Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

In the restroom, Shui had locked herself in a stall, wiping her eyes. Seeing Jin ignore her so blatantly crushed her heart.

"Shui?"

She heard Ai's voice and straightened up. "Oh, Ai. What happened?"

"I know you are crying inside. Will you please come out?"

Silence.

Ai waited for her outside. The door slowly opened, and Shui came out with slightly red eyes. Without saying anything, Ai took a step forward and gently hugged her.

Shui couldn't hold her tears back and broke down silently. "I am sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I thought I won't let Jin affect me anymore, but I always fail in the end. Heh, even now, I was happy that he sat opposite me. But when he took another plate, I realized it was so stupid to feel that way. He doesn't even want to touch anything that I have touched already."

She awkwardly said, "I wanted to ask Jin about his injury and if he was okay. I guess he doesn't need my concern."

Looking into her sincere gaze mingled with sorrow, Ai felt a stark contrast in the Shui that stood before her and the Shui who Jin described as a selfish and obsessive woman in her last life.

"Shui," she held her hand. "If Jin doesn't accept you, will you really give up on him?"

Shui rubbed her eyes. "It's okay, Ai. I am fine. I understand that it's hard, but I feel that one day I will be able to forget him."

"Will you not…" she didn't know how to put forth the question. "Do you think that love will change you to take any extreme steps?"

"Extreme? Like having Jin at all costs?" She sadly smiled. "That won't make Jin love me back, right?"

Ai shook her head.

"So, no. I won't do any such thing. I don't want Jin just physically beside me. What's the point if I don't have his heart? It will feel so lonely."

She said nothing.

Shui hugged her. "Thanks for coming here, Ai. You are really so sweet. I will go back or Bro will worry about me."

"Yes."

Watching her leave, Ai wondered to herself.

If Shui cannot think of being so obsessive about Jin, then why would she threaten Jin to marry her in the past?

—

​ At the balcony of the corridor where Jun waited for Jin, he breathed in the nice, cool air. He exhaled, his brown eyes dimming. He had no hope now that Jin would meet him. Twenty minutes had already passed without a sign of him.

"What?"

He heard his voice and turned. Jin had his hands in his pockets as he peered into Jun's eyes.

"Jin…"

He looked away. "Why were you so shocked when you called me here?"

Jun coughed. "I thought you wouldn't come."

"I didn't want to, but who cares? Whatever. What is this about? If you want to ask about my injury, then it's already healed. My head is functioning properly."

"...That was indeed the first question I wanted to ask you."

"What is the second question?"

"About Shui-"

"Ah, so you came to talk to me about her. Is it because I refused to take the same plate as her? Did you see that?" He clicked his tongue. "As always, your focus is always Shui. Your girlfriend will feel so hurt. But what else do I expect? You never saw anything apart from Shui anyway before and even now, it is the same."

"It's not that, Jin. I care about her as a friend just like Ai does. You might not like Shui back, but you didn't have to do that either."

"Considering what she did in the past, I think this is very little embarrassment," he narrowed his eyes.

Jun's brows furrowed with a feeling of doubt arising in his heart.

Jin understood the meaning of his look. "You will take her side even after knowing the stunt she pulled in the past? Looks like…" he laughed, "Even after being reborn and even with this second life, you still don't believe anything I have to say. You think I am making all this up?"

"No, Jin. No…" Jun helplessly held his hand, his eyes softly shining with tears. "I am already guilty of not believing you once. I don't want to repeat that mistake this time."

"Then why are you looking like that?" Jin sharply asked.

"Because I equally believe in Shui. Shui threatening you to marry her like that…I just don't see that happening, Jin."

"Who cares what you see and what you don't! It won't change the truth! Heh, and you talk about whether she can do something or not? Then what about you? Nobody ever thought that you would go so far to hurt your family for her either, but you did it anyway," he sneered. "Who are you to judge Shui?"

Jun gritted his teeth. "What I see matters Jin! I know I am the last person to talk about Shui…" he trembled remembering how he ruthlessly pushed Nana away, "But I also know that I had been blind to too many things in my last life. I ended up hurting you and everybody. I don't want to be blind this time and mess everything up. I don't want you to make the same mistake I did and that is accusing an innocent person."

Jin looked at him incredulously. "Innocent? Shui cutting her wrist happened right in front of my eyes and so did she threaten me with marriage! You think I was hallucinating?"

"No. I am not saying you are lying. But I also feel that there is something missing about all this. Tell me. Why did she wait for five years?"

"Because she had lost her patience!" He angrily exclaimed.

"That doesn't make sense, Jin," he shook his head. "You said you never liked her. That means you rejected her confession. She already knew you would never be with her. She might have thought of waiting for sometime but how long? Five years is a long time, and she doesn't need that long to understand this, Jin. Why would she threaten you after five years out of nowhere?"