As Ai just turned, she was swiftly smothered into a familiar hug. "Ai!"
"Xing Bi," she hugged her back.
She grinned and patted her head. "Did you see Sky? Everybody has gone all out today!"
"Yes. I can feel the excitement in the air."
"Hehe~"
She then observed Ai's slightly red eyes and asked, flaring her nostrils, "Who bullied my Ai? Tell me the name!"
Ai smiled and hugged her tighter. "Nobody. I just felt a little emotional."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Xing Bi ruffled her hair. "If you say so."
"My hair…" Ai complained.
"Let me mess it up more!! Look who is hereeeee!" Nian furiously waved his hand, rushing towards them. "Your most favorite brother-in-law is here!"
Xing Bi was left speechless as he dashed to hug Ai. "Liu Nian, what are you doing here? Wait a minute, I thought Jun had made arrangements not to let you and your twin enter Sky," she threw him a suspicious look.
Nian stuck out his tongue. "Today is a big day for my little brother~ It's a special day when his dream came into existence. So no rules are applied hahaha!" He said while hugging onto Ai like a glue with a goofy grin on his face.
"No, I think the rules apply to you all year round," she dryly said, "And let go of my Ai or I will beat you up!"
Ai asked while she was still being tightly clung onto by Nian. "Does that mean Jian is here too?"
"Everybody is here today," he winked.
"Nian, you bastard! You dumped us and ran off just like that!" His twin brother's frustrated voice echoed from the back, who was slowly walking, carrying a big cake box in his arms.
But even his own girlfriend and little sister cruelly abandoned him, hopping towards Ai. "Sister-in-law!!"
Nuo beamed and hugged her with Leina joining them as well. Leina clapped her hands with delight. "Ai, you look so pretty today. And do I see your skin glowing more than before~?" she winked. "Seems like Jun is taking 'good' care of you~"
Ai didn't know whether to say thank you or blush.
Nuo pouted. "Of course, Bro Jun takes good care of sister-in-law. So much that he gets jealous of the cat hogging her time," she giggled. "Which reminds me that you have to let me meet the kitties, sister-in-law! I heard you and Bro adopted two cats," her gaze sparkled.
Ai beamed and nodded. "We did, indeed. You can come to the condo to meet them anytime."
Leina clapped her hands once more. "Perfect!"
Nuo and Leina's next target in line was Xing Bi, who was trying to escape before they noticed her. "Aish, where are you running off to, sister-in-law Xing Bi~?"
Leina evilly grinned. "I heard Nian and you spent some cozy time at your apartment with a totally romantic and dark atmosphere~ Now, don't be so hasty to leave."
Nuo winked. "You have to cough out all the juicy details~"
Xing Bi directed her glare at Nian. "Did you run your mouth once again?"
Nian only replied back with an innocent look.
Jian's heart was stabbed into pieces being left alone by everyone. Only a certain someone remained standing by his side. Jian kept the cake box aside and pulled his youngest brother in an affectionate hug. "Jin, you are the only one who cares about me!" He sobbed.
Jin escaped from his hug and made a face. "Ew. Stay away from me. I am here with you only because I don't want to be there."
"Aww, don't lie. I know how much you love me~!" He pinched his cheeks.
"You should stop living in…" From the corner of his eyes, he saw a pair of siblings arriving at Sky as well.
Nuo clapped. "Oh, Siying and Shui are here too!"
Siying chuckled and wrapped his arm around Jian's neck. "Why are you standing so separately like an odd man out?"
Jian sneered. "I will give you a thousand bucks. Let's beat up Nian."
"..."
"What did he do now?"
Nuo smacked her brother's head. "No violence on Bro Jun's special day today!"
"Tsk."
"Yes, yes, little sister. Show him who's the Boss!" Nian cheered her.
"Shut up, Nian."
Xing Bi sneered. "Sorry but I think I will be on Jian's side for this."
"Xi-Xing Bi…" Nian clutched his chest as if in pain. Ai patted his back to give him solace.
Jian and Siying walked up to Ai's side and started their usual chat and banter. Jin remained still at his place with Shui beside him.
There was a small stretch of an awkward silence. Shui wanted to join the group too but she missed the chance and now was unsure when to leave. She definitely didn't want to make Jin feel uncomfortable.
Jin, on the other side, kept throwing glances at her. Shui wore an off white dress, carrying her clutch in her hand. He remembered the vision he saw as soon as he had touched her that day.
There were a plethora of unsorted feelings in his heart but the most shameful one was how he had seemingly felt her up at the balcony when his body was burning with high temperature. On top of that, Jinhai and Zhou Yichen had witnessed that too. He could understand Shui's embarrassment and wanted to apologize for it.
But he was unable to send that simple text to her. Now days had passed since that incident.
Shui just took a tiny step forward when Jin's voice made her freeze and take it back. "That…"
After that incident, she found herself unable to face Jin for some reason.
Jin clasped his hands together. "That day on the balcony…I…"
"Yeah, I know nothing happened!" Shui quickly answered.
"Huh? No, I mean-"
"I know what you want to say," she felt her throat going dry, recalling how Jinhai and Zhou Yichen had seen them together. "Don't worry. It won't cause any misunderstanding. I know you were feeling sick," she tried to smile. "So we can forget about it."
Saying that, Shui quickly left to join the others too, leaving Jin in a state of confusion.
Forget about it...?
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢