Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

When she heard some footsteps behind her, she quickly cleared her throat and straightened her back.

Who is it?

"Is it you Yuze-" she asked as she turned back but froze upon seeing a different figure instead.

Jin abruptly stopped in his steps too, unable to speak for a moment.

She was expecting Yuze…

"I didn\'t know you were here," he quickly said to escape the awkwardness. He placed his cold hands in his pockets for some warmth.

"I will leave. I don\'t want to disturb you."

Shui replied. "Oh no, you are not disturbing me. We are childhood friends. Since when do we disturb each other?"

Jin scratched his chin. "...It seems that you were expecting Kang Yuze so I wouldn\'t want to intrude."

"Ah…" she slightly rubbed her palms. "It wasn\'t like I was expecting him. I just thought it might be him."

"I see."

A beat of silence fell.

Jin hesitantly and slowly stood near the railing too, albeit keeping his distance from her. Nobody knew what to say.

In the end, Shui initiated. "We finally got some time alone to talk haha. Liu Jin was completely surrounded."

He grimaced. "Don\'t even start. It was tiring to keep meeting so many people so I came out for some fresh air."

"This is just the beginning. This is like a pre-CEO warmup."

He chuckled.

"How were things in Paris? Oh how are Grandma and Grandpa Liang?"

"They are doing well. Paris was also great. I didn\'t miss Mom\'s food at all only because Grandma was there. I get who Mom takes after. She really didn\'t let my stomach be empty even for a moment."

Shui laughed. "You are definitely becoming more and more like Grandpa Hai. Is food the only thing you missed?"

Like Grandpa…

.net

Jin\'s expression didn\'t look well with Shui\'s funny jab.

A light moved his lips. "Food wasn\'t the only thing I missed. I missed…everybody here."

A soft gust of wind fluttered past them, bringing a beat of silence along with it. But Jin didn\'t let it stay for long.

"What about you? You have become a great artist huh? I knew that\'s what you would do."

This time, she scratched the top of her head. "Ahaha…things just flowed in that direction naturally."

He smiled. "I am happy for you. You always liked to draw. It always makes you so happy."

"Aaaaand I remember somebody who liked to ruin my drawings," she teased.

His brow twitched hard. "Don\'t bring my dark past."

"It\'s fun~"

He snorted. Wondering about something, he asked, "I was surprised to see your close friendship with Ren Alix."

Shui paused.

"She had behaved so rudely with you on that trip so…"

She smiled. "That was a misunderstanding. When Xiao got me to meet her, I realized that Alix wasn\'t really a bad person."

He blinked. "Is that so…? To me, her behavior then and tonight at the Summit is so vastly contrasting. But I am glad you found another good friend."

"Yeah…" she said in a daze.

Jin peeked glances at her, a question hovering at the tip of his tongue. "Not just Ren Alix but Kang Xiao and…Kang Yuze too."

He inhaled a silent breath. "It seems you have a good relationship with the Kang family now. Kang Yuze\'s father was praising you very much until just before you…and he came together."

"O-Oh…"

Shui pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear and silently looked away. "Yeah. It\'s just that he doesn\'t really like Xiao\'s friendship with Alix so he was happy to see me getting along with her…"

Jin gauged in her gaze that that was only a part of a reason. There was something more that tied her with Xiao and Alix, but it was clear that she was uncomfortable to share that.

"Is that the only reason…?" Jin whispered to himself.

"Did you say something?"

Jin had a lot to say and a lot to ask.

Was Kang Nanyou happy because he thought that Shui and Yuze would get together?

Did Shui\'s friendship with Xiao also bring her and Kang Yuze closer to each other too?

Did that friendship turn into something more?

Jin couldn\'t ask the questions. The six years brought a wall between them that made him unable to pry into this aspect of her life. He was well aware that he had no right to complain either because it was a wall that he brought upon it himself.

He gently smiled. "Nothing. I am just very happy for you."

Kang Yuze is a good man and the Kang family also has a respectable business set up, he thought.

If Shui…if they really ended up getting together then who better man for her than Kang Yuze?

The thought stabbed his heart painfully and his breaths began to tremble. Before Shui could catch if something was wrong with him, he quickly said, "I will take my leave now. I intruded upon your time enough."

She stared at him with slightly squinted eyes. "You didn\'t intrude. Guess you didn\'t change much. You are always so stubborn in believing the wrong things."

He stiffened. With a faltering smile, he looked away and hastily left.

As he exited, Shui noticed something dropping out of his pocket as he took his hands out.

"Jin wait, something fell from your…"

But he was already too far away to hear her voice. Shui shook her head and walked towards the fallen object herself.

Reaching near, her brows knitted together seeing what laid on the ground. She bent and picked it up between her fingers.

"...Since when did Jin start to smoke?"