Are You Still Thinking Of Him?

Qiao Zeyan walked across the lobby of TO, Fang Lingyi following close behind. Her face was pink, hair messy in places. He didn't slow down for her and merely watched as she struggled to keep up with his large steps. His assisstants were already waiting for them both at the automatic doors, his sleek black car parked at the front.

"Qiao Zeyan!" Fang Lingyi called out to him, making him pause before the front counter where the receptionist was staring at them, phone to her ear. He turned to face the woman he once knew so well. "When did you get back?" she asked him, panting for breath.

"I don't understand how that concerns you," he replied smoothly, raising a brow.

"Fine, then tell me what you're doing here at TO," Fang Lingyi pursued boldly.

Zeyan chuckled, pulling down his sunglasses. "Why can't I be at TO? This entire building is already mine."

"Didn't you promise not to come and find me?"

Zeyan laughed again, though this time, there was no humor.

She hadn't changed much in recent years, hair and skin still as fair, and carrying the same stubborn personality. The men he'd sent to watch her on his behalf always returned to tell him she was living a peaceful and comfortable enough life for a woman her age. Of course keeping his distance and staying out of her way was for the best, but he couldn't help himself. He wanted to know how she was doing.

He gazed at her small, flushed face. He wanted more than anything to reach out to hold it in his hands again, just for the sake of feeling her skin on his. He shook his head.

The way this woman made him feel...

He forced a cocky smile onto his face. "Pleas don't be so self-affectionate. I came here today for my own benefit, not for you, so I'm sorry to have disappointed you, Miss Fang."

People walking in the lobby stopped to stare, shamelessly whispering to one another. Some of the women even giggled, dashing off with blushing cheeks when Zeyan lifted his eyes to theirs. Fang Lingyi folded her arms across her chest, clearly unamused.

Zeyan twisted around to the first assisstant by the door, waving a finger to beckon him over. "Bring Miss Fang back home, please, Jiang Quan." He turned back to her afterward, resting his sunglasses back over his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Fang. Have a good evening."

He heard her complaints as Jiang Quan escorted her to another car and he couldn't help but smile as his assisstant drove off, Fang Lingyi's face of disbelief still imprinted in his mind.

- - - -

Most of the flowers in her apartment were nearly dead, but Lingyi still worked hard to take care of them every day, spraying enough water and giving them enough sunlight to thrive. She was holding a pot of wilting roses a friend had sent her, analyzing the stems and leaves with an upset expression. The soil was infested with bugs, and with an exhale, she set the pot down before giving it one last spray of water, droplets clinging to the petals. It was a pitiful sight if anything.

Lingyi was about to move on to the next boquet of flowers when Anqing jumped into the room, apron halfway around her body and a spatula gripped in her hand. "What do you want to eat tonight?" she asked, leaning her arms on the doorframe.

Lingyi peered at her roommate from the corner of her eye and shrugged. "I don't really mind what we eat," she answered, tending to a carnation which was losing its pink color.

Anqing scoffed, entering the room and sitting herself down at the foot of Lingyi's bed. "Whenever you say you don't mind what we eat, it always means there's something on your mind. Tell me, what's bothering you so much that you don't even care about what I cook?"

"I really don't have anything on my mind," Lingyi denied, putting all her attention on the flowers in her hands.

Anqing nodded sarcastically. "If that's the case, then why did you come home with the face of someone who's been wrongly accused? Did your boss fire you?"

Lingyi whipped around, armed with her spray bottle, which was slowly running out of water. "Of course not!" she revealed, "I just had a bad day, that's all."

"Is it because TO was sold to ACE, whose CEO just so happens to be the man whose heart you broke six years ago?"

Lingyi's expression instantly became serious. "That's not funny, Anqing. The entire company now belongs to ACE and not even the employees had a say in it." She paused. "And how do you know of this?"

Anqing rolled her eyes. "It was ver the headlines of every newspaper this evening and the new hot topic in the news industry."

"I knew it would end up like this," Lingyi muttered to herself, shoving the flowerpot into a corner.

Lingyi's roommate and best friend shuffled on the bed, looking a little sympathetic.

"You still can't let go of him, can you?"

The entire room fell silent. Lingyi's throat felt dry.

Anqing stood from her spot, walking over to place a hand reassuringly on Lingyi's shoulder. "It's alright if you can't let go of him - he's returned now, hasn't he?"

"The Qiao Zeyan I knew six years ago isn't the Qiao Zeyan I met today," Lingyi said to Anqing whilst watering the next plant on the shelf. "The Qiao Zeyan I met today is already a completely different person."

"But maybe you can give him another chance."

"Why should I give him another chance?" Lingyi half-turned, staring at Anqing beside her.

And almost too quiet for Lingyi to hear anything, Anqing replied, "Because you still love him."

Maybe Lingyi should have scolded her or yelled at her for saying such nonsense, but deep down she knew clearer than a blue sky: it was the truth, no matter how much she told herself otherwise, and she hated it.

Finally after a moment of silence that seemed to have lasted forever, Lingyi whispered, "You don't understand. It's too late now to go back."

"But-"

Lingyi cut in, "It's late now. Why don't I cook dinner today and you can have a rest?"

She took the spatula from Anqing's hands before there could even be a response.