Ai saw the same thing happening to her again.
Just like my past life.
I will fall and then I will die…Once again…
She thought things would change when she woke up to realize that she was reborn. She went back ten years in time.
I thought I would change my fate. But it's still the same.
Everything is over…
Ai retracted her hand, losing all her hope when somebody grabbed it tightly and pulled her up with one fell swoop.
—
Jun had already seen Ai coming out of the room ages ago. She went to the washroom, and he thought he would be able to see her face. But Ai hadn't removed her mask and shades at all.
Tsk. Why is she so cautious?
He saw her taking slow steps towards the desk and dazedly brushing her hand over it. Her expression wasn't visible from all those things she wore on her face. But Jun could guess what her eyes must have looked like. He saw the movements of her fingers upon the surface.
MissImperfectlyFine.
The woman and the writer who troubled his soul since his last life. He had no business helping her by talking to Yinyin and his parents. But he still did.
Even now, he had nothing to do. He just wanted to see the incident with his own eyes and know that the one who had affected him so much by her words on the pages of her book, was she really a scheming woman? Had he judged her wrongly?
He got his answer today. So, he had no reason to stay anymore.
But he kept watching her lonely figure near the desk. The loneliness that she emanated strangely seemed to be familiar to him. It was as if he could see himself standing at her position.
All lost and alone. No place to go back to and nobody to show your tears to.
Then Yinyin and his family came to personally apologize to her. He was far away to hear their conversation, but he could guess the direction in which it must be going.
His gaze darkened.
Are they saying unnecessary things?
When they left, his nemesis suddenly showed up.
Gu Yating. He finally came.
His gaze turned chilly. He was the reason behind Sky Publishing's downfall. Once again, he felt a burning urge to strangle him. Instead, he kept watching them.
From their interactions, Jun realized that something was going on between them. He tilted his head.
Huh…Is he interested in her?
It seemed that way from his side. But MissImperfectlyFine didn't seem to return his feelings. She didn't even want to talk to him.
Jun narrowed his eyes.
Never thought I would come to know Mr. Gu's weakness here.
Wait a minute. If I remember it correctly…wasn't Gu Yating dating Cai Guiying in my past life? Yunru had told me this one day. This would happen around five years later from the present time.
He frowned.
He is pursuing MissImperfectlyFine right now but would be dating CherryBlossom in the future. Hooo…
But did he ever date MissImperfectlyFine?
Jun didn't seem to remember any such rumor about MissImperfectlyFine's relationship with Yating from his past life. For the world, the only woman beside Gu Yating was Cai Guiying.
MissImperfectlyFine was never in the news at all.
Watching her reaction right now, MissImperfectlyFine seemed averse to Yating. He kept talking to her, but she didn't return the same enthusiasm.
Did he give up on her and move onto Cai Guiying? Is that how it was?
He saw Yating almost coming forward to hold her wrist, making Jun squint his eyes.
But then his gaze quickly caught onto the slight movement of MissImperfectlyFine slipping.
She is going to fall.
But he is there by her side.
What happened next made Jun rain a string of curses on Yating.
What the fuck are you standing there frozen for!? She is falling, not you God damn it!
He cursed as he ran like crazy towards her.
Ai had her hand desperately waving for help. But then to his disbelief, he saw her retreating as if she had given up on hope.
Jun took one abrupt turn and caught her hand fiercely, pulling her into his embrace.
Ai was badly shaking. He had held onto her, but she kept mumbling that she was going to die.
"You are okay now."
She hadn't seemed to realize that she was safe now.
Jun took a deep breath and shouted. "I have caught you!"
That jolted her wide awake. His words rang in her ears till it reached her brain. Ai found herself in his hug, disoriented from the panic attack just now.
She turned her head and saw the steps behind her.
I…I didn't fall…
I am not dead…I am not dead…
Her vision got blurry as tears spilled out of her eyes. She collapsed on her knees, her chest heaving in breathlessness.
But Jun, who had tightly held onto her, pulled her up and narrowed his eyes. "Don't you fall on me."
This voice…Jun? Ai was genuinely bewildered.
He is here again. Why is he always there when I need him the most?
Now and even in my past life…
Yating, on the other side, snapped out of his daze. "Y-You…"
He hurriedly took a step forward to touch her shoulder, but Jun pressed his palm on his chest so hard that it almost knocked the air out of him.
"NOW you finally realized to move?" Jun snarled.
He stared at Jun, who was protectively hugging Ai. "Who are you?"
He sneered. "At least not someone who stood like a damn statue when she was going to fall."
He froze. "N-No! Of course, I…I wanted to-" Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his breaths got heavier.
Ai seemed to be trembling even more. She was at the verge of her breaking point.
"You can give your sorry excuses later," the temperature dropped to a threateningly low degree that Yating wasn't able to refute.
Jun grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "Come with me."
—
In one of the cafes where there didn't seem to be any rush, Jun made her sit on the couch. He slid the glass of water towards her and ordered. "Drink."
Ai's movements were painfully slow to watch. Jun recalled something and raised his brow as he smirked.
"Drink it, MissImperfectlyFine, before I empty the water over your head. I have learned this from a certain woman. Apparently, if you splash water onto someone who is shaking with fear and panic, all your thoughts just disappear from your mind."
"..."
"Oh and if you open the window to let the cold air in, then it works even more."
"..."
"Too bad the windows here are immovable. I have an alternative though. Why not make the air conditioning run at full speed?"