Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1244: Hot mocha

"How could you do this? I was about to win!"

Shui’s grievances-laced steps approached him with distaste.

Lin slightly tilted his head. "I just wanted to kiss you. But you wanted me to ask your permission, so I did."

"There’s a time and place for that!" Her nostrils flared.

"This wasn’t a good time?"

"Absolutely not! I was so close to winning!"

"Oh. Alas."

That was all he said.

"..."

She gasped. "You conniving man! You did it on purpose to distract my concentration."

"Did I?" He smiled, albeit meaningfully.

"That smile explains everything!"

"I don’t admit to anything. I simply had the urge. You looked so beautiful in your gaming mode that I couldn’t help myself."

"Don’t act all buttery now!"

Lin rolled his ball down the lane that landed him a clean hit. Victory was his yet again. He patted her head.

"You played well. You almost had me."

His shameless side flabbergasted her. "Almost my foot! You rigged the game."

He blinked. "Rigged how?"

She fumed. "By asking that question!"

"But how is it my fault that you allowed that question to affect you?"

"..."

"One’s concentration must never waver from the game. In this case, enlightenment still awaits you," Lin strangely entered the Buddha mode.

Her brow twitched incessantly and a sneer formed on her lips. "Oh enlightenment, is it? Sure. Now you try to find enlightenment on how to beg forgiveness from your girlfriend who doesn’t want to see your face anymore!"

She turned her back on him and stomped her side to the waiting area, folding her arms to her chest and cheeks puffed up to their maximum stretching capability with the weight of her fury.

Lin poked at one. "Hello."

She glared. "You dare just hello me after what you did?"

"But you fell for it."

"Yeah keep going like that and your enlightenment will escape from you faster than you imagine."

He poked that cheek again. "I am sorry."

No response.

"I won’t do it again."

No response, but the tilt of her head only turned farther away from him.

Hmm...

Shui’s puffed up face continued to be ballooned, but after some time, there had been no movement from Lin. She turned her head just by a fraction and found him disappeared.

"..."

Did he leave?

No, if he doesn’t want me to murder him the next time we meet, then he would be wise to not leave like this, she snorted.

The footsteps echoed again and Shui quickly turned her head back, posture stiff with complaint.

"Here. This is for you."

"I don’t want anything."

"You will like it."

"I don’t care."

"You will definitely like it."

She finally turned with a glare and found a cup with steaming coffee in his hands. She only took a faint look and recognized that light sweet but also spicy scent. The fragrance of fresh coffee beans lifted the air coupled with a tinge of spicy aroma.

"Hot mocha."

She recalled it was the same drink he had made for her the first time they met in the gaming plaza. The coffee smelled exactly as it was that time.

A layer of dark still remained intact on her face. "You think a cup of coffee will make me forgive you?"

"I will try something else if this doesn’t work. But something tells me that it will."

She made a face. "Aren’t you overconfident?"

She grabbed the cup anyway, sending another glare his way. The steam wafted across her lips and nose and she took a small sip.

"How is it?" He asked with a hint of hope and eagerness.

Contrary to his expectations of praise and eventually her jumping to embrace him, a mistiness enveloped her eyes.

"Is it too spicy?" His eyes widened and then panic set in.

"No, it’s...it’s good. Just like that time..."

"Then why are you crying?" He sat beside her, worried.

She quickly wiped her eyes. "I wasn’t crying."

"I can see your eyes..."

"No."

"You don’t need to hold back," he said with all seriousness.

"That’s your imagination. I was just...remembering some things."

"Like what?"

She contemplated her complicated feelings.

"When I think about it now, I was actually quite...sad the day we met here for the first time. I think I had been feeling that way for a long time, but I had gotten used to not showing it."

He stiffened slightly, feeling that she was talking about Jin. It resonated with him harder because he wasn’t in any different place his entire life. He was as much in grief as Shui was in when it came to Yahui, but he had learned to keep a tight lid on his heart over time.

Her lips faintly quivered. "I was angry that day too. I think I was angry everyday. It was hard to hold it in and not be mean to my best friend because I know he wasn’t hurting me intentionally. I remember I was very tired at one point. I supported him, but it was also hard, and I had to pretend it wasn’t. You know, I had no clue what I was supposed to do in my life."

Despite her resistance, her eyes brimmed with tears anyway which she tried to shake off.

"I was really afraid because I didn’t want to be alone. But I was sure I wouldn’t be able to fall in love again. Then everything would frustrate me. Everyone around me lived happily. Only I was the odd woman out. I...just couldn’t see any future for me. It always looked so dark and bleak.

When I had that cup of mocha that time, I had finally felt a little peaceful after a long time. It made me forget my fears for a short time...A-And now here I am drinking the same mocha again, but I am not alone this time. Yeah, I think you are right that I want to cry..."

Lin pulled her against his chest, softly patting her head. Her soft sniffles squeezed his heart with a strange tightness.

"You will.." his own voice trembled a bit, "never be alone anymore, Shui. Like this, you will always be in my arms, safe and happy."