Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Chapter 1000  A thousand words left unsaid

Shui and Yuze walked in silence at the nearby park with the cool night breeze brushing past them. There wasn't much of an atmosphere left after Jin and Alix's appearance so they quietly left the restaurant a few minutes later after they did.

"I am sorry Shui."

Shui looked up at him. "Why are you apologizing?"

"The atmosphere got a bit…heated because of me."

"It wasn't your fault."

"No, it was. I know where Liu Jin is coming from. It certainly is odd to help Mui when she has gone against Alix in the past. It becomes weirder because Alix was my ex-girlfriend. But trust me, I am only helping Mui because of our family friendship. Plus with the faulty raw materials incident…I feel I am equally responsible and not just Mui. That's why I feel I should help her out."

"I understand, Yuze," she smiled.

They continued to walk until a point when Shui realized that Yuze wasn't beside her anymore. She turned and found him standing still at the back.

"What happened?"

Yuze stared at her. "Do you still cannot decide on an answer, Shui?"

She blinked.

"Because it seems that Liu Jin has."

"What…do you mean?"

"You cannot turn a blind eye anymore, Shui. It has become crystal clear now that he…I don't know if he has realized it yet that he is starting to like Alix."

She froze.

"Earlier, I said he is using you and Alix both. But I don't feel that anymore. I think the more he is spending time with her, the more he is beginning to…The only reason he was so hostile towards me today and confronted me regarding Mui was because of Alix. That concern is beyond friendship."

He walked towards her, bridging the distance between them. He peered at her with a knowing gaze.

"If I can see that, then I am sure you have too. Especially you being Liu Jin's childhood friend. You understand him better than anybody else. That's what you were trying to figure out while walking just now, weren't you?"

Shui attempted to smile. "I…I think you are mistaken, Yuze."

"As a man, I clearly sensed his hostility. He was warning me to back off. It's like he was giving me a chance to reconsider getting involved with Mui and hurting Alix in the process. He has seemed to move on, Shui."

Shui felt a lump in her throat but couldn't form any retort to his argument.

"Frankly, it makes me furious. It always seemed to me that you both were struggling in the last six years. But I guess it was fairly easy for him. He only needed someone to replace you."

"I think we are assuming here a lot, Yuze-"

"The phase of assumptions is over for me, Shui," his eyes narrowed. "It's just a matter of time. And you have given a lot of your time to him. Do you not realize it even now?"

He stepped closer, whispering the bitter truth. "He is beginning to see Alix as a woman."

—

"You ruined my plans!" Alix confronted him, arms folded to her chest.

"You mean enjoyment," Jin dryly remarked.

"One and the same thing. I wanted to play all sorts of mind games with him and see where he would slip. But you just barged right in headstrong."

"Good that I did or God knows how long would you have taken? Just eat your meal."

"That's some attitude to have when it could have almost deterred him from colluding with Mui."

"I have the right attitude. You are too relaxed especially when…"

Alix popped in a piece of the pork meat and raised a brow. "When?"

The thing I felt at the restaurant before…was it…?

"Don't create any mystery here, Liu Jin."

His foggy daze broke and he looked at her. "Why do you keep calling me by my full name?"

She blinked. "What else should I call you?"

She paused and grinned. "Fairy Liu Jin?"

His brow twitched. "I mean just call me Jin."

"Huh? Why?"

"Don't I call you Alix?"

"I am fine with that but just using your name would feel too casual," she tilted her head.

Jin stared at her, dumbfounded. "You care about that now? When you have threatened a check out of me and barged into my work space and did what not to use me? Where was your formality then?"

"..."

He has a point.

"So…Jin? Just Jin?"

"Yeah."

"Or maybe Jini-boy?" Her eyes twinkled.

His face blackened. "Dare you do that and - mmpfh!"

Alix forced a braised pork piece into his mouth. "You should eat some too. You cannot put up a fight with an enemy on an empty stomach."

She pushed another piece into his mouth, making his cheeks swell like a squirrel's cheeks.

"Wait, just stand like that. Don't move!"

Holding back her chuckles, Alix took out her phone and clicked a picture without wasting a second.

"Ah," she laughed heartily, "This will be my phone's wallpaper from now on."

Jin turned and stood beside her, his face blackening again. He saw another picture of his sleeping face just right next to this picture.

When did she click this?

"Ahaha…haha…you look like a chipmunk here…" her trembling finger pointed at the screen.

Jin faced her with a lot of grievances. But as her laughter echoed in the air, he felt his tongue swallowing back his words. He stared at her laughing face, his expression unreadable.

"Ahhh…That was a good laugh," Alix continued to chuckle. "Don't remember when I laughed this heartily last. I think your pictures will sell for a good chunk of money. What do you say?"

She looked at him only to find him looking back at her with a strange light in his eyes.

"Jin?"

She poked his shoulder next and waved her hand in front of his face, jolting him awake. "Helloooooo?"

"Huh?"

"I was saying selling your pictures would earn me some good chunk~" she asked, fully aware that he would be triggered.

Jin looked away, quickly swallowing the meat. "Yeah…go ahead."

Alix's eyes widened.

What, what, what? Why is he not shooting his signature glares at me?

Jin stared ahead at the vacant space, bothered about that tiny ticklish feeling from before when he saw her laugh. It felt as though countless words lingered on his lips, yet none found the courage to escape.

What was…that?