6 Chapter 6: Sulking

Qiao An looked so conflicted when Wallance approached and asked for her number the second time but, she didn't answer immediately. Qiao An was quiet as if she was thinking hard about something.

None of the three, Wallance and the Shen siblings, talked and they all had their attention towards Qiao An. It was until the kid who was with Wallance whined that they finally broke the trance.

"I'm sorry. I don't have the habit of giving my number to a stranger" Qiao An tugged the hem of Amy Shen's shirt so that she'll help her out.

"Ah, the groceries. We need to go now. Please excuse us; we have a lot of things to buy" Amy Shen pulled Qiao An's hand and walked away from Wallance and Shen Jun Shan. It's rude, of course, but Amy Shen had her reason that she could not stand the sight of Wallance.

Wallance looked at the back of Qiao An until they disappeared from his sight. After that, he smiled. He never feels as excited as he was right now. The more Qiao An declined him, the more determined he was to chase after her.

Qiao An looked even more beautiful than the last time he saw her in the restaurant. What he felt for Qiao An was not love, of course, but it felt slightly stronger than a crush. Wallance decided to pursue her to see where the feeling would take him.

"Don't mind An. She is shy around people" Shen Jun Shan tried to explain on behalf of Qiao An, but that earned him stink eyes from Wallance.

"I thought that you are not close to her. You call her An, is it? Can you help me with her? You should help your good friend, right?" Wallance knew that Shen Jun Shan will always help his friend, but this time, he was taken aback that Shen Jun Shan refused to help him.

"I can't. It's complicated. I need to go now in case my sister needs my help. See you" Shen Jun Shan waved at Wallance and walked away towards the direction that his sister and Qiao An disappeared to just now.

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A few days after that, Qiao An was helping Amy Shen to set up the plate on the table as Amy Shen invited her to have dinner together again. Shen Jun Shan did not help the girls, and he was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

Shen Jun Shan felt that Qiao An kept on looking at him and her eyes full of questions and maybe, accusations. He could not stand it any longer, so he asked her. "You keep on looking at me, why is that?"

Qiao An stopped setting the table and took out her mobile phone from her pants. Then, she showed him the chat messages.

It was messages from Wallance, and he was asking Qiao An to have lunch with him. Shen Jun Shan knew it was him because that stupid friend of him proudly wrote "Hi, I'm Wallance from the other day" as the introduction to his messages.

"How did he get my number?" Qiao An looked at Shen Jun Shan accusingly.

Shen Jun Shan didn't know how too. He will never give away someone's contact number without the permission of that person. "It wasn't me. Maybe he took it from my phone secretly" Shen Jun Shan tried to explain more, but Qiao An looked so upset that he couldn't help but apologising even though it wasn't his fault.

Even during eating, Qiao An was still sulking. She won't look or talk to Shen Jun Shan, so he got frustrated. He tried asking Qiao An about her day, but Qiao An brushed him off like he did not exist.

"An, it wasn't me. I swear. You need to believe me. My record was clean. I never got into trouble before. Even during school, I never got called to the discipline room. Wallance is just desperate. You can block him if you want. Why are you like this?"

Qiao An looked at Shen Jun Shan mockingly. Never got called into discipline room? That was one big fat lie. But when she thought about it, it wasn't Shen Jun Shan's fault if Wallance got her number secretly from Shen Jun Shan's phone. So she decided to let him off for once.

Even after eating dinner, Shen Jun Shan did not help with the dishes. He went back to the living room to watch television. Just as he flopped down on the sofa, Qiao An's phone on the coffee table vibrated.

Jin.

Shen Jun Shan was pretty sure that Jin was a male name. He looked towards the kitchen, and the girls were chatting happily. The call stopped after a few seconds, but the same caller called again.

"An, someone's calling you. It's Jin. He called twice. I think you should answer this call. It seems urgent" Shen Jun Shan took Qiao An's phone to the kitchen. Qiao An turned around and looked at the caller, and then she told Shen Jun Shan to ignore the call.

Shen Jun Shan wanted to know why but he didn't ask. He brought the phone back to the coffee table and let it vibrated for a few more times. Shen Jun Shan concluded that the Jin guy could have the same fate with Wallance. Maybe he was one of the men who were interested in Qiao An but got ignored as they won't provide her meaningful interaction as Qiao An called it.

The phone kept on vibrating for a few times, and Shen Jun Shan wanted to move it into the sofa as the vibration sound won't be that much there, but he accidentally pressed the answer button. Shen Jun Shan wanted to hang up, but he heard a male voice, so he continued listening.

A male voice could be heard from the other end. "Xiao An, you did not call or send me messages for a few days. What do you think you are doing?" The voice was stern and very manly. Shen Jun Shan was curious.

"What are you doing with my phone? Argh, you didn't answer it, right?" Qiao An walked towards Shen Jun Shan.

"Sorry, I accidentally pressed the answer button" Shen Jun Shan handed the phone back to Qiao An.

Qiao An took a deep breath before she answered the phone. "Hello".

"A male voice. Who is that? What are you doing with a man? Where are you now? Xiao An, don't lie to me" The male voice was angry.

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Ten years ago.

A boy came to the classroom to tell Qiao An that the discipline teacher called her to the staffroom.

All the other students in the classroom threw a curious look at Qiao An. This would be the first time she got called into the discipline room, and Qiao An was dying to know why.

The teacher had a confused look on his face as he saw Qiao An approached him. He asked Qiao An to sit down before asking.

"I know you are a good student and never make any problem before. I'm sure that you might want to try a lot of things and I am going to be open-minded. So please answer me truthfully, is that okay Qiao An?"

Qiao An nodded to indicate her full cooperation.

"I received a report from a student. That student said that she saw you were kissing behind the laboratory yesterday during noon. Is that true? You can tell me honestly" It was evident that the teacher chose his word carefully.

"I was behind the laboratory at noon yesterday to pick up aloe vera for Mrs Lee but kissing? I don't. It's not me. I don't have time for that kind of things. I mean, look at me. I'm not exactly pretty. Nobody likes me, and I don't have a boyfriend. That report is invalid" Qiao An did not have time to deal with stupid rumour.

The teacher continued questioning her, so Qiao An told him all the things she saw. Like how she saw an unknown male and female student walked towards the back of the laboratory when she was on her way back to Mrs Lee.

The teacher called a few male students for Qiao An to identify. One of them was Shen Jun Shan. Right after Shen Jun Shan reached the staffroom, the teacher asked if the male student Qiao An saw was Shen Jun Shan.

Qiao An did see Shen Jun Shan behind the building, but it was for a different reason. So, she said 'NO'.