The first sip hits me like a soft punch.
Not spiked… but definitely stronger than the usual hotel piña colada. Something about it is warmer, deeper, almost syrupy—like the alcohol is melting straight into my bloodstream, slipping between my ribs, spreading beneath my skin. A slow, creeping burn rises through my chest, softening the tight muscles in my shoulders before I even realize I wasn't relaxed to begin with.
Great. Exactly what I need while being dragged into some bizarre underground tropical pool by a man who should, for everyone's safety, stay at least twenty meters away from me at all times.
The air down here is thick. Humid. Not the refreshing kind of humidity—this one clings to me, sticky like honey. Water vapor curls around my ankles like fog. Fake palm trees sway despite there being no wind. The blue water of the indoor lagoon reflects shimmering patches of light onto the ceiling, making the entire room look unreal, like we stepped into someone's fever dream.
I swallow another sip anyway.
Maybe I'm the problem.
Maybe I just can't resist piña coladas, especially when I'm stressed, annoyed, or one second away from committing a crime. The sweetness coats my tongue, coconut and pineapple sticking to the back of my throat. I sigh without meaning to, and the softness of the sound annoys me. I wish I had the strength to throw the drink in his face. Instead, my fingers tighten around the cold glass.
The tropical lanterns flicker. Somewhere behind us, water flows from a rock formation like a tiny waterfall. And over all of it, I hear him breathe—calm, steady, completely unaffected by the chaos he brings everywhere he goes.
That's when he speaks.
Not in his usual mocking tone.Not with the arrogance, the teasing, the smirking I know too well.
But… serious.
Vulnerable, even.
His voice drops—lower, steadier."Do you ever miss us?" he asks."The younger us? The teenage us who didn't know a thing about the world?"
He looks straight at me when he says it.Right into my eyes.Like he's searching for the girl I used to be inside the woman I am now, as if she's still hiding in there somewhere, waiting for him to call her out of the dark.
It puts me in a delicate position.
Too delicate. Dangerously delicate.
I bring the glass back to my lips because suddenly I need the courage this stupid drink gives me. One sip, two sips… anything to drown out the sensation that he's peeling open memories I shoved into a locked drawer years ago.
"I don't think about it anymore," I say.And it's mostly true. Mostly.
Why would I think about the past when someone else—someone better—loves me now? Someone who didn't break me. Someone who sees me, truly sees me, without twisting my heart for fun.
Yiran moves.
Quietly. Slowly.
He comes closer and sits beside me, close enough that the side of his leg brushes mine. The warmth radiating from him hits my skin instantly, even though the pool's tropical steam already wraps around my body like a damp blanket.
My pulse jumps.
He leans forward, elbows resting lightly on his knees."I didn't know you were that resentful," he says.
RESEN—WHAT.
I laugh.Not a cute laugh. Not even a slightly annoyed laugh.
A dark laugh.A don't-mess-with-me-I-bite laugh that surprises even me with how sharp it sounds.
"First of all, it's called moving on."I tilt my head, staring at him like he's the stupidest creature alive."Second, you left me to marry another woman without warning—so I have every right to be resentful if I wanted to."
I punctuate it with a smile. A fake one. The most fake one.But he deserves it.
"So you are resentful?" he insists.
"I was resentful," I correct. "But don't worry. I don't have even an ounce of resentment left."
Lie. It's obviously a lie. But I let it shine like a diamond anyway.
He studies me. Carefully. Too carefully.
A shadow crosses his face—jealousy mixed with curiosity, a kind of tortured fascination that makes my stomach twist.
Then:
"So why did you marry my brother? Was it resentment?" He smirks.
AGAIN WITH THAT SMIRK.
I smile back, slow and sweet, because now I want to annoy him.He deserves that too.
"No. It was love."
His expression darkens.Not dramatically—just enough for me to see the words hit him where it hurts. His jaw tightens. His eyes sharpen. He laughs, but it's the ugly kind—the frustrated, bitter kind.
"How can you love an idiot?" he asks, the smirk disappearing entirely.
"I don't know," I shrug lightly. "You tell me. I did it for ten years, right?"
His lips part.
Got him.Right where it hurts most.
"So you loved me?" he asks, and there it is—that stupid, idiotic, victorious smile.
He leans closer.Closer.His breath brushes my cheek, warm from the tropical humidity, and his eyes lower. His fingers lift slightly like he's fighting the urge to touch me.
"Maybe," he whispers, "you can love me again."
He's about to kiss me.
THIS. CRAZY. EVIL. CREATURE.
My hand is already rising—mid-slap, aiming directly for his cheek—when suddenly the pool attendant rushes in.
"I'm sorry to interrupt—" She bows deeply.
THANK. YOU. GOD.
But Yiran—
He turns slowly.
Angry.
Not yelling.Not loud.Just… terrifying.
"What?" he asks, voice so calm it chills the air.
The attendant trembles slightly before answering."Madam's phone keeps ringing. I thought it might be important…"
I finally notice it—my phone in her delicate hands, vibrating nonstop like it's possessed.
"Who's calling her?" Yiran asks, as if the phone belongs to him.
"A Mister Yichen," she answers.
My stomach drops.
YICHEN.
How many times did he call?How many texts did I miss?Why didn't I hear it?
I feel awful instantly.
Yiran starts laughing.
Not a happy laugh.Not even an amused one.
The annoyed type of laugh.The I-can't-believe-this-is-happening laugh.
The phone rings again.
I freeze.Just stare at it.
Terrified of picking it up in front of Yiran.Terrified of what he'll say.Terrified of what he'll do.
"Answer it," Yiran tells the worker.
She looks at me, horrified.Rightfully horrified.Obviously no one would answer someone else's phone voluntarily.
"NO!" I say, stepping forward so quickly I almost slip on the wet tiles.
She hesitates.
Yiran doesn't.
"Answer it."His tone is colder this time.
"Wait—NO, DON'T ANS—!"
His hand covers my mouth.
Warm.Firm.Blocking the words I was trying to scream, cutting my voice off like someone pressed mute on my entire existence.
"Answer it, please," he repeats.
The worker bows again, whispering, "I'm sorry," before bringing the phone to her ear.
"…Hello?"
Yichen doesn't waste a second.
"Hua?! Are you here? Are you okay? Why weren't you answering?"
I want to cry.From guilt.From frustration.From the humiliation of having no control over this situation.
Yiran finally lets go of my mouth.
"I—I'm fine, don't wo—"
"Hua? I can't hear you well! Where are you?"
His voice cuts in and out, lagging badly, probably because we're three floors deep in this stupid basement jungle.
Yiran gestures for the woman to step closer.
She obeys.
Of course she does.
Great.Just GREAT.
"She's at the pool, that's why, idiot," Yiran says.
I wince.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM.
"…Huh?! Who is this?" Yichen's voice rises, anxious, protective, furious.
"Your brother," Yiran answers, casual as ever.
There's a crack of static."Wha—doing—there? I'll—de—supp—worry—"
"We can't understand you, brother!" Yiran shouts back, too delighted. "I'll call you later."
And then he HANGS UP.
He actually hangs up on him.On YICHEN.
My mouth falls open.
"You—ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" I shout.
He just smiles, satisfied.Completely shameless.
I stand up abruptly, grab my phone, and head toward the elevator.
I hear him follow.Of course.
His hand closes around my wrist, pulling me to face him.
"Stay with me," he says.
The way he looks at me—God.It pisses me off even more.
"Never," I snap.
I yank my arm back and leave.
He doesn't follow this time.
Probably because he knows he already messed up enough.
The elevator doors close—
And then I remember.
My room key.
Inside my room.
Perfect.PER-FECT.
The elevator dings at the lobby and I step out into a completely different world. The air here is cool, dry, perfumed with some expensive floral scent. Marble floors gleam under hundreds of chandelier crystals. Every person I see looks like they stepped out of a ball—silks, suits, perfectly styled hair.
And then there's me.
A wet, annoyed, half-drowned mess in a swimsuit.
People stare.Of course they do.But I'm too mentally destroyed to care.
I head toward the reception—
And then I freeze.
I recognize his back.
Even from across the room.Even from behind.Even surrounded by people who look richer and more put-together than entire royal families.
YICHEN.
---
If you've made it all the way here—first of all, thank you. Truly. I know this chapter was a rollercoaster. A tropical one. A humid, chaotic, "why-is-this-man-like-this" rollercoaster. And I want to take a moment to talk about it with you, heart to heart, writer to reader, chaos gremlin to chaos gremlin.
Because this chapter… oh, this chapter is the exact moment where everything starts shifting in the story.
Let's break down what just happened together.
Hua walks straight into that underground tropical pool thinking she's just going to tolerate Yiran for like five minutes before finding an excuse to leave. Instead, what does she get?
A drunk-making piña coladaA humid fever-dream atmosphereA man with unresolved emotional traumaA conversation she absolutely did not ask forA near-kissA phone call from her actual husbandAnd then BAM—Yichen at the end.
Tell me why she can't catch a break 😂
So, let me ask you—because I genuinely want to know—What was the moment where YOU yelled at your screen the most?
Was it:
– When Yiran asked if she "misses their teenage selves"?– When he twisted "moving on" into "being resentful"?– When he tried to kiss her???– When he covered her mouth????– When he hung up on Yichen??????????– Or the ending when she steps out like an annoyed sea otter and sees Yichen waiting for her???
(Please tell me. I love reading your pain.)
Because let's be honest: this whole chapter is "Hua choosing violence" vs "Yiran choosing delusion," and I personally think both of them won.
But I also want to talk about Hua's perspective, because this girl is in a complicated emotional position. She's not just annoyed—she's triggered, confused, nostalgic, angry, guilty, and also drunk off a suspiciously strong piña colada. And it shows. She wants to be strong. She is strong. But old wounds don't magically stop stinging just because you've moved on.
Some people from our past can walk into the room and suddenly you're 17 again, heart in your throat, unsure whether to cry or punch them.
Hua is exactly there right now.
And Yiran… oh, Yiran.
Let's talk about him.
This man is a walking disaster in a pretty package. He is the embodiment of:
"I know I ruined everything, but what if I ruined it again? 😁"
He is jealous, reckless, nostalgic, and deeply, deeply in denial about his own role in what happened between them. He thinks he's being vulnerable. He thinks he's being honest. He thinks he's opening old doors in a poetic way.
But what he's actually doing is trampling into Hua's emotional house with muddy boots while pretending it's romantic.
His energy in this chapter is VERY "I regret losing you but I also refuse to be held accountable."
And the moment he smirked and said:
"So you loved me?"
…you could literally hear God sigh in disappointment.
Now, let's talk about the phone call scene, because this is one of my favorite moments in this chapter.
The second the worker said "A Mister Yichen," everything froze.And what does Yiran do?He gets mad.Not jealous-mad.Possessive-mad.The "how dare someone else have emotional access to you" kind of mad.
Which is crazy because, reminder:He. Left. Her.For another woman.And now he opens his mouth like he has the right to be jealous??
BE SO SERIOUS 😭
But also:That moment when he covered her mouth?
He did that because he panicked.Not romantically.Not cutely.But desperately.
It's toxic.It's wrong.And yet… it reveals so much about him.
Yiran does not want to lose her again.
He already did once. He cannot handle the idea of it happening twice.
And then… the ending.
THE ENDING.
Hua, dripping wet, pissed off, stressed, barefoot in a swimsuit, walking into a luxury hotel lobby like a drowned feral cat… and there he is.
Yichen.
The man who actually loves her.The man who is worried sick.The man who called nonstop.The man who chose her.The man who would never—NEVER—treat her the way Yiran just did.
Now tell me:How do you imagine his expression when he sees her step out like that?
Shocked?Relieved?Angry?Heartbroken?Ready to fight his own brother?Ready to wrap her in a towel and protect her from the whole world?
I want to know your theories, because the next chapter is going to show VERY clearly where his emotions stand—and trust me, he has a lot of them.
Now let me ask something else:
Do you think Yiran actually meant to kiss her? Or do you think he wanted her reaction more than the kiss itself?
Because sometimes people like Yiran don't want affection—they want proof that they still matter. They want confirmation that you're still affected. They want to know they still have power over you.
Was he trying to kiss her out of love?Or out of ego?Or out of panic?Or out of unresolved feelings?
(Yes, I'm asking YOU, because your interpretations help shape future chapters.)
Another question:
How guilty do you think Hua feels right now?
Because guilt is a dangerous emotion. She didn't do anything wrong—nothing happened. But the fact that she feels guilty is a sign that she cares deeply about Yichen and his opinion. That she values her marriage. That Yiran's words still have the power to shake her, but not the power to move her heart.
And I think that's why Yiran reacted the way he did.
Because nothing hurts more than realizing the person you abandoned found happiness without you.
Now, before I let you go, here are my final questions for you:
—What do you WANT Hua to say to Yichen when he asks where she was?—Do you think she should tell him everything?—Do you think she should minimize it?—How do you imagine Yichen reacts after that awful phone call?—Do you think he already suspects something?—What should Hua do about the fact that she left her room key inside? 😂
And MOST importantly:
Whose side are you on after this chapter?Team Yichen?Team Yiran?Team Hua-deserves-a-break?
Tell me everything. I love reading your comments.
Thank you for being here with me.Thank you for supporting this messy, dramatic story.Thank you for loving these characters enough to yell at them.And thank you, truly, for reading.
Until the next chapter. 💛