For a while, Li Minghao remained in silence as he settled down into the room. He began to prepare tea, put the kettle on, and waited in a leisurely manner. He unbuttoned a few buttons of his collar and sleeves and rolled them up.
Although Chen Jingyun knew he was not a very talkative person, she found his silence to be a little too weird.
It was not good.
Chen Jingyun wasn't the type to escape confrontations. She might run a few circles, but soon she would be back to rip the bandaid in one go. She liked to dive in, right into the heart of the situation, and figure out what happened.
She thought the same about Li Minghao.
Clearing her throat, Chen Jingyun rose from her bed and walked closer to him.
"About last night..."
For a second, Li Minghao paused, but soon he continued to roll his sleeves. There was no change in his expression. It was as if he was unfazed about yesterday's events.
It made Chen Jingyun feel a little bit better.
'So it wasn't that bad...' she thought.
Gaining confidence, Chen Jingyun carried on.
"The guys have been saying I was mean to them last night while I was... drunk. Did I do something to you too?"
Mean?
Li Minghao raised his eyebrows before nodding lightly. She was indeed mean to them. She also did something to him.
"What did I do?"
Looking up from his sleeve, Li Minghao directed his stare at her. His eyes were calm, and there wasn't a ripple of commotion in them.
"You disgraced me. You dragged my name across the mud and spat on it. If you had more time, God knows what you would have done. You truly went far this time, Qin Yun. You should be ashamed."
"..."
Really?
Chen Jingyun's eyebrow twitched.
Showing a tiny smile, Li Minghao shook his head. He was messing with her.
"You didn't treat me that bad." He started. "You were quite... nice to me."
"Carry on."
"How about I tell you what truly happened yesterday? Su Long might have exaggerated a bit."
"Figures." Chen Jingyun nodded in agreement. She didn't even try to believe Su Long completely. He seemed the take things too personally.
"One, you took advantage of Luo Shao. This is true. However, you didn't seem to recognize him and thought he was lying to you when he said he was your roommate."
"How did I take advantage of Luo Shao."
"..." Li Minghao prepared his phrasing. " You... were too charming for him."
"What?"
"You should ask him later." Li Minghao decided to dump it onto his friend.
"Continue."
"Two, you called Su Long Vanilla-Chan and offered him a job position. You also said he was pretty. He hates that description."
"Well, he is pretty, and Vanilla-Chan sounds good on him..." Chen Jingyun caressed her chin as she thought about it. "What about you, then?"
Giving her a meaningful look, one that seemed to look through her, Li Minghao revealed the truth.
"You tried to kiss me."
Widening her eyes, Chen Jingyun covered her lips in disbelief.
She looked at him up and down, head to toe. His presence looked more dominant than ever to her. How and why would she dare to try to kiss this young dark lord? Didn't she appreciate her life?
She also had zero experience in romance, let alone kissing. Did she want to make a fool out of herself?
"No way." She denied it.
Li Minghao didn't rush to deny her thoughts. Instead, he calmly explained.
"Let me paint you a picture."
"Each time you saw a new face, you forgot about the rest. That's how you discarded Luo Shao for Su Long and Su Long for me. However, you saw me and didn't stop flirting."
"Let me remind you about your opening line."
"Have we met before, handsome?"
Gosh, she was too embarrassing.
Hello? Mom? Dad? Can you pick me up? I'm scared.
Chen Jingyun skin flared up as she covered her face. She wanted to disappear from the room.
"Then, you told me whether I remembered you or not, what matters is that you have already found me."
"How many times did you practice that line without cracking?"
"...alright, stop." Chen Jingyun weakly requested. She couldn't bear to listen anymore.
"Then, do you believe me when I say you tried to kiss me?"
She shook her head.
Ok, no deal.
"Then, you sat on my lap-"
"Fine, I believe you!" Whatever gets you to stop!
It was safe to say Li Minghao was just as cunning and playful as Su Long telling stories. He could have said he did purposedly test her.
The truth was his testing could have contributed to her actions and the events that happened later.
"You don't want to know what happens next?"
"No!"
"But you did take advantage of me. What do you have to say about that?"
"Well, my apologies?"
Li Minghao huffed in indignation, giving her a dirty look only he could conjure up.
"You are quite lucky I dodge you, you know? Whoever has intimate contact with any member of my family, they have to marry us. Did you know that?"
(╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻
What kind of rule is that?! Who is your family anyway?!
Chen Jingyun's initial embarrassment washed away with disbelief.
"Qin Yun, tell me the truth." Li Minghao's voice turned serious.
"What is it?" What are you going to come up with now, huh?
"Are you a girl?"