You could call me Su Jianjun

Her perfectly-shaped brows were thrown together in disarray, and she hesitated before picking up the call. Su Jianjun had been nothing but nice to her, but she knew next to nothing about him, and her instincts told her there might be something more to him than meets the eye.

After all, it was too much of a coincidence that he was at Jifeng town when she was there, and now he had suddenly showed up at Fei International.

"Hello," she greeted.

Su Jianjun's now-familiar voice wafted through the phone, sounding polite and seductive at the same time. "Hi. I thought for a moment you'd ignore my call."

Actually, she did briefly think about doing just that.

Ying Yue sat back, pulling up her knees and settling in comfortably in the couch. "Director Su."

"Considering the circumstances of how we first met, I think you could call me Su Jianjun instead. Hearing you say Director Su seems too formal." There was a teasing lilt to his voice, and when Ying Yue didn't say anything for some time, he laughed at her uncomfortableness. "You can call me Director Su at work, but not during off-hours, how about that?"

His laugh wasn't forced, and the easygoing way he dealt with the situation seemed to warm up the atmosphere between them. "If you insist."

"I'm not insisting on anything. How you'd prefer to address me is still entirely up to you." Su Jianjun stood against the floor-to-ceiling windows of his house, looking out at the darkness outside. The beautiful mountain-view of his house couldn't be seen at this hour, but the tiny lights of the city below could be.

Her shoulders relaxed a bit, and her guard slowly went down. It was quite the breath of fresh air for someone to tell her that it was ultimately her decision, unlike the way Fei Huangjin rushed and bulldozed her into things.

Unconsciously, both ends of her mouth perked up and a small barely-there dimple appeared on her left cheek. "Well, Director Su, may I know what you're calling me for?"

"I'm calling to ask you out for dinner."

"Dinner?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Mmm." He grinned. "My shoulder hurt a lot after being subluxated back in that coffee shop in Jifeng town. If I knew you had no intention of paying me back with a meal, I shouldn't have risked my life for you like that."

Ying Yue's head angled to one side, pondering about it cautiously for a moment. "I didn't take you for someone who would count their good deeds, Director Su."

He sported a bemused smirk as he turned his back on the view outside. This Ying Yue was smarter than he thought. "I'm not counting my good deeds, Miss Ying."

"If you weren't, you wouldn't be expecting for me to pay you back with a meal," she admonished.

His jaw became slack, totally not expecting this turn of the conversation. It was almost funny, really. "Well then, would you let me take you out for dinner tonight? As friends. Perhaps you can explain the situation you were in when there were men after you. Surely, you would not deprive me of that, too."

A smug smile bloomed across her face as she prepared to reject him. "I would, actually. I apologize, Director Su."

"Really?" The disbelief lacing his tone was obvious.

"Mmm, really. I don't think it's appropriate to see other men over dinner when I'm about to get married." Ying Yue stretched an arm over her head and back, and she started yawning over the phone.

She may have zero experience in relationships, but she knew that much. If the situation was reversed, she wouldn't want Fei Huangjin to see a woman behind her back, either.

Su Jianjun rubbed his chin in annoyance, but after a while, he felt amused. He shouldn't have underestimated the woman and thought of her too easy. Of course, she wouldn't be. "I can respect that. Get a good night's sleep Miss Ying. You sound pretty tired." The politeness of his tone was a stark contrast to what he actually felt.

Her eyes darted to her bandaged hand, and a flicker of guilt crossed her face briefly before it was replaced with nonchalance. Before he could put the phone down, she called out to him gently. "Director Su?"

He paused. "Yes?"

"Thank you for today. I'm not ungrateful, I hope you understand that. But I'd prefer it if you only call me for business purposes." She was never the kind to do small-talk with any random person; and Su Jianjun, although he radiated warmth and goodness whenever she saw him, wasn't an exception.

"Of course," he murmured. If they were talking face-to-face, she would have seen the fierce glint in his eyes.