When the car door was opened, the strong soft lavender and lilac scent harassed his sinuses and he had to bit his tongue down to fight back the regurgitative reflex.
Gu Yuan sat on the opposite side facing him. She took off her cap and undid her short ponytail.
Gu Yuan casually glanced at her nails then out the window, "Zhe Yue don't come here anymore. As you can see, I'm already volunteering here and since I can easy be transferred, you're not allowed to visit any shelter under this organization. I don't want to accidentally bump into trash, it will ruin my giving nature," all the while, a snobby nonchalance graced her snow like features.
Zhe Yue scoffed. Giving nature? If she keeps serving, all those homeless people would die from the poison her vile spirit naturally sends out.
But he needed to eat, he can't pass up such an opportunity, "Request not to be transferred and I won't show up here."
A lot of people don't know it, but that was there first time the two siblings exchanged words in over a year. Even insults, Gu Yuan only gave them when Zhe Yue got into five feet of her breathing space. Most times, she just ruined his life from a distance, in the background. Like when he performs too well and she needs to stomp him back to the ground, or when she hears his name when she was having a good day or maybe if her friends suggest something. Otherwise, the siblings never saw face to face, least of all spoke to each other.
"I don't plan on being unfair to the other volunteers. You heard what I said. Don't show up anywhere," she didn't plan on volunteering after Zhe Yue left the place.
Zhe Yue felt a bitter taste pour into his mouth. This snake, she actually wanted to kill him now. "The rest of the world is not your play ground."
"You think so?" She smirked and flipped her hair then spat, "Leave."
The door was opened and Zhe Yue flew out like the car was on fire. That night, he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down Gu Yuan's sin. Then he placed it in the cabinet along with all 46 sheets of paper.
By the next week, Gu Yuan was relieved to find out that Zhe Yue wasn't visiting any of the of the shelters. He was just roaming around during jobs at meal times. But that wasn't her concern. One thing she had assured was that Zhe Yue wouldn't be meeting with Chen Kun anytime soon. She gave herself a tap on the chest, at least she has more time now.
Gu Yuan and Ye Zhuang normally spent one Sunday afternoon together at the Ye mansion. It was a monthly habit. Sometimes it was more than one Sunday a month. Gu Yuan just randomly showed up the day would progress normally.
The two girls were sprawled on Zhuang's king sized bed each focusing on their phones.
Gu Yuan was scrolling through her social media when she noticed that something was off about Ye Zhuang. "What are you swooning over?"
Ye Zhuang's cheeks were as red as a tomato, "Ah! Mh? It shows?" She was all bright smiles.
"Yeah, I wouldn't ask if it didn't look like a heat stroke...it's cloudy today and we are indoors, " Gu Yuan said.
Ye Zhuang blushed happily. She felt that if she couldn't hide it, it must be love. She propped herself up, supporting her weight with her elbows, "Remember that cute boy I told you about? That medicine student, Bai-"
"Bai Lan," Gu Yuan jerked up with a look of alarm. How could she forget?
Gu Yuan didn't know if she should pretend to cry or just laugh it all out.
The other factor was seated right next to her, growing wings at an alarming rate. She hadn't paid any attention to Ye Zhuang because she was too focused on Yue Zhe, Chen Kun and trying not to act out of character.
In the meantime, Ye Zhuang was busing falling head over heals for Bai Lan. No, she couldn't allow it.
"You remember?" Ye Zhuang said happily. Most times she felt like Gu Yuan wasn't paying attention to her.
Gu Yuan went back to swiping the screen of her phone. She was trying to seem casual but her siting posture was a bit too stiff, like she was on high-end alert.
"Of course I do," how can anyone forget that it was your weird love that led to the end of the world, "And I checked him out."
"Really?" Ye Zhuang's excitement switched to worry, "You don't like him, do you?"
Gu Yuan showed disgust, "No I don't," then she gave Ye Zhuang a serious look, "and neither should you."
The first part left her relieved but the second one brought another flood of worry, "why shouldn't I like him?"
Ye Zhuang: Or are you trying to do away with competition and swipe him for yourself?
"His not your type," Gu Yuan said lightly.
Ye Zhuang: This girl, Gu Yuan, so are is he your type?
"What do you mean? He is definitely my type. Everything about him is what I like," Ye Zhuang said defensively.
Gu Yuan's brows tightened. Ugh! She should have dealt with the problem when it had just started. Look how far this girl has come. "It doesn't matter, you're not his type and he is not your type. It can't work out."
Gu Yuan; shouldn't Ye Zhuang be the type to hung off Gu Yuan's every word? Isn't she supposed to give up on Bai Lan as soon as I tell her to?
Ye Zhuang couldn't hold it in anymore. She shot out at Gu Yuan, "oh! So are you his type? Who is his type? Who is my type?"
"I've done some research on this guy, you're just going to end up being hurt," Gu Yuan decided to pull the 'I'm just concerned about you' card.
"You've done research? Did I ask you to look into him?" The only part that got to Ye Zhuang's ears was the 'I've looked deeper into him without your knowledge.' Her anger was only rising.
"No, but as your friend-"
Ye Zhuang directly stood and put some distance between them, "So what? Even if we are friends, you don't go around sneaking behind my back just to-"
"Are you angry because I was trying to find out if the guy is good enough for you?"
"You're not the one who judges what is good enough for me. I'm the one that saw it, I'm the one that likes it. I will chase it."
Gu Yuan was even more angry than she expected. Billions of lives were hanging in the line simply because a girl in her teenage madness couldn't give up on a man that didn't care about her existence. "You know what? Why don't we ask him right now if he would ever go for you?"
"Gu Yuan, any sane person knows that feelings take time to cultivate. Don't ruin things for me," Yu Zhuang replied sharply.
"Sane person?" Gu Yuan voice dropped to an icy level, " Even senseless people would know to give up on someone that doesn't have an impression of them from the beginning. In his eyes, no matter how you dress up, you've just put on clothes-like every other person each morning."
"What makes you so sure that-"
"Because he already has someone he likes."
Ye Zhuang felt energy flow out of her veins. All the anger was depleted, leaving behind an icy depressing feeling, " Wha-well that can't be unexpected. Who is it?" She says back down and her voice became soft.
When Gu Yuan didn't answer, Ye Zhuang immediately exposed her fears, " Is it- Is it you?" With Gu Yuan, she was an open book. It was like Gu Yuan had some charm that made her reveal every emotion without restraint.
Gu Yuan scoffed rolled her eyes, "Look, you're already turning into a lunatic"
Zhuang was relieved to hear it. It turns out that her friend was just watching her back. She had to agree that she had overreacted before. "Then tell me. Who is she?"she asked in a softer voice.
"I'm not telling," Gu Yuan directly slammed the idea.
In fact, she wasn't sure if Bai Lan liked Chen Kun yet. In the previous life, Bai Lan's feelings for Chen Kun were never brought up. The only thing was that Ye Zhuang saw Chen Kun as a threat.
Given that Bai Lan's feelings were never exposed, Ye Zhuang still wasn't an option for him. No matter what she did in the previous life, the world ended before he ever noticed her. Maybe if the world is saved Gu Yuan will let her take her shots. Not now.
It's a pity Gu Yuan isn't allowed to kill the innocent, otherwise, she would silence Chen Kun before any of that drama started.