Chyou glowed like sunshine as soon as she stepped into the mall. But in her excitement, she forgot to don her disguise which led the crowd in the mall in an immediate uproar.
"Omooo it's the Queen and Gu Yating!"
"Queen, Gu Yating! I saw your movie today! It was amazing!"
"You are my favorite actor from now on, Gu Yating!"
They were immediately surrounded with a gushing flow of people asking for their autograph and pictures.
Yating was still new to this fandom so he could only awkwardly thank them while secretly blushing from their compliments. Chyou, on the other hand, expertly navigated through the encore of their zeal.
"Hahaha. Thank you, thank you, my lovely people," Chyou merrily waved her hand.
"Queen, queen, how come you are at the mall today with Gu Yating? Oh, oh, I know! Are you here on a date?" One of the young female fans sheepishly asked.
The crowd collectively gasped while Chyou almost stumbled.
I don't know if this is a date either! She cried silent tears.
"Are Queen and Gu Yating together?"
"Is it real? Are you two a couple?"
"I knew it! Your chemistry was so off the charts in the movie! It was like you are made for each other~"
Chyou coughed hard.
Wait, wait, wait, this conversation is heading in a dangerous direction! What if this is not a date and Yating is put in a difficult position? Aahhhh I don't want to see what expression Yating might be making, she shed silent tears once again.
She cleared her throat.
I need to clear up the misunderstanding as soon as possible before things go-
"Chyou and I are not a couple yet," Yating blinked twice. "But this is definitely a date."
A steep silence descended as everybody in the crowd stared hard at Yating. Then a shrill broke out.
"WHAAAAAAAAT!!?"
Chyou nodded her head furiously with the revelation, albeit in her mind.
Yes, yes, whaaaaaaat!?
Yating threw her a speechless look because of her reaction. "I can understand their shock but why in the world are you shocked?"
"..."
She sweated and averted his gaze.
Yating - "..."
He then took a reverse gear to his memories and asked, "What did you think my invitation to dinner meant?"
She really wanted to look back and face him but her heart pounded too hard to calm down.
Ahhh was it so difficult to look at him earlier? This is so embarrassing!
"Wh-which reminds me that my shopping is awaiting me! Let's go!"
Though she said that, she ran ahead at full speed towards her destination, leaving Yating behind all alone.
Shopping? Aren't we going for dinner?
But he soon realized that this was the mall and Chyou was a woman. Of course a trip to the mall wouldn't end up with just dinner.
He shook his head helplessly. He could feel his own heart running a marathon.
Thank God she agreed...Ah I was so scared with the misunderstanding, he breathed out in relief.
—
After finishing up with the shopping, the next destination was a parlor where she aimed to get the best makeup done. Naturally, Yating had nothing much to do, so he quietly waited in the lounge.
When it was all over, Chyou didn't look any less than a Goddess who stepped out of the heavenly realm. Yating felt his throat becoming dry.
He slowly got up, his ears filled with drum beats of something loud pounding but he didn't know what. He loosened his tie to make some space for breathing.
Now that Chyou was all dressed and freshened up for the date, she regained her confidence and chirped as she trotted to Yating's side. "How do I look?"
"Goddess..." he blurted out.
Chyou's face flushed as she expected something along the lines 'Beautiful' or 'Gorgeous.'
"Thank you..."
This time, Yating buried his face in his palms.
I want to hug her...
Chyou shyly chirped. "I am all set and ready! Shall we head back?"
His daze broke and he looked at her. "Head back where?"
"To the hotel of course."
"Why the hotel? I cancelled the reservation there. Didn't you want to have dinner here at the mall?"
"..."
Chyou took a backward pedal down the memory lane and hazily recalled herself murmuring mall repeatedly in despair. She joined two and two together and...
"!!!"
Nooooooo!!!