The True Record of a Flirty Omega's Failed Balancing Act - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

◎You never even considered taking me back from the start, did you?◎

The sky had just turned a faint white, like the belly of a fish. Before the first rays of morning sunlight had fully shone into the tent, Xu Guiyi got up and put on her jacket. Ning Chanyue, who felt the movement, groaned twice and moved a few inches toward Xu Guiyi. Seeing that she was half-asleep, Xu Guiyi gently patted her shoulder a couple of times.

“Wake up, it’s almost seven.”

“It’s not seven yet… What are you doing!”

As soon as Ning Chanyue spoke, Xu Guiyi turned on the rechargeable lamp on the side, instantly illuminating the entire tent. The dazzling light made Ning Chanyue’s face contort into a grimace. She immediately pulled up the blanket she had kicked down to her waist in the middle of the night and completely covered her face.

Xu Guiyi glanced at Ning Chanyue under the blanket. While packing her things, she said, “We’ll get up at seven in the morning, get home at eleven, and after I make lunch, I’ll go to school in the afternoon… Didn’t we agree on this before we left yesterday?”

After a while, when Xu Guiyi had almost finished packing everything in the tent, Ning Chanyue lazily sat up. She grabbed the shirt Xu Guiyi had given her yesterday and put it on.

But before Ning Chanyue could do anything else, she noticed that Xu Guiyi had walked behind her, seemingly holding something in her hand.

“What are you doing?” Ning Chanyue didn’t turn her head, asking in a muddled voice.

“I’ll comb your hair for you. Otherwise, it’ll be who-knows-what-time by the time you’re done getting ready. After I’m done combing your hair, you can go to the car and sleep. I’ll finish packing up here, and then we’ll get ready at the rest stop.”

Although it was Ning Chanyue’s idea to go on this trip, Xu Guiyi seemed to have made all the arrangements.

After saying this, Xu Guiyi used a comb to comb Ning Chanyue’s hair. The comb, which had been in the cold all night, was icy to the touch when it touched her head, which also made Ning Chanyue realize what Xu Guiyi had just said.

She was naturally not convinced. Her back, which had been slouching, instantly straightened. She said with a clear voice, “It just takes me a little while to get going, but I’m actually very fast at getting ready.”

As Ning Chanyue spoke, she slightly turned her body, but before she could see Xu Guiyi’s face, her lips touched something soft. Ning Chanyue was stunned for a moment. She kissed the corner of Xu Guiyi’s lips in a retaliatory manner before turning back and smacking her lips in satisfaction.

This time, Ning Chanyue was completely awake.

After Ning Chanyue and Xu Guiyi packed up the tent together, they carried their things to the car. But just as she was about to sit in the driver’s seat, Xu Guiyi patted her shoulder and said, “I’ll drive.”

“You?” Ning Chanyue’s hand, which was opening the car door, paused.

“Yes. You drove the whole way here and went to all the trouble of doing so many things. You should get some rest. I’ll follow the navigation. Nothing will go wrong.”

But Ning Chanyue still didn’t leave. She looked at Xu Guiyi’s dark eyes and said, “Then… are you happy with everything I’ve done these past two days?”

Xu Guiyi nodded slightly. “Happy, and it was also unforgettable. Thank you.”

When she said this, Xu Guiyi still didn’t have much of an expression, but even a simple verbal affirmation was enough to make the corners of Ning Chanyue’s lips turn up.

Only then did Ning Chanyue happily get into the passenger seat. After she buckled her seatbelt, the car started. Slowly, they bid farewell to the muddy dirt road and the green trees and drove onto the highway.

The sky gradually changed from the hazy, dark white it was when they first woke up to a little dazzling. Looking to the side, the morning sun was gradually rising.

The morning sunlight also shone into their car through the window. The light was warm and not glaring. Ning Chanyue hummed a song and took pictures of the morning sun outside the window with her phone. She seemed to be in a very good mood.

The morning sun always represented hope and new beginnings. Was their relationship also about to welcome a new dawn?

Thinking of this, Ning Chanyue glanced at Xu Guiyi with a smile, but Xu Guiyi was still focused on the road and didn’t look at her.

But that was okay. Ning Chanyue immediately said, “I’ll be gone for about a month this time, but the exact date I come back is not certain yet. When I do, can I have a spare key to your place?”

This was already the umpteenth time Ning Chanyue had hinted that she wanted to continue staying at Xu Guiyi’s place. But she said it in a lighthearted way, as if she no longer thought it was a big deal.

But Xu Guiyi didn’t say anything. Her lips gradually pursed, but she still stared straight ahead.

For a moment, all they could hear was the sound of cars speeding by.

Ning Chanyue seemed to be unable to stand the long silence. She felt a little strange and turned her head to poke Xu Guiyi.

“Why do you want to be with me so much?” Xu Guiyi suddenly asked.

Unexpectedly, Xu Guiyi would say this. Ning Chanyue was stunned before replying, “Because I feel very comfortable and relaxed when I’m with you. Don’t you feel that way too?”

Ning Chanyue spoke candidly. After she finished, she blinked her eyes and looked at Xu Guiyi, waiting for her response.

But Xu Guiyi’s hands on the steering wheel tightened slightly. After a while, she seemed to have made up her mind. She took a deep breath before slowly saying, “There are all kinds of people coming and going from my place. Anyone can come and go as they please. The paparazzi might take a picture of you and me at any time. And you’re a married person. It’s not appropriate for you to live with me. Now that the marking period is over and my birthday is over, if we continue to live together, we might make more… mistakes.”

Mistakes. Was that how Xu Guiyi defined their relationship?

Ning Chanyue’s finger, which had been touching Xu Guiyi, suddenly slid down. She paused for a few seconds before mechanically opening her mouth, “So… what are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that you shouldn’t live with me anymore.”

Xu Guiyi’s voice was very low. If it were any lower, Ning Chanyue wouldn’t have been able to hear it.

But why did she have to make her hear it?

The sun outside the car had risen halfway. A round, bl00d-red sphere shone on the front of the car, but the color on Ning Chanyue’s face inside the car was gradually draining away.

Ning Chanyue tilted her head. She tried to look at Xu Guiyi, hoping to see even a hint of a playful expression on her face.

Unfortunately, there was none.

Xu Guiyi still had that emotionless expression. The only difference might be her tightly clenched, white knuckles on the steering wheel.

But what did that prove?

The sudden absurdity in front of her made Ning Chanyue suddenly want to laugh, but when she opened her mouth again, her throat was somehow already choked up. She only heard herself ask, “Other Alphas cling to their Omegas and want to live together, so why do you keep pushing me away again and again?”

The corners of Ning Chanyue’s lips turned down. Her eyes were red, and it was obvious that she was about to cry.

The car slowly stopped at the rest stop. Xu Guiyi’s gaze finally turned to Ning Chanyue. She was reluctant. In just that one moment of eye contact, Ning Chanyue could feel it.

But why was she pushing her away like this?

Why?

Xu Guiyi didn’t move. She didn’t even unbuckle her seatbelt. Seeing the state Ning Chanyue was in, she sighed and pulled out a few tissues, trying to wipe away the moisture at the corners of Ning Chanyue’s eyes. Unexpectedly, just as the tissue was about to touch her eye, Ning Chanyue turned her head away, leaving Xu Guiyi’s hand frozen in place.

But she didn’t know if it was because of that sudden jerk or because of Xu Guiyi’s still-tender gesture, but the tears that had been welling up in Ning Chanyue’s eyes suddenly turned into drops of water and rolled down one after another.

Xu Guiyi’s hand was frozen for a moment before she put it down. She said, “I’m sorry. It’s not that I want to push you away… it’s just that we’re not a good match anymore. You’re a married, highly-sought-after celebrity, but I’m just a graduate student who’s struggling to make ends meet. Being with me is not a good look, and I’ll most likely only hold you back.”

Ning Chanyue ignored Xu Guiyi’s hand. She took a few tissues from the tissue box, wiped her tears in a frenzy, and then stared at her, saying, “But you never even asked me if I thought we were a good match… Do you get to define what’s a good match by yourself? Actually, if you want to treat your sister’s illness or get a better house, I can pay for it. And You Zhuoqing and I really don’t have anything going on. She was the one who insisted I sign a lot of contracts and maintain a marriage with her.”

Ning Chanyue’s words were a little reckless and thoughtless, but after Xu Guiyi listened to them, she just looked at Ning Chanyue for a long time without saying anything. After a while, she said softly, “Actually, just about the marriage, even if you explain it to me like this, what if the paparazzi take a picture of us? How would you explain it to the public? Would they believe you? And financially… you said you could pay for your sister’s treatment or a new house, but isn’t that all your money? Doesn’t that just prove that I’m holding you back by being with you?”

Xu Guiyi’s two questions came one after another. Ning Chanyue, however, still seemed unconvinced, like a fish out of water constantly flapping its body, trying to save itself. She still frowned and argued for herself, “But when I didn’t have a place to stay in high school, didn’t I live with you? Auntie even paid for my art exam. Did you think I was a burden to you back then? If you didn’t think I was a burden, then I won’t either, Guiyi.”

By the end, Ning Chanyue seemed to have convinced herself. Even the crying in her voice had weakened a lot. She sat in her seat, looking at Xu Guiyi, just waiting for Xu Guiyi to follow the lead she had given her.

Then, she would hug her and kiss her. She would then explain the ambiguous things between her and You Zhuoqing over the years, and the two of them would be able to reconcile naturally.

Thinking of this, Ning Chanyue began to look at Xu Guiyi with a little more confidence.

But the Xu Guiyi in front of her shook her head. She only heard her say, “That was different. Your situation at that time was temporary, and your repayment to my parents afterward was far more than what my parents gave you. But my current situation will most likely be for life. In two years, after I graduate, I will probably just be a doctor at a hospital, making about ten thousand a month to support me and my sister for the rest of our lives. I can’t give you anything. So it’s better if we… cut our losses in time.”

With every word Xu Guiyi said, a part of the confidence in Ning Chanyue’s eyes was worn away. Xu Guiyi’s voice was very soft, so soft that it was a little shaky, but her words were as sharp as a knife, as if they could gouge a hole in her sincere heart and then chop it into pieces.

In a daze, Ning Chanyue remembered Xu Guiyi’s evasiveness and avoidance every time she was with her. Her brows furrowed inch by inch. She asked, “Then why did you tell others that I was your high school classmate, and after we reconnected, you never actively expressed your liking for me? Was it because… you never even considered taking me back from the start, Guiyi?”