Chapter Ninety-Two: An Unfinished Confession

They both drew a deep breath at the same time. The wavering in Chen Zhe and Wu Xia-rong’s eyes vanished, and they gathered their courage to meet one another’s gaze, holding each other’s stare.

“You are my first friend from abroad, and someone very important to me!” Wu Xia-rong said while looking straight at Chen Zhe. Her words were the same as before, but her tone was heavier now, and the meaning behind them no longer felt quite the same.

“Xia-rong, you are also my first friend from abroad, and a very important friend to me. You are an especially precious presence in my life.” Looking at Wu Xia-rong before him, the corners of Chen Zhe’s mouth lifted into a smile. In a sense, Wu Xia-rong could also be counted as his first friend—the first friend he had met after his rebirth—and for him, she was an exceptionally special existence.

“Um, A Zhe, I...” Hearing Chen Zhe’s words and meeting his clear, bright eyes, Wu Xia-rong’s heartbeat quickened. She secretly encouraged herself in her heart, and after hesitating again and again, she finally mustered the courage to speak. But just as she had begun, a ringtone sounded by their ears.

“Show your sharp, handsome, relentless wildness, my boy! Bring the boys out, Girls’ Generation makes you feel the heat! The whole world is watching you, bring the boys out. You are majestic and heroic, handsome from the inside out, you know the girls? Bring the boys out....”

The shrill, noisy ringtone cut Wu Xia-rong off, and at the same time it shattered the courage she had so hard to gather. All the words she had wanted to say vanished in an instant, and the atmosphere she had only just managed to build was broken as well.

“Hello, boss. Yes, yes, we’re starting the music video shoot tomorrow? All right, I understand. I’ll get there early tomorrow!” Seeing that the caller ID on his phone showed Kim Jung-min, Chen Zhe knew he must have something urgent to say at this hour. He gave Wu Xia-rong an apologetic smile, then quickly answered the call.

Sure enough, Kim Jung-min had called with important instructions. The gist of it was that filming for the music video would begin tomorrow, and the director was a very well-known man whom the company’s executives had only managed to invite through personal connections. He told Chen Zhe to arrive early, not to show the man any disrespect, and to leave a good impression if possible, because if there were future opportunities to work together, they could think of Chen Zhe as well.

“By the way, Xia-rong, what were you trying to say just now?” After hearing the good news, the joy on Chen Zhe’s face was impossible to hide. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Kim Jung-min, he hung up and turned back to Wu Xia-rong, who had gone a little dazed for some reason. He waved a hand in front of her face, trying to bring her back to herself.

“Nothing... nothing. Right, I just wanted to remind you to keep in touch with me more often, A Zhe. After all, we’re each other’s first friend from abroad, and we’re quite important to one another. If we hardly ever contact each other, it makes us seem like strangers who merely know one another, with none of the feel of real friends at all.”

For some reason, the recovered Wu Xia-rong looked rather flustered, and even her words came out a little stumbling. Chen Zhe’s brows twitched faintly, and he could not understand what had suddenly gotten into her. Her behavior felt strangely off.

Once her panic subsided, Wu Xia-rong seemed to find her footing again. She returned to her usual self, and her words became much smoother.

“Of course. I’ll make sure to contact you more every day from now on. Brother Xiu-hao is still waiting for me downstairs, so I’ll see you next time, Xia-rong!” Looking at the girl before him, whose cheeks were faintly flushed and who carried a lovely air about her, Chen Zhe smiled gently and waved to her with force.

“Mm, see you next time, A Zhe!” Forcing out a smile of her own, Wu Xia-rong waved back and said goodbye to Chen Zhe. She watched as the elevator doors slowly closed before her, and only after the elevator had fully shut and descended did she slowly lower her hand.

“Wu Xia-rong, you really are such a fool, such a coward!” After standing silently for a long while, Wu Xia-rong took a few steps back, leaned against the wall of the corridor, and slowly crouched down in disappointment. She wrapped her arms around her knees, buried her face in them, and kept silently cursing herself for being so useless.

A little later.

“A Zhe, you haven’t done anything, have you?” In the rearview mirror, Lin Xiu-hao could see Chen Zhe’s reflection. His elbow rested against the car window, his cheek propped on his hand as he stared out into the distance in silence, lost in thought and not speaking at all. He looked troubled, completely unlike his usual lively self when he got into the car.

“I’m fine, Brother Xiu-hao. By the way, filming for the music video starts tomorrow, so we’ll need to leave early!” Snapped back from his dazed state by Lin Xiu-hao’s voice, Chen Zhe stretched lazily as if nothing had happened and returned to his usual easygoing, relaxed manner, burying the matter deep in his heart.

“I know. The boss already called to tell me. Tomorrow I’ll come get you an hour and a half earlier than usual, and we’ll go straight to the filming location.” Seeing Chen Zhe recover his normal demeanor, Lin Xiu-hao’s brow could not help but crease slightly. He wanted very much to know what was on Chen Zhe’s mind, but after thinking it over for a moment, he still forced down the impulse to pry.

“An hour and a half earlier? Then I’ll have to go to bed early tonight. I was still planning to read the script for a while!” Chen Zhe sighed helplessly. Today, apart from the meeting, he had also received the scripts for the first two episodes. He had originally intended to study them carefully tonight, but now that plan would have to be postponed.

“It’s fine. Work hard for the next few days and get the music video finished early. Then you’ll have plenty of time to study the script.” Seeing Chen Zhe sighing one moment after another, Lin Xiu-hao smiled and shook his head. He felt as though the familiar Chen Zhe he knew had returned. Indeed, the style of a melancholic boy simply did not suit him.

At the Apink dormitory.

After adjusting her emotions, quite some time had passed. Wu Xia-rong opened the dormitory door listlessly.

“Almost there.”

Listening to Chen Yu-qi’s soft murmur, Chen Zhe’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. The method she described seemed to have some feasibility, and after listening carefully and seriously all the way through, he decided to proceed according to it.

Feeling uneasy, Chen Zhe received Bae Soo-yong’s permission and gently pushed open the door to the recording room. After entering LOEN earlier, he had already learned from the receptionist that Zheng Soo-jing had arrived, and that she had even been personally led to the recording room by their boss.

As soon as the door opened and he stepped inside, Chen Zhe’s first sight was Zheng Soo-jing standing beside Bae Soo-yong. Her hair had been dyed a chestnut brown, her skin was fair and luminous, her brows were slightly furrowed, and her lips were lightly pressed together, giving off an air of cool detachment. While looking down at the score she had only just received, she listened to Bae Soo-yong’s explanation with a look of complete seriousness.