To Love You Again

"Don't freak out, man. I am a living person with a beating... broken heart," the 'ghost' spoke in slight annoyance at first, then she choked slightly, and her tone became filled with grievances. ""...with a shattered world, and with no hope of loving again."

"...." 

Not a ghost.

Lu Yin Ze finally calmed down. He coughed. He felt foolish for freaking out. It was just a person, a slightly strange person who had a knack of hiding behind the bushes.

Tang Yin sighed gloomily. She just wanted to cry her eyes out and succ.u.mb to her loneliness for a longer time, but this silver-haired man ruined it all. Sigh. Maybe she could cry secretly somewhere again after this event. 

She needed to let her heart vent out.

She stepped out from behind the bushes, but after two steps, she lost her will again. If she came back, she would see Linfeng and that woman together again, right?

After learning out that Xiong Zhi was Linfeng's girlfriend, she instantly crossed her out of her friend list. How could she become friends with a person who snatched the love of her life?

The pain inside her chest came back. She felt breathless again.

Damn it! That woman was beautiful, maybe slightly prettier than her, but that woman had a very cold face! That facial paralysis woman actually was Linfeng's girlfriend...

Her eyes blurred again.

"Who don't like a sweet woman?! I practiced so much to become a pretty, shy, and feminine woman. A woman that draws out a man's protective desire! Is that paralyzed face better than mine?! Well, alright, she maybe prettier, but just slightly, alright?! She lacks the charm of a woman!!!" Tang Yin lost her cool again.

She kept shouting until her throat hurt, kicking at the rockeries, and swinging her hands in the air.

Finally, after a long time of crying and yelling, she slowly quieted down, panting.

Silence.

'...'

Lu Yin Ze, who was standing quietly at one side, was dumbstruck. Well, good thing she was not a ghost, but she was scarier than one. The loud roars of a lioness seemed to still ring in the air. He patted his ears to check if they were still working. 

This woman, why shout so loudly beside him? Was her goal to burst his eardrums?

He glanced at the young woman whose appearance had become very messy. Her face was full of dried tears, her hair very messy, her make-up was totally destroyed by tear marks, and her white dress was wrinkled and dirty.

However, being a gentleman that he was, he held out a handkerchief and asked politely.

"Excuse me, miss, are you alright?"

Tang Yin, whose self-control was gone at the moment, answered in a hard tone. "I'm not."

"...If you need help, I can escort you to the... private room?" 

Damn. It sounded like a man hitting on a woman.

Tang Yin glanced at him sharply. She did not take the offered handkerchief. 

Looking at him closely, he looked familiar. It was a face that could not be easily forgotten, so he probably had not yet greeted her face to face earlier. 

Still, after a glance at that beautiful and jade-like face of a gentleman, she calmed down a bit. She actually acted so unladylike for a moment in front of a guest. 

"Thanks for the offer. But I have legs."

Tang Yin was still full of emotion and excused herself.

"It's alright..." Lu Yin Ze watched her retreating back. That woman was very unladylike, kind of uncultured. Which family did she come from, to actually fail to bring her up with proper manners or etiquette? 

Because of the dim lighting, destroyed make-up, puffy eyes, shrewish behavior that was drastically different from the shy and coquettish maiden image from earlier, he failed to realize who the person was.

Anyway—

He looked at the blue rose bush she was hiding in earlier. Thankfully, the flowers were safe.

'She chose a good hiding spot.'

After that short episode with the strange woman, Lu Yin Ze forgot his earlier troubles and no longer felt like staying in this place. He decided to return and greet the celebrant.

'Time to socialize again,' he sighed.

*****

Tang Xinyang fidgeted in her seat. It had been already twenty minutes since Tang Yin excused herself. She was worried. Her little sister would not suddenly run off, right? There were still many guests who had not greeted her yet and were looking for her.

Xiong Zhi looked at the distracted Tang Xinyang. Her arm was still holding Linfeng's.

"If you are that worried, you can excuse yourself. We will be returning to our seat."

Tang Xinyang looked at the couple. She did not know what to say to them because of her mixed feelings. 

Sigh, if she was her sister and she saw Jang Shin flirting with another girl on her birthday, she would likely punch Jang Shin and kick out the girl. 

Then kidnap Jang Shin.

She indeed thought of shattering Tang Yin's love slowly by letting her know that Linfeng was out of reach for her, and that he might have another woman in his heart. 

But not like this when it was totally an explosive knock out.

Yet she could not blame her friend as well, because when it came to love, Xiong Zhi was merciless. She knew that Xiong Zhi spent a lot of effort chasing Linfeng.

"Alright. Although I can't follow her, I can ask Jang Shin to find her." She stood up. "Please excuse me. You two... enjoy the night."

As Tang Xinyang left, Linfeng who had sat quietly beside Xiong Zhi let out a sigh. He was not so dense about what was happening, but he chose to let his Young Miss handle the situation. 

After all, he was actually satisfied of his Young Miss's reaction. 

Xiong Zhi suddenly leaned on him and sighed.

Linfeng's heart turned soft. They were out in public, yet Xiong Zhi was acting so clingy and intimate with him. This was rare, thus this time was precious. He no longer bothered to remind her about their image and just let the people see it.

It already happened. He would just take care of the aftermath and manipulate the wind of public opinion.

He could refuse his Young Miss's act of intimacy now, but he did not want to disappoint her. Not to mention, with the earlier scene, acting distantly with her now would not be good. A man ought to give his woman a sense of security in the relationship.

Linfeng patted her hand gently.

"Are you troubled, Young Miss?"

Xiong Zhi's head was on his shoulder. "Did I look petty to you?"

She was now embarrassed and a bit guilty of acting petty earlier.

Being petty was uncool. How did she look like in his eyes? Was he turned off?

Linfeng smiled. He really wanted to kiss her hair. But since they were in public, he still had some restraint.

He lightly pinched her hand to show his appreciation and support after being flaunted as her trophy boyfriend earlier.

"Young Miss is cool. I am actually a bit, no, I am very happy with what you said earlier."

"Even though I hurt someone?"

"It's necessary. In fact, I did something similar to yours a few weeks ago. But I did not regret it. "

"You did?" Xiong Zhi looked up at him. How come she did not know that?

"Cough. Well, I am more extreme."

"What did you do?" Xiong Zhi was curious.

"Well, it's not something to brag about. It's just that, it's alright to act petty sometimes."

Xiong Zhi did not know the email incident and how Linfeng ruthlessly shattered Lu Yin Ze's broken heart even more.