Confrontation

Shen Qui frowned. This time, Lyca's voice didn't have a hint of ridicule in it. Was she serious? Just the thought of it made his heart skip. "You— Are you angry?"

She fought the urge to laugh. No, she wasn't. This was not anger. This is confusion. "No." She answered, still smiling.

That fake smile again, he thought and turned his head away. Then he just followed Lyca out of the building. Shen Qui felt frustration bubbled inside him. He was not f*cking naive.

He knew he liked her. His attraction had been growing every day and yet, she doesn't even take him seriously. 

He hated it.

But is he really going to act like a f*cking coward and hide his emotions around her? Clenching his teeth, Shen Qui remembered how Lyca told him not to act like a boy if he didn't want her to treat him like one.

Shen Qui had been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice them arrived in the mansion.

"Hey," He walked towards her then pulled her to her room.

"Is there a problem?" This time, she didn't ask him to let her wrist go. This time she didn't have the urge to fight him.

"We need to talk." He closed the door behind him, locking Lyca's room.

"About?"

"I like you."

Lyca's eyebrow lifted. The confession wasn't a surprise. 

She knew. She could feel it. She wasn't someone with a teenager hormone who couldn't even tell that a man likes her. "And?" However, she also knew she couldn't give him something more than this… something more than what they currently have. She lifted her gaze to his.

"You're not gonna push me away, are you?"

Surprised at his question, Lyca immediately noticed that he took a step towards her. She took a step back, it was instinct kicking in. "Why the hell would I push you away?" To be honest, she was too lazy to deal with relationships. She had trust issues and a crazy mind. Her heart had been ripped out of her chest and sewed back in. She was someone compromised. And he deserved someone better than that. He deserved better than her.

He narrowed the small distance between them, his hands were still on her wrist. He stood in front of Lyca, his presence towering over her.

"You told me not to act like a boy."

"And?" she asked, curious.

"I am not planning to keep my emotions bottled up."

"So?" She raised her chin as if challenging him to tell her more.

"I know you don't like me."

That was wrong. Lyca fought the urge to argue. She doesn't necessarily hate him. And yes, maybe she liked him and his presence. "I can't give you the thing that you want." She decided to be honest. She was not planning to prolong this matter.

Her heart… had been sealed away. Broken, betrayed, and battered, she wasn't planning to give it to someone else again.

"I know."

"Then? Why tell me you like me?" She knew he was smart and perceptive. A little innocent but definitely not dumb.

"Because… " he swallowed as he stared at her eyes, his Adam's apple bobbed. "Because I am willing to take what you can give."

She froze at his words. Take… whatever it is that she could give? The word sound sweet she felt her gut hurt.

He moved closer and she took another step back until her back hit the wall. She felt the hair on the back of her neck lifted. She could sense danger from a mile away and right now, she knew that the man in front of her was the danger... to her heart. She gulped.

"It's not in my nature to trust people." She managed to say. At least not anymore. She couldn't even trust herself. How could she give something that she doesn't have?

"You don't have to trust me." He answered almost immediately. "It is enough that I trust you."

Her lips pressed tightly together but she didn't argue. Shen Qui blindly took the pills that she gave, not even asking what it was. As if realizing her thoughts, Shen Qui's lips lifted into a smirk.

"I am not dumb Lyca." He uttered, his voice a little dark, humorless as he pressed his body against hers."I know one of the two pills that you gave me on that day was poison. I know that one of the pills that you give me after that was the cure. To avoid the symptoms, you have to give me the pills every day. Betraying you would mean... I would die too."

For a few seconds, she felt her throat turned dry, unable to refute his words.

"I know that you asked to live with me because you sense the internal energy around me, you thought I was planning to do something bad to your family. So you decided to always keep me close."

He knew. Lyca never thought that he would know. Her gaze turned complicated. Seeing this, Shen Qui added. "I also knew that you can use both your right and left hands while everyone knows that you are right-handed. You don't like yellow but your mother likes it so you wear it in front of her. Sometimes you are too lazy to comb your hair so you tie it in a bun instead. You hate your long hair but your mother loves it so you chose to keep it." He was trained to observe. He was trained to remember every little detail. And Shen Qui remembered every little detail about her.

"You are dangerous. More dangerous than everyone that I have met before. But that won't stop me from trusting you."

"You know too much." She hissed. Logic dictates that this Shen Qui needed to die for knowing a lot of things about her. But Lyca was never the type to follow normal logic. She watched as he tilted his head, amusement flashed in his eyes. 

"You're not planning to kill me are you?"

"And if I do?" She countered, waiting for the fear to flashed in his eyes. She was waiting for him to realize that this confrontation was wrong. That he made a mistake.

"It's your choice." He shrugged. "I would have died if you didn't save me back then. You already own my life, Lyca Huang." He took a step back. "You can do whatever you want."