There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Extra 15.2

This island was a famous tourist destination. Especially during the summer peak season, there were spontaneously organized bonfire parties on the beach every night.

This night was no exception.

Right after dinner, Qin Ke received an overly enthusiastic series of calls from Lu Yinong, inviting them to go downstairs to join the bonfire party.

Qin Ke wanted to refuse and made no fewer than five excuses like “wanting to rest,” but Lu Yinong had quite a thick skin. It seemed that short of directly confronting her, Qin Ke was left with no room to refuse.

In the end, Lu Yinong even came directly to their room on their floor.

Qin Ke felt like crying. She knelt by the bed, holding up her phone to show Huo Jun.

“Did you give her our room number?”

“I guess she asked the front desk,” Huo Jun glanced at it, his lips twitching slightly. “We got out of the same car and ate at the buffet together. She just needs to claim we’re friends, and the hotel front desk wouldn’t refuse to help.”

Just as Qin Ke was about to say something, the doorbell rang in the outer room of the suite.

Qin Ke: “…”

Qin Ke: “It must be them coming up.”

Huo Jun raised an eyebrow, “You really don’t want to go down?”

“Mm-hmm.” Qin Ke flopped onto the bed, her voice barely audible.

Huo Jun started to laugh, “Then I have an idea.”

“…”

Qin Ke looked at him wearily. After a few seconds, she became slightly wary, “The way you’re smiling makes me very suspicious of your idea.”

Huo Jun also knelt on one knee on the bed, leaning close to her face, looking down with a half-smile.

“Hmm, I’ll just tell them that we played too hard this afternoon, and you can’t get out of bed, so we can’t go to any bonfire party – how about that?”

Qin Ke: “……”

Within two or three seconds, Qin Ke’s face turned red all the way to the tips of her ears.

“Huo Jun, do you have any shame?”

As soon as she said this, she jumped off the bed in embarrassed anger and ran quickly towards the sound of the doorbell.

Looking at the suddenly empty room, Huo Jun clicked his tongue lightly, sitting back down with an amused yet regretful expression.

Compared to using that reason that would make her too embarrassed to face anyone, Qin Ke ultimately chose to go downstairs.

Naturally, Huo Jun followed her out as well.

“Qin Ke, I heard from the front desk that you’re in the presidential suite. It costs tens of thousands a night, you’re so extravagant!”

“…”

Qin Ke felt a slight headache coming on.

The most extravagant person beside her calmly spouted nonsense. “Qin Qin spends the money, I’m responsible for being the kept man.”

“.”

Qin Ke could now basically remain unfazed by this nonsense.

A flash of intense jealousy passed through Lu Yinong’s eyes, but her face still bore a flowery smile, “My, I never realized before that you were such a rich beauty, Qin Ke!”

Qin Ke maintained her smile.

After dealing with this in a daze, the group of six finally reached the ground floor.

The bonfire party was in full swing.

Stepping on the soft, fine sand of the beach, a group of strangers in a foreign land, dressed up in their finest, were singing and dancing.

“Let’s join in! Remember, men and women separate, that’s what makes it fun!”

As Lu Yinong spoke, one hand held her boyfriend’s, while the other reached out naturally towards Huo Jun.

Qin Ke caught this in her peripheral vision and frowned, about to speak, when she suddenly saw Huo Jun raise his hand. He touched her chin, his index finger hooking under it, his gaze rather fierce.

“You’re not allowed to hold hands with other men – or even look at them.”

After a moment of surprise, Qin Ke couldn’t help but smile.

She laughed lightly and brushed away Huo Jun’s hand, “Alright, I won’t hold hands.”

As she said this, Qin Ke turned to look beside her. Lu Yinong, whose other hand had grasped empty air, was trying to cover up the awkwardness in her expression, forcing a smile towards her. “Qin Ke, you two don’t need to be so restrained, it’s just for fun-”

“I’m sorry, we don’t enjoy playing like that.”

The girl wore a smile, but her voice and eyes in that moment were as cold as the clear moon in the sky.

Pure and icy.

It was the first time Lu Yinong had seen Qin Ke react this way. She was stunned for a moment, then stiffly smiled. “Oh, if you don’t want to play, that’s fine. We’re just having fun, don’t get angry over such a small thing.”

“Of course I won’t take such a small thing to heart.”

Qin Ke smiled faintly, her words carrying a hint of implication.

“You all have fun. We’ll just sit and watch for a while.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Ke didn’t give the other party a chance to respond. She reached out to hold Huo Jun’s hand and turned to walk towards a less crowded area.

Lu Yinong stood stiffly in place, seeming quite unwilling, glaring hard at the backs of the two.

“Come on, Yinong. If they don’t want to join, don’t force them.”

The girl from Lu Yinong’s school couldn’t help but come over and speak up.

Lu Yinong hid the jealousy in her eyes and put on an aggrieved expression, “I was just trying to be nice and invite them. Did you see how Qin Ke just treated me? She’s so mean…”

The girl opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something, but finally swallowed it back and changed the subject. “Let’s just ignore them and go have fun ourselves.”

“……”

Lu Yinong watched them somewhat unwillingly.

Between the dazzling bonfire and the night sky, the receding white shirt cut a rakish silhouette of light and shadow. The view was mottled with strange and varied patches of color, but that figure remained clear and timeless.

If only she could have that too…

Lu Yinong stamped her foot and turned around in frustration, “Let’s go, let’s go.”

****

The bonfire party was grand and lively, with laughter and merriment everywhere one went.

Qin Ke and Huo Jun walked hand in hand, side by side on the beach, stepping deep and shallow in the sand, winding past all sorts of strangers, strolling round and round.

Until their mouths were dry, Huo Jun glanced at the convenience store diagonally across the beach.

“I’ll go buy two bottles of water.”

“Should I come with you?”

“No need. Sit here and rest for a bit, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

Qin Ke nodded, watching Huo Jun’s figure stride away.

The light inside the convenience store was stark white, like a different world from the bonfire night beyond the door.

After grabbing the water Qin Ke was most accustomed to, Huo Jun paid at the checkout counter and turned to leave. Just as he was about to head back, a figure blocked his path.

Lu Yinong.

Seeing it was her, a trace of cold, slightly irritated impatience flashed in Huo Jun’s eyes.

Too lazy to say another word, he moved to sidestep her.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave.” Lu Yinong smiled and blocked his path again.

Huo Jun’s eyes turned cold, “Do you need something?”

Lu Yinong’s eyes darted around, seeming to ponder for a few seconds, before finally getting straight to the point–

“Are you really Qin Ke’s kept man?”

“…”

Huo Jun glanced at her indifferently, “None of your damn business.”

Lu Yinong’s expression changed.

Seeing he was about to leave again, she reached out without thinking and grabbed the young man’s wrist–

“How much is she paying you? I can pay you more!”

Huo Jun shook her off violently, a vicious anger flickering in the depths of his eyes before finally twisting into a cold, disgusted smile.

“How much can you offer?”

Lu Yinong was stunned, then her smile suddenly bloomed, triumphant and gleeful.

“Spend a night with me, and I’ll give you ten thousand yuan.”

“…Ten thousand?”

Huo Jun laughed coldly, his eyes fierce and mocking.

He frowned, suppressing his impatience as he pulled out a card holder from his pants pocket and casually extracted a business card.

“Call this person.”

“What is thi–”

“I’ll give you a hundred thousand, you get the hell away from me.”

With that, Huo Jun flicked the black business card at her and turned to leave.

“…”

Lu Yinong’s face alternated between green and white with anger.

After standing frozen for several dozen seconds, she finally slowly bent down and picked up the business card.

There were only three lines of gold-embossed small text on it.

But the company name and the words “Executive Assistant to the Chairman” behind it made Lu Yinong’s pupils constrict.

Huo Corporation…

That was a corporate giant that ordinary people wouldn’t dare to dream about.

But how could this person have the business card of Huo Corporation’s Executive Assistant to the Chairman, and so casually tell her to call…

[This is my boyfriend, his surname is Huo.]

“–!!”

On the beach in front of the convenience store, a girl suddenly cried out in shock. Under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, she covered her mouth and collapsed to the ground.

****

Meanwhile.

“Did you run into someone?”

Qin Ke asked softly as she took the water Huo Jun handed to her.

“Mm.” Huo Jun rubbed the bangs hanging over his forehead, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes, “…It’s been taken care of. Let’s go.”

Qin Ke thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile, “Alright. Let’s go that way.”

“Mm.”

Qin Ke and Huo Jun walked side by side through one group of people after another. They had wanted to find a place without people, but despite the vastness of the beach, it was crowded and noisy almost everywhere. As they walked, they got closer and closer to the wet line where the sea met the sand.

They stopped just before the water could splash their toes.

“Why don’t we… sit here for a while?”

She turned back, seeking the opinion of the person behind her. At that moment, as she turned, she met a pair of pitch-black eyes in the moonlight and the distant firelight.

It turned out that the person behind her had a calm expression, but had been looking at her the entire time.

“…Let’s sit.”

Huo Jun came back to his senses and sat down on the beach without hesitation.

Qin Ke was about to sit down beside him, but Huo Jun grasped her fingertips and pulled her down.

Caught off guard, she lost her balance and with a small cry, fell into Huo Jun’s arms.

Huo Jun, being the instigator, was naturally prepared. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and turned her in his embrace.

Qin Ke’s legs were placed on the sand between the young man’s long ankles, while from behind, he embraced her upper body.

A slightly warm breath mixed with the cool sea breeze, a low chuckle brushing past Qin Ke’s ear.

“…Sit here.”

Qin Ke, still recovering from the surprise, frowned slightly, a mix of helplessness and indulgence.

“You call this ‘act first, report later’.”

“Then let it be ‘act first, report later’.” The laughter by her ear grew even lower.

Qin Ke was helpless. She raised her eyes slightly.

As far as she could see, the vast night was evenly spread under the starry sky. At the edge of the horizon, there seemed to be dark blue mountains, stretching to hold up a round, cool moon. The moonlight shimmered, casting a path of light across the sea surface, extending all the way to her toes.

In the sea breeze, Qin Ke slightly tightened her shoulders.

“Are you cold?”

The person behind her asked with a frown, his arms around her front holding her more securely.

Qin Ke relaxed her body and shook her head.

After a few seconds of silence, she chuckled softly, “Just now I suddenly felt like I might fall into the sea. Afraid that if a wave came… I’m not good at swimming.”

Huo Jun, his lips close to her ear, spoke in a low voice that was exceptionally gentle in the moonlight, as if trying to burrow into her heart. “Aren’t I here?”

Qin Ke deliberately teased him, jokingly asking, “Even if you were Michael Phelps, how far could you swim in the sea carrying another person?”

Huo Jun chuckled softly.

“Even if I couldn’t save you, at least I could die with you, right?”

“…” Qin Ke was stunned.

“So don’t be afraid, Qin Qin.”

Huo Jun was still laughing hoarsely, gently kissing her cheek, “Even if a wave dragged you into the deep sea, I would stay by your side.”

“Heaven, hell, or a dreamless eternal sleep… Wherever it is, I’ll go with you. Qin Qin, I will never leave you alone.”

Qin Ke was stunned for a long time before slowly coming back to her senses.

She raised her hand, gently hugging Huo Jun’s arms that were wrapped around her body, and rested her cheek against them.

“Okay.”

“I will never leave you either, Huo Jun.”