Milady's Fine Gentleman

In the morning, Xue Guangxi visited the Chen dream house to bid his farewell.  He wished Chen Linyun"s quick recovery, and as he was about to leave the master"s bedroom where Chen Linyun had been staying, he turned around and enigmatically said to him and grinned, "Brother-in-law, have faith in my Jie-Jie."

At the doorstep on his way out, he hugged his sister tightly from the back.  It was such a sweet sight, but only after several bloopers of trying to hug her from the front, but could not possibly succeed because of the baby b.u.mp.  It was funny as they tried several times and laughed as they failed, and it eventually turned awkward, too.  

At the last attempt, Xue Guangxi, being taller now than Xue Jinxu, placed his arms on top of her shoulders coming from the back before wrapping it around her neck.  Then, he gently kissed her cheek.

"I"m going to miss you, Xu-Jie.  Take care."

"You, too, little brother.  Call me if you ever struggle with anything.  I mean, I won"t be there to help you out, but at least you can vent out.  Or maybe you prefer talking to Sola about these matters instead."

Xue Guangxi tightened his hug around his sister"s neck and sighed. "I"ll call you often.  I might not be there to meet my nephews or nieces, or nephew and niece.  Tell me as soon as possible when you know their genders."

Xue Jinxu gave out a soft laugh at that. "Sure, sure, Uncle Guangxi."

"Sounds nice.  I"m gonna miss you."  

"You said that already.  Now, off you go."

Xue Guangxi released her and prepared to leave.  Before getting into the car, he looked at the familiar window on the second floor which was Kang Sola"s room.

He stared at it for a few seconds but did not utter a word.  When he had his fill, he finally left for the airport.

When the car left, Kang Sola, who had been silently hiding inside her room, came out.  She joined Xue Jinxu at the living area on the ground floor and seated herself on the couch beside her. 

"He just left."

"En."

"You missed your chance to say goodbye to him."

"We"ve said our goodbyes yesterday."

Xue Jinxu squeezed the girl"s hand. 

The following days after that, Kang Sola realized the void that Xue Gunagxi left in her life. His leaving had such a tremendous impact on her since they spent most of their time together at school, and even after school.

Now, she"s back to doing things alone.

Sure, she had some girl-friends, too, but…

"Meh, they"re too boring."

Or sometimes she found their superficial lifestyle excessively annoying that she couldn"t even stand a few seconds with them.  She"d rather spend her time alone.  It was more comforting and peaceful that way.

One day, after school, she went straight to Chen Linyun"s room, to Chen Linyun"s arms, and cried her eyes out.  

Chen Linyun was alarmed, of course. "Sola, what"s wrong?  Did something happen at school?"

"No, nothing happened.  That"s the problem.  Nothing"s worthwhile now that Guangxi"s not here."  *Sobs*

"I should have been nicer to him.  Huhuhu."

Kang Sola had never been clingy to Chen Linyun before.  This would be the first time that she unhesitatingly and ran to his arms for an encouraging hug.

"It"s not the end of your friends.h.i.+p yet, especially with the help of technology nowadays, it wouldn"t be difficult to keep in touch.  Hush, dear.  He did not leave, leave, yet if you know what I mean.  He"s still alive, strong and healthy somewhere trying to build a brand new, good life and find a career and some more dreams for himself and work and study hard towards it.  You should do the same, hmmm?"

Chen Linyun tapped his hands on her back soothingly.

"He… Guangxi discovered our secret, Linyun-Ge.  He knows.  I feel bad for him.  I feel so responsible.  I… I feel like an outcast." She buried her head on his chest as her tears intensified.

The older brother"s hand froze in the air as his eyes widened with the girl"s revelation.

Suddenly, a voice from the doorstep interrupted their cozy brother-sister exchange.

"Hey, is Sola okay?  What"s the matter?" By the doorstep, Xue Jinxu p.o.o.ped unannounced.  Chen Linyun"s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

"Guangxi." He retorted curtly.

"Ahh…" Xue Jinxu nodded in understanding, then left without pressing too much.  She wanted to give the two some privacy.

Chen Linyun whispered to Kang Sola"s ear.  "I completely understand your sentiments, but you are not his accomplice in any way.  Don"t feel so downcast about it.  Your conscience is clear, right?  You didn"t do anything wrong, Sola, so cheer up and walk with your shoulders back and chin up.

She nodded as she retired to her room.  When Xue Guangxi left, she decided to come home to the Chen household, as she truly found his absence too depressing to stay alone in Apartment 301.

That same day, upon reflection of her actions, she felt that she somehow did something wrong. "Oops."

"Coming to Linyun-Ge like that… He must have felt more pressured about the secret now."

"Did I add more fuel to the fire?"

"He might be more terrified to tell Xu-Jie about it.  I"m such an idiot."

In the succeeding days, she heeded her Linyun-Ge"s advice as she resumed being cheerful, although she knew it was kind of on the superficial side.  "Feign it till you make it!" She thought as she grinned and greeted everyone she knew.

After cla.s.s, she frequented the clubs that Xue Guangxi often visited for parties.  She partied the night away just like how Xue Guangxi would do it.

She made new friends there and had so much fun.

It was in this period that she worked hard at the café and on her vlogs, and studied hard by day, and party harder at night.  She would dress up well and wear makeup on her clean, naïve face.  She taught herself how to do decent party makeup by watching tutorial videos of it.

She drank with new friends, laughed hard, and raved on the dance floor.  It was always too much fun.

However, in the middle of it all, she would sigh, and admit that no one can replace Xue Guangxi"s place in her life no matter how much fun she had with her newfound party friends.