Pretending to be composed

Yu Chen lowered her head with guilt upon hearing this. She had actually not eaten anything since breakfast yesterday, but she really did not feel like she would be able to stomach anything.

But looking at Hua's stern face, trying to mask all that worry, Yu Chen sighed and let herself be led into the dining room.

Once there, Hua made her sit on a chair and laid out breakfast before her.

Yu Chen looked at Xi Hua and Huo Zenghai, "Won't you guys eat?"

Zenghai, who had brought more plates, smiled, "Of course we will. Come on Hua."

And the three sat down to eat breakfast.

Yu Chen had been right. She felt her stomach turn with every bite she took. What was wrong with her? But looking at Hua and Zenghai's faces, she finished the breakfast and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Hua also stood up, looking ready to follow her.

Chen forced out a chuckle, "For a bath. Wanna join?"

Xi Hua let out a sigh, and her expression seemed relieved. "Nah. Go ahead. I'm sure Zenghai will get jealous." She said.

Yu Chen nodded and headed for the bathroom.

Once in, she locked herself in and put on loud music on her phone.

Then, she puked her guts out. Something really was wrong with her stomach. Goodness knew what.

Chen was glad of the music as she rinsed her mouth, brushed her teeth, and took a shower.

When she came out, Chen saw Hua beckoning to her with a large bucket of ice-cream from the sofa.

She had on a trending Chinese drama on the T.V. and looked quite snug with the blanket.

The three spent the whole Sunday like that, Yu Chen not even getting one moment to herself.

She knew that Xi Hua was doing this so she could forget her worries and have some peace of mind.

But spending time with Hua and Zenghai was more work for Chen than being alone would have been. She had to pretend to be composed, if not happy, the whole day, when all she wanted to do was break down.

When Yu Chen had somehow stuffed dinner in her stomach and stopped herself from puking, Huo Zenghai stood up.

"I should get going now. I have office tomorrow." He said.

Hua nodded and went to see him to the door.

Yu Chen wandered over to the living room, wondering if it would be too rude if she excused herself and went to her room.

There, Chen's eyes fell on her phone. She had not had the chance to pick it up once the whole day except when Sam had called and she had talked to him.

Yu Chen picked it up and dialled an all too familiar number. Her heart felt like something was cracking with each digit she typed.

Finally, she put the phone to her ear.

"The subscriber you have called is busy. Please try again later." A mechanical voice rung out.

Yu Chen frowned. That couldn't be.

Xia rarely talked to anyone with his private number except her, Hua and Zenghai. And he definitely was not talking to them.

An explanation hit Chen as she hunted for Hua's phone and called Si Xia.

Sure enough, it started ringing.

Yu Chen cut the call after the first ring and sighed.