The Exclusive Bodyguard of the Top Idol - Chapter 34

They spent a long time at the welfare center and even stayed for dinner at Director Zhao’s warm invitation. Over the course of the afternoon, Ji Qingshi had already become familiar with Xiao Ai and the other children, seamlessly blending in and even taking on the role of their leader. During dinner, the kids all clamored to sit next to her.

Ren Jiao watched her play with the children, her eyes curved in amusement, suddenly realizing that Ji Qingshi had such a cute, lively, and childish side to her.

Xiao Ai was the big sister of the welfare center. All the younger children listened to her. This had made her mature beyond her years, occasionally speaking with the demeanor of a little adult.

“Ji Jie, are you and Jiaojiao Jie really close?”

Ji Qingshi raised an eyebrow slightly. “Why are you, a little kid, asking about this?”

Xiao Ai pouted. “Even though I’m young, I know a lot of things.”

Ji Qingshi chuckled. “Oh? What do you know?”

“Hmm… I know you always sneak glances at Jiaojiao Jie.”

Children speak without reservation. No matter how smart or mature Xiao Ai was for her age, she still lacked the inhibitions of adults, who carefully weigh their words before speaking. She simply said whatever came to mind.

Ji Qingshi, caught red-handed by a child for her surreptitious glances, immediately flushed with embarrassment and instinctively stole another look at Ren Jiao.

Fortunately, Ren Jiao was engrossed in conversation with Director Zhao and hadn’t noticed.

Just as Ji Qingshi sighed in relief, Xiao Ai spoke again, “You looked at her again.”

Covering her face, Ji Qingshi sighed helplessly at Xiao Ai. “Stop talking. I wasn’t looking at her…”

Unconvinced, Xiao Ai wrinkled her nose. “Jiaojiao Jie and Director Mama always say we should be honest. Ji Jie, you’re lying.”

Ji Qingshi was left speechless by the child, her breath hitching for a moment. She took a deep breath before patiently explaining, “Jie isn’t lying! It’s just…”

Xiao Ai ignored her explanation and leaned in closer to whisper, “It’s okay, Ji Jie! You don’t have to feel embarrassed because Jiaojiao Jie sneaks glances at you too!”

“Eh?” Ji Qingshi froze at this revelation and couldn’t help but lift her gaze to Ren Jiao again. This time not a furtive glance, but a full, direct look.

Ren Jiao naturally sensed her gaze and instinctively turned to meet her eyes. Their gazes locked.

Ji Qingshi was rooted in place, forgetting to look away, but Ren Jiao merely smiled faintly before turning back to her conversation with Director Zhao as if nothing had happened.

A hollowness spread through Ji Qingshi’s chest, and the unease she had been feeling lately surged wildly once more. This restlessness made her anxious, impatient, and even caused her leg to bounce unconsciously.

Xiao Ai, sitting beside her, noticed her mood and asked in surprise, “What’s wrong, Jie?”

“Nothing.” Ji Qingshi masked the anxiety in her eyes and smiled down at Xiao Ai. “Keep eating. You’re still growing, so you should eat more.”

A child’s attention is easily diverted. Xiao Ai quickly forgot their earlier conversation and, under Ji Qingshi’s subtle guidance, happily chatted with the other kids about other things.

Ji Qingshi picked up her glass and took a sip of her drink, her gaze sweeping over Ren Jiao’s face. Though she forcibly suppressed the unease in her heart, it still dominated her thoughts, leaving her feeling unsettled.

This emotion would continue to amplify. As long as Ren Jiao showed even the slightest hint of something amiss, it would keep growing and swelling.

Ji Qingshi found herself increasingly agitated by this, to the point where she seemed absent-minded on the drive home.

Lately, Ren Jiao had been deliberately or perhaps unconsciously maintaining a distance from Ji Qingshi. It wasn’t so much in their actions but more in their emotional and daily interactions. For instance, right now, Ji Qingshi was clearly preoccupied with something. In the past, Ren Jiao would have immediately asked if she was okay. But now, she didn’t. Deep down, she wanted to ask, but she suppressed the urge.

She was intentionally avoiding deeper emotional exchanges, keeping their interactions superficial, refusing to let them progress any further.

Her avoidance, however, only amplified Ji Qingshi’s unease, fueling her anxiety until it finally erupted tonight.

When they arrived at their apartment complex, Ji Qingshi didn’t go inside. Instead, she told Ren Jiao to go home first, saying she needed to buy something.

Ren Jiao instinctively wanted to ask what she was going to buy, but the words circled in her throat before she swallowed them back down.

She had to constantly remind herself to maintain that sense of distance between them. Not to cross the line, not even by a fraction.

“Alright, I’ll head in first,” she said before opening the car door and stepping out, not even uttering a simple “be careful.”

Ji Qingshi watched her retreating figure for a moment before gritting her teeth and driving off.

Ren Jiao had no idea what Ji Qingshi was going to buy. Suppressing her emotions like this was exhausting.

But now, over an hour after Ren Jiao had gotten home, Ji Qingshi still hadn’t returned. A sense of panic began to creep in. She left the bedroom and sat in the living room, visibly restless.

Ji Qingshi had said she was going shopping, but Ren Jiao had deliberately avoided asking where or what; all to maintain that distance. And now, here she was, the one left worrying in the end.

After another twenty minutes of waiting in the living room, just as Ren Jiao was debating whether to call her, the electronic lock finally beeped.

No one else knew the passcode to their home. Not even Cen Shu, who used a temporary code whenever she visited. It was a habit born from Ren Jiao’s long-standing vigilance.

Hearing the lock disengage, Ren Jiao knew it had to be Ji Qingshi. Relief washed over her as she instinctively stood up to greet her.

“Jiejie, you—”

But when the door opened, it wasn’t Ji Qingshi who stepped in first. It was an enormous bouquet of roses.

Ren Jiao froze in place, unable to move even an inch.

The roses lowered slightly, revealing Ji Qingshi’s face behind them. She was beaming, her expression almost adorably earnest. “I ran to a few florists. Only one was still open and had enough for ninety-nine roses.”

The meaning behind roses was something anyone could understand. It was too blatant, leaving no room for pretense.

Ren Jiao couldn’t even process what she was feeling right now. Ji Qingshi’s sudden gesture had struck her with such overwhelming force that her mind went blank, rendering her incapable of any reaction.

Only one thought echoed in her mind: Please don’t say it.

At this point, she couldn’t deceive herself anymore. She knew exactly what Ji Qingshi was doing and what she was about to say. But she didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want her to say it out loud.

Ren Jiao stood there, unable to utter a single word, as if paralyzed. Her usually sharp mind had gone completely blank.

Ji Qingshi walked step by step towards her, holding the bouquet, stopping just a short distance in front of her. She flashed her a big smile and said, “Well, today I suddenly had an impulse to tell you something.”

No…

Ren Jiao pursed her lips, not even daring to look at her.

Ji Qingshi stared at her intently, taking several deep breaths before slowly speaking, though her voice trembled involuntarily: “I actually, I’ve had these feelings for a long time but I didn’t know how to say it.”

Every word she uttered quivered slightly, whether from nervousness or something else.

Ren Jiao didn’t dare to look at her, keeping her head lowered the entire time, her expression unreadable.

“Jiaojiao, I like you.”

Even though her voice was shaking, Ji Qingshi still managed to say it out loud.

In truth, from the moment she walked in holding the flowers and saw Ren Jiao’s expression shift from shock to confusion before finally lowering her head, too afraid to even look at her, Ji Qingshi had already braced herself for the worst possible outcome.

Ren Jiao was avoiding her, dodging her, even rejecting her.

She didn’t know whether it was her as a person or her confession that Ren Jiao was rejecting.

Ji Qingshi figured it was probably both. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Ren Jiao even look at her?

The unease she’d been feeling over the past few days had already warned her. This wasn’t the right time to confess. She could sense Ren Jiao pulling away. But that unease had slowly built into anxiety, acting as a catalyst that drove her to this rushed and awkward confession, consequences be damned.

She was going all-in, betting on her earlier judgment, betting that Ren Jiao truly had feelings for her.

But now, it seemed she had lost the bet. Her words were already out there, impossible to take back. She stood there, motionless, waiting for Ren Jiao to give her an answer.

The living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the faint sound of their breathing audible.

After what felt like an eternity, Ji Qingshi even wondered if Ren Jiao hadn’t heard her confession.

Then, she finally heard it. The one thing she never wanted to hear.

“…I’m sorry.”

Ren Jiao kept her head down, not even glancing at her. But those three simple words were enough to declare just how disastrous this confession had been.

Deep down, Ji Qingshi had already guessed the outcome, but she refused to accept it. She had clung to the hope that she might still win the bet. But Ren Jiao’s response shattered that illusion. She had lost, completely and utterly.

In the moment of actual rejection, Ji Qingshi’s mind went blank. All she could process was that she had been rejected.

Ren Jiao’s unusual behavior, her expression, whatever she said afterward none of it registered.

All Ji Qingshi knew was that this was the first time in her life she had fallen for someone, and yet this affection seemed destined to end right here, right now. It had to end.

A deep, searing pain gnawed at her heart. Summoning the last shred of her dignity, Ji Qingshi placed the bouquet on the coffee table and forced a smile that looked more painful than tears. “It’s okay… It was just… just me confessing, that’s all.”

Ren Jiao still didn’t look up.

But Ji Qingshi felt as though her entire heart was breaking. “But, Jiaojiao between us… You did you really never have any feelings for me?”

Ren Jiao clenched her fingers tightly, hiding her hands behind her back to prevent even a hint of emotion from leaking through.

She still couldn’t bring herself to look at her, afraid that one glance would melt the resolve she had worked so hard to build.

“…I’m sorry.”

In the end, those were the only three words she managed to say.

The light in Ji Qingshi’s eyes dimmed considerably as he nodded with visible disappointment. “Oh. I’m sorry. It was presumptuous of me.”