His Older Self

Rhea directly went to the restaurant after talking to Ryan. The crew members together with Yuan Yu were there. They all seemed to be excited and cheerfully chatting. Seeing them Rhea's mood is heightened.

Also, she was relieved. She felt like she is free from her tragic feelings at that moment. She had finally confessed.

Although he would never accept her love, she had done everything she could for this love. She tried her best. There were no more reasons to be pretentious, no more need to hide her feelings, and no more reasons to lie!

With this, even though she was sad, deep down she was satisfied. She doesn't have any regrets now!

She joined the group since she chose to indulge herself in something else and ordered her favorite dish.

Ryan didn't immediately. He was thinking. He was confused.

Also, her confession itself was confusing!

That time, he remembered what Yuan Yu told him the day before.

'She is too young!'

Rhea clearly told him that she loves him but wants to forget him. He was confused, whether if it was because her feelings are not strong enough because of her age!

He can confess his feelings but what if she changes with time? What will he do then?

He was so sure that he can't afford to lose her once she is his! If she chose to leave him in the middle, he would go insane!

Also, he is still a celebrity. If they start dating, will she be able to handle the pressure from this industry as his girlfriend? Of course, he would protect her at all cost, but will she be happy with the life he is living? Will she be able to adapt to his lifestyle?

He was scared. He didn't dare to take the risk but didn't want to lose her as well.

So he chose to let the time decide. He wanted to wait, just like Yuan Yu advised him.

She is still a student who is in her early twenties so he shouldn't give her any trouble before she graduates.

Yet, he was also sure that he can't let her go. So he wanted to make sure that she will never leave him before taking the next step. He wanted to make it hard for her to leave him. Since her love is not that strong yet, he wanted to nourish it himself.

For this, he wanted to show her his love without confessing!

As the first step of his long-term plan, he entered the restaurant, although he was not hungry.

That time Rhea saw him by the door. He too found her in the crowd. Rhea who was so sure that Ryan doesn't feel anything for her, simply broke the eye contact, ignored him, and started eating.

Ryan walked to the table and purposely chose the seat opposite Rhea's. This made her unable to lift her head and look in front of her. She continued to eat, so focused on her plate.

This slightly enraged Ryan. She literally baffled him with the confession and now he is helpless. If she is going to avoid him, she shouldn't have confessed in the first place.

'What a troublemaker?'

The angered Ryan pulled the chair, disrupting the conversation of the people on the table. Everyone looked up because of the intervention except Rhea!

Seeing him a few of them cheerfully welcomed him.

He just nodded and sat down in his seat.

There were so many empty seats but he chose to torment Rhea by sitting there. Cruel!

With that, Rhea lifted her head. She agitatedly looked at him. He firmly looked at her! Rhea had to immediately lower her head and focus on her dinner.

She couldn't eat anymore. She was muddling the food on her plate. He kept looking at her moving hand.

"Mr. Ryan, you're here finally!", someone cheerfully pulled him into their conversation.

"Thanks for the tour, Ryan. We are really enjoying ourselves", someone continued.

Rhea slightly frowned hearing this. The movement of her hand ceased.

'Is he the one who has arranged the tour???'

His gaze once fell on her face before drifting away to the man who spoke a moment ago. He nodded with a smile.

Since he was busy talking to them, and his gaze was not fixed on her, Rhea could eat.

"What do you want for dinner?", Yuan Yu asked him.

"I'm not hungry!"

Rhea dubiously looked at him in between her munches. 'Then why are you here?', she thought!

"You didn't have lunch, did you?", Yuan Yu asked him.

He remained silent.

"Eat something! It's all tasty!", Yuan Yu continued to pester him.

He slightly frowned and observed all the dishes on the table. Then his gaze halted on Rhea's plate at last.

"Bring me what Rhea's eating!"

Hearing this Rhea choked on her food. She looked at him once again while coughing.

He handed her a glass of water without saying a thing. She grabbed that from him and drank it while looking at him.

Ryan was not looking at her anymore. He calmly started to chat with Yuan Yu. Rhea totally lost her appetite.

The conversation continued peacefully for a while.

Just for a while...

"It's a nice restaurant"

"Yes, this is my favorite one here", said Ryan.

"The food is good too"

"Yes," he replied.

"But, why did you chose the glowing beach? We've already been there", this time Yuan Yu showed her disappointment.

Ryan with a serious face, replied, "I wanted to show it to Rhea!"

Thankfully Rhea wasn't eating anything at that moment so she didn't choke to death.

It won't be an overstatement to say that everyone sitting around that table was quite shocked hearing this.

"Yes, yes... She is the only one here who hasn't visited there." Yuan Yu grabbled the concern of others.

"Last time we were here" a man from the crew turned and continued to explain it to Rhea.

"You wanted to see the stars last night. Do you remember?", Ryan suddenly intervened, ignoring everyone, and asked Rhea in a very gentle voice!

What's his deal? Rhea was so helpless!

Ryan never talked this casually with her even in the times of shooting when she was his assistant. It was exactly like back in Alaska when they completely ignored everyone around and spoke their minds. This talkative Ryan is new to the other people on the table.

Even though she was worried, Rhea nodded since the question was directed towards her.

"You can stargaze there, also, the ocean itself would look like another starry sky.", he continued.

Yuan Yu was not sure why he is doing this but she could see the adversities of his actions. She didn't want him to behave this way when everyone's around.

Rhea too looked flustered. So it would look like Ryan bullying her to anyone.

"Rhea, you like lobster right?", she asked to change the subject.

Rhea lifted her head towards Yuan Yu and nodded. She looked so helpless. It was a pity to see her like that.

That expression must have cheered Ryan. He squinted his bright eyes, placed his elbow on the table, rested his chin on his hand, and pushed another bowl to Rhea.

"Eat this. This tastes better"

Rhea flusteredly looked at him.

She was about to cry due to that excessive care. Since he got her attention he smirked!

Rhea could clearly see he is deliberately doing this. This is not the Ryan she had got to know in Shanghai. This one is that bully she met back in Alaska.

As she continued to look at him, he continued, "Are you returning to Anchorage this week?"

Rhea carelessly looked at the food, but just nodded.

"When will you come back?"

"I don't know"

"Then should I join you?"

Rhea, Yuan Yu, and everyone else sitting at the table were shocked to the core. It left everyone open-mouthed.

"If you won't be there with me in Shanghai, I can't work!"

This left everyone googled-eyed.

"Ryan?", Yuan Yu tried to stop him from blabbering more.

He calmly turned to Yuan Yu and continued, "I'm used to her presence!"

"..."

For a moment or two, silence fell!

"Yes, yes, I too can't do anything without my assistant", Yuan Yu sheepishly laughed.

Some others at the table nodded.

"That's true"

"It will be difficult"

"Then Rhea, you should let your boss know when will you be back", someone who seemingly wanted to get on the good side of Ryan told Rhea.

"Yes, Rhea" Yuan Yu insisted.

Rhea was left with no other options. ".....I will be back in three weeks"

Hearing this, Ryan nodded seriously. "Don't make me wait for more than that", he added.

"It seems like you are very close with Rhea", someone asked him dubiously.

"Yes. I am. She is my..." before he could finish Rhea stepped on his leg under the table.

He lifted his eyebrows and looked at her. It may be her imagination, his eyes were extremely bright then!

"Stop it!" she mouthed silently.

He stopped then happily started to eat with a faint smile!

Although there were people who were curious 'what she is' nobody directly asked him. Yuan Yu changed the topic in discussion.

Once they finished eating, they boarded the cruise ship. Everyone was having fun but Rhea went to the deck since she wanted some time alone.

Ryan had thrown Rhea balance once again with his words. So she decided to stay there throughout the journey.

Ryan didn't follow her but kept an eye on her from afar since it could be dangerous. After a while, everyone went inside the cabin. So Ryan and Yuan Yu went to the deck.

"It's so windy", said Yuan Yu.

"Yes, it is", Rhea agreed. "How long will it take?", she continued.

"One more hour", Yuan Yu replied.

Ryan and Rhea with Yuan Yu in the middle didn't dare to look at each other. They were focused on the ocean.

As the wind blew wildly, Rhea's hair fluttered and she felt chill since it was nighttime.

Since Rhea fell silent after replying to her, Yuan Yu looked in Rhea's direction.

Rhea's side profile was only visible to her.

She could understand why her godson is smitten by this girl. She indeed was a rare beauty. Yuan Yu remembered the lines she read somewhere, 'A true beauty will be considered beautiful universally'. Rhea was definitely such a beauty indeed.

As she was pondering over her beauty, Yuan Yu could see the two slightly red marks on Rhea's neck.

"Rhea, what's wrong? Seems like mosquito bites", she pointed out her neck.

Rhea didn't know how she got them, so she just replied, "Don't know"

"There must be mosquitoes in the resort. Didn't you use any repellents?"

The day before she was not herself to start with.

"I didn't. I forgot",

"Do you have any?", Yuan Yu asked concerned.

"Yes I have"

"Wel,l use it today"

Ryan who was looking at the ocean, stayed silent listening to the ladies, turned to see what's wrong with Rhea. When he saw the mosquito bites on Rhea's neck, he understood that he was the mosquito!"

"It must be a huge mosquito. Look how reddened your skin is", Yuan Yu continued.

Ryan was really embarrassed and left helpless. So turned to fly inside the cabin.

"Where are you going?" Yuan Yu stopped him.

"The cabin!"

"Stay here. It's so noisy there"

He nodded with a frown. But Yuan Yu already saw the tip of his left ear which was red. It didn't take her so much to guess.

She was dumbstruck.

Yuan Yu was so shocked and embarrassed. She wanted some time alone to absorb the information.

"Rhea, wa... You stay here. My legs hurt. I want to sit for a while", she awkwardly left to the noisy cabin. Before she left, she handed over an ointment which she usually keeps in her bag to apply on the bites.

"Apply this. It'll disappear tomorrow"

Rhea accepted it. Yuan Yu didn't forget to glare at Ryan before she left the area.

Rhea gave it a thought while kneading the ointment on her neck.

She wondered about the missing memory fragments of the day before and that's how slightly remembered the rest of the night.

She remembered!

She abruptly lifted her head and looked up at Ryan who was standing there with a frown. She could only see his side profile.

He was standing right next to her and looking at the vast ocean with a red ear. His face showed no emotions, except for the frown. It was an indication that he is distressed.

'But why is his ear red?'

'Was it a dream?'

'Or not?'

That dream of her made her cheeks turn red.

Sensing her change he turned his head towards her.

She looked a little flustered as if she had remembered something important a moment ago. The two kept looking at each other's faces, overwhelmed with emotions. Then swiftly turned towards the ocean because of their own embarrassment. Their hands which were still holding the railing clenched.

"I'll go inside", Rhea who couldn't stand there anymore went inside. Ryan didn't drift his eyes from the ocean to send her in, nor nodded in agreement.

After that Rhea didn't get to meet Ryan. When everyone landed on the beach, Ryan chose to stay on the cruise ship for some reason.

The glowing beach amazed everyone.

The beautiful starry sky and the perfect blue glow from the ocean left those tourists astounded.

Nature's chams are inevitable but for Rhea, it was torture.

Rhea couldn't help but look in the ship's direction often. She couldn't see him there.

The blue glow from the ocean gave her a sense of nostalgia.

The day when they watched the aurora!

It brought back those memories. Those were the times which Rhea really wanted to stay in forever.

She understood that the time with him is the happiest for her.

With him around, she had stayed agitated the whole evening. Yet, it was exciting. She was indeed happy with what he had been doing that evening.

But now, she was agitated because he was not there. Rhea was not sure how she is going to live the rest of her life without his presence.

Although she tried so many times to escape reality, the results were always the same. It's him. Her happiness depends on her him.

As she continued to watch the scenery, lost in her thoughts, she heard his voice from behind, just like she heard it when she was watching the aurora.

She turned since she expected to see a mischievous Ryan of that day.

But it was not him. It was not anyone. It was just her imagination.

She searched for him in the crowd, but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Let's go back. I haven't packed the bag", Yuan Yu shouted to everyone.

When Rhea boarded the ship, Rhea saw Ryan who was still standing on the deck.

She wanted to bid him farewell since they'll be parting the next day. Before she could decide, Yuan Yu pulled her inside the cabin.

She couldn't talk with him that day.

On that night, between them, nothing happened after that, but Rhea started to miss him and this feeling grew with every second.

Ryan went back to his villa as soon as they reached the resort.

Rhea fell asleep with teary eyes that night.