Chapter 35: Chapter 35
TangShi had given up and the levels of fatigue at being out so late had taken over. That and this hazy weirdness which was getting worse now she had stopped moving around and dancing. She allowed him to haul her with him and move her out of the booth while being stuck in his embrace. He stopped her for a moment while he slid off his leather jacket and hung it around her shoulders before taking her further, aware it was late out now and would be colder than when they arrived. An unusual motion of consideration on his part that wasn’t motivated by onlookers but because he used to do this for Rhea any time they went out.
TangShi caught a flash or two from the far left but was slow to see where it came from and assumed it was lights from camera flashing. Even now, late into the night people were still keeping tabs on them and it depressed her. Knowing this would be her life for the near future. To eternally be of interest to strangers.
She stumbled as they headed onward, YuZhi turned momentarily to wave at his friends and motioned a call sign at someone to the right while TangShi looked around to see if Rhea was waving. Rhea came into view, her eyes wide and tearful, clearly upset with the view of YuZhi holding TangShi so tightly, before Lu Jeng pulled her aside and gave her a hug, drawing attention to them from onlookers. Lu Jeng was fully aware of the situation and his part in this story and thankfully acted before Rhea reacted in a way that people noticed. TangShi caught the look of sadness and felt terrible, immediately moving to push YuZhi away in reaction but he caught her in his arms and tugged her back into his chest.
“We’re leaving and now more eyes are on us than earlier. Stop resisting.” YuZhi leaned down, rasping into her ear before sliding his arm around her waist and moving her in front of him so he was cradling her behind instead. His chin over the top of her hair. He had seen Rhea’s face and it felt like a sucker punch to his heart but there was nothing he could do about it, they had to get used to this.
Walking TangShi forward a little awkwardly but holding his jacket around her as if his only concern was keeping her warm as they made it into the breezy entrance hall. Pushing aside all thoughts except getting this drunk pain in his ass home.
As soon as they got out into the foyer, he let her loose with one hand and pulled his cell phone out to book a cab on his app, stopping to look over his shoulder for a moment to see if Rhea was still staring after them through the glass fronted hall exit, but they had disappeared back into the crowd. He sighed heavily, knowing how awful this must feel for her, but they had gone over this a million times.
This is why he had told her they should spend less time in contact and try to separate their schedules for the duration. Really break up and try to not interfere in each other’s lives for their own sanity. She had been clinging on and making demands and putting him in an awkward situation and pushing their relationship onto rocky ground the longer this went on. He worried at this rate they would cause so much damage that they wouldn’t be able to back peddle when this was over.
TangShi was worse with the hit of fresh air and her eyes began to swim, blurring everything around her so she clung to his hands. As did all sense of reason and maturity and she giggled at the predicament she found herself in as he halted her on the curb to wait on their ride. She felt lighter, freer as though all those self-imposed rules and needs to behave in a certain way, all went out the window.
“Who knew……. Yoonie, Yoonie, would be cuddling me again and finding me a cab? Deja vu!” She murmured under her breath, caught in memory and finding amusement in how human YuZhi was acting towards her for once.
“Huh?” YuZhi was distracted from his phone by her words and leaned to the side of her head to glance at her face from his taller height. “What did you say?”
“Shhhhhh!” TangShi turned awkwardly, and flat palmed his mouth, swaying and wriggling out of his embrace and then giggling at his frown and poking him between the brows with her other fingers. Finding him irresistible and cute when this close and uncaring about her behavior. He truly never lost his sexy appeal in all these years.
YuZhi pulled back, annoyed, and caught her wrist before pushing it down and shaking his head at her in irritation. His mood was already sensitive, and he wasn’t drunk enough for any weird crap from her either. Exhaling heavily because he really didn’t have the patience for this tonight of all nights.
“Great, now you’re worse. Don’t make me carry you. Can you please stand still and behave?” He threatened but TangShi only beamed at him and threw her arms around his neck in a dramatic fashion, pulling him close in a conspirational huddle. Her nose almost touching his and he had to turn sideways a little to avoid a full-on face collision. He hesitated at how close she was coming willingly and had to relinquish his phone to his pocket to use both arms to keep her upright.
“I won’t tell anyone that you used to be sweet to me. It’s our little secret, Yoonie, boonie. Can’t ruin your street cred!” She was talking nonsense, so intoxicated by the wine and air that her brain was scrambled. Finding fun in this and unaware of his widening stare, or the intense changes to his expression. YuZhi heard her properly this time and his furrowed brow deepened as he appraised her face for a moment. Sobering completely as his heart started hammering through his chest.
“Why are you calling me that, and what are you talking about? When was I ever nice to you?” he swallowed nervously, something clawing at the back of his brain and refusing to acknowledge it. They had only met on the day of their marriage, not before, so he was never pleasant to her.
TangShi sighed somewhat sadly, losing her fun burst of energy and playful and rested her cheek against the hollow of his throat as her body began to sag. The effects wearing off fast and that extreme tiredness kicking in. Her heart finding melancholy as those happy memories fizzled away and reminded her that YuZhi wasn’t Yoonie anymore.
“Why didn’t you come to the bridge like you said you would? I waited until I got soaked through….” Her voice trailed off as her words died on her lips, hints of genuine sadness and TangShi finally passed out. It was sudden, mid word and YuZhi had to catch her.
Her body crumpled and he had to grapple to keep her upright, finding her like a deadweight in an instant before leaning down and lifting her into his arms to stop her meeting the concrete sidewalk. It was easier than attempting to keep a sagging body straight and upright. He stared at her for a long silent moment as he cradled her up close and bounced her into a better position, his head crazy with thoughts and his heart pounding like a war drum. She was peaceful and dead to the world, sleeping like a baby in his arms and all he could do was stare at her.
He couldn’t deny what he heard, and he couldn’t really keep denying his gut feeling when she laid it out there so clearly. He couldn’t mistake what she said.
They met before, she knew he was once called Yoonie, and she said she waited on a bridge for him. In all the experiences of his life, there was only one time that those details matched up and had haunted him ever since.
He didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want to see it. Every part of him wanted to dump her ass down and walk off to get some much-needed breathing space to figure this out. There’s no way in hell that TangShi could really be Alice.