Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

949  Prerogative

"Uncle, uncle, those stars are so pretty!"

Ailun tugged at Jin's collar and pointed his finger at one of the paintings at a distance.

It was a painting of the beautiful night sky with twinkling stars amidst the grey clouds. However, the ground was a barren land with leafless trees all around and not a single soul present to admire the stars' ethereal shine. It almost looked like a desert.

Jin stared at it, faint memories of his childhood tracing in his mind.

Shui loved looking at the stars. They would always spend a lot of time on their villa's terraces to gaze at the night sky and trace the stars in them, trying to find different constellations.

Little Shui giggled. "That is Aries!"

Jin seriously said, "That is Leo, silly."

She puffed up her cheeks. "That is definitely Aries! You are just bullying me."

"Yes…they are pretty," he murmured.

"The bottom is just a sad desert though."

Jin's brow heavily twitched with Alix's comment.

"You always have to ruin the mood, don't you?" He dryly said.

Alix shrugged. "Don't blame me. It's how the painter has painted."

"I would still prefer to look at the beautiful stars." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

She paused and gazed at him. "...I have learned it the hard way. You should look at the complete picture. Half understanding…makes you lose your way."

Jin slightly tilted his head. "Are you pointing out your fruitless chase after Kang Yuze?"

She gave a wry smile. "I wish I could have made an easier mistake like chasing after some dumb love."

"What other mistake have you made?"

She stared at him and then smiled. "Too many to count I guess?"

Ailun raised his hand. "Mom says to sincerely say sorry when you do something wrong."

"Wish life would have been that simpler. Not all mistakes can be resolved with just a sorry, kid."

Jin hummed. "You should let the other person decide that."

Alix threw him a look. "Like how you let Shui decide your future?"

He stiffened.

"If forgiving or not forgiving is the other person's prerogative, then why are you running away, Liu Jin? What mistakes have you made that you cannot face?"

Jin's lips quivered and he stared at Alix with a slight furious gaze.

"Alix?"

They turned and crossed paths with Shui and Yuze, who had just reached the same gallery section as them.

"Aunt Shui!" Ailun beamed.

"Hey," she waved her hand.

Her gaze fell at Jin, who was also staring back at her with his breath held in his chest. A dull pain gripped him as he saw the two together and remembered how he saw Yuze approaching Shui before.

They are still together…

Alix silently observed their eye contact.

"So you were with Liu Jin all this time," Yuze smiled at Alix.

She looked at him. "And Liu Ailun too."

"Of course. Sometime before, I saw you talking with Mr. Liu Jing and his company."

She shrugged. "Business stuff."

Suddenly, Ailun exclaimed. "Pastry aunt, let's go to that side! I can see a crowd there. There will be super cool paintings there, right?"

She eyed him and smiled. "Cool."

She then looked at Yuze and said, "Join us. Liu Jin is a boring company. He prefers to see the half truth over the complete gospel."

Jin's gaze darkened. "Did you have to diss me for something completely as unnecessary as that?"

"Milking twenty million from you was my main goal. I have achieved that. I can diss you whenever I want now."

He angrily laughed with a volcano erupting from head. "It's not like you tried to impress me for that check in the first place so what the hell are you even talking about!"

"Ah, was I not good to you?" Her eyes slightly widened. "Hm…oh well," she shrugged. "I realized it's more fun to irritate you rather than be good to you."

Jin laughed albeit with green veins popping on temples and the sound of his knuckles cracking.

"Yeah you should leave before I strangle you for real."

"Be careful, Liu Jin. Your uncle doesn't want to lose his talented protege, you know? You will only incur his wrath by harming me."

Suddenly, Yuze's voice came. "Thanks for inviting me, Alix, but I will pass. I am going through the gallery with Shui for now. There are so many amazing paintings and I thought why not hang around with an artist herself to understand these amazing pieces? It's fun."

Alix's eyes narrowed and noticed Jin becoming more uncomfortable even though he wasn't showing it in his demeanor.

She smiled. "I have something to talk about my company and sister too. Unless that doesn't matter to you despite the fact that it's your company who has landed it in this sorry state in the first place."

A tense silence ensued.

Shui quickly said to diffuse it, "It's okay, Yuze. You go with Alix and Ailun."

"I am sorry…" he apologized.

"Don't be."

Alix snorted and looked at Jin. She slowly leaned towards him and whispered in his ear. "Let Shui have that prerogative to decide her future with you."

His eyes widened. "You-"

"Don't be a coward," she winked.

Ailun sparkled and flailed his arms towards her. "Let's go, pastry aunt!"

She frowned. "You can walk."

"But I want you to hold me."

He jumped from Jin's arms into hers without much discussion and chirped. "Let's go."

Alix stared at his bubbly face with another frown. "So naive and trusting."

Yuze stared at Alix and silently followed her.

There was a beat of silence as Jin stood awkwardly. Even more so when he felt Shui gazing at him quite intently.

She is…she is definitely thinking about her painting.

O-or does she want to know what I think about it…?

He breathed in, unsure of what to say.

Shui kept her eyes fixed on him, watching every trace of his expression and the knit of his brow change.

"Sh-Shall we go too?" Jin asked.

She said nothing at first. Then she clutched her purse and said, "Jin."

"Hm?"

"...Yuze…Yuze confessed to me today."

He froze.

"He asked me out and also asked me to consider him."

Jin blankly stared at her.

Co...Confess...?