I opened the door of the room slowly and entered it. Wang Ruoxi was sitting on the chair, scrolling through her phone.
"You are back?" she asked me.
I didn't reply to her.
"Why are you so late today?" she asked me again.
I still didn't reply and started doing my work.
Then she put down her phone, hugged me from behind, and asked, "What happened? Why are you not saying anything? Did anything happen?"
I turned around, folded my arms, and said, "Do I really need to ask it?"
"What? I am not able to understand. Say it clearly," she said.
I took a deep breath and said, "So you told everything to him, right?" I asked her.
She hesitated at first, then started looking here and there at the floor and said, "Oh… you really got it."
"Yes, of course. Do you really think you'll escape from this?" I asked.
"No… actually it's all his fault," she said.
"How? Explain," I asked.
"You know what, Zhao Shiza—he called me and said he wanted to meet me at a café. I went there because he said it was something about you. Then there he made such a dramatic face that I fell into his trap and told him about your feelings for him, because I can't see you in pain," she said.
"So how did he react after knowing it?" I asked.
"He looked shattered, like he already knew it, and I was just there to give a confirmation mark," she said.
"Zhao Shiza, you are not angry with me, right? I don't want to lose our friendship because of his foolish behavior. He is such a jerk. You know what—on another day he called me and literally blackmailed me to know your favorite ice-cream flavor. I was like, that man is something… he is seriously something," she said while holding my hands.
I laughed a little but controlled it, made my expression stable, and asked her, "How did he blackmail you?"
"Oh really, that mad man—literally mad man. I'm going to name him after that. He said if I didn't tell your favorite ice-cream flavor, then he would tell you everything that I told him about your feelings, and that would ruin our friendship. I got so scared at that time because somewhere I knew he could do that, so I told him your favorite ice-cream flavor. After that, till today, we didn't have any other interaction," she said.
I tried to control my laugh but couldn't, and burst into laughter while holding my stomach. "He even told me about this," I said while still laughing uncontrollably.
"What?" Wang Ruoxi said. She was still in shock.
"And there is good news for you," I said.
"What?" she asked.
"It's that your long-time single friend is now in a relationship," I said with a mischievous smile.
"What? I mean—with whom? Wait… I know. Your smile is already telling me. It's Xu Yuan, right?" she asked.
I nodded shyly.
She hugged me immediately and said, "I am so, so happy for you. I have seen you laughing from your heart after ages. Whatever I say, that jerk is really the reason behind your real smile that was lost long ago—but it came back today. I am so, so happy," she said and started jumping.
"When did it all start?" she asked.
"Just today," I said.
Then a notification popped up on Wang Ruoxi's phone. She immediately took her phone, checked it, exhaled sharply, and said, "Oh… your long-time awaited boyfriend messaged me on WeChat."
"What?" I asked.
"That jerk is asking for your WeChat number from me. He didn't even get it on his own," she said.
"Wang Ruoxi, first stop calling him a jerk and all. He is not a jerk, and I won't listen to it from you now onwards. This is my first and last warning," I said.
"Oook, ma'am. Whatever you say. So the respected Mr. Xu Yuan has messaged me just now asking about your WeChat. Is this alright?" she asked.
"Yes, better," I said with a smile.
"So shall I give him your number?" she asked.
"No, no—not now. And don't go online on WeChat now. Just open the message tomorrow morning and say that you slept," I said.
"Oh okay. So now because of you two, I can't chat with my own boyfriend at late night. Okay—friends have to pay for being friends," she said.
"Stop exaggerating, Wang Ruoxi," I said while throwing a pillow at her.
She caught it and said, "But your Xu Yuan will panic and maybe won't be able to sleep."
"Let it be," I said with a smile.
She held both my shoulders and said, "Oh… making him think of you all night. What a strategy."
"It's not a strategy. I just want to do it right now because I'm feeling it. Nothing else—no reason to make him suffer. I just feel like doing it," I said.
"Oook, I won't open my WeChat till tomorrow morning—but one condition," she said.
"What condition?" I asked.
"You need to tell me in detail, from start to end, how it all happened—everything," she said.
"Okay, fine. You are so much interested in it, aren't you?" I asked.
"Of course. The most awaited love story has just started, and I want to witness it and be a part of it," she said.
Then we both lay on the bed, holding our pillows in our hands, and I started telling her everything that happened today. She listened so attentively that it looked like she was going to give an exam on it tomorrow.
I told her everything—she listened silently. We laughed. I blushed. She made me blush while talking about him. And then we forgot about the night while talking.
The night kept moving toward its end, but our endless conversation had just started—and we got completely lost in it...