"Cheers!"
Shui and Leina grabbed two huge glasses of beer and clinked it against each other.
Siying shook his head and said, "Dad will faint if he saw you with that gigantic beer glass."
Shui pouted. "You drink beer too!"
"Apparently, the concern for sons and daughters are different."
Jun let out an exasperated sigh. "You can say that again. The amount of doting Nuo is showered with is out of the charts."
Leina flipped her hair back arrogantly. "Daughters are very special, you know? You should see my brother whining at home. It's so adorable."
"You don't understand the plight of brothers!" Jun and Siying exclaimed their grievances simultaneously.
She frowned. "You are all just jealous! Right Chyou? Sisters are bestest, right?"
She nudged Chyou that sat beside her with a grin on her lips.
"Ah?"
It was then that Chyou's attention snapped towards her. "What did you ask?"
"Oof! How rude. Where is your attention? You should be enjoying the party with us~" she complained.
Shui and Ai gravely nodded. The latter was quietly inching her fingers towards the big beer glass that Jun put a halt on.
"What are you doing?"
Ai stiffened. "Nothing."
"Stay away from that beer glass, my dear fiance."
She pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. "Why so? Don't you drink? Then why am I not allowed to? Is this gender discrimination I am facing? Is my fiance biased?" She sniffled with 'hurt.'
His brow twitched. "It's all because you stay with the twins too much. You had fallen horribly sick the last time you drank alcohol so I refrain you from doing anything unnecessary."
"I will be fine this time."
"No."
"..."
Chyou replied from the other side to Leina. "Of course I am enjoying the party!"
"N-No problem..." she replied with a hoarse voice. She was unsure if it was even audible.
Jun sipped on his beer and scrutinized the duo between them. In the past life, Chyou had gone through a lot of pain because of Yin. He detested Yin from the bottom of his heart and helped Chyou escape from that dreadful fate this time. He didn't know how fate would take her from there.
But right in front of his eyes, he could see the wheels of fate rolling. It was still a little difficult to believe that Yating could be the man written for Chyou. He never thought that they would be even remotely connected like this.
But then again, fate worked in mysterious ways. Just like it had for him, Ai and Jin.
Yating cleared his throat and said, "I will be back."
Chyou didn't know why but she felt incredibly relieved. She peeked at him and saw a look of strain and tension flash across his eyes.
She wondered what was wrong.
Damn. Wait, am I acting rude to him? Is he feeling bad?
Yating excused himself, leaving Chyou confused.
—
Yating returned from the washroom and stood in the smoking area. Nobody was there and he quietly let out a breath.
Chyou's strange behavior didn't leave his notice. Ever since the shooting was on, she seemed to strangely panic and stiffen whenever he was close to her.
He scratched his head.
Did I do something wrong? Why is she suddenly so conscious of me?
He sighed. Maybe it was because of the painful breakup she was going through that she might be feeling confused. The only solution was to give her some time and naturally let her forget about Yin.
He took a long enough break and decided to head back when a voice called out to him.
"Yo fucker."
Yating stopped. He turned and narrowed his eyes, sensing the hostility in the man's voice. It didn't come as much of a shock to Yating but there stood Yin before him with his head covered in a hoodie. His eyes looked bloodshot and his face was haggard. Animosity was written in every stroke of his expression.
"Must be enjoying partying and all right?"
Yating arched his brow.
"Oh wait, you must be enjoying yourself with Chyou too. After all, you cleanly cut me off from her life and now you must be enjoying her love and attention, right?"
Yating smiled. "I knew that you wouldn't give up so soon. But somewhere in my heart, even if it was impossible, I expected you to show at least some remorse for your actions. Clearly, you don't. So guess my mind was right. You absolutely have no realization of your wrongdoings."
Yin burst into laughter. "Look who is talking about wrongdoings. A man whose father's past is nothing but made up of mistakes and sins he committed!"