Chapter 494: Temporary v/s Permanent
The lunch venue was decided to be a pizza joint by none other than Jia because only cheese and fats would return any semblance to her mind she thought.
"What do you want?" She read the menu on the wide screen. "Oh that new pepperoni sounds fun..."
And extra cheese on top, but I will order it super quietly so Mingshen doesn’t know.
She looked up, only to find him staring down at her. His expression was just like before. Too thoughtful and stern at the same time. The cheese wasn’t in her system yet, so she promptly stood in the queue.
"Thank you for your order, Mam. Your order number is 24. The number will display on the screen once it’s ready. And yes, these are some plush goodies we are giving out for free as a promotion. You can pick whichever you like," the attendant brightly said.
"Oh!"
The furry plushies were palm-sized. One was a black and white panda, one a purple fox and the third was an orange cat. Jia stroked her chin in a deep thought.
"I will take this fox!" She grinned.
"Certainly, Mam."
When they returned to their seat, Mingshen swiftly grabbed her wrist, startling her.
"What is it?"
Mingshen eyed the fox and then looked back at her. "You like the fox?"
"Yes, it’s cute isn’t it?" She beamed and squished the plushie before him.
His eyes narrowed. "You chose the fox...because it’s purple?"
"Nope. Color has nothing to do with it. The panda and cat were adorable too."
So purple is not her favorite color?
She didn’t find the panda and cat appealing either. So it’s safe to cross out black, white and orange too.
"The fox looks like you, so I took it~"
"..."
Mingshen stared at the fox. Then he opened his phone’s front camera and took a good look at himself.
"Spicy, your eyes need to be checked. Let’s head back to my lab right away."
"Whaaat? Just look at it. The cunning eyes and snarky expression. It’s like Dr. Yang Mingshen in the flesh."
Mingshen wasn’t shy in expressing his most blatant grimace he had ever given in his life up to this point. Then a thought crossed him.
"So you took him because he reminded you of me? Which means you want to keep it beside you at all times, day and night, awake or asleep?" He raised a brow.
She snorted. "Stay within the lane. He certainly looks like you, but he is a cute, furry plushie to hug."
"Not furry, but I am also cute to hug. You must remember these chest and arm muscles. You were sleeping quite fondly in them that-"
A kick on the knee from under the table was his last warning signal.
No private talks in a pizza joint!
Fortunately for her, their order number lit up on the screen and Jia rose to collect it. Two minutes later, the whiff of cheese through her nostrils made her drool and stomach growl.
"Is that extra cheese I see?" Mingshen’s eyes narrowed.
"*Ahem!* It’s just a regular pizza," she proceeded to take a bite.
Before she knew it, a lightning fast move grabbed the receipt, whereupon Mingshen found the real culprit.
"Topping: extra cheese."
Damn it, I got seduced by cheese.
"Anything to say in your defense, Spicy?"
Jia took a casual look. "Oh? They added extra cheese topping? I don’t know. Did our order get mixed up perhaps?"
"Shall I clear the air with the attendant then?" He smiled.
"...Mistakes happen, you know. We should learn to move on."
He sneered. "Yeah sure. I imagine it must be so difficult for your heart to move on from such a pleasant mistake."
She took another bite in silence, her eyes staring at the red pepperoni.
"You should eat yours before it getsh cold," she said with a mouthful of bite.
The silence stretched for a spell when Jia finally asked, "...Are you mad at me?"
He paused, then squinted. "What’s your evidence, Inspector Song?"
"Less grinning, more squinting, more silence, so yes, all your social cues point out to you being angry at me."
"And what is the ’why’ behind this puzzle, Inspector?"
Her brow twitched, and she let out a cough.
"Clearly, you got hurt by my implication that I don’t belong in your family."
"Uh-huh."
"But I didn’t mean that."
"What was the other underlying meaning I couldn’t decipher in your words?"
"Um..."
I am not even sure how to explain it...
"It’s...it’s not like I want to feel this way," she cleared her throat, more conscious of how to frame it next as she kept tapping her fingers against the table incessantly.
"It’s j-just a little difficult to get too comfortable. My stay was only supposed to be temporary until I would feel better."
"It wasn’t temporary for me," he shot back, irked and bothered.
Jia’s eyes widened, slightly startled. "Did you assume it would be permanent?"
"Why not?"
Jia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "How could I impose myself like some leech?"
"You are not a leech!!" He retorted in a voice slightly louder than necessary, earning him shocked and curious gazes from the other customers.
"Ssshhh!! Not so loud, Mingshen. This is a public place," she whispered.
Jia turned around and chuckled awkwardly. "It’s nothing serious. We are sorry for the disturbance. Please return to your meal."
Being in a cop’s uniform, everyone unanimously decided not to stretch the commotion further. Jia sighed in relief and glanced at him.
"Keep your voice low, Mingshen. We cannot disturb other customers here."
His gaze darkened. "I don’t care about other customers here. I care about why the hell would you call yourself a leech?"
"No, no, I didn’t call myself a leech-"
"Are you gaslighting me right now?"
"I said like a leech."
"How is it different from comparing yourself to a leech?" his handsome features began to contort with ugly lines of bottled up fury. "Were you implying you would be a leech sucking off the free roof and money? So you see yourself living with us from this angle rather than opening your eyes to Mom and Dad’s love, Bojing’s love and...!"
"And...."
My love.
Was what he had wanted to end his argument with but couldn’t.
I am not gonna confess in a damn pizza joint!
"Everybody’s love is what I mean!"
Jia shook her head anxiously. "That’s not it..! I really do appreciate everyone showering their love upon me-"
"It doesn’t look that way to me, Spicy. After all this time we spent together, I didn’t know you were thinking of yourself in such derogatory terms. Do you want to leave that badly?"
Comments