80 What things?

"You left me." He uttered the words out bitterly as he stood up to his full height. The imposing manner of his stance made Ying Yue want to shrink into a puddle of water. His eyes watched her like a hawk and he walked closer to her until she was trapped between him and the door. "You just sent me a text message and you disappeared."

"I'm sorry." Her eyes looked up at him guiltily, but he saw no regret in them.

Fei Huangjin's hands balled into fists. If she only knew what he'd felt when she disappeared without a trace. He had thrown himself into his work and slept in the office. He even refused HR when they provided a temporary replacement for Ying Yue during her absence. On his phone, there were numerous missed calls from his mother and the Fei family household that Fei Huangjin refused to return.

They stood there in silence, and he never felt such a gap between two people than the way he did now.

"Did I do anything?" He gazed down at her, not bothering to hide the obvious disappointment on his face as she offered no further explanation with what happened.

His question threw her off, and she shook her head in response. "No, of course not. There were just some things I needed to do."

"What things?"

"I can't tell you."

"What things?" He repeated -- startling Ying Yue as he placed both hands against the door behind her, trapping her in between his arms.

"I--" The words that she was going to say got stuck in her throat as she took in the pained look on Fei Huangjin's handsome face. Was he that affected when she took off? An unfamiliar feeling of concern and worry started to light up inside her, and she slowly lifted up a hand to touch his cheek that was marred with a bit of stubble. He hesitantly leaned into it, closing his eyes to savor the feel of her skin on his face. He might never get to feel it again.

Her beauty was frustrating. Her intelligence and brilliant insight were frustrating. Hell, even her personality was frustrating. She tormented him even without doing anything.

"If you're only forced to stay with me, I will let you go. There's no point in making the both of us hurt." He opened his eyes to look at her. His face was just a few inches apart from Ying Yue's, and she could feel his breath on her face as he talked. "You don't have to worry about Jade Circle. I already promised Big Boss to protect you. You'll just have to make do with acting as my girlfriend in public. I won't disturb you outside of that."

His words made Ying Yue's chest tighten. No, he misunderstood, she thought. "That's not--"

"I don't like secrets between us. I'm not dating you just for the fun of it. If you don't believe that you can think of me when you make your own little plans, or talk to me about the things that haunt you, then I don't know why you're even with me."

Her lips parted as if she was going to say something, but a minute passed and the only thing she did was shake her head. She didn't know what to say. She'd never had a boyfriend. She didn't even have any friends other than the people at Juyan. Situations like this were extremely unfamiliar to her.

He searched her eyes for the answer to the question he'd been bugging himself with during the past couple of days. "Do you even like me? Even just a little bit?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation. Her lower lip quivered under his stare, and he was instantly reminded of the last time he kissed her. Her lips were as pale as they were just now. Honestly, he wanted to kiss her again.

He sighed. Her answer didn't do anything to ease the pain in his heart.

She didn't say anything else to him, and with the thought of himself doing most of the talking, Fei Huangjin suddenly felt tired. He carefully removed the hands he used to trap her against the door, and reached instead for the door knob.

"Where are you going?" Ying Yue was now in a state of panic. She didn't want him to leave like this. She would rather have him reprimand her for acting foolishly than to see him looking dejected. Without thinking, she blocked the door with both of her arms and even extended one leg up to make sure he couldn't pass.

Fei Huangjin's hand that was turning the knob stilled, and he glanced at the awkward position of her body as she tried to stop him from opening the door.

"You're not allowed to go."

He frowned. "What more is there to discuss? You're barely even talking. It seemed like I was just having a conversation with myself in here."