" I'm sorry you could only drink that for now. I just came back and still don't get a chance to restock anything in my kitchen."
With her head down, Ai Lin sat at the end of the couch which Lu Qi Feng sat at the other end. She kept her mouth shut because she had no idea how to start a conversation with him. She knew he had many questions to ask her so she just waited.
Lu Qi Feng looked at the space between him and Ai Lin and immediately his eyes turned dim. They had never been like this before and with her sitting far away from him made him felt like he was a stranger to her. Obviously, he hated that feeling.
He realized Ai Lin had changed her attitude towards him a few months ago when he informed her about her girlfriend which now already became his fiancée. But it was not that obvious. However when he told her the news about his engagement, Ai Lin started to avoid him like he was an infectious disease. He didn't know why she was behaving like that and he didn't like it.
" You don't have anything to say to me?"
" Haa..? N..Nothing." Ai Lin was perplexed by Lu Qi Feng's sudden question and let out an awkward laugh.
" Are you sure?"
" Ennn. Feng ge, why do you come here? Is there anything that matter?"
Looking at Ai Lin who was smiling at him and hearing the answer given to him, Lu Qi Feng felt like losing something important in his life. There's subtle pain in his chest like someone digging his chest and created a big hole on it. Ai Lin never kept any secret from him and he always be the first one to know everything about her. On top of that, Ai Lin never questioned him every time he came to her house. Instead she would welcome him and kept clinging on him. But now…?
Lu Qi Feng let out a bitter smile and answered truthfully. " I'm worried about you. This last few weeks why I couldn't reach you? Where did you go?"
" I'm sorry for making you worried. I went to City T for some job and I lost my phone there." Ai Lin answered half-truth and half lied. She bowed her head down to hide her guilt.
" What job? I thought your last job was nearby and you even promised to attend my engagement party that day. Why I didn't know anything about it?" Although he knew she was lying and greatly disappointed, he kept bombarding her with questions. He would like to know till when would she lie to him.
" That.. It was a last minute job and an important one so.."
Without waiting for her to finish, he cut her words impatiently. " More important than me?"
" That's not what I mean, Feng ge. Please don't misunderstand."
Ai Lin wanted to explain but she didn't know what she should explain since it's a lie. But looking at the fuming Lu Qi Feng her guilty conscience was increasing rapidly. Yes, she wanted to avoid him but it didn't mean she wanted him to hate her. She loved their 10 years friendship.
" Then why didn't you come to my engagement party? You obviously had finished your last job before the party started. Yet, why did you received other job at the last minute?"
" That…"
" Why? You can't answer?"
"…"
Lu Qi Feng exhaled his heavy breath roughly. He was really mad right now. She rarely made him angry but once she did it, it really drove him nuts.
" Why are you not saying anything? Can't find other reason to lie to me anymore?"
Ai Lin shuddered at his sudden roaring. She bit her lower lip but she kept her mouth shut. She really had nothing to refute.
Lu Qi Feng rubbed his face with his large hands. He knew he had gone overboard by shouting at her and he regretted it. Looking at pitiful expression of the woman next to him, he also started to feel guilty towards her.
" Ai Lin…" Lu Qi Feng shifted a bit to narrow down the space between him and Ai Lin. He reached out his hands and wrapped her in his warm embrace.
With a remorseful voice, he apologized. " I'm sorry for shouting at you. I didn't mean it. I was just so mad when you kept lying to me. I'm sorry."
Ai Lin turned stiff in his embrace. She forcefully held back the tears in her eyes. Although this was not the first time they were hugging, but it felt so different this time. Maybe because they hadn't met for a long time, or maybe because she already determined to not love him again, or maybe because he already became someone else's. She didn't know. It felt like she was reuniting with her first love again after being separated for a long time, yet she still had that feeling towards him.