Jen wanted to spend more time with Sebastian since he was still recovering, but the news article this morning and how Lynn left in strom made her feel very unsettled.
"Sebastian," Jen said to the sick boy who was still leaning against the bed, "I think I should go. It's getting late, and I should let our friends know that you are okay now."
Friends? Our friends?
Sebastian felt a rush of warmth in his chest when he heard this phrase.
He was so afraid that Jen would leave YD after seeing the news- he had never heard Jen talk about her parents other than they had passed away; having her mother's name out in public with speculations around her life must be hard on her.
And even though the name of the group chat is called "Team Sebastian", he thought both Jackson and Luna hated him. Tim is way too diplomatic to be predictable, it seemed like he would like anyone. But since Jen called them "our friends", probably they also like Sebastian.
"Yes, of course. They don't have much in this hospital, you should go back and rest," Sebastian pressed the call button next to his bed, "I will ask someone to give you a ride."
"It's okay, I can order a taxi or take the bus," Jen took her bag and started getting ready, "Your auntie does pay me a lot for 'working'. Honestly, it feels like I have never worked a day. Maybe I shouldn't have taken a gap year just for this."
Sebastian smiled at the sight of Jen, he had never felt so comfortable around someone, especially someone he had just known.
"Do you want something from home?" Jen asked while putting the chair back in its original position," Or some fruits? I will be back tomorrow morning if you are still here. I don't think you need to stay at the hospital for that long, you know, it was just a stomach bug... Why do you rich people need to be so delicate, now I need to think about where to take you next time we go eat."
"Home? Are you going to my home?"
"No, my home. Sorry, I was still stuck in our plan. Remember? We were pretending to live together." Jen laughed, if she knew that Lynn would help them to figure everything out, she wouldn't have tried so hard to take those silly photos, "Maybe we can delete all the photos and videos... To have a fresh start. I believe Lynn when she said she would take care of it."
"No, please don't!" Sebastian said without thinking.
Even though he was embarrassed at first, wearing Jen's fluffy pajamas, those several days sleeping on Jen's sofa gave him a special sense of home- how he wished he could actually move in with a couple of friends.
"Ok, ok, Mr. CEO, I know you are still worried that the video would be leaked. But I am telling you, your auntie was on fire today, I think she was tearing those news people apart."
"That's not what I am worried about..." Sebastian wanted to say something but he also couldn't articulate what he was feeling, "I just don't think those photos are that bad. Keep it. Also, send me a copy."
Jen was surprised by Sebastian's reaction, maybe they gave him too many pills that his brain was still numb? Who knows.
"Alright sweetie, have a nice dream!" Jen opened the door and waved goodbye at Sebastian.
On her way out of the hospital, the lines of guards were still standing there, not moving at all.
"My job is much easier than what they have to do." Jen thought, "I should really call Luna and let her know everything is okay."
"Hey girl, you saw my message?" Before Jen could even say something, Luna already jump-started the conversation.
"Oh no, sorry, I didn't really check anything this afternoon. Sebastian was...clingy. Maybe because he is sick."
"Yeah, yeah, I think he has mommy issues." Luna laughed, "He was always following you around when we went out that day."
"I am sure he was just self-conscious because he didn't know anyone." Jen sighed, thinking that Sebastian was just a little shy.
"Anyways, the article was removed and they even issued an apology post on their official account. I guess YD took care of it." Luna sent Jen another link, where the Burning Moon did issue an apology for not fact-checking the information.
"Good to know. But I wish this type of thing could happen less. I don't want to see my parents being dragged into this mess." Jen was relieved, but she wondered what Lynn did in just a few hours to handle it.
Walking on the street in the late summer, and early autumn, Jen felt like a big weight was lifted from her back.
"Ouch...Help..."
Before she could take a moment to appreciate the view, she had someone crying for help- "I twisted my ankle and I can't stand up anymore..."
Jen quickly turned to the side and saw a middle-aged man sitting on the edge of the road, one hand holding a bag full of tangerines, the other hand holding onto the floor. He seemed extra sweaty, from the pain.
No one knew how long he had been sitting there, but no one else was stopping to help.
"Are you ok? Can I call you an ambulance?" Jen couldn't help herself from going over to ask. She knew that she probably shouldn't put herself out there too much without causing potential problems, but she couldn't just let him sit there in pain.
"Oh, thank you dear, but I think that will be quite useless," The man pointed at the building behind them, "I am right in front of a hospital, can you just help me walk there?"
Jen realized he meant the YD Private Hospital, but wasn't it closed for the day so that no one, especially the press, would bother Sebastian?
Maybe this man was a reporter pretending to be sick?
Jen couldn't risk putting Sebastian in a disturbing situation again, so she had to ask:" Are you... A reporter?"
"What, oh lady, do I look like a reporter to you?" The man laughed a little, then started frowning from the pain again, "I am just a salesman, just got a big deal with several local shops, so I got my daughter some fruits to celebrate... But I was texting my wife while walking, then twisted my ankle..."
He pulled up his pants a little and Jen could see his ankle was swollen...
"Oh my god, I am so sorry for even asking," Jen felt so embarrassed at the moment, she must have sounded like a conspiracy theorist to that poor man, "Let me help you up... I don't know if the hospital takes new patients today, but let's try. If they don't, I will get you into a taxi to the closest hospital."
Jen took the bag of tangerines from the man and carefully helped him to get up.
The man didn't want to lean on her, but he was in too much pain to walk. He started skipping a bit, which looked quite funny. His wrinkly suit also made it hard for him to walk like that.
"It's ok, sir," Jen said, worried for him, "Just lean on me, I am much stronger than I look."
Just a couple of steps seemed so long, and Jen was thinking how she could persuade the people to let them in.
Maybe they will recognize her and just let her in?
Maybe she should call Lynn and explain the situation, and ask a couple of guards to go with this man so that he wouldn't be anywhere near Sebastian?
But to Jen's surprise, no one stopped them at the door-they were able to walk past the guards easily, and several of them even tried to help the man.
"Wow, thank you guys, this is very thoughtful of you." Jen was in awe when one of the guards came to take the bag of tangerine off of her hand.
"I guess YD is indeed serious about doing charity work." Jen was just feeling proud to be involved with such a responsible corporation, when the man suddenly asked the guards to stop helping him, turned around and looked at Jen with a smirk, and started RUNNING!
"??? What is happening?" Jen was too shocked to react, by the time she started chasing the man, he had already turned the corner.
"You guys, why is no one chasing him?" Jen started running after the man but was confused as to why none of the security was chasing him.
The man who couldn't even walk a few moments ago, ran so fast that Jen couldn't catch up.
When she had finally caught up to him, the man was about to open Sebastian's door with a phone in his hand.
"No! Please leave him alone and don't film him!" Jen screamed out loud.
"Vic?" Sebastian's voice was filled with delight and surprise.
When Jen got into the room, the man was already hugging Sebastian, almost got on his bed-"Oh my boy, I missed you so much. Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Vic, I missed you even more... But I want you to be proud of me, so I went to earn some starting funds on my own before they found me...Jen? Why are you back?"
Sebastian's face was red, his eyes were so sparkling that he looked like a child receiving his dream present on Christmas day.
"Jen, this is Victor?"
"Victor? You mean..." Jen was still catching her breath when Sebastian introduced the weird man to her.
"Victor Day, at your service."