Volume 2 - CH 8

Playing Fish Trapped in Secret Room

Book 2: You’re Beautiful

Chapter 8

Those were the only words Gun spoke during the entire forty minute bus ride.

The bus drove along the coast and hillside to the airport.  During the entire time, other than the exchanges between Inin and the driver, nobody spoke.

Ai Qing and Gun sat next to each other, but she remained as silent as her neighbor.

Behind them, Grunt attempted to strike a conversation with Dt to no avail.

After they arrived at the airport, they followed Dt to check in.  When she gave hers and Inin’s passports to the staff behind the counter, they learned that their seats had been upgraded to first class by K&K.

“Money talks.”  Inin stuck out his tongue.  “Though K&K doesn’t have many employees, but everything they have is expensive.  They even take first class when they travel.”  The most important part was that this also benefited their travel companions.

Ai Qing poked his forehead and whispered.  “Because we have fewer people.”

After she boarded the plane, she saw that there were 3 men sitting in the aisle seats and each of them sat in a row. There was not a row of two empty seats side by side for herself and Inin.

She hesitated for three seconds, then put her boarding pass into her pocket.  “Could you let me in?”

She asked in a low voice.

Dt’s body seemed to stiffen.  Then he slowly stood up from his seat.  Inin, following behind Ai Qing, checked his ticket in confusion and discovered that Ai Qing was sitting on his seat, then…...he hesitantly looked at the other two and fell into deep anxiety.  One was the demon king and the other was the king of sarcasm.  Manager, how could you abandon me like this?!

Ai Qing lowered her head and buckled in.  She felt guilty, but regardless she avoided Inin’s eyes that were desperately pleading to her.

He was still a little kid, so he should get together with more vicious people to build up his ability to resist stress.

But after Dt sat down next to her, she realized that she wasn’t feeling at ease either.

Without knowing the reason why, she was always afraid that he would say something yet at the same time she also feared that this king of awkwardness would not say anything either.  It made both of them even more awkward.  She was so internally conflicted that only after three hours into the flight, she finally cleared her throat to break the ice.  “Why are you so quiet?”

She whispered because all the others around her had fallen into sound sleep.

Dt turned his head slowly.  “I thought you were mad.”

“Mad?”

“Weren’t you?”

“......I’m not so stingy.”  She whispered.

But this surreal conversation brought back the memories of last night.

“I’m sorry.”  He said suddenly.

Why did you need to apologize?

“You don’t need to apologize.”  Her face was a little red as she shook her head lightly.

“I didn’t mean------”

“What do you want to drink?”  Ai Qing abruptly changed the subject.

She hurried to push the call button without waiting for Dt’s answer.  She just asked for apple juice.

The flight attendant saw that Dt was awake, so she asked him what he wanted as well.  Dt asked for the same drink without putting any thought into it.  After the flight attendant left, Dt moved his eyes back and looked at her hesitantly.

Please.

Please don’t apologize again.

Ai Qing prayed silently.  Fortunately, he really didn’t return to that embarrassing subject.

The flight attendant delivered two apple juices and thoughtfully brought them some dessert.  She was probably really hungry, as she wanted to try each of the four desserts. Yet, she felt that would be too greedy.  “Which one do you want?”  After all she was three years older than him, she had to behave like an elder sister.

“I’m not hungry.”  Dt said.

They are all yours, don’t worry about me.  He thought.

Ai Qing happily picked up her fork and asked for confirmation again,  “Are you sure?”

“En.  Yes.”

“Ai Qing now got what she wanted.  Using the fork, she poked chocolate cake, then the strawberry one.  She ate in bliss.

Dt watched her eat.  He hesitated for a long while, then finally spoke.

“Shall we make a bet?  Bet on who will win the championship of this offline competition.”

“Bet?”  Ai Qing raised her head at the man who had just won two international championships recently.  She understood immediately.  “Ok.”

Though K&K and SP represented China together in the competition and every award they brought back was for the country’s prestige.

But it didn’t prevent the two clubs from having some friendly competition.

“What do you want to bet?”  Ai Qing’s head quickly rolled around various punishment methods.

“Bet on the simplest one.”

“What?”

One passenger behind them stood up and passed by them quietly.  This passenger looked at the “little couple” who stayed up late into the night, chatting in a whisper.  But she didn’t notice, she was still waiting for his answer.

“One question.”

He thought, he would use his 300th victory to bet with her for a question.

That year on the street in Guangzhou, when she told him about that grievance round of ‘08, he didn’t understand what had happened at the time.  Because he never cared about anybody else except the competitions she had ever played.

He learned from internet later what Solo had answered.

……

Up to today, the glory and the world ranking of his id were all obtained because of her.  He wanted to let everybody know about where the name Dt had come from.  He wanted to erase the regrets she had about ‘08.

But first of all, he wanted to know whether he had the------

The right to speak those words.