Birth of a Beauty

At a park-

"Hey Brother, when are you going to let me play on the swing? You have been sitting on it for a while now." A little girl with pigtails said looking at the teenage boy who was dazedly sitting on the swing.

"Yuxi dear, Let the young man be. He is injured and it's getting late. Let's head home, I will give you a lot of treats. Go to papa." The child's mother approached them and softly said. Yuxi was overjoyed and instantly sprinted towards her father.

The child's mother looked at the boy, gently shook him as she asked him "Are you okay?"

The boy came out of daze and glanced at her before nodding his head "Yeah, I am sorry. I was just... Umm thinking."

"Thinking, huh? Just the fact that you have been here thinking dully for so long means something is really troubling you. Then Let me give you a piece of my mind. If you can do something about the issue then, do it or else burdening about the things that you cannot handle will only bring you harm. Take care" Just like that she left the park with her family.

Quan Long stared at the disappearing back of the woman, who just advised him, for a while before standing up. Since he injured his leg (For those who cannot remember, He was injured when a pile of notes fell on his leg.), He slowly made his way towards his apartment.

"If you know someone is unapproachable, then why bother approaching. You will just get their hopes high."

Those words kept roaming around his mind for the past hours since they had an argument.

'Was it wrong of me to judge her so quickly? But still, how could she be so cold-hearted to overlook something so serious like bullying? I just hope those girls are okay. I am having a headache pondering about it again and again. I should just head home and get some rest.'

After reaching home, as though complete energy drained off him, He laid down on the couch and fell asleep.

-In the middle of the night-

*Cough*

"Oh, I am cold. Did I fell asleep on the couch? I should head to bed." Quan Long said as he got up from the couch and began to head to his bed.

In midst of that, He heard his phone ringing. "Who is it?"

The caller ID was unknown. He picked it up.

"Hello? Who is this?" Quan Long asked drowsily.

"Hey, Class President. I mean Leader Long. It's me Chang Min." A loud voice rang out from the other side.

"Chang Min? Why are you calling me at this hour? Did something happen?" Quan Long was perplexed.

"Yes! And it is serious. The plan you

wanted me to come up with. I promise you, I have been thinking about that since I got home, But can't come it anything. Is it okay if I don't do that brain wrecking thing and do something else?" Chang Min asked desperately.

*Silence*

Not getting any responses, Chang Min called out "Hello? Quan Long? Mr. Leader? Class Preside-"

"Hey! Chang! Min! Did you call me this late at night just to ask me that?"

"Ye-Yeah, I mean it's imp-" He was cut off with *Beep* *Beep*

After hanging up his call, He was about to throw away his phone, when he saw 'Lin Xueqing' number in the call log.

"Can I do something about this? Should I have a talk with her? Will that even change anything? Never mind." He mumbled to himself. He threw his phone but was unaware that he dialed her number accidently

***

Back at Lin Xueqing home-

"Why is he calling me so late at night?" She mumbled as she gazed at her phone. 'Does he want to apologize?' A thought immersed in her mind.

'Why am I so curious about it?' Despite fighting herself in her thoughts, she eventually picked it up in less than 3 rings.

But she didn't say anything. There was silence from the other side as well. 'Why did I even bother picking it up?' Just as she was about to hang up, she heard her name from the other side.

"Lin Xueqing! Why don't you just leave me alone? Why do I always think of you? Why do I feel guilty saying those harsh things to you even when I know you are in the wrong. I genuinely want to believe you are a nice person, I want to know more about you..."

"I want you to tell me it was a

misunderstanding. Those words your

said rings on my ear every now and then making me feel so miserable feel embarrassed cause I know. was the one who approached you first. I was curious about you, wanted to know you better. For some reason you looked so lonely, I wanted to be your friend."

Lin Xueqing who was listening to his long drowsy talk realized he was talking to himself meaning the call was a mistake. That didn't matter His words made her feel something unfamiliar, totally different from what she has been feeling since

small. It was warm.

Quan Long continued but he was mumbling softly that she couldn't understand properly. After awhile he fell silent. Presuming he fell asleep, Lin Xueqing hung up the phone.

She looked at the cigar burning in her hand before throwing it away. Returning back to bed, she took some sleeping pills and slept.

Wish she heard what Quan Long mumbled 'I felt attracted to you and I still want to talk to you just like nothing happened.'☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐