960 HYPERVENTILATING
“THANK you again for celebrating my birthday with me and my mom,” Yu Jiao said, bowing gratefully at the Luo family.
“There’s no need for thanks, especially since we just ate a very delicious dinner,” Luo Yan said.
“Xiao Yan is right,” Luo Wei Tian followed. “For that delicious dinner, I think we’re the one who should be thankful.”
Yu Jiao chuckled, her heart filling with warmth. “I will make sure to tell Mom that.”
After saying goodbye, the Luo family went to their car. It was the one Luo Wei Tian and Luo Ren drove there. The car that brought Luo Yan and Luo Jin there had already been driven back home by the driver, per their father’s order.
Yu Jiao planned to wait until the car left, but Luo Ren didn’t follow the other three and just stood in front of her. Uncle Wei Tian, Luo Yan, and Luo Jin seemed to not care. They just went inside the car and waited. As if they knew beforehand that Luo Ren would do this.
“Brother Ren?” she asked, confused.
Luo Ren took out something from the inner pocket of his coat. It was a small box with a simple white bow. “Happy birthday again, Jiao Jiao.”
Seeing the box that was obviously a gift, Yu Jiao felt her heart beat faster. Her indescribable happiness quickly replaced her disappointment.
.....
Then she suddenly realized how weird it was for her to feel that way. At that realization, her hand, that was about to accept the gift, stopped mid-way.
“Jiao Jiao?”
Luo Ren felt incredibly nervous when he saw Yu Jiao stopped her hand. He was relieved at first when the other showed a big smile the moment he took out his gift. But then that smile suddenly disappeared and her hand stopped. This made him worry. A lot of negative thoughts just entered his mind for that brief second.
Like what if Yu Jiao didn’t like the thought of him giving her a gift? What if she wasn’t really expecting anything from him? Or worse, what if she just didn’t like him? Those thoughts kept circling inside his brain in a vicious cycle.
He knew that he was overthinking. But when it came to things related to Yu Jiao, he couldn’t help but overthink. Before his brain went into deep dive mode, the other had already taken the gift.
It was a good thing that she accepted his gift after that one second delay. Or else it would fill his mind with thoughts much worse than what he was already thinking.
“Thank you, Brother Ren,” Yu Jiao said with a small smile on her lips.
But Luo Ren noticed that her smile was much more rigid compared to the smile she gave when she accepted the gifts from his father and brothers.
“Is there something wrong? Do you perhaps not like receiving a gift from me?” he finally couldn’t help but asked.
He knew that if he just held it in, it wouldn’t be good for his mental health. So, it’s better to clear things up before misunderstanding ensued.
“No, no, that’s not it,” Yu Jiao quickly said. “It- it’s because of something really stupid.”
“If you don’t mind, I still want to know,” Luo Ren said. “Maybe your concern is not entirely as stupid as you think it is.”
Oh, but it was. Yu Jiao wanted to say that. No, she actually wanted to just make up some lame excuse, but when she saw the worry in Luo Ren’s eyes, she couldn’t. It felt like it would be unfair to the other who asked her sincerely. Besides, she’s not really good at lying, anyway. So, there’s really no choice for her but to tell the truth.
“Then, p-promise me you won’t laugh,” she said.
“How could I laugh at you?” Luo Ren said in a helpless tone. “But for your peace of mind, then, okay, I promise.”
Yu Jiao took a deep breath first before saying;
“It’s because I was feeling disappointed, thinking that you didn’t have a gift for me. I- I wondered if I actually have become materialistic without me noticing it. I’m not really someone who expects gifts from others. So, I don’t know what came over me and suddenly became like that. Then, when you gave me your gift just now, I felt so elated. Doesn’t that prove that I’m really turning into some materialistic person?”
She said all that with her head down, because she couldn’t bear to look Luo Ren in the eyes. So, when she didn’t receive a response, she had no choice but to raise her head.
She saw Luo Ren with a stunned expression, as if what she said was the last thing he was expecting to hear. Yu Jiao bit her lower lip. She knew it. She probably sounded so stupid just now.
When she was about to say that he should just forget what she said, Luo Ren reached out his hand towards her. Then he put a couple of strands of her hair that strayed on her cheek, behind her ear.
She was startled by this sudden action. Even more so when Luo Ren suddenly smiled.
“Oh, Jiao Jiao, please don’t every change.”
He said that with the warmest tone of his voice. She could even feel the warmth in his eyes. And those eyes were solely focused on her. As if she was the only one in his world.
Suddenly, she heard something thumping loudly from somewhere. It was only after a few seconds that she realized that it was actually her heart. After that realization came the shyness that appeared out of nowhere. She felt her whole face heating up like it was boiling. Add that to the fact that her heart was still beating like crazy, she suddenly wondered;
[Am I hyperventilating? Or am I going to have a heart attack?]
At the end, she could only bow her head and hug the small box that Luo Ren gave her like a lifeline.
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