happened in the past few months. Stay in the city. Be a simple office lady. Take things as a nightmare.

Right, Lu Zhaoyang. You can do that, don’t you?

She cleaned herself and promptly slept on the bed. The pillow felt so soothing to her that she fell asleep quickly. It was the glaring sun that woke her up the next morning. Her mind was blank as she got herself dressed and dove down the stairs. A basic egg and toast with a cup of black coffee for which she ate with soulless eyes. Only by the time she left the store, the beeping at the door woke her up completely. She next headed to the supermarket on the street behind, from which she carried two large bags of groceries.

Her next stop was the florist. A few pots of heathers for her balcony she had in her mind. She walked into IKEA after that for curtains in brilliant beige along with a few paintings on her white wall inside her room.

How satisfying it felt when she managed to turn her apartment anew.

When dusk came she dipped a packet of noodles into boiling water, a simple dish for her night of job-hunting on the computer.

She had prepared her resume as well as a portfolio of her work in the afternoon. On the purplish sofa, her eyes reflected her screen’s blue light as she sent her wishes away to companies.

After a long search on Glassdoor, she fell onto her bed as her eyes were sore. She reached for her phone on the table to call her mother, but her finger froze the moment she unlocked the phone. It was half past 12, “A little too late to talk…” she muttered, putting the phone down. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, realizing that there was actually nobody whom she could talk to.

She sighed.

In the meantime, at one mansion in the city, the master was on his bed spreading his arms across. His eyes were hollow. He sighed looking at the space next to him as empty as his heart.

When…when did I care for her so much?

The devil thought, hammering the bed as he hated how weak he was.