Any Closer and I'll Lose Control - Chapter 47

The first-floor lobby of Hexi Courtyard was elegantly fresh, with Meng Tang and Li Hanjin half-hidden behind a partition.

Li Hanjin ladled a small bowl of soup for Meng Tang and pushed it toward her: “All your favorite dishes. Want to try?”

Meng Tang lowered her gaze. The table was indeed filled with her favorites, but she had already eaten once before.

At this thought, Meng Tang’s mind drifted away,

When Wei Chuan had the waiter serve the dishes, he asked if any of the meats were marinated with kiwi.

The waiter mentioned that the beef tenderloin in one dish had been marinated with it. Wei Chuan glanced at her and had the dish removed.

Li Hanjin knew she was allergic to kiwi but wasn’t aware the beef had been marinated with it. Noticing she hadn’t touched it, he asked why she wasn’t eating.

Since she was here, Meng Tang didn’t want to refuse him outright. She picked up her chopsticks and placed a piece of spare rib into her bowl.

Li Hanjin also picked up his chopsticks, though he barely took two bites before asking again:

“What’s your relationship with that guy named Wei Chuan?”

He was wearing a baseball cap and hadn’t taken it off even while eating. Speaking tugged at the wound on his lip, causing some pain, but it didn’t stop him from pressing Meng Tang for answers.

“Friends.” Meng Tang replied without looking up.

“Classmates” and “friends” were different levels of closeness. Li Hanjin fell silent for a moment before forcing a joking tone: “You barely had any female friends before. College really changes things.”

“What does that have to do with college?” Meng Tang didn’t quite understand. “Does friendship have to be divided by gender? If you get along well with someone, they can be a friend, right?”

Li Hanjin chuckled lightly. “I’ve heard it said that there’s no such thing as pure friendship between men and women.”

Meng Tang set down her chopsticks. “Are you implying there’s something between Wei Chuan and me?”

“Can you blame me for wondering?” Li Hanjin said. “You’re pretty protective of him.”

Meng Tang countered, “Shouldn’t I be? He hit you because of me. If it were anyone else, I’d still ask you not to pursue it.”

Li Hanjin: “Last night, I asked your school’s administration about him. He’s a sports training student, plays basketball.”

Meng Tang’s breath hitched. “What else did you say?”

Li Hanjin shrugged. “Relax, I didn’t mention him hitting me.”

Meng Tang pursed her lips and lowered her gaze, continuing to eat.

Li Hanjin pressed on, “How did you two meet?”

“…”

Meng Tang kept it brief. “Met him when I asked him to model for me.”

Li Hanjin let out an “Oh,” watching Meng Tang with an unreadable expression, his pupils faintly restraining something tender.

After that, he asked nothing further and agreed to Meng Tang’s request not to make things difficult for Wei Chuan.

When they left the restaurant, Li Hanjin offered to take her back to campus.

“If you take me back and someone sees, I’ll become gossip fodder,” Meng Tang refused.

“Fine,” Li Hanjin smiled. “Then be careful on your way back.”

Meng Tang raised her hand and gave a small wave.

Only then did Li Hanjin turn and leave Hexi Courtyard.

Standing in place for a long while, Meng Tang exhaled through pursed lips, finally, it was resolved.

If Li Hanjin had insisted on pursuing the matter, Wei Chuan would’ve had no chance of coming out unscathed.

Right or wrong, the fact remained that he had thrown the first punch.

Meng Tang descended the steps but suddenly halted when her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure. She whirled around.

Leaning against the wall to the right of Hexi Courtyard’s entrance, Wei Chuan stood motionless, his expression unreadable, like a human-shaped cutout.

Meng Tang froze for a second before walking over. “What are you doing here?”

Wei Chuan stepped down from the ledge. “I got Li Hanjin’s hotel address from the school administration. Came to apologize.”

Meng Tang shook her head. “No need. He’s already agreed not to pursue it.”

Wei Chuan frowned. “I already said I’d handle this myself.”

Meng Tang noticed the tension and displeasure in his tone but couldn’t understand what he was upset about.

However, she wasn’t one to argue, so she stated the facts plainly: “You don’t know him. He’s the kind of person who-”

“Right! I don’t know him. He’s your senior, after all.” A fire burned in Wei Chuan’s chest.

Meng Tang: “…”

Wei Chuan pulled out his phone and showed her the screen. “You even lied to me. Did you think I’d be impulsive, unhappy that you stepped in to solve the problem for me, and go beat him up again?”

“I didn’t think that,” Meng Tang also frowned. “The matter is already settled. Why are you fixating on something so trivial?”

“If you really want to apologize, go to Li Hanjin’s hotel right now. See if he’ll even meet you.”

“He-”

“And,” Meng Tang cut him off, putting his own tactic to use, “did you follow me? You already saw me when you sent that message, didn’t you?”

“I did see you, but I didn’t follow you.”

He had stepped into the restaurant but quickly retreated, eavesdropping wasn’t appropriate.

So, he had waited outside by the restaurant wall for an hour.

“Then why are you here? Looking like you caught me in a lie and came to interrogate me?”

“I’m not interrogating you. I just think if I made a mistake, I should take responsibility myself.”

Meng Tang sighed. “I’m serious, if you go, he won’t see you.”

“So, he’s doing this on purpose, just to get you to go to him?” Wei Chuan raised his voice. “What did you two talk about inside? Reminiscing about childhood memories?”

Meng Tang fell silent for a moment, then turned and walked away.

She had endured enough questioning for one night.

Wei Chuan instinctively followed, but Meng Tang suddenly spun back around.

With a dull thud, they collided head-on.

Wei Chuan was built like a tree; if he was the trunk, Meng Tang was a leaf. He stood firm, unmoved, while she stumbled backward.

“Hey!” Wei Chuan quickly pulled her back into his arms. “You okay?”

The waist under his palm was so slender it felt like he could span it with one hand. Wei Chuan froze.

Meng Tang pushed him away, tilting her head up to glare at him with effort. “I went to Li Hanjin not because of you, but because you hitting him involved me. I didn’t want you to get disciplinary action from the school, or be suspended or banned from competitions. That’s all.”

With that, she turned and left without another glance.

Wei Chuan followed, keeping a careful distance behind her.

Had they just fought? Wei Chuan frowned, asking himself.

Could this even be called a fight?

He glanced at Meng Tang ahead of him, then lengthened his stride and tentatively called out, “Meng Tang?”

She ignored him.

“…”

Alright, so they were fighting.

So, she could get angry. He had assumed her temper was as soft as dough.

Where was the meek, hesitant Meng Tang who used to barely speak up around him?

But this also proved, in a way, that they really were friends now.

He had noticed early on that Meng Tang only showed more liveliness around people she was close to.

Seeing her about to enter the building, Wei Chuan hurried after her.

An idea struck him. “Xu Heqing’s two potted succulents died. Didn’t you say you wanted to win him over through his interests? I’ll go buy new ones with you.”

Meng Tang shook her head. “No.”

“Even for Xu Heqing, you’re saying no?” Wei Chuan could hardly believe his ears.

Meng Tang ignored him, but Wei Chuan kept pestering her relentlessly.

Finally, she stopped and turned to him. “I’ve given up.”

Wei Chuan was stunned. “What do you mean?”

“The incident when Lingyin got drunk left a small shadow in my heart.”

“I don’t blame him, that’s the truth. But it did affect me.”

After a brief moment of distraction, Wei Chuan rephrased his question: “So you mean… you’re not planning to confess?”