Chapter Text
"This just in. Solaria's CEO and founder has been found guilty of fraud and embezzlement with several other people in his company. His wife has fled the country but his daughter is still here. Now we go to our field reporter, Zhao Yinyue." the news reporter stated before the screen changed to another reporter. "Thank you, Li Xiaolong. I am currently standing in front of the CEO's daughter's apartment. She hasn't exited the building yet but her neighbors said-" the reporter was cut off because you turned off the tv.
You're wrapped in a blanket sitting on the sofa staring blankly at the now black screen. Eyes red and puffy as skin was stained with tears. Your father was in jail and your mother left you for a wealthy foreigner. How many days has it been? You haven't stepped out of your own apartment, fearing you'll get bombarded by reporters. Your friends left you but you ignored the one that still stayed with you, not wanting them to get involved. Oh, how you wished to just be swallowed up whole by the earth.
｜✧ ☁ ✧｜
"You good for nothing husband! You can't even do anything right!" your mother yelled at your father, pointing an accusing finger at him. You were peeking from the door of your father's study. Today was the day you usually visit them but they didn't even notice you were there. "But sweetheart, I did everything you asked for. We became rich because of your plan." your father replied to your mother looking scared.
"You? Followed my instructions? Hahahahaha! Very funny. You didn't listen to me and now this is your problem." your mother spoke sarcastically, leaving your father and pushing open the door. Her eyes locked on to yours for a minute before she said, "Oh, look. It's your good for nothing daughter. Listen girl, from now on I'm not your mother. I'm going to move to another country with my new husband. Bye bye."
She smiled, satisfied with her decision in leaving her good for nothing family. You stood there rooted to your spot and stared blankly at the floor. The words 'good for nothing daughter' keep replaying in your head as you try to process what happened. Once everything settled in your brain, you looked up at your father who was still in his study with his head in his hands. "You...You're not my father. I don't want to be associated with you. I don't have parents." you spat before running away to go back to your apartment. Once there all the tears and emotion welled up all at once.
｜✧ ☁ ✧｜
Ring Ring Ring
Your phone rang, snapping you out of your dazed state as the screen showed your boyfriend's name. He had been calling you since this chaos first started but all you did was stare at the screen and start to feel guilty for him. 'He's probably miserable being my boyfriend. I should just break up with him' you thought, picking up your phone to send a message. 'I am a coward for breaking up through text but I don't think I could face him at all.' you continue before opening up your chat with him.
｜✧ ☁ ✧｜
"Hey, jiejie!" your annoying underclassmen called out to you. "What do you want?" you asked not lifting your head from the book you're reading. He sat on the chair in front of you, putting his elbow on the table and his head on his hand. "I was wondering if you want to go watch a movie with me." he voiced, looking straight at you smiling. All you did was lower your book a little, eyebrows raised at him.
"And why do you think I would want to?" you asked, looking at him. You would never admit to him that he's attractive but that's all he is to you, attractive. He's too carefree for you so you never considered him at all. "I don't know. I just want to spend time with my favorite jiejie." he stated matter of factly. You put a bookmark on your book and set it down on the table. "Why? Most people wouldn't notice me. I'm just a mediocre person, not smart, not a troubled student." she stated, looking back at him, eyes narrowed, mouth forming a frown.
"Because a person that hasn't been noticed has an interesting story that hasn't been uncovered."
｜✧ ☁ ✧｜
He was confusing to you. You never understood why he wanted to hang out with you. You ended up hanging out with him a lot and even became boyfriend & girlfriend but now you're going to break up with him. You start to type the message silent tears start to go down your cheeks.
Hey, Marius. I think we should just break up because I don't want you getting dragged into this.
Sent
You didn't even wait for a response before turning your phone off and walked to your room to rest. Your room has been dark as you don't want to open your window nor turn on the light. There are a few mirror shards on the floor from the one you broke. It didn't bother you as you slowly walked over to your bed and layed down. Eyes slowly closing with the blanket wrapped around your body. Still thinking about the time he asked you.
｜✧ ☁ ✧｜
"Jiejie, can I borrow you for a minute?" he asked you as you were with your best friends. Your best friends were smiling knowingly pushing you towards him before saying goodbye and leaving. You turned your head to your best friends and shouted, "I'm going to get you guys back later."
You turn back to look at him who's smiling. "What is it?" you ask as you see his cheeks slightly turn pink. "Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, eyes looking hopeful. "I- Is this a joke? It's not a really funny joke." you stated, awkwardly laughing since you can't imagine anybody would want to date you. "No, this isn't a joke. I really like you." he replied, his hopeful eyes faltering a bit. "No, my answer is no. I don't want to burden people with my personality." you answered quickly without hesitation.
"Well, I did see your personality and I think it just makes me like you more."
｜✧ ☁ ✧｜
Meanwhile, Marius frantically tries to contact you after he reads the text you sent him. He has been looking at his phone to see if you had replied to him or not. The few days he hasn’t met you made him concerned but when the news had surfaced he became extremely worried for your wellbeing. He didn’t waste any time and ran to his car, drove off to meet you. “Damn it! This is all my fault. I should’ve visited her earlier” he cursed under his breath, holding tightly onto the steering wheel.
He was tense all the way from where he was until your apartment. He was thinking about the worst scenario that could happen. When he neared your apartment building, he saw a lot of reporters standing and waiting outside. He slowly moves to go in from the side entrance that’s less crowded. He went down to the basement parking before exiting the car and ran to the apartment lobby. He ran towards the elevator and quickly pressed the button and jumped in it. Using the key card that he was once given by you to go to your floor. He was standing in the elevator, agitated and anxious. Once he heard the elevator door open, he quickly exited and ran to your apartment door. He unlocks it with the key card and walks in searching for you.
When he was near your bedroom door, he could hear small sobs and whimpers. He knocks on the door before opening it to see you curled up in a fetal position, crying. He called out your name as he sat on the bed beside you. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here now." he spoke, softly patting your head. "Please go away." you begged weakly, looking the other way. He started to frown at your statement before sighing. "Come on. You don't have to do this. I'm not leaving just because of what your father did." he explained with a sad smile. You weakly sat up and stared at him. "Why won't you just leave me alone?" you tried to sound mad but your voice came out small and meek. "Because I don't think I can live without you and you also need someone beside you when everyone has left you." he whispered softly near your ear as he hugged you tight. All the tears started to go down your cheeks as you now started sobbing on his shoulder.
He lets you cry it all out and pat your head soothingly. Your sobs soon died down to merely just a hiccup still in his embrace. He may seem like a douche sometimes with teasing you every time but he knows when you're hurt and down. "Now, how about we watch a movie or binge a series while eating your favorite food?" he said smiling, pulling away from the hug. You start to feel cold again when he pulls away. You didn't know how touch starved you are when you've been in isolation for so long. "Wait here," he stated before leaving to go to the kitchen. You didn't stay in your room for long since you got restless. You thought that he'll burn down the kitchen as you never saw him cook at all.
You slowly walked out your room and into the kitchen to see him cutting up some of the ingredients. That's when he looked up, seeing your blanket from the corner of his eyes. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay in your bed- Wait, you just don't trust me cooking, do you?" he asked, laughing a little before continuing, "For your information, I'm a decent cook. My mom taught me how to cook as a kid."
"Now, why don't you just wait on the sofa while I finish cooking this." he informed you, smiling, going back to cook the food. You sat down on the sofa but eyes still looking at him cooking. He was so focused on making the food, meticulously measuring the liquid ingredients, mixing it all together before plating it. Once he was satisfied with the food, he picked it up and set it down on the foldable tables while the sofa reclined a little with the sofa leg becoming horizontal to the sofa seat. "So, what do you want to watch?" he asked you, who's still wrapped in your blanket. "Let's watch Accidentally In Love." you answered as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and turned on the movie.