It was Jun who got Shui into Reading Point. It was around three years ago when he made her sign up as a member for this forum chat. Shui couldn't think of a good username, so she made it just simple. Her name initials.
I thought she left the group after our breakup, he thought.
[Warlord - Hey, long time no see! Where were you?]
[HS - Ah…I was a little busy with my college assignments. So what's up?]
[Warlord - You won't believe who I met today! My Goddess! CherryBlossom!]
[HS - Oh that writer? Yeah. It was her book signing event today, right?]
[Warlord - Yup! You should have come too! She looked so beautiful. I was *blushes* so close to confessing my love to her…]
[LumiosZ - Creepy *sneers*]
[AllAloof - He was always creepy LOL.]
[Warlord - Heyyy!!! You all just shoo! Anyway so @HS, I was talking about her. And do you know what? I could have met @MrPerfect too! But he was busy! We bros could have hung out together!]
Jun stiffened by the ping. Since Shui was online too…
[HS - …I see. He must be really busy then haha. He is an avid reader, after all.]
[Warlord - *sighs* Whatever. @MrPerfect is ignoring me. Let's forget about him. Tell me about you. Have you fought with your boyfriend so that I can finally confess to you~]
Jun froze.
[XY12 - Dude, you were just talking about confessing to CherryBlossom.]
[Warlord - Shut up! That's different! That's like a love between a fan and his idol. My beautiful HS is different.]
[LumiosZ - You have excuses for everything, don't you?]
[AllAloof - Like I said, he is always creepy.]
[Warlord - You…@HS where did you disappear to?]
[AllAloof - Maybe her boyfriend is coming to kill you~]
[Warlord - D-Don't say such ominous things! As if I am scared of her b-boyfriend!]
[XY12 - Tell that to your stammering mouth.]
Jun stared at the chat and wondered if Shui would talk about their breakup. But in the end, she simply diverted the topic. They hadn't revealed that MrPerfect on Reading Point was her boyfriend in real life.
He kept the phone aside. He didn't want to ruin his mood anymore.
Instead, his mind wandered off to MissImperfectlyFine. He hadn't expected his meeting with MissImperfectlyFine to be like that, but he surmised it was…good enough.
He thought back to her thin figure protecting Yinyin, facing the accusations, trying to escape from Yating and in the end…the moment when she gave up on being saved.
She had gone through too much for a single day.
Thinking back to the whole incident made him wonder about something.
That reminds me. How did they get a hundred extra copies? This hadn't happened in my past life. It was a mess due to the sudden shortage.
But it didn't occur this time.
Strange…
—
Strange…
Ai thought as she laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Jun wasn't at the event in my past life. He hadn't helped me by making Yinyin confess.
Then what changed this time?
Ai had taken care of the books by placing an order of an extra hundred copies through Yating's phone to the assistant editor while he was busy doing some work in this office one day. She secretly did all this, taking precautions of not crossing paths with him at all and then had deleted the call log from his phone.
But she knew that move wouldn't really prevent her from getting accused. Nothing could have saved her because it was her decision to protect Yinyin. She took care of the extra copies in hopes that she would be saved from apologizing to Guiying's fans despite the accusations.
But Jun protected her nevertheless and was even asked to do a book signing of her own by him - none of the events which happened before, making her truly bewildered.
Whatever might be the reason, her heart felt at peace today.
She raised her arm and stared at it, recalling how she had held onto Jun's bloody hand just before she died in her past life. The last seconds of warmth were her only source of comfort.
When she met him again at the library in this life, she was sharply taken aback. She couldn't help but stare at him in bewilderment, which Jun misunderstood as her checking him out.
It was him…
She couldn't believe the coincidence that she would meet the same man soon after her rebirth.
Which also made her realize that he was going to die ten years later in a car accident.
She was unsure of what to do. She now knew about someone's fate other than herself.
Was she supposed to tell him? But would he even believe it?
Life was precious, and she didn't want to simply ignore it and let him die if she could help him with the knowledge of her past life. So Ai decided to observe things for now.
One day, I will tell him for sure whether he would believe it or not, she concluded with determination.
Regarding herself and her life, a question bogged her mind.
What should I do now?
Did she want revenge from Yating and Guiying?
Ai shook her head. She didn't wish to get into another cycle of hatred and revenge and waste her precious second chance. Instead, she wanted to focus and live for herself.
She now knew that her getting into writing was the reason her friendship with Guiying would deteriorate in the future.
Should I give up…?
Ai's brows softly crinkled.
But she never really said it clearly. Why did my career ruin hers? My stories were barely doing any well. I don't understand.
Then there was Yating too.
She clenched her fists. An indescribable sadness welled in her chest, thinking about their breakup.
'Let's break up.'
'As if that wasn't enough, you snatched the man I love too!'
Her eyelashes trembled.
I didn't know you liked Yating, Guiying. If I did, I wouldn't have come in your way.
This realization came too late in her past life. But it won't be this time because she decided to avoid Yating at all costs.
After much contemplation, she made her resolve.
I will continue writing, she calmly nodded to herself.
She had given up on writing in her past life because of her mother's pressure to secure a better future, but she realized how much she loved it and missed it and regretted abandoning it. She gave up on her love once.
I won't do it again. Not in this second chance.
Deciding to continue writing meant being a part of Dream High and meeting Yating and Guiying. Her goal was to avoid them. So, she was troubled.
What other good company was there in the publishing industry other than Dream High?
Which brought her to today.
Sky Publishing.
The one whose name she saw on Jun's phone.
It hadn't yet entered into the market of traditional books, but she remembered that Sky was the biggest competitor to Dream High in her past life. Dream High was really troubled by its growing influence.
Ai pursed her lips.
But I remember Sky had collapsed five or six years later?
What was the reason again?
She tried to recollect but couldn't. By that time, Ai had given up on writing altogether and didn't keep tabs on news of that world anymore. It was her way to get complete closure and give up on writing. She only heard the whispers of the collapse before she shut herself out completely.
That's why, she never came to know about Jun's identity as the Sky CEO, which led to its downfall because of his ruined image.
Ai thought to resign from Dream High and enter Sky but…
If Sky is going to collapse five years later, then won't joining it be detrimental for me?