Chyou peeked her head in the ward and smiled. "Can I come in?"
Yating raised his head and smiled back. "Hey. Of course. You don't need to ask."
She grinned and walked up to his bedside. Before she could ask him how he was doing, he came out first. "You are okay, right? Not hurt anywhere, right? I just suddenly blacked out and didn't know what happened to you…" he pressed his brows, feeling guilty.
Chyou scowled. "You are the one on the hospital bed, not me! Look," she took a twirl, "I am not hurt anywhere thanks to you."
Relief washed over Yating, and he nodded.
She sighed and took a seat. "You are an idiot. First, you ignored your safety inside that horrible fire to look for me and then you also gave me your coat."
She didn't fail to notice his burnt flesh on the back of his hand and knuckles when he had lifted the pole, and she clasped her hands together.
"What would I have said to Uncle Gu if something happened to you?"
He smiled. "What would I have said to Uncle Zhu if something happened to you? Think nothing of it. Friends are supposed to help each other."
Chyou wanted to express a lot of things but in the end, she sincerely said, "Thank you, Yating. I might have really died if not for you. But thanks is just not enough! Let me do something for you."
He waved his hand. "You already did last night. Remember the dumpling competition?"
She was speechless. "That was just a silly competition."
He fixed his gaze at her. "I don't think so."
She cleared her throat.
Did he perhaps realize what I had actually planned?
Yating chuckled. "You can say we are even now. But I am sorry," he sighed, "I feel bad for my gift's fate."
She blinked. "Gift?"
"Well, I had a gift to give you as my thanks for keeping me company last night. But it fell into the fire."
Chyou beamed. "You had a gift for me? I like gifts a lot! Sure, it's bad it fell into the fire, but you can always buy me a new one," she chirped.
"..."
Not so modest at all, he thought.
He found it funny. "Of course, I will."
She clapped her hands once. "Excellent. I will wait."
They laughed for a while after which she wondered if she should ask him about the reason why he was so pale and frozen at the deck. More than curiosity, she had an urge to help him if she could.
I don't think it's nice to ask such a deep thing about his past when we have just met a few days ago…
"Thank you, Chyou."
Her stupor broke as she looked at him. "For what?"
She observed his right hand lightly shivering just like it did on the set. "For your encouragement. You know, you really don't have to thank me for anything," he looked dismal. "If your voice hadn't snapped me out of…you would have been really dead. I could pull you up because of you. I was useless-"
She dropped a karate chop on his head, making him stunned. "You think risking your life for a woman you met only twice is useless? You are way too negative about this! I just talked you out of your state. It was you who took courage and faced your fear. That's not a joke. So you did EVERYTHING. Talk like this once again, and I won't talk to you anymore," she narrowed her eyes.
Yating opened his mouth.
"No!"
"..."
"Be proud of yourself. Take my gratitude without a question and don't forget my gift!"
The first part of her sentence overwhelmed him while the last part dumped all his emotions and made him laugh. "You…You never let people have the last win, right?"
She arrogantly flipped her hair back. "Naturally. The queen always has the last irrefutable word."
"Makes sense."
She then turned serious to talk about Gu Rong. "I also want to tell you about Uncle Gu."
He listened to her with attention.
"Okay firstly, I looked into all his rivals or competitors that might want him out of the way. But I found nothing suspicious. I am sure it's not any rival's work."
Yating sighed. "I see."
"But, I did find something. That judge said something about using an application that would delete messages immediately after they are read, right? That's how he contacted them."
"Yes."
She nodded. "I took Soo Yijun's help and checked Uncle's phone deposited with the police. There is no such application installed on his phone. Also, only S3 provides this service and I checked the records. Uncle doesn't have the license to use this application. Without a license, he cannot even install it, much less send messages."
He widened his eyes. "That means he is innocent."
"Yes. But it's not conclusive. Unless that judge takes his statement back, the charge won't go away. But it's enough to get him a bail at least and request for more investigation."
Yating brightened. "That's enough for me, Chyou. Even if there is one thing that would point to his innocence, it's fine. Dad was right. Somebody else is pulling the strings and dragging him to take the blame," his gaze darkened. "I won't forgive whoever did this. Not only they plotted against Ai but framed my Dad for it. I won't let this go."
In a moment of his eagerness and euphoria, he brought Chyou into his tight hug. "Thanks a lot Chyou! You shed some light on this case."
Chyou widened her eyes. She chuckled and patted his back. His reaction was understandable. For him, he only had Gu Rong as his family.
Yating came to a realization and quickly withdrew. "I am sorry for that."
She waved her hand. "No need."
He coughed and changed the topic. "So yeah what was the commotion going outside before you came?"
"Oh. Cheng Yin got accidentally hurt."
,m Cheng Yin…
He asked, "I am sorry to ask you this, but I really need to know. Is the man you like Cheng Yin?"
Chyou scratched her chin. "Was it that obvious?"
Yating stared at her and replied. "Chyou, I…don't wish to interfere in your life and I know you will think it's none of my business. But please listen to me. Stay away from him. He is not the right man for you."