Chapter 96 - Paranoia

When Long Mei finished her latte, she received a message from Jin Qing: Will be at Niko's tonight. Come if you want. 

"What is it?" Luo Nuying asked. 

"Ah, nothing," Long Mei answered. "My fiancé was going over to his friend Nikolai's place and asked if I wanted to come." 

"You're going to see Niko? Mind if I come? He and I are friends. I have known him for years." She then pulled out her phone. "I will message him now to tell him I'm coming." 

Long Mei waited until Luo Nuying received an answer. "Ah! He said it was okay to come!" 

Long Mei then prepared to leave with Luo Nuying following after her. 

Together, they went to Niko's house. 

She rang the doorbell of the front door, and the handsome Russian answered. Nikolai hugged them both, allowing them inside.

The inside of his house was similar to Jin Qing's, filled with woven rugs and porcelain. 

Long Mei went to find Jin Qing, who was looking a bit bleak. "Alek," she whispered to him. "What's wrong?"

He looked at her with weary eyes. "Nothing," he answered. "Let's hang with the others." 

Jin Qing was acting differently. She wondered what happened between the times she saw him at breakfast and now. He went to work and therapy today, but what made him this way? She knew something was off. 

"What did you ladies do today?" Nikolai asked, offering them water. 

Long Mei took a large gulp from her glass and made a face, realizing it was pure vodka and not water. Luo Nuying took small sips of her drink as if she already knew what it was. "We went for a shoot and then spent the afternoon at a café. One of Long Mei's brothers was there coincidentally, too. We spoke with him." 

Jin Qing glanced at Long Mei, and there were questions in his eyes. You saw your brother? How was it? Are you okay? But instead, he looked back down on his drink. 

"Did you ask him to sleep with you?" Niko asked her with a chuckle. 

Luo Nuying gave him the finger. "Haha very funny. Still a virgin, Niko?"

Nikolai glared at her before downing a drink. 

Long Mei then leaned into a whisper, "He's a virgin? I find that hard to believe." 

Luo Nuying chuckled. "I doubt it too. But we never see him with anyone, so we tease him about being a virgin. In fact, I think he has someone, but it's complicated." 

Long Mei glanced at Niko, who was only paying attention to his long-time friend. She wondered what his story was like, but she knew it had to be similar to Jin Qing's. They were both foreigners who grew up in a country where most people did not look like them or spoke their mother tongue. But it warmed Long Mei to know Jin Qing had someone that related to him, even if they weren't bound by blood. They had each other. 

"Let's play a game," Nikolai said to ease the tension in the room. 

"There's only four of us," Luo Nuying said. "It's fun with more people." 

"Well, I didn't expect to have more than one guest, not that I don't want your company, but I usually don't have small gatherings. So it's just us." 

"Fine," Luo Nuying said. "What do you want to play?"

Nikolai thought about it. "Paranoia." 

"If this is a game where you try to scare me, I want none of it." 

Niko laughed. "It's not like that. It's when someone selects a card and whispers the question to the card of the person next to them. They answer the question aloud. Mind you, the others won't know what the question is, but if they want to know, they'd have to drink for the knowledge. I'll begin." 

"Now we're talking," Luo Nuying continued. "But I wished more people were here. It'd be far more scandalous. I mean Mr. Jin and Mei are engaged, and all we'll probably learn is their naughty little secrets." Her eyes sparkled. "Oh wait, now I'm interested. Let's play." 

Long Mei noticed Jin Qing flashed his friend a death glare, but Niko ignored it. 

Jin Qing lifted a card and then whispered the question to Niko. 

"Ah that's easy," Niko began, "Luo Nuying." 

Luo Nuying narrowed her eyes. "Now I want to know the question," she said, opening the bottle to take a sip. 

Niko laughed. "The question was who is most likely to get drunk and have a one-night stand, and I said you." 

Luo Nuying glared at him. 

Long Mei could not help but chuckle. 

It was then Niko's turn to whisper a question to Long Mei. 

"Ugh. Do I have to answer this question?"

"Yes," he said. 

"Luo Nuying." 

Her friend's eyes widened. "Damnit." Luo Nuying drank, and then Long Mei said, "The question was who is most likely to get a tattoo of their ex's name."

"Why am I being ganged up tonight?" Luo Nuying hiccupped. "I'm a good person." 

Nikolai and Long Mei burst out a laugh, and Jin Qing tried to hide a smile. 

"All right. My turn, my turn!" Luo Nuying said, grabbing a card. She then whispered a question to Jin Qing. 

Jin Qing took a moment to answer. "Long Mei," he said. 

Long Mei glanced at him, wondering what the question was. She contemplated drinking, but she was afraid of what it might be. 

It was Niko that took the shot. "I want to know the question." 

Jin Qing narrowed his eyes at him. 

"It's not something we don't already know," Luo Nuying interjected. "I asked him who in this room he most likely wants to kiss. It's obviously Mei." 

Nikolai then gave his best friend a long glance. Long Mei realized that Luo Nuying was the only one in the room that was unaware that her relationship with Jin Qing was false. But her heart leapt to a nervous beat when she heard the question. 

She looked at Jin Qing and his gaze collided with hers. His eyes were sharp and intent. He meant the answer, and Long Mei gulped. 

"This game is starting to bore me. I wanted to know what Mr. Jin and Mei do behind closed doors and who the woman Niko is secretly fancying, not about things we already know," Luo Nuying sighed. 

"And you'll never know," Nikolai countered. 

Luo Nuying gave him the finger again.