Jun was now furious at himself.
There is no reason to think about her!
The accidental kiss flashed in his mind, and he banged his fist on the elevator's wall. The others gasped, feeling the temperature drop.
Ugh, what happened? It's so cold now.
Jun shot them a stare. "What?"
They quickly looked away.
N-Nothing at all!
As much as Jun was handsome and an eye treat, he was equally distant and fierce. He wasn't gentle as a charming prince but cold as a ruthless emperor.
Jun's palms were leaning on the front and right wall of the elevator which looked as if he was pinning Ai in a wall slam style.
Aah why am I not there? The girls lamented.
Upon reaching the fifth floor, the elevator experienced a minor bump, pushing everybody in that enclosed space.
Ai felt his jawline just graze her forehead. His broad chest was hardly an inch away from her face, and his warm breath slightly tickled her hair.
My chest would totally touch his if I breathe in, right?
So, she held onto her breath to avoid any physical contact more than they already had.
*Ding*
The elevator reached the seventh floor and everybody rushed out. Ai finally breathed out in relief.
Jun kept his squinted gaze at her for a moment, and then he left too. Ai checked herself again.
He didn't realize it was me, right?
The venue on the seventh floor was now even more jam packed than before. Ai quietly walked and stood at a side. She saw the event's banner with an unreadable expression.
Jun was on the other side, leaning on a wall and watching the crowd acting crazy for CherryBlossom to show up and start the event.
He shut his eyes for a moment, but he kept picturing Ai everytime he did. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
'I don't want a man who treats himself like that because it means that one day, he could treat me like an option too.'
Her words echoed in his ears of the time she spoke to his brothers. Since he knew they were Jian and Nian all along, he wanted to know their purpose of coming to the library in disguise and approaching Ai, which was when he heard their conversation.
It was the test she had passed, but what she had said stuck in his mind ever since.
Was I…also just an option for Shui?
But he quickly discarded that thought. Whatever differences Jun and Shui had between them, he knew one thing for sure that she wasn't someone to treat him like that.
But choosing his brother Jin and falling for him had broken his heart beyond repair. He felt discarded just like a spare option would have.
From then on, he hated himself. He hated the whole world.
He gave a wry smile.
But that life has passed away. There will be nobody to separate Shui and Jin anymore. Whereas I…
He chuckled.
Well, I just have to wait for my death.
Just then he got a call, and he sighed. "What is it, Yunru?"
It was Chen Yunru, his cousin. "Bro! Have you disappeared to an alien planet?"
He yawned and repeated. "What is it, Yunru?"
"You! You have dumped all your work on me and then you ask what is it?"
"Come to the point."
"Will you finally choose a writer to publish traditional books? Didn't you want to hire traditional writers? Sky Publishing has received tons of story drafts, but you rejected them all."
"Because nobody was that interesting for me to choose."
"Ugh. Just what are you looking for?" He whined. "We are already unbeatable for webnovels and webcomics. Once we start with traditional books, nobody would be able to match Sky Publishing!" He proudly smirked. "We would become the complete package of the story world! Hah! Dream High can forget their position in this business~"
Jun smiled. "Sure."
"What sure!? For that to happen, will you choose somebody already?" He complained.
"I will when such a writer comes."
He let out a sigh.
Sky Publishing was a joint venture started by Jun and Yunru. The one thing Jun loved the most in his life apart from Shui were books. It wasn't surprising when he declared that he wanted to start a publishing company, and Yunru joined him excited about the prospects and working with him together. Out of all his cousins, Yunru was closest to Jun because they shared interests in stories.
Jun didn't want to become a writer himself, but he wanted to be someone who supported other writers as the best publishing house.
Sky Publishing was a part of his last life too, but due to the growing differences between him and Shui and his rocky relationship, he couldn't drive his company properly. He dumped everything on Yunru and for a long time, he gave his best to tether the company.
But with Jun gone, Yunru slowly lost his hopes and motivation too. He wanted to do this together. But he was left all alone in the end, the result being Sky Publishing becoming a failure.
The one who was the most broken by their company's downfall was Chen Yunru.
Jun still vividly remembered Yunru's outburst and tears when he had confronted him.
'Does the only thing that matters in your life is your relationship, bro Jun!? What…what about our dream?'
'What about becoming the best publishing company? I wanted to do this together! It doesn't mean anything if you aren't there with me! It is lonely without you, bro Jun!'
"Look at Sky Publishing…' he cried. "It has fallen miserably. Dream High is laughing at us. And what are we able to do? Nothing at all…Do you feel nothing about it?'
After the downfall, Jun and Yunru's relationship had turned bitter and both grew distant. Yunru could never forgive Jun for abandoning him and Sky Publishing. They simply fell apart.
"Bro? Bro? Hello? Are you there?"
Jun snapped out of his past life memories.
"Yunru."
"Ah, you are there. I thought you hung up on me!" He pouted.
"...Never. Never again, Yunru," Jun's gaze flickered with a mixture of sadness and determination, "I will never abandon you or Sky Publishing again. This is my promise."