Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1013: In between the lines

Alix didn't bother going out for dinner tonight as she stayed back on her bed, sitting criss-crossed. Her eyes bore into the collage she had prepared, navigating her gaze through the plethora of pictures.

Alix's pictures.

Alix's journey.

Alix's story.

She took her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Alix, what's up?" Shui asked, surprised to see her call at this time.

"Let's meet."

—

Alix offered a bouquet of fresh flowers to Shui and said, "I love you."

"..."

Shui stared at the bouquet, a huge question mark forming on top of her head.

"Alix, are you drunk? How many glasses you gulped down? Tell me the truth."

"I am sober."

"This is not a sober behavior, not from you."

"You know, I didn't give you enough credit. You…" she pointed at her, "You are the smartest in the group."

"I am sorry?"

"You, Jin and I. You are the smartest. Jin and I are the branded idiots," Alix nodded her head in all seriousness.

"...Alix, I am not getting a word you are saying."

A few passers by in the park giggled at Alix holding a bouquet in a proposing kind of a manner. It was clear to Shui in which direction their thoughts were steering.

"Come here!"

Shui dragged Alix to a quieter place and breathed out.

"You are making everybody misunderstand…Now tell me from the beginning."

"I apologize for cursing your collage project idea. You didn't deserve it."

Her brow twitched. "You were cursing it?"

Alix averted her gaze. "It did feel like a stupid school project."

She glared. "Assignments are for your own good!"

"I understand that now."

"And what miracle happened to help you achieve this enlightenment?" She smiled.

"Lots of things. But I think I basically understand it now. Understand my story."

She blinked twice. "Story?"

Alix smiled. "My life story. If the pictures weren't in place, I couldn't have gotten an overarching view of the things I missed in life. That's why I decided you deserved a personal apology and confession."

"You strangely sound very philosophical today."

"You will understand it soon. I just need to do a couple of things to finish my collage project and then…" her eyes twinkled. "The whole story will shine through. Drama, mystery, action - it will be like a movie. So please accept my flowers."

Shui coughed. "Your gratitude is enough for me-"

Alix pushed the bouquet in her hands to which her lips twitched.

"Your gratitude is forceful."

"You are too shy," she snorted. "Hey, let's have some ice-cream."

Alix said as she saw an ice cream truck at a distance. "It's the second part of my gratitude."

"How many parts are there?"

She shrugged. "Until I am satisfied."

They sat down at a nearby bench, holding their ice cream cones. Shui's gaze happened to fall upon Alix's phone and she blinked twice.

"When did you take that picture?"

Alix followed her gaze and said, "Oh this chipmunk photo of Jin's? That day when we joined you and Kang Yuze for dinner. I don't waste time with incriminating stuff. This was too entertaining to not put up as my phone's wallpaper."

Right at the same time, Jin's text bubble popped up on Alix's screen.

'You found that vial?'

Alix sneered, thinking about the fake vial she replaced in the pillow to fool Mui.

'Yup.'

'Bring it with you tomorrow.'

Alix furrowed her brows, puzzled and typed back. 'Why?'

'?? So that we can find out what that is?'

'I will find that out on my own.'

It took a minute for Jin's next reply to come.

'You are not doing this alone.'

'??'

'I smell some big conspiracy that might have been stretching for some years now and you are diving straight into those unknown waters.'

'I will finally get to catch the big fish~' her eyes sparkled.

'You are on your way to catch a shark, idiot. So you better bring that vial tomorrow.'

'I can catch sharks too, you know?'

'Just. Bring. It. Tomorrow! You also owe it to me because Jun-kun helped you find it.'

"Jeez…" Alix was left dumbfounded. "So stubborn. Gratitude here, gratitude there. Is it a gratitude season?"

She rubbed her chin, looking questioningly at Shui.

Shui lifted her gaze off her phone and stared at her. "You think that is gratitude?"

"It certainly is acting high and mighty because of his genius cat's help," she snorted. "It's his cat who helped me. Why is he showing off?"

"He is not acting high and mighty."

Alix was left speechless again and showed her her phone. "Just read the conversation."

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

"I did. That's why I know that he is not acting high and mighty. Far from it actually."

"What could it possibly be then?" she snorted and licked her ice-cream scoop.

Shui tapped her finger on the bench and collected her thoughts.

"Why do you suddenly look so serious?"

"Have you considered the thought…that Jin might like you?"

Alix tipped her head to the side.

"Like me? In what sense? What sort of an idiot would like a person who extorted twenty million from him?"

She smiled. "You have never fallen in love, have you?"

Her eyes stretched wide in utter disbelief.

"Huh? Love? What…love? You are talking about the love story kind of a love? The novel kind? The romantic movie kind?"

"Yes."

Her brow twitched hard.

"This time, I will have to ask you. Are you drunk? How many glasses did you gulp down?"

"I am completely sober and so is Jin. It's just that it hasn't dawned on him yet. But I have known him since childhood. So I can recognize him changing no matter how minor or irrelevant it might look. With Jin, you have to read in between the lines to understand him."

"And why are we talking about love?"

"Because Jin's messages right now were not him acting high and mighty. He was concerned. He was anxious. He was afraid you would fall into some danger. By now I am pretty sure that he would have already called someone from his connections who will help you test the contents of that vial. He would investigate that in his name so that even if things go south tomorrow, it's his name that would light up the Christmas tree, not yours. He is being in the frontline for you because I believe…he loves you."