It is not absurd

The awkward silence that followed was uncomfortable.

There wasn't anything wrong with Ying Yue's reply though. Even Mr. Yang had to scratch his head in confusion. CEO Fei was acting odd.

"Miss Ying, I'm going to be blunt about this…" he paused, narrowing his eyes at her, staring so intently that it made Ying Yue readjust herself on her seat.

Fei Huangjin was a legend in the business circle -- his poker face unparalleled and his temper unpredictable. It was said that no one could tell what he was thinking, and at that moment, Ying Yue found that to be especially true.

"… I'd like you to be my girlfriend. And not for pretense."

There. He'd said it.

"…" They stared at each other for a few seconds, a deafening silence stretching between them like the ocean on a summer's day. She blinked repeatedly. Did she hear it right? She wondered if perhaps there was something wrong with her hearing.

Mr. Yang pretended he didn't hear anything and despite his curiosity, he refused to glance at the two behind him.

It was Ying Yue who broke the tension with a light laugh. "I'm sorry Mr. Fei, I know I might sound absurd, but it sounded like you wanted to actually, really, be in a relationship with me."

"It is not absurd." He cocked his head to one side. "I find you smart and attractive, and trust me, I do not remember being attracted to anyone else."

Ying Yue's calm façade broke. She frowned, unable to understand what was going inside the brain of the great Fei Huangjin. She used to admire the man, but now she couldn't help wondering if the incident last night made him crazy. "Mr. Fei, I implore you not to make fun of me like this."

"I'm not joking."

"Yes, you are." She insisted.

"Go on a date with me."

"No."

"And call me Huangjin."

"I will not, Mr. Fei!" Her voice had already inched a notch higher.

"Why not?"

"Well because… because," she stuttered, she certainly couldn't tell him she couldn't date him because she's a spy, right? "Because I'm your secretary!"

He frowned. "That's not a good excuse. You're a brilliant secretary and I'm attracted to you. It shouldn't even come as a surprise that I'm attracted to you."

Ying Yue just snorted in response.

Fei Huangjin sighed. Why was this woman making things difficult? He just asked her to be his girlfriend. He's smart, he looked good, he's the president and CEO of Fei International and his assets were worth billions. Most women were eager to flock to him and anyone would jump at the chance to be his girlfriend. This is the one time he's actually asking a woman out so why in the world was she refusing him? She wasn't playing hard-to-get, was she?

He frowned. He had to admit that he had never tried "wooing" anyone, but since he was interested in her, he was willing to try.

Fei Huangjin cleared his throat. When he faced life, he faced it like a battlefield. Since the direct way of asking someone out didn't seem to work out for him, he decided to change tactics, going for the gentler, more compromising approach. "Well, we're going to be pretending to be in a relationship anyway, why don't we use the opportunity to get to know each other more and go on actual dates?"

"I've been your secretary for a year. I know everything there is to know about you." Ying Yue rolled her eyes at him.

"No, you don't."

"You get up before 6 AM in the morning each day and you're at the office by 7 AM. You like eating beef. You hate congee. Your favorite color is navy blue. You prefer your coffee black and strong and you need 3 cups of coffee to get through a day." She raised her chin in defiance, challenging him to refute what she just said.

"Knowing someone's schedule and preferences at work is vastly different from knowing someone for who they are." He pointed out.

That was true. But Fei Huangjin was a business magnate and the richest man in S city. She was his secretary. Those two shouldn't even mix in the word "relationship."

Ying Yue didn't know what to think anymore. Dealing with Fei Huangjin's persistence was distressing and exhausting. She turned away and lifted both hands to her temples to massage them. First, her boss declares that he wants her to be his girlfriend and demands her to date him, and now he was calmly asking her to go out with him. She really couldn't keep up with this guy.

If he wasn't going to stop pushing her to go out with him, she'd have no choice but to quit her job. She had to protect herself and Juyan.

Fei Huangjin's gut feeling kicked in and he sensed that she was about to refuse him again. "Look, just think about it and we'll talk about it tomorrow. I promise I won't bring it up again for the rest of the day."

Ying Yue just looked out the window. She was too upset and confused to answer him.