10 Because I'm Mo Chou

Zhi Ruo widened her eyes. For a moment there, she could've sworn that he felt familiar. But that was impossible. He was already long gone. If he did come back, she would've known. She would never forget such a face.

She shook her head and convinced herself. Yeah… It was impossible…

"By the way, I still don't know your name. Judging from the way you handled it back there, you're supposed to be a fellow classmate. But I don't recall seeing your face."

The man let out a chuckle.

"I don't think you would want to find out."

Zhi Ruo furrowed her brows and grabbed the cup of water.

"Why not?"

He held her gaze as she felt herself drowning in them. Such deep brown eyes reminded her of chocolate and she still couldn't shake the feeling they had met before.

"Because I'm Mo Chou."

Pfft!

Zhi Ruo spat out water, spraying it all over the him.

Impossible! Although she more or less felt like it was him, still admitting it himself was a shock.

"Wha…" Zhi Ruo was in disbelief. She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.

He didn't flinch and only sighed.

"If I knew that was the reaction I was getting then I would've brought a spare suit."

Then she remembered what he called her earlier. Xiao Ruo… Such a name should only be said by the people close to her.

"You… how could you be here?" she muttered.

Over the years, despite being indignant about not caring about him, she still kept tabs on his whereabouts but ever since the incident 5 years ago, she had lost all news of him. After that, she stopped searching and buried herself in work.

Mo Chou wiped his face and gazed at her in an attempt to gauge her reaction. So far, he was not surprised that she was in disbelief. Anyone would be. After disappearing for 7 years, it was understandable that many people would be shocked. If he did not appear five years and started his own company, he might've never returned.

"Why? I'm not allowed to be here?" he said teasingly.

"That's not what I meant." she frowned. "Regardless, this is…"

"Great? Amazing? Fantastic?"

She snapped her head towards the door. If she found a distraction and ran away, he would never be able to catch her. After all, from what she knew, he was not the athletic type.

"A mistake…" she said softly.

Mo Chou felt a prick in his heart.

While he was distracted, Zhi Ruo made a break for it.

Yes! Now if she could regroup herself and tell Xiao Tong, a solution might just pop up and she could continue her life without him in the picture.

Just a little more…

Unfortunately for her, Mo Chou was no longer the same person he was in highschool. Within these few years, he had a strict regimen in regards to his physique. All in order to become a better person. For himself. And for her.

Zhi Ruo felt a tug at her arm as she fell backwards.

What the…

Just as she thought of falling, her back hit a hard chest as she stumbled.

Hard?

When on earth did he lose his baby fats? She clearly remembers that his body was never this fit and hugging him was akin to hugging a bear. Now… The impact made her groan in pain.

"Why the heck is your chest so hard…?" Zhi Ruo rubbed the back of her head.

Mo Chou grabbed her by the shoulders and made her face him. "Don't run away."

She caught his gaze again.

That damn gaze. Deep enough for her to drown in and fall into a state of hypnosis. This is clearly dangerous. She felt her heart skip a beat.

No!

She did not want to get sucked into another one of his tricks. She would never fall for it again.

She turned her head away. "I'm not. I just remembered that I had to get home, my plants are waiting for me to water them."

Her excuse sounded good but Mo Chou knew for sure that she was avoiding him. It made him sigh in resentment. Such an explicit act of avoiding him, who wouldn't have been hurt?

Regardless, he had no right. Not anymore. The only way to get her trust back again was to take small steps. He swore to make it up to her. And when he finally achieves it, he's never going to let her go.

He turned his gaze to the outside. "It's cold at night. Spring has just begun so here." He removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders. "This should keep you warm."

"I don't nee-"

"Take it as a gift. If you don't want it then throw it away. I don't mind," he softly interjected.

His tone made her shut up.

If he put it that way then it would be rude to turn him down. She gripped the coat. It felt smooth and soft to the touch. Definitely not an ordinary piece of clothing. Such good texture and he wanted her to throw it away? That would just be petty of her to throw such a good coat away.

She sighed in reluctance. "Fine. I should go now."

She turned to leave. Mo Chou smiled helplessly as he watched her leave the building without turning back.

Well… Should he say that he made progress?

…

Xiao Tong was busy cleaning the place up. Or rather, she was busy instructing the others to clean up. Most of the mess was already cleared and the others have all left.

Only the staff were left to really clean the place. Just as she was preparing to leave, she heard the whining of the man by the bar.

"Noooo! I don't want to leave!"

He was wasted. The bartender felt his head throb at this stupid customer. The others have already left, if it wasn't because he had to close up the bar, he would've long left the place.

"Sir, please understand. It is already nearing 9. I need to close the place. You're the only one left," the bartender politely said.

However, even though the man had very politely told him, the drunk man clearly had no intentions of leaving. He was clutching a bottle of wine as he slumped on the counter.

"No! Xiao Chou left me here. He left me here! How dare he?"

Even from afar, Xiao Tong could already feel the growing headache. She felt bad for the poor bartender as she recalled that she was also in a drunken state a while ago. If it weren't for Zhi Ruo, she might have stayed drunk all night.

She walked towards the bar and nodded at the bartender, signaling that she would take over for him. "Also, can I get a glass of cold water?"

The bartender nodded and went into the back.

She then proceeded to approach the man.

Pah!

Xiao Tong did not hesitate to slap him in the head.

This hit made him snap out of his stupor.

"Who hit me?" he turned to face his right and saw Xiao Tong who stood menacingly, glaring at him. However, the glare had no effect as he was still under the effects of the alcohol.

"I hit you! What are you going to do about it? You'll also hit me? How about I tell your wife just how much you drank tonight? Let's see if you still have the courage to act childish!" Xiao Tong berated him.

It was in the exact moment that the bartender came back and handed her a glass of cold water. Xiao Tong nodded gratefully and proceeded to splash the glass on Chen Zhou's face.

"Are you sober now?"

Chen Zhou blinked a few times.

"Aiya! Xiao Tong, what are you doing here? Where are the others?" he furrowed his brows as he scanned the deserted place.

Xiao Tong rolled her eyes. "Obviously the party's over. You've been drunk since a while ago and the bartender was getting enough of you. You're lucky that I was here to help you. Unless you wanted to get kicked out by security."

Chen Zhou glanced at the bartender who gazed at him in disdain. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head and apologized.

"So… It's only us?"

"Good job, Captain Obvious! Now because of you I have to go home alone and left Xiao Ruo with a fellow classmate."

This seemed to pique his interest. His eyes lit up as he intently stared at her. "Oh? Pray tell who's this fellow classmate. A man or woman?"

Xiao Tong did not sense anything wrong with his words and did not hesitate to reveal everything. "A man. Speaking of that man, I don't remember him at all from our reunion. However since he was able to come tonight, he was most definitely an old classmate. He was unusually tall, a bit taller than Xiao Ruo. And he was handsome. Not really my type but he was certainly attractive."

Chen Zhou realized who she was describing as his face paled. This did not went unnoticed by Xiao Tong as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Wait a minute… You know something, don't you?"

"What? I don't know what you're talking about…" Chen Zhou avoided her gaze and laughed awkwardly.

Xiao Tong did not have the patience to play around and gripped his collar. "Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Chen Zhou broke out in a cold sweat.

Scary! This woman was scarier that his great grandmother!

"Okay I'll speak," he yelped. "Let me go first."

Xiao Tong released him and sat down on the stool next to him. "So, who is he?"

Chen Zhou sighed. "If you know then you're really not going to like it. Are you sure you want to know?"

She seemed to have a vague idea of who that man was, however the appearance was to far apart to actually convince her. However, taking notice of Chen Zhou, who was very close to that man… It seems that…

Xiao Tong suddenly paled.

"Don't tell me... It's him?" she sputtered in disbelief. "But that's impossible! The appearance are too far apart! No man could ever change that much. Also now is…"

Chen Zhou smiled sadly. It seemed he also knew what it meant.

"There's not much we can do," he said as his eyes held a hint of melancholy.

Xiao Tong also knew that she could no longer stop it. However, it did not mean she would give up.

"What now…"

Chen Zhou stared out at the cityscape. The dazzling lights twinkled in the night.

"We wait."