Chapter 394 - Lemonade

"Nice?" questioned Raelle in return. "I wasn't being nice." She took a pause and explained to him, "Didn't you notice how much courage she had to gather before coming to you?" She took a sip of the water and added, "It's okay to say no. But it's not okay to discourage her."

Hyson took a deep breath and didn't say anything to her. He tapped the tabletop and continued to stare at the menu before him. Suddenly, something caught his eye and he slid the menu towards Raelle, "Which one do you want to drink? I'll get it for you."

Raelle looked at the drinks menu intently but didn't answer.

Hyson narrowed down her choices with, "Orange juice or lemonade?"

"Anything works," she responded disinterestedly.

Hyson shook his head, "That's not how it's gonna work. You have to choose one on your own."

Raelle randomly put her finger on orange juice, "This one."

Hyson slapped her hand away.

"What?"

Hyson narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't be so casual about you. Pick the one you want to drink. I'm not ordering unless you choose the one you really want."

"How am I supposed to know which one I want?" she retorted. "It's just a drink. Do I have to spend my brain energy on this too?"

"Pick!" was all that he said.

"Saozi, just pick your favorite drink," suggested Zhai Yanjun.

"What if I have no favorites?" 

Zhai Yanjun paused and said, "Then choose the one you most drink."

"Water then," answered Raelle as she looked at Hyson. "Does that work?"

"No," was Hyson's reply. 

Raelle took a while to decide but Hyson was being very patient with her. It was just a drink for others but for Raelle it was a choice that seemed impossible. After all, she had no favorites and she really didn't feel like drinking any particular drink. 

Only after the pizza was served that Raelle say, "Lemonade."

Hyson smiled at her and nodded, "Okay, I'll get it for you."

Hyson went to get the lemonade for her while Raelle got a call and excused herself. As Zhai Yanjun took a sip of his drink, he looked at Shui Xian and asked, "Have you ever had a friendship like them?"

"Not really," answered Shui Xian. 

Zhai Yanjun sighed out, "It's hard to understand their friendship, no?"

Shui Xian shook his head, "Not really. It's simple."

"How?"

"Have you heard that friends often become the second family for life?" asked Shui Xian. "Their friendship has gone past the definition of what we call family. It's just as Hyson said, they are soulmates. They connect on a different level." He scrolled through the photos that he clicked today which consisted of his sneak shots of Raelle. 

Amusement parks are a fun place and usually one would find people with huge smiles on their faces in this place. But he found it amusing how Ralle was the only one unaffected by this happy atmosphere. She was still like she was in her whole world. Even if the whole world was colored in pink, she still had a bubble of her own surrounding her that set her apart from the rest.

Hyson came back with the lemonade and started eating the pizza he had fought for. 

"Aren't you worried about your weight?" asked Zhai Yanjun. "Don't idols usually pay attention to that?"

Hyson munched down the slice of pizza before telling him, "I have gained a lot of weight by eating too much at home these days. This much is no big deal."

Hyson was fully focused on eating while Shui Xian and Zhai Yanjun talked about random things to catch up. All of a sudden, Shui Xian inquired, "Are you worried about your ex-girlfriend?"

"Why would I be?" retorted Zhai Yanjun. 

"The way you talked earlier, I thought you must be worried," Shui Xian pointed out.

"I'm not worried though," he stressed on his words. "I was a bit surprised when I heard about it but nothing else. Besides, it's not like I can help her. Neither does she need my help. She never did." He recalled something and told Shui Xian, "Oh, but the last time when we talked, she seemed quite curious about your wife."

"Huh?" Shui Xian raised his brow at him.

On the other side, Hyson's movement paused slightly when he heard that. He started eating again like nothing happened when Raelle came back. 

"Is everything okay?" asked Shui Xian to Raelle.

"Yeah," she replied. Then she said to Hyson, "Eat fast. I just heard that there is gonna be a parade soon. Don't you want to watch it?"

"What? Really?" asked Hyson in surprise. "Then I should really hurry up now." But eating in silence was not really his thing, so found a target to talk to, "Hey, Captain! Don't you want to spend your free days at home?" He nom-nom-ed on his pizza slice as he added, "The last time you had a day free, you went to the hospital to check up on Lieutenant. And today, you actually wanted to go out with Xian Ge and Ellie. When I have a free day, I don't even wanna go out of the house. Isn't it comfortable to roll around on your bed or eat delicious food made by my mum or Yanyan?"

Zhai Yanjun smiled at his words saying, "Not everyone has someone waiting at home for them." He took a deep breath, "And not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy that delicious food."

"Then your house must be really depressing," stated Hyson straightforwardly.

Zhai Yanjun stared at him and nodded his head, "Indeed, it's depressing. There is no sunshine like you there."

"Thanks for the compliment!" said Hyson cheekily. "And sorry if I said something to spoil your mood."

Zhai Yanjun shook his head, "You didn't spoil anything. What you said was just the truth." He offered Hyson a reassuring smile. He couldn't have said it any better though.. His house was really depressing. Why else would he have wanted to escape it so badly?