"Huh!" Two people sighed deeply in unison.Two siblings were slouching listlessly in the living room of Apartment 301.
Xue Guangxi went to visit his Xu-jie to discuss matters regarding the company. However, instead of discussing, they found themselves in unusual silence, not wanting to talk to each other.
The older sibling was slouching on the couch, in her signature posture – one leg folded under the other while one elbow rested on the couch"s edge. Only, her head rested on top of her elbow as if all her energy had been sucked up. She was in her baggy home clothes, and her hair was in a messy bun.
If Guangxi would have cared enough, he would have questioned if his sister had even taken a bath.
But no, the younger sibling could not have cared any less, because he, too, was dejected. He was sitting on the floor, with his arms crossed on the coffee table in front of him, his head nestled by his arms. He was staring into s.p.a.ce.
For long hours it went on like this. Such was how their most unproductive day went.
"We should invite Senior Wenbin over to liven up the mood." Guangxi suggested.
"Go ahead, try to see if he"s home. Invite him over." Jinxu gave the go signal.
Lazily, Xue Guangxi sent a message to Mo Wenbin. He responded immediately. "I"m not home. It"s a weekday. I"m at work. Will drop by later after work."
Xue Guangxi moved to Apartment 301 again after Chen Linyun left to keep his sister company. Chen Linyun had personally requested this from him, which he readily agreed to because he"s also concerned about his sister well-being and safety. Of all the time, he knew now, more than ever, how it felt to be left by the person you value. Kang Sola just left for Indonesia. He personally knew, that"s why he wanted to be with his sister in the two weeks that Chen Linyun would be away.
Upon learning that Kang Sola would be going to Indonesia for a year-long interns.h.i.+p, he tried to contact her several times.
"I heard you"re flying out soon. When are you going? When will you be back? Can we talk?" He sent this message to her, in which she did not reply at all.
He sent a message again. "Do you really have to go? Are you doing this to stay away from me?" It"s a bit conceited on his part, and he admitted it himself, but it"s better to put it in the open for Kang Sola to know that he cares about what she thinks of him.
As usual, Kang Sola did not respond.
He tried to call her several times. At first, it just rang until the call ended on its own. Later on, his calls could not even push through.
"Darn. She blocked me!" He had thrown his phone away. Luckily it landed on his bed. He was still at his flat that time.
In the meantime, his only connection to her was through her daily vlogs. At the very least, he"s still updated of what"s happening to her.
At night, he found himself crying out of frustration. It was his fault – how events turned out to be like this.
Back to the present, he was deep in thoughts of her.
Can he still redeem himself to Kang Sola?
Will they meet again in the future?
If they meet, will she even look at him?
Will she be able to forgive and forget what painful memory he had left her?
He had so many questions without answers.
He sighed again. Xue Jinxu finally noticed.
"Hey Guangxi, why are you so down?" She probed. Actually she did not know if her little brother will share his dilemma with her.
He sighed again. He spread out his arms on the dining table. "Xu-jie, the love of my life just left!"
Xue Jinxu froze. "Is he talking about Su Jingjing? Is it still a big issue?"
"G-Guangxi… About Su Jingjing… she"s just in a shelter alright? We can go pay her a visit. I"ll go with you."
Xue Guangxi turned his head towards his Jie-jie.
"You got it wrong, Xu-jie. I have long moved on from Su Jingjing. We had our closure already. It"s closed."
"I"m talking about Kang Sola."
"Kang Sola?" Xue Jinxu blinked several times. She had not seen it coming. "The vlogger onboard The Great Adventurer? Your friend you brought to one of our dinners?"
"Yes, yes! She"s the one!" He sighed again. "She left. She will be gone for a year. She hates me! She doesn"t even talk to me, Xu-jie. She blocked my number!"
"I did something bad to her. Extremely bad."
"I thought she"s not your type. How bad? Did you somehow take advantage of her?" Xue Jinxu laughed innocently.
Guangxi pursed his lips. "How can she guess it right at first try?"
"I"m not telling." Guangxi said with knitted brows.
"Okay, okay! Suit yourself. Just a piece of sisterly advice. Don"t force her to anything, or anything to her, not even your apology. Respect her boundaries. Let time mend whatever ugly things happened between the two of you. Just let her be for now."
"What does the cops say when they arrest bad guys? "You have the right to remain silent." All of us have that right. So let her be."
He rubbed his face with his hand. He"s becoming irritated again. "One year is one year. It"s too long!"
"You brother-in-law waited for five years for me. Without any a.s.surance at all." Jinxu smiled at her brother encouragingly and optimistically.
He gulped. He knew he"s not going to win this argument, but he took note of it. "Brother-in-law is amazing. If I can even be half of the man he is, I would be able to do it. I will be able to endure even longer."
Xue Jinxu"s eyelids drooped low. "I miss your brother-in-law."
"How is it in the company?" She decided to set aside her longing for her husband and focus at the issue at hand.
"Fine. So-so. Not as good as when you were still there."
"Don"t forget you"re the COO now." Xue Jinxu warned.
"I know, I know! It"s just that…"
"The stocks plummeted too deeply during the capsizing of The Great Adventurer, and it was pushed down even further during the mismanagement of interim COO Liu Huojin. We lost business from the bulk clients. We lost market share. We"re down to 3rd in the rankings."
"!!!!" Xue Jinxu was speechless.
For the longest time, Xue s.h.i.+pping had been at the top of the rankings. It was their territory. How come now they were down to third, not even second?!
"Xue. Guangxi. Why didn"t you tell me earlier?"
"I-I thought you knew already, that"s why we had this behind-the-scene COO setup."
"I don"t. No one told me." She was a bit hurt and, at the same time, offended but it should be understandable as a consequence of her untimely marriage. She was disowned by her family or at the very least, by her Grampa.