Chapter 24 - Underwater

Brushing off the incident that occurred in the elevator, Mei shook her head, her palm hitting the side of her forehead.

"Why ruin such a good day because of an irrelevant person?"

Cruising through the road, she let her windows down, playing her favorite songs on the speaker.

"Wonder if I can take a little detour?" she pondered about, eventually taking a different turn from the house as she started speeding her car in the empty road.

Reaching near a small clearing with a lake in the middle, Mei strode out, taking a whiff of the fresh air.

"It's been way too long since I came out here," she chuckled to herself, stepping out of her shoes and clothes, she dipped her feet in the frigid cold water.

Closing her eyes, she held her breath, slowly submerging her body deeper down.

Ripples of water surrounding her, she finally opened her eyes as bubbles of air escaped her lips.

Mei felt herself descending lower, with no strength to resist, she let herself sink deeper down while she stared at the blurry sky from under.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp sting in her mind, making her cough, she swam to the surface, realizing what she was about to do.

Huffing deeply, Mei got out, her body shivering in the chilly air, she sat on the soft moss, her knees to her chest, she quivered, "What was that just now?"

Picking up her phone, she looked through her photos with Lien that showed both of them laughing near the lake.

"Should I message her? No, It's for the best that we aren't talking to each other now," she sighed out.

Glancing at the time, she whispered,

"I hope it didn't get too late."

Arriving back to the house, Mei noticed Jian's car in the driveway.

Shrugging it off, she walked back to the door to see Bao Zhai waiting for her on the stairs.

"It's late, I thought you would arrive before Jian." Ushering her inside, she grazer her hair and asked her, "Are you okay? Your hair is quite wet."

"Oh please don't worry about it, my head felt warm so I sprinkled some water on it."

Squinting her eyes, Bao Zhai looked at her in skepticism but invited her for dinner, "Well, you're here now, I have already set the table up for you to eat. Why don't you freshen up and join?"

Mei blinked back at her, clearly confused, "I don't have to wait for leftovers?"

"What? Why would you?"

Trying to skip her question, Mei changed the topic, "It was nothing, I will be right there, Thank you very much."

She rushed to her room, closing it behind her back, going straight to the bathroom to take a hot shower.

After she was done, she hugged the poppy-scented robe around herself and took a deep breath.

"Much better."

Wearing a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt, she stepped out to get dinner,

however, after seeing Jian seated at the table, plates of food around him, she frowned at his face, walking past him to take a snack and go back to her room.

As she quickly grazed the chairs, Jian swiftly grasped her wrist, his voice stern, "Where were you all this time?"

Yanking her hand back, Mei ignored him, picking up an apple, she strolled back to her room.

Jian banged his palm on the table, demanding her, "Answer me when I'm asking you something, Mei Ling."

Not in a mood to converse with him, she peeked at him, showing her tongue, she ran off.

"Idiot," she mocked him while locking her door.

Slumping to her bed she sighed out loudly, "Ugh, I can't even complain about this to anyone."

Skimming around, she picked up her work phone, scrolling through to find Guan Yin's number on it.

Her heart beating in her chest, she tried calming herself down as she sent her a text, privately.

'Hey Kuan, it's Mei Ling, the new trainee. Just wanted to share my number with you, in case anything happens."

Squealing like a little girl, she grabbed onto her blanket, waiting for her to text back when she realized it was already midnight and the others would be fast asleep.

"I shouldn't have texted her this late," she thought, "I seem too desperate, I could have just waited. What was the use of this? I would just be annoying her now."

Her mind getting filled with void thoughts, she felt her phone buzz.

Checking it, she saw that she had received a message from Kuan.

"Hey, newbie! Surprised to see that you're awake at two am. Haha, you must be like me, I was just watching some movies right now. Gonna go to sleep in some minutes though but it was nice to get your number. Goodnight! See you tomorrow!"

Smiling to herself, she rolled on the bed, seizing on her pillow tightly, her excitement taking control of her body, she toppled down on the floor, looking herself in a daze.

"She seems so nice, it seems like I finally got a new friend to talk to," she babbled on in delight.

Suddenly, a bang on her door snapped her out of her daze as she got up to check who it was.

"Bao Zhai? Is everything alright?" concerned, she opened it to see Jian standing in front of her, an expressionless face staring into her eyes.

"Did you go meet somebody?" he asked her, calmly.

"Meet somebody? What? At this hour?" she stated, "I mean, even if I was, who are you to come up and judge me regarding this?"

"You left two hours before me Mei Ling, and you reached at 1 am, with your hair and clothes all wet?" rubbing her forehead, his breathing heavy, he inquired her again, "Why were you this late?

Her fingers on her chin, she sarcastically remarked, "Hmm, let me think, Why was I late you asked? Oh, I see, it's NONE of your business."

Trying to close the door, she put on a fake smile, scorning, "It's midnight already, you should sleep, I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, just like you said, I can't stay back too late at the Academy, so I need to reach for my training early morning. Goodnight!"

Placing his feet in between, he pushed the door back, stepping into her room as he closed it behind him.

"You never learn, do you?"