Destined 遐想 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Summer Vacation II

"AH!!! We're here at last!!!" exclaimed Ning.

"Oh gosh, hurry up guys, my back is breaking... I need to stretch..."Edy complained.

Everyone bumped and pushed to get out of the small minibus to get a better look at the scenery, and to stretch their tensed muscles. After some commotions, finally everyone managed to get out in one piece...

"Wow..."

I started walking towards the edge to take in the gorgeous scenery, and to take some photographs, and I didn't realise that everyone else were rushing into the inn with their baggages...

We were parked at the edge of the mountain, and there was a straight drop from the edge all the way down, for about a few hundred metres...

One look at the sharp drop, and I shivered at the thought of falling over. I took a few cautious steps backwards...

And I bumped into someone, and as I was trying to turn around to apologize for my blunder and to take a look at who it was, I felt a pair of arms go around my waist and pull me closer.

"Why are you always leaving the group alone??? Or were you purposely making me come out to look for you, so that you can bump into me like this???"

It was Roy.

I felt Roy prop his head on my shoulder, and I could feel the familiar warmth of his hug as he embraced me tighter into his arms.

“By the way, I got this for you… ”

He reached into his pocket and took out a small black box.

I opened it.

There it was.

A beautiful silver necklace with a star-shaped pendant engraved with his name at the back.

“Let me put it on for you…”

As he placed the necklace around my neck, I felt a gush of warmth and happiness going through my heart.

And it felt great.

“Let me see… It looks great on you… And… Now... you belong to ME. And I belong to YOU.”

He pulled out a similar necklace with the same pendant like mine. They were couple necklaces.

And I noticed that there was one difference.

His was engraved with MY name.

"Roy... you don't know what this means to me..."

"I do... And I feel the same way too... About you..."

*sign*

"You know when you first met me at the cathedral, I was so depressed by all the things that were happening in my life that I was on the verge of ending it all... It was you that made me realise that there was much more to life than despair and darkness... You were so blur but unfazed by the situation, where you had to spend the most wonderful time of the year of reunion alone in harsh and foreign surroundings, I mean if I were you at that time, I'd probably be too depressed to even step out of the house, much less wander into a foreign cathedral and barge into a Christmas service..."

"I know I must have seemed like an idiot to a lot of people there that day... I am such a sotong ball..."

"No... I think you were very brave... Despite being alone physically and emotionally, you made an effort to try to join others in their celebrations to ease the loneliness away... I could never do that... I am hopeless when it comes to communicating and socialising with others... I'd just pull away into my own shell... And shut myself out... Unless someone is patient and warm enough to continue trying... I'll never really open myself up... So far NO ONE... has been able to have that effect on me..."

I looked away disappointedly. I thought he would have said that I was the one who managed to help him open up. But he didn't. I brushed his arms aside and walked towards the edge of the mountain.

Dusk was near, and the weather had started to turn slightly chilly. I shivered as a gust of wind blew across my body.

"Ying..."

"I think we'd better get inside, it's getting cold. Let's go."

I turned and started walking towards the inn. He hesitated a while, and then he hurried towards me and grabbed my hand. I looked at him and gave a slight grin, and curled my arm around his, while we continued walking towards the inn together.

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Inside the inn having dinner...

"Eh girls, are you girls going for a dip in the hot springs later???" A lecherous Zax asked.

"Hey, Zax, I think you're thinking too much... The springs are separated, for males and females, so even if they do go for a dip, you can't see anything!" Tianqi retorted.

We laughed at Tianqi's comment and Zax's disappointed look.

"So much for seeing some action happening around here..." Zax quipped disappointedly.

"Well Zax, you can always come over and join us in the springs..." I commented.

"REALLY!!!" Zax's eyes widened with anticipation.

The rest of the guys' eyes also turned wide and stared at me.

I grinned and started standing up.

"When you become a full woman, that is... Ha ha ha ha ha..." I said.

"YING!!!!! I'm gonna kill you.... You'd better not let me get hold of you!!!!" Zax screamed as he chased me around the room.

"AHHHHH!!!! Somebody save.... MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

Suddenly Roy stood up, and this made Zax get a shock and fall out of balance. He fell onto the floor clumsily.

"OUCH!!!! Roy... You don't have to be sooo protective over your girlfriend right??? What's wrong with some harmless fun..." Zax complained as he rubbed his limbs.

"Hee hee... sorry Zax... But she's the most important person in my life right now... So I can't let her get hurt in any way..." Roy mused matter-of-factly, and he glanced over at me.

When I saw him look over, I look down embarrassingly.

"Gosh you two are so mushy, I'm getting goose pimples here..." Milk commented.

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Jun was laughing at the situation, and he noticed that Ning was slipping out of the room alone. taking another look at the chaos, he slipped out too after Ning.

No doubt Jun was a rather slow king when it came to anything, but he knew that there was a feeling growing inside him everyday since the day he came to Taiwan, and he met Ning.

Ning was a headstrong and stubborn girl, pretty much pampered like most girls by their parents. But yet she was also independent and strong-willed, which made her different from the pampered girls in his school. She likes to have things her way, and she also knows how and when to throw her temper to influence others to let her have her way.

Ever since Ning's moved into Ying's hostel room, Jun has pretty much turned into the pestbuster for her. Despite being the resident slow king, he still realises that he is always giving in to her, without himself knowing it. And even when she sometimes acts like a spoilt child around him, he goes alot with it...

Being a happy-go-lucky guy, and with his relative good looks, Jun has always been very popular with girls back in Japan. And all the girls in Japan were gentle and spoilt around him, but he never gave in to any of their advances. But this time with Ning it was different.

Not only did he allow himself to be manipulated by her, he has also been the regular target of her spoilt child antics - aka 撒娇... And he actually didn't mind it at all...

Coming on this vacation trip, and seeing both Ying and Ting hooking up with their boyfriends in pairs must have been really traumatizing for Ning. So Jun decided that he would pluck up his courage, and make his feelings known in this trip. Before anyone else does.