64 Like A Gravity

"What is it that you're hesitating about?" Hiroto asked.

"Her."

Hiroto was dumbfounded by the word her. For a second there, his brain didn't seem to be working and only the word her rang in his head incessantly.

'Her.'

'Her?!'

'A girl?? Shoot!' Hiroto screamed inwardly.

Never in a million years, Hiroto would imagine this dull indifferent man would be worrying about a girl. Of all things, a girl. He thought at first it would be an annoying pest that he wanted to get rid off, a land he wanted to procure, someone's company that he wanted to rob off, but no! It was a girl.

Hiroto never once thought Jin Longwen was gay since he had done it before, once upon a time when he was on his rebellious phase. But, he never cared after the deed was done. After all, it was just a matter of fulfilling his biological need.

Yet now, a girl actually got him brooding all day long.

"Wait." Hiroto held his forehead. "I'm just making sure. This 'her' is not your cousin, long lost sister, or some friend whom I haven't meet before, right?"

Jin Longwen frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me clarify it. This girl is a stranger, yeah?"

Upon the mention of stranger, Jin Longwen absentmindedly nodded.

"Hmm..one last thing." Hiroto cleared his throat and carefully asked in a low voice, "Not a fuck buddy, right?"

With that, Jin Longwen pursed his lips, turned around, and proceeded to leave. However, Hiroto quickly stopped him by grabbing his hand. Looking disgusted, Jin Longwen ruthlessly slapped Hiroto's hand away.

Meanwhile, Hiroto grimaced in pain rubbing his now red hand. "It wasn't intentional. I don't want to hold your hand as well."

Jin Longwen became speechless looking at his friend blaming look.

"So?" Hiroto continued to push.

"She's just someone I met two days ago."

A knowing look appeared on Hiroto's face. "It's that girl, right? Mo Xianglei told me a girl beat you in a race."

"Hmm." Jin Longwen only gave a short respond.

"Oh wow..."

"What?" Jin Longwen raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nothing. So, she's living in City View Apartment?"

Jin Longwen passively nodded while turning to look at the apartment direction again.

'Oh...' Hiroto stared at Jin Longwen smilingly. 'He got it bad.'

But that was not what he needed to be thinking about right now. Moving to stand beside Jin Longwen, Hiroto asked while looking at the same direction, "If you want to, why are you hesitating?"

"Because I'm pretty sure she said good bye."

"She did?!" Hiroto was shocked by this revelation. "Did you tell her your name?"

Oblivious to his friend's reaction, Jin Longwen only nodded absentmindedly.

To his friend's nodding, Hiroto became even more surprised. It was rare to see a girl actually rejected this fabulous piece of insignia that represented power and status in Country S. Although his face might have been unknown to the mass, his name still smelled like a heroin to everyone from middle to upper class society.

'Unless, this girl is a foreigner? Or someone from the lower class? Impossible! She lives in City View, so outside the capital?' A series of question boomed inside Hiroto's head.

Well, albeit her background, it was a fact that this king seemed to have fallen in love with the girl. Looking at Jin Longwen, Hiroto smiled like a mother watching her child grew up healthily.

Hiroto sighed, patting Jin's shoulder. "You really like her, huh?"

Yet, to his surprise, Jin Longwen furrowed his eyebrows instead.

'Eh?' Hiroto blinked his eyes. "You don't like her?"

Jin Longwen ended up shrugging gloomily. "I'm not sure."

"Okay, what? How come you're not sure?" ...when you're obviously interested.

But, Hiroto refrained himself from saying the last bit because he wanted to know Jin's perspective first.

To that, Jin glanced at his friend and asked, "Can you confidently say you like a girl who you've only met for two days?"

Hiroto chuckled. "I think you got the word 'love' and 'like' mixed up here. I didn't ask you if you love the girl, but whether you like her. Love and like are two different words, Jin."

Jin Longwen appeared confused with his innocent blank look facing Hiroto.

"Look, like can be a temporary thing, a heat in the moment or even being sexually attracted, but nevertheless it's a form of attraction. While, love is a whole different scenario." Hiroto put both of his hands into his jacket pockets. He smiled looking down at the ground. "It's not something you can easily measure. You know...when you know it."

Jin Longwen raised an eyebrow watching Hiroto's eyes slowly shifted.

"Have you...have you felt it before?"

Again, Hiroto smiled but his smile did not reach his eyes. "Love you mean?"

"Hmm."

"I guess you could say that."

"How did it feel?"

"Different." Hiroto grinned.

Jin Longwen frowned as he asked, "You don't like it?"

However, Hiroto only shrugged his question off. Afterwards, silence descended upon them.

The nightly breeze blew upon the hem of their trench coats as the two figures stood by the side of the road staring at the same direction. But one towards City View Apartment and the other towards Royal Hospital.

"Jin," Hiroto suddenly called.

"Hmm?"

"What I mean by my answer before...it's different for everyone," he said. Then, he turned his head away from the Royal Hospital and in all seriousness, he asked, "How do you like her?"

With that question being thrown at him, Jin Longwen's mind instantly started to trace back his memories of Li Fei.

From her long dark hair, her pale complexion, her emotionless eyes, the way she tilted her head and her expression when she tried so hard to maintain her calm despite him teasing her.

Down to her smile, her cheekiness, and her eloquent way of retaliating. He remembered it all albeit their short meeting. And the more he thought about her, the more relax he became.

And unbeknownst to himself, his lips had curled upwards into the shape of a crescent moon.

Meanwhile, watching this scene from the side, Hiroto smiled as well.

"When I'm with her," Jin finally confessed, "For the first time after a long time, I feel like I'm truly walking."

"I did not waver nor did I stumble."

Hiroto raised an eyebrow when Jin Longwen stopped. He looked absentminded. And then, after a long pause, he concluded, "If I have to describe her in a sentence...."

"She feels like a gravity."

Hiroto was taken aback by Jin's remark. He never thought his friend would have already fallen this deep. It sent him chuckling.

Hiroto laughter snapped Jin out of his daydream and he immediately felt awkward upon realizing what he had just said.

"Nevermind," he spoke again, "I don't know what I'm talking about."

All of the sudden, Jin Longwen felt a weight resting on his shoulder. He looked up to see Hiroto grinning before he suggested, "If you don't know, why don't you go and find out?"

Jin's eyes slightly widened. "But, she won't like it."

After getting to know her, Jin was sure of this. Huang Li Fei had her guard up to everyone. It was to the point that he could see a 'do not disturb' sign on her back. It was pure luck for Jin to able to converse with her before and it was because he had saved her.

The situation gave him a chance, but that was it. Luck could only take him that far.

However, Jin found his friend chuckling once again and then he heard him asking, "Are you a seer? How do you know she won't like it when you haven't even tried yet?"

After that, for the first time, Hiroto was able to see his friend looking dumbstruck. Somehow, it pleased him to see Jin like this, standing like a lost lamb.

Hiroto patted his shoulder. "Good night, Jin."

Afterwards, Jin watched as his friend headed towards the spot where he parked his car. With his back facing Jin, Hiroto waved his hand. "See ya, brother!"

Jin turned his body towards the apartment again for the last time.

****

- SNEAK PEAK -

(On the next chapter...)

A loud screeching boomed into the air as the result of the collision. Every drivers nearby stopped their car immediately and got off to check the situation.

Jin Longwen slowly opened his eyes to see everything had turned upside down. Fighting back the pain pounding on his head, Jin Longwen struggled to unlock his safety belt.

All he could think of at that moment was...her.

With her tears streaming down her face and her soft fleeting voice as well, and whenever she called his name with a hint of playfulness.

'Mr. Jin.'

Gritting his teeth, Jin Longwen used his elbows to drag himself out of the car.

.... and then, he began to run. All drenched in blood, he ran with everything he got.