A Photo

The atmosphere in the car was quite tense.

Jace cast a few glances at Ryan, wondering why his sister came to pick him up with this man. 

Wasn't she against their parents' arrangement? Why does it seem as if Violet was getting along with Ryan fine?

He was away for more than a week and so many things had changed since then.

Finally, Ryan pulled over the vehicle in front of Xu's residence. He had visited this place a few times and had become quite familiar with the area.

Jace alighted from the car hastily. It seemed he could not tolerate breathing in the same space as Ryan. Jace grabbed his luggage from the boot before turning to his younger sister again. His brow rose in puzzlement when he noticed that his sister was looking at Ryan.

"Violet," Jace called. "Jace watched his sister. "Aren't you going in?"

Violet cleared her throat. "You should go first. I'm sure Mom and Dad will be excited to see you. I'll be right there in a second." Her gaze shifted to Ryan. "I have a few things to say to Ryan."

Instantly, Jace's expression turned unhappy. "Alright then. Don't take too long. I bought you some souvenirs. Come over and choose what you like." He shot a dagger look at Ryan before finally turning around and heading into the house.

Violet watched as her elder brother entered the house. Once he was no longer within her sight, Violet finally turned to Ryan again. "Thank you. You know… for accompanying me to fetch my brother."

"Don't mention it." Ryan chuckled. He looked in the direction where Jace had gone earlier and frowned. "Your brother… He seems like an interesting person."

"I'm sorry that he's been acting so hostile. He doesn't like you."

Ryan clicked his tongue. "I got the message the first time he laid his eyes on me."

Violet laughed. "He doesn't like the idea of this arranged marriage and dating thing. He was so against the idea and helped me to argue with my parents."

Ryan nodded. "Don't worry. I understand. He's just protective of you."

Violet chuckled. She stared at Ryan, waiting for him to excuse himself and leave. However, the man continued to stand next to her with his hands in his pockets and his eyes were staring at his black, polished shoes as if something was interesting about them.

Wasn't he going to leave?

Violet wanted to ask but felt that she should not be rude, especially when Ryan had helped her earlier.

"Ryan." Violet finally said to break the silence. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

Ryan stared at her, surprised by her suggestion. "A walk?" He repeated before shaking his head to decline. "No, it's late. Your parents are going to get worried."

"Hold on. Stay there. Don't leave just yet." 

Without waiting for Ryan to answer, Violet turned and disappeared into the house. A couple of minutes later, she came out again with a smile on her face. "I told my parents that I was going to the convenience store. Do you want to come along?"

Ryan felt as if he should decline Violet's invitation. However, he did not have the heart to decline.

"Alright." Ryan shrugged. "If you insist..."

Violet rolled her eyes at his comment. 

The two of them walked into the night in silence until they reached the convenience store which was not that far from Violet's house. After getting two cartons of milk from the convenience store, they turned around to leave.

"Hey," Violet said, glancing at Ryan's a few times. "So… Are you alright?"

Don't I look alright?"

"Well, you seem like you've got something in your mind," she guessed. "Something happened at work?"

Ryan went silent. It wasn't that he had anything that worried him. 

It was just that… He wanted to be around her a bit longer. But he couldn't say that out loud to Violet, could he? 

Ryan was aware that he was interested in Violet. However, he was still against their parents' idea to set them up and this was making him feel complicated. 

 "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Violet said when Ryan did not reply.

Suddenly, Violet felt Ryan's hand brush lightly against her shoulder. She was about to protest when she noticed two drunkards were walking towards them. 

Her heart tensed.

Violet did not know whether this feeling came from being too close to Ryan or was because the drunkards had their eyes on her.

Once the drunkards were farther away, Ryan finally pulled his hands away. "I'm sorry." He cleared his throat. "Those guys were swaying too much and I was worried that they would bump into you."

"It's alright." Violet tried to smile. "Well, thank you."

Suddenly, she felt that walking with Ryan felt very awkward. 

Violet put her hand in her jacket and flinched when she touched her cell phone. She pulled her cell phone out, wanting to check on the time. However, her eyes then fell on the phone strap. "Look!" Violet dangled the cupcake charm straps in front of Ryan's eyes. "I put the charm on."

Ryan laughed. "Well, I'm glad."

Violet paused as she watched the laughing Ryan. Her fingers glided against the screen and she pressed a button.

A bright flash came out, causing Ryan to stand still in surprise for a brief second. 

 "What did you do?" Ryan grimaced. "Did you just take a picture of me?"

Violet hid her cell phone behind her and stuffed it in her pocket. "What if I do?"

Ryan sucked in some air and stared at her. "Then, you need to erase them."

"I refuse."

"Excuse me?"

"I can't do that," Violet said. "This is one precious photo. I can't just erase them without any strong reason."

"What?" Ryan stared at her in disbelief.

"How do I say this," Violet paused. "You look your best with a smile on your face. You look really cute!"

"Cute?" Ryan chuckled. "Oh, please. You don't call a man cute," he crossed his arm against his chest. "Cute is used to compliment girls, babies, kids, or animals."

Violet scoffed. "Whatever it is, I'm not deleting this picture."

"Why?" Ryan asked. "So that you can look at my picture and idolize me?"

Violet rolled her eyes at his remark. 

It seemed that Ryan was being narcissistic again.

"No. I'm keeping this to blackmail you in the future." A mischievous smile appeared on her lips. "You never know when this picture will come in handy."