Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

Xinghe was holding Jiahe’s hand while they came out of the Halves Hotel. While they were walking,

Jiahe seemed to have something to say, but no sound came from her mouth. She sneaked a look on

his huge hand which was enveloping hers from time to time.

Were they… boyfriend and girlfriend now?

However, it seemed that he had nothing to say about that.

When she was with Chi Jun back then, they never talked things out before getting into a romantic

relationship. When Chi Jun dumped her, he even had the nerve to say that she was never his girlfriend

in the first place.

Although she would not think that Xinghe was cut out of the same cloth, Jiahe could not shake away

that feeling of unease and worry.

“Hey…”

Just as Jiahe wanted to broach the topic, a notification sound from Xinghe’s Instagram sounded.

He took his phone and checked the message. Jiahe saw it too. It was from Shirley.

Jiahe bit her lips and frowned, “You really went and added Shirley?”

She sounded a little bitter.

Xinghe raised his brows, “Isn’t it you who recommended her to me? If Shirley is your recommendation,

I would need to add her out of politeness, no?”

“...”

He was trying to make it sound like it was her fault! He was really argumentative!

Xinghe would never know how reluctant Jiahe was back then when he gave him Shirley’s Instagram.

It was just that Shirley was her classmate in university and they shared the same dorm right now. They

were paying for the rental together and Shirley was even paying more. If they could not get along,

Shirley would leave, which left Jiahe scrambling to find another roommate. If she could not find another

roommate, paying rental would become a problem.

Jiahe pouted and muttered, “You wouldn’t reject her in the first place, huh? Guys can’t resist pretty

girls, can they?”

She sounded jealous and bitter.

Despite that, the more jealous she sounded, the better Xinghe felt about himself.

“Are you jealous?”

Jiahe shrugged away his hand and replied, “Not at all.”

Then, she walked faster and overtook him. She was now in front of him.

Xinghe’s lips curled up. He did not even read Shirley’s message as he deleted their chatbox. Then, he

locked his phone and shoved it back to his pocket.

When he caught up to her, Xinghe took her into his embrace. He noticed that her nose was all red

because of the cold. He slightly reprimanded her, “Don’t run away on your own in such a cold weather

like this. Stay close to me.”

Although Jiahe protested that it was not that cold, she allowed herself to sink into his embrace. On her

face, there was embarrassment mixed with joy.

Suddenly, a scary thought occurred to her, “You are not getting close to me because you want to know

Shirley personally, are you?”

“...”

Xinghe said nothing. Instead, he flicked his finger at her forehead.

“So painful!”

Xinghe stared at her coldly, “What are you thinking?”

Jiahe pouted and continued her argument nonchalantly, “It’s not like this doesn’t happen all the time.

When I was in university, a lot of guys would ask me to pass on their love letters.”

When Xinghe heard this, his face immediately darkened.

However, the next second, Jiahe looked up at him brightly and continued, “Those letters were meant

for Shirley, and I was in the same dorm as her, so the guys would suck up to me or even asked me to

give her lunch boxes so that they could learn more about Shirley.”

As she continued the story, a depressed look entered her face, “I initially thought that they were going

for me, but in the end, I was just a tool to them.”

Xinghe was staring at her pale white neck which was exposed, and he had the urge to kiss it.

In the end, he removed the black cashmere scarf and wrapped it around Jiahe’s neck.

“This is so warm,” Jiahe commented.

Xinghe was fully covered, and only her tiny face was revealed amongst the thick clothing. She was

blinking her jet-black eyes.

“I must say that I feel lucky that those guys back in your school did not know how to discern a good

girl.”

Since Jiahe’s ears were covered now, she could not hear what Xinghe had just said, “What?”

Xinghe gazed at her passionately and he pulled her in by her waist. Then, he said in a low voice, “From

now on, you will only have my eyes on you.”

Jiahe’s face immediately turned red.

She really wanted to tell Xinghe that normally, she would never attract any guys’ attention.

After some thinking, she finally had the courage to ask him straight, “Then am I… your girlfriend now?”

In Xinghe’s eyes, Jiahe should not ask such a question that was lacking in logical reasoning.

In his opinion, everything was black and white. There should not be a gray area in matters such as

human relationships.

He looked down at her face intensely and emphasized his reply, “Yes.”

“Then… are we considered to be dating now?” Jiahe asked her second question naively.

Xinghe did not like to answer stupid questions such as these, but since Jiahe was so unsure, he did not

mind to make her feel assured.

“Yes. I belong to you today.”

Jiahe let out a huge sigh of relief. At the same time, she could feel a sugar rush that seemed to ramp

up her excitement.

She had never felt such a feeling from Chi Jun back then.

That was because when she was in a relationship with him… Her love was unreciprocated.

It took two to make a good couple, but when she was with Chi Jun, he never bothered to acknowledge

her as his girlfriend, and unlike Xinghe, he would never admit that he loved her.

Jiahe stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then, she pecked at his lips and said,

“Although I am not too sure whether I fully love you or not, you don’t have anything to worry about. I will

do my best in this relationship and to love you more!”

Xinghe felt helpless and slightly upset the moment he heard that.

In his life, he had never pursued a woman. And this woman in front of him right now claimed that she

had not fallen for him yet.

Xinghe pressed on, “If another guy treats you well today, are you going to change your loyalty and love

him instead?”

“...”

Xinghe felt a little angered when Jiahe could not produce an answer.

Despite that, Xinghe could not bring himself to get angry at her when he saw the uncertainty in her

eyes.

Why would he fall for such a naive and straightforward girl?

Xinghe continued to walk while Jiahe was following from behind. After some time, she finally spoke, “I

don’t know how to answer hypothetical questions like that. I am not Shirley who receives the love of so

many people every day, so of course I can’t reject you when you are so good to me and you are so

great as a person too…”

Xinghe’s mouth twitched.

This girl was actually complimenting him, yet why did he feel unhappy?

Xinghe pulled her in and said, “What would you do if I like Shirley as well!”

“You can’t do that!” Jiahe answered without thinking.