Chapter 5
Chapter 5
I calmly sent a WeChat message to my best friend, telling her that Song Yuan and I had broken up and asking if she had time to pick me up tomorrow.
She was clearly shocked, but she didn’t pry. She just sent a “hug” emoji.
“Wait for me,” she replied. “I’ll be there.”
Just as I set my phone down, my body suddenly left the ground. Song Yuan had scooped me up by the waist.
I froze for a few seconds before my expression immediately chilled. “What are you-”
“Your knee is injured,” Song Yuan said, his tone brooked no argument. “The sofa is too small. You should sleep in the bedroom.”
I pressed my lips together, watching him with a guarded, wary gaze.
Song Yuan’s expression shifted, but he quickly masked it. “I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight. I won’t… do anything to you.”
I blinked, slightly stunned.
I suddenly realized how ridiculous my reaction was. Song Yuan had never liked me. His intimacy tonight was merely a result of him taking his frustrations out on Shen Bing after seeing that provocative text. My defensiveness was utterly pointless.
“Put me down. I can walk by myself, thank you.” I looked Song Yuan in the eye, my voice unnervingly calm.
The moment our eyes met, I thought I saw a flash of hurt in his gaze.
I figured I must have misread him.
Song Yuan didn’t say anything else. He silently set me down. I didn’t look at him again as I limped toward the bedroom.
Just as I was about to close the door, I heard Song Yuan’s voice, slightly hoarse. “Minmin.”
I paused.
Song Yuan remained silent for a moment before pulling a small box from his pocket and opening it.
Inside was a delicate women’s ring.
“Shen Bing threw it into a gutter. It was raining hard, there were no streetlights, and I accidentally broke my phone. I searched for a long time and got soaked. I didn’t want you to overthink things, so I went to a hotel afterward to dry my clothes.”
Song Yuan paused, his breathing becoming a bit heavier.
“She was hysterically demanding to know if I was going to propose to you, asking why I touched you… everything was so chaotic at the time that I’m not even sure how I answered.”
He pressed his lips thin, his voice raspy. I could clearly hear a faint trace of regret in his words.
“Shen Bing’s personality is completely different from yours. It was like that back in school, too-willful and flamboyant, never stopping until she’d turned someone’s world upside down.”
Back in school…
Those words made my heart shrink slightly.
That was a territory I could never reach, a past that belonged only to the two of them.
“I’ve already deleted her WeChat and blocked her number. Tomorrow, I’ll explain the situation to her parents and tell them not to contact me about her anymore.”
I looked up into his eyes, listening to him promise word for word:
“Minmin, she and I are in the past.”
Perhaps because he didn’t receive a response for too long, Song Yuan’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and his lips turned a shade paler.
After a long silence, he whispered, “Get some rest.”
I said nothing, watching silently as he closed the door.
Lying in bed, I closed my eyes but couldn’t fall asleep.
My mind was a mess.
After hearing those words and seeing that ring, it was impossible to claim I wasn’t moved at all.
Yet, two images kept flashing back and forth in my mind.
One was from when Song Yuan was driving me home and suddenly took my hand. His indifferent features had softened as he asked me, very seriously, if I wanted to be in a relationship.
The other was the image of Song Yuan abandoning me without hesitation to go find Shen Bing.
Can it really… stay in the past?
Even if it’s over between them, can I let it go in my heart?
When I woke up the next morning and walked out of the bedroom, the first thing I saw was a tube of ointment lying quietly on the table.
An ointment that had come too late.
I lowered my eyes, ignoring Song Yuan’s complicated gaze, and walked straight toward the door.
The moment my hand touched the handle, the door swung open.
Shen Bing’s bright, flamboyant face burst into my field of vision.