Mimi's entire body went stiff. Her eyes widened in disbelief as all of the blood in her body rushed to her cheeks. Her blush even extended down to her neck.
This couldn't be happening...what kind of cliché bullshit was this! Not to mention with this creepy bastard!
Realizing their lips were still connected, Mimi immediately shoved away from Shen Jue, her body stumbling back.
"Careful," Shen Jue reacted quickly and reached out to catch her.
"Don't touch me!" Mimi avoided his hands and allowed her body to fall into the water, her clothes becoming even more soaked.
Due to her fury, her face flushed red and even her violet eyes were lit up with the fire of her rage. Shen Jue blinked his eyes in surprise but reverted to his usual smiles.
"We should get out now. You don't want to catch a cold, do you?" He chuckled.
Once he had finished speaking, Mimi's face froze. She gawked at him.
Was he an idiot? Did he not just realize the two of them kissed?!
The longer she looked at his expression, the more certain she was of his intentions. Either he wanted to act as nothing happened or he didn't think much of it. If he had any deep emotions toward the situation, he didn't plan on openly expressing them.
No matter how she looked like it, Mimi felt she was the one overreacting in this situation.
How else could she react?
Although Mimi teased Emilia from time to time with occasional kisses on the cheek, which, in itself was somewhat intimate, she never took the initiative to kiss directly on the lips.
That meant today...was her first real kiss!
Well, shit.
Mimi suddenly experienced the urge to scrub her lips with the saltwater around her.
"Come on little one, let's go." Shen Jue extended his hand out toward her.
She stared at him silently for a moment. When the man continued to look at her with no change in expression, she finally took his hand and stood up. A gust of wind passed by, the biting cold made her shiver and she couldn't help but close her eyes to avoid the salty winds.
When she opened her eyes, she found they were walking hand in hand. In the end, she said nothing, her expression slightly strange.
The entire time Shen Jue was quiet, even as he grabbed their shoes and walked her back to his car.
During the car ride, all was silent until they arrived in front of her apartment and he said: "Make sure to take a nice warm shower when you get inside. And drink some hot tea."
After that, he shut the car door and drove off. Mimi stood frozen in her spot, dumbfounded.
It wasn't until she felt a chill run down her spine from the cold did she scratch her head and walk inside, her nose sniffling.
...
The next morning.
Tobias sat behind the steering wheel of his car, staring at the big, twelve-story company building. The sun had risen an hour earlier, throwing the streets into complete brightness, and rays of sunlight burned brightly against nearly every window of the building.
It was his company building, yet he felt all the more driven to turn back and work at home.
Unaccountably nervous, he tugged at his tie, feeling as though it were tightening to choke him. A tie. Tobias sighed a little at his behavior.
Ever since that night, things have changed. His feelings, however, have not. Rather, they grew even stronger than before - rawer.
He drew a deep breath and reached for the car door handle.
When he walked into the building he was naturally greeted by bypassing employees. After entering the elevator and exiting to the top floor, Tobias detected the sound of light footsteps walking in his direction.
"Good morning, Mr. Itou." Lina Tong greeted with a pleasant smile.
When the man responded with his usual cold grunt, Lina Tong held back a smile. The man illuminated by the bright building lights was tall and broad-shouldered. He wore a dark hand-tailored suit and a silk tie that had likely cost more than Lina Tong's entire outfit.
He looked tired, she noticed, his shoulders slumping just perceptibly beneath his impeccable suit jacket.
"Have you been well?" She asked casually.
While she intended to start a light conversation, she was surprised to see his expression darkened. Lina Tong noticed Tobias's lips tighten, his eyes cast in a shadowy gaze.
What on earth happened?
"Did something happen? Have you tried talking it out with a friend?" Lina Tong nervously laughed, her eyes looking at him with uncertainty. "I always found it helpful when I vent to my friends."
"I don't have friends," Tobias responded curtly.
Lina Tong: "..." Her back at this point was sweating professedly.
"Then...how about me? Would you mind talking to me about it? While it is my job, I'm a pretty good listener. It's early in the morning, so we still have time to talk a little."
Tobias looked down at the woman silently. Lina Tong quickly noticed his eyes shone with the light of the stars as he fixated on her. He nodded his head.
Gah! He was so cute!
Lina Tong's hand trembled as she resisted the urge to pat the man on the head. Clearing her throat, she gestured for them to sit down somewhere, which Tobias obediently followed behind her.
At the same time not too far away stood two figures.
Jinny looked up from her notebook when Mimi, looking dazed, sipped her soda.
"Mimi, is something wrong?" She tilted her head.
Mimi shook her head, still looking a little dazed. Feeling nervous under the obvious foul mood of the girl, out of the corner of her vision, Jinny noticed two familiar figures.
"Ah! Isn't that Mr. Itou and Ms. Tong? What are they doing so early in the morning together?"
After she finished speaking, Mimi's movements paused and her line of sight followed where Jinny was looking at. The moment her eyes landed on the two figures, her eyes darkened.
Tobias had suddenly smiled at Lina Tong and unexpectedly followed behind her; his eyes seemed lively.
As surprised as Mimi, Jinny's hand covered her gawking mouth.
"Wow, Mr. Itou looked like an obedient puppy just now! I wonder what they were talking about."
Mimi thought with a blank expression of how typical the statement was of Jinny. However, at this moment, she could not smile. She looked in their direction with a silent expression.
She had recognized Lina Tong as the big-busted woman she saw with Tobias that one day as well as the woman at Lee Odo's event. It seemed whenever she saw her, she was with Tobias. From what's she heard, Lina Tong was a member of a company Tobias was collaborating with.
Meanwhile, Jinny, who was fantasizing about her boy-love version of the encounter she just witnessed, she was surprised when she suddenly heard a loud noise. Looking at Mimi, she was stunned.
The soda can in Mimi's hand had been crushed.
With no change in expression, Mimi glanced at the soda can.
"Today's meeting ends early." Mimi passed the can to Jinny, who was absent-minded before walking away.
Jinny held the crushed soda can in her hand and stared in Mimi's direction with wide eyes.
That...was so cool! As expected of her Master Mimi!