Chapter 12 The Button Lost That Night
"Qin You, are you out of your mind?! Let go of Song Ning!" Zhou Qiao shouted.
Qin You nonchalantly shook off his hand, straightened up, and rubbed his lower back. "Finally, you've decided to see me."
“What’s the point of seeing you or not? We broke up a long time ago. There are your fans all around here. Don’t be ungrateful!” Zhou Qiao gritted her teeth and pulled Xu Songning behind her.
Xu Songning sighed softly. Qin You was too domineering and wouldn't listen to any advice. Even though Qiao Qiao still had feelings for him, his constant pressure only pushed her further away.
"I……"
Qin You was interrupted by Zhou Qiao as soon as he opened his mouth.
“You formed a band to realize your dream, right? You don’t want any old scandals to come out, do you? It would be detrimental to your future.” Zhou Qiao grabbed Xu Songning’s arm, but Xu Songning gently pulled away and, while she was stunned, took her hand in his.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here." Xu Songning gently patted her back.
Zhou Qiao took a deep breath, faced Qin You directly, and said all the things she hadn't said when they broke up.
"Qin You, you're great, but I'm great too. I don't want to hide my relationship status for you, I don't want to be your appendage, and I don't want every meeting to be like a secret rendezvous, with all this and that to guard against. I'm so tired, so very tired."
"Qin You, you..." Zhou Qiao wanted to finish speaking politely, but unexpectedly choked up. She looked away and said, "I am very grateful to you for being willing to help. If there is anything I can do to help you in the future, I will do so. But this is all we can do between us."
The light never illuminated this corner, just like their feelings, which couldn't be exposed in a room with the lights on.
"I have never asked for any of these things," Qin You said, clenching his teeth.
"Yes, you never asked for it, but I don't want to anymore, okay? I'm setting you free, please give me freedom too!" Zhou Qiao looked up at him, and surprisingly, a calm smile appeared on her face. "Okay?"
If there were a mirror, Zhou Qiao could see just how forced her smile was. In her tearful eyes, there wasn't disgust for him, but rather an unspeakable emotion.
Unfortunately, Qin You didn't dare look her in the eyes.
As an outsider, Xu Songning could only watch this farce unfold in silence.
Qin You finally nodded first, gritting his teeth as he replied, "Fine! Zhou Qiao, you've really gone all out."
As he slammed the door shut, the brass wind chime fell to the ground.
Zhou Qiao picked it up dejectedly; the wind chime was broken into several pieces and could no longer be hung up as a decoration.
"This was a gift from him. He hung it up himself on the first day the bar opened."
Xu Songning didn't know what to say, so he patted her back, took the wind chime fragments, and wanted to throw them into the trash can, but then he was so angry that he took a picture and sent it directly to someone.
There was no response from the other side, and they didn't block her.
"Feelings are truly inexplicable," Xu Songning remarked.
It can't be rushed, nor can it be slowed down.
After having a late-night snack with Zhou Qiao, Xu Songning noticed that she was still not in high spirits, so he decided to stay with her for the night before leaving. Fortunately, there were rooms available for resting upstairs at the bar.
A row of rooms, in a classic hotel style. Except for the three rooms at the end, which were the rest rooms Zhou Qiao had reserved for the trio, the other rooms were occasionally open to the public to accommodate female guests who were hungover and had no one to pick them up.
Zhou Qiao wasn't in a good mood, otherwise she would have teased Xu Songning.
Last time, Xu Songning took Mr. X back to his room and told him it was a room service provided by the bar.
"I'll go get the pillow."
Xu Songning escorted the person to her room, brought her a glass of milk, and then walked to his own room and swiped his swipe to open the door.
It's been a while since I've been here, but someone still cleans it every day.
Upon closer inspection, it's clear that their room differs from the hotel's style; the small items inside are all things they brought themselves, including Xu Songning's pillow.
She is particular about pillows, preferring comfortable and soft medium-sized pillows with light blue pillowcases. After a few nights, the scent of her hair will linger, and these are all things she cares about.
Last time I only slept one night, and when I woke up early the next morning I washed the duvet cover and pillowcases.
Picking up the pillow, Xu Songning noticed a transparent button lying on the sheet. If it weren't for the light blue sheet, she wouldn't have noticed it at first glance.
“This is…” Xu Songning fiddled with the button, recalling the scene from that day.
A slender hand reached for the man's clothes, her movements too hasty, tearing off a button. No one cared where the small button had gone; only intense panting filled the unlit room.
"Why did it take you so long to come? Did the scenery remind you of something?" Zhou Qiao was already lying on the bed. Seeing Xu Songning's preoccupied look, she patted the spot next to her. "I haven't had time to gossip about this with you until today. We finally have time to talk."
Xu Songning hugged her pillow and comfortably found a spot to lie down. The room was dimly lit with only a small lamp on, which gave her a great sense of security.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Zhou Qiao lay on her side, looking at her with her beautiful eyes. "If you don't want to talk about it, then I won't ask."
"Go ahead and ask. How am I supposed to explain it to you? Discuss the details with you?" Xu Songning teased.
"Hahahaha! You're never serious." Zhou Qiao was successfully amused by her.
Xu Songning lay on her back with her hands folded over the soft down comforter, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"Let me ask you something a little off first: how was the experience that night?" Zhou Qiao asked in a suggestive tone.
Xu Songning chuckled, seemed to savor the moment for a few seconds, and nodded with a smile, "Impressive!"
"Wow! Have you seen what each other looks like? Even if you don't turn on the lights at night, you should be able to see each other in the morning, right?"
"I didn't see it clearly."
Xu Songning had prepared a lot of things to say, intending to clarify things with the other party during the day, explaining that it was just a fling and not to take it seriously. However, the other party left in the middle of the night after she fell asleep.
He left in the middle of the night.
"Huh?!" Zhou Qiao exclaimed, propping her head up in surprise. "He had something urgent? Even if it was urgent, he shouldn't have left at that time... What are you going to think when you wake up? No wonder you don't want to see him again, serves you right!"
Xu Songning smiled and said, "I thought Xiang Yun was him."
"Xiang Yun? The handsome captain who came last time? I remember him! He's really good-looking!" Zhou Qiao's mood improved a bit when she talked about handsome men, but then she felt a pang of regret, "Isn't it him?"
“No, the WeChat account I added is completely different from the one associated with the phone number you gave me.” Xu Songning turned to look at her.
Zhou Qiao slowly shook her head. "Song Ning, don't you know that people usually have two WeChat accounts? One for work and one for life?"
"This... I really didn't expect it, I was too nervous at the time," Xu Songning said.
"Back then, did you hope he was him, or did you hope he wasn't?" Zhou Qiao grinned mischievously.
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