98 Happily Married

"It's really difficult to look at this version of yours," said Cui Xukun.

"I also don't wish to look at a sore loser," retorted Shui Xian making Cui Xukun's smirk vanish.

He pointed at Shui Xian saying, "Fine! Call me the sore loser! I am a sore loser! What about you? Prince Xian definitely won, then why do you look like you lost the whole world?"

"Shouldn't you be gloating over that?" asked Shui Xian. "Finally you got to see my defeated look."

Cui Xukun scoffed, "I'm so not happy to see that. I wanted to be the one to defeat you. I don't want you to lose from someone else."

"You won't be able to defeat me in this life," said Shui Xian with certainty. "Because I don't run when things get difficult! Unlike someone, I used to know..." His eyes looked at Cui Xukun and it was clear he was implying something and the latter could even understand what he was implying.

Cui Xukun laughed at Shui Xian saying, "Aren't you running now? Just because you got divorced, you distanced yourself from everyone who was associated with both of you. Isn't that called running?"

Shui Xian gave him a look, "I distanced myself because I didn't wish to make anything difficult for our mutual friends. I wouldn't want them to feel awkward. That's why I chose to take a step back. It definitely doesn't mean that I'm running away from something or someone!"

Cui Xukun looked at him in silence before he said, "Have I been abroad for way too long? When I came back three months ago and learned about everything from my sister, I was surprised, to say the least." Shui Xian turned his head and gazed out the window as if he didn't want to listen to Cui Xukun but that didn't discourage Cui Xukun at all. "When you're getting the divorce, you should have contacted me. I could have helped you."

"How? Did you become a divorce lawyer?" Shui Xian acted surprised making Cui Xukun's face twitch. "Or maybe, I should have told you about the divorce so that you could take that chance to finally hit on my ex-wife."

"Xian, my morals might be corrupted but I'm still the person who values friendship a lot. I gave you a promise as a man and as your best friend. Until this day, I stick with my words."

Shui Xian's eyes flashed with a nostalgic look as he could recall the promise between them...

~~~

"It's already clear that we like the same girl," Cui Xukun had told him as they stood on the basketball court of the high school. "But the three of us are friends."

"What a surprise!" said Cui Xukun. "So am I!"

They both glared at each other intensely.

"Let's make a deal," suggested Cui Xukun. "Both of us get to court her. And let's leave the final decision to her. It doesn't matter whether we like her or not, what matters is who she likes."

"What's the catch?" asked Shui Xian suspiciously.

Cui Xukun threw the basketball at his face but he caught it easily. "There is no catch!" He took a pause to step aside to get a bottle of water as he said, "However, once she chooses one of us, the other won't let this come between our friendship."

He offered the bottle of water to Shui Xian who took it and nodded, "I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship over this either."

"Exactly!"

They did a fist bump before Shui Xian threw the bottle of water at Cui Xukun's head saying, "Don't let your guard down around your love rival!"

~~~

"If I remember correctly, you did let her decision influence our friendship," said Shui Xian coldly.

"I did not!" retorted Cui Xukun. "I was always supposed to go to study abroad. That doesn't mean I gave up on our friendship. Yes, I did keep my distance but that was because I didn't want to come between you two. If I knew you both would get divorced so easily, I wouldn't have kept my distance."

Shui Xian looked at his watch and turned to Ma Jin, "Check what's taking Mr. Ji so long. I don't have a whole day for him."

"Yes, Master Xian!"

As Ma Jin left their side, Cui Xukun asked, "Are you doing okay?" Shui Xian gave him a glance. "You loved her very much. So, I can imagine what you must be feeling right now."

"You're mistaken about something here," said Shui Xian. "I am actually very happy in my life. In fact, I've happily married again."

Cui Xukun paused before burst out laughing, "That was a nice joke."

Shui Xian placed his hands on the table as he leaned ahead and said, "If it's that funny, how come you're the only one laughing right now?"

Cui Xukun couldn't tell whether Shui Xian was serious or playing a joke on him. Had they been apart for too long that he couldn't be even read his old friend's face any longer?

"Are you playing a trick on me?" he asked uncertainly.

"Am I?" retorted Shui Xian feigning ignorance.

"You've gotten good at hiding your feelings," said Cui Xukun.

"Maybe because I've worn my feelings on my sleeves for far too long," replied Shui Xian. He stood up and buttoned up his coat saying, "Tell Mr. Ji, we are not having this deal anymore. It was so not nice seeing you again."

Cui Xukun looked at Shui Xian's retreating back and muttered to himself, "Bebe, what did you do to him?"