A scaredy cat

Zhan Yahui was stunned. "O-Of course not!"

Ai didn't pursue the matter. "It's fine. Now that the event is over, I will take my leave," she looked at Guiying. "Unfortunately, I don't think this is the right time for us to catch up. Let's meet sometime later."

Guiying blinked.

Why is Ai…

"Sure."

Ai nodded and left.

—

Stepping out of the temporary store room, Ai first went to the ladies' room to wash off the ink from her face. She wasn't sure if Jun had left or not, so she still held onto her mask and shades. Coming out, she slowly walked over to the place where the event was hosted. She paused at the desk where Guiying was until a few minutes ago.

Her fingers brushed along the surface. They slightly trembled as she pretended to sign her book. She pretended that a loyal fan of hers was standing in front of her, excited about her autograph.

"Pretty sister!"

Yinyin jumped to hug her, breaking her stupor.

"Yinyin."

His parents came behind him. "Hello. Before we left, we thought we should personally apologize to you. We are sorry for the trouble caused and thank you for helping Yinyin. To think you would bear the accusations for a stranger child to you…you are really kind."

The father nodded in appreciation.

She shook her head. "There is no need. I am thankful to you that you didn't scold Yinyin. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten the courage to confess."

The mother was surprised. "Oh no. That's not how it happened."

Ai blinked. "Meaning?"

"I mean Yinyin was quite nervous. When he came back, we felt that he wanted to say something to us, but he was really hesitant for some reason. I thought he wanted to apologize for running away but was too embarrassed to say it. Then a man suddenly came up to us…"

Yinyin exclaimed. "It was that big brother who saved us!"

*A few minutes before*

"Wait," a cold voice came from behind them. Yinyin recognized Jun and stiffened. "There is something your son has to do."

Yinyin's father was a little intimidated by his presence. "I-I don't understand."

Yinyin lowered his head, terrified.

Jun smirked. "Your son made a mess somewhere. He needs to apologize for it."

"Huh? Mess? Where?"

His mother looked at Yinyin. "Yinyin. What is this big brother talking about?"

"Um…" Tears welled in his eyes as he trembled. "I…"

"Look at me," Jun ordered the child. Yinyin instinctively looked up.

"You made a mistake and ran away. And now because of you, that sister is going to be blamed. There is no use if you just feel bad about it. If you cannot confess and say sorry, then you don't deserve to have any friends," he sneered. "Do you know? Nobody likes children who lie and run away because they are scaredy cats."

Yinyin burst into tears. "Waaaaaaa…"

The mother was displeased. "You…Is this how you talk to a little child?"

Jun evilly smiled. "This is exactly how you talk to a cowardly child. He doesn't want to get into trouble, but he is fine if the sister who saved him gets it? How can he live with that guilt? Yo, kid. Do you know what's gonna happen to that sister? She will be scolded for the mess you made. Everybody will hate her. She might even lose her job. All because she chose to save you. It's because of you that she will suffer."

"No…" Yinyin was terrified now. "Pretty sister is nice," he cried. "She saved me…"

He gave him a cold look. "Then why did you run away?"

"S-she said she will-"

"Handle it?" He scoffed. "She is an adult. Her heart is uselessly kind so of course, she will say that. You ran away because you got somebody to clean up your mess, right? Hey I am safe. Why do I care if the sister is scolded?" Jun didn't leave any chance of taunting that boy.

Yinyin was scared out of his wits. Suddenly, the burden of running away and leaving Ai alone felt to be too frightening. "I-I don't want pretty sister to be scolded…"

"Heh. If you don't want your friends to leave you or a monster eat you up because you were a bad child, then go back."

Yinyin paled with the threat. "I will say sorry!" He cried. "I-I will go back!"

When Yinyin began to sobbingly inform about the accident, Jun had quietly left without their notice.

***

Ai was beyond stunned.

Jun is…so evil. Threatening a child like that…

But what was more shocking was that he talked to Yinyin's parents into confessing the truth.

Why would he do this for me? She thought. At that time, he looked like he wasn't interested in helping me.

The mother sighed. "His way of talking was quite evil, almost like a villain, but it was the truth. It was because of him that Yinyin got the courage."

"I see…Thank you for telling me this."

Yinyin exclaimed. "Pretty sister, I promise I won't run away again! If I mess up again, I will always say sorry!"

She ruffled his head. "En. That's good."

She glanced at the parents and said with an urgency in her voice. "Please…Please don't scold Yinyin when you get back home. Children's minds are really delicate. You might not understand but if you are too harsh then…t-they might not be able to bear it…"

Yinyin's parents assured her. "No, no. We won't scold him, we promise!" They solemnly nodded.

Ai felt relieved and smiled within her mask. "Thank you."

As the trio left, Ai was in deep thought when she heard a voice.

"Ai."

She stiffened. She turned and saw Yating behind her.

Ai immediately turned to leave. Yating widened his eyes. "Wait! I want to talk to you."

"I don't."

"Ai, you are not okay," Yating's face was marred with worry. Then a layer of ice covered his eyes as he realized. "Ai, I will thoroughly talk to Zhan Yahui. I was hell mad when my assistant told me that she wanted you to apologize! I will not let this matter slide. I will deal with her. Rest assured," his voice didn't have a single trace of warmth in it.

"I don't want any explanation, and I am not mad anymore either," Ai expressionlessly stated.

He stared at Ai and quietly asked, "Ai, about-"

"Gu Yating. Can I leave?"

He froze and blinked. "Ai, you…"