Because I Cannot Hurt You

Chapter 193 - The Reunion Arc : The Unofficial Engagement

"Yunru has been waiting long enough, Shuang. Do you have any idea how much you have hurt him?" Tears pooled in Zizi's eyes.

"Do you know how much he is suffering! I know it because I have seen it! Yunru must have told you about that night when we accidentally slept together right?"

Yunru froze.

"Pr-princess, stop! It's okay."

He felt flustered thinking of that night when he got drunk.

Zizi shook off her arm again. "It's not okay! And you won't stop me. Now that everything's out in the open, why do you still want to shy away?"

She glared at Shuang. "What excuse did Yunru give you? Tell me."

Shuang was in a daze. She stared at Yunru, who obviously seemed panicked for some reason.

Excuse?

'I was out with my friends drinking and just had a bit too much.'

Her heart skipped a beat and she paled.

"Come on. Say it!" Zizi insisted.

"O-out with friends in a bar…" her voice stammered as she spoke.

Yunru averted his gaze as he clenched his fist.

Zizi burst into laughter. "Friends? That is a convenient excuse, isn't it?"

Her gaze darkened. "He wasn't in any bar. He was on a beach crying over you!"

Shuang froze.

"Do you even know what his condition was? He was hell drunk. Cans of empty beers surrounded him and he was doing nothing but crying! Only because of you! I know it because he talked to me."

"Princess…" he hastily said. "Enough. I-I don't-"

She ignored him and continued. "He was so heartbroken. He said how you never looked at him. No matter how much he chased after you, you always slipped from his hands like air," she gasped, "that even if he was hurt, he wouldn't give up on you because he hoped that one day things would get better. And that...he felt tired."

Shuang's eyelashes trembled which slowly turned wet.

"He was tired. And why not? Seven years is not a short time. And in front of his patience and loyalty, what are you giving him? Accusations!? Falling in love is not a crime, so why are you treating him as a criminal? He deserves to be loved! But you have been nothing but cruel to him!"

"Stop it, Princess!" Yunru gritted his teeth.

Zizi didn't back down. "No, Yunru. I shouldn't be the one to stop. You both should stop it now! You should stop letting her hurt you like this, and Shuang should stop delving into the past and forget Xiaosi already! Nobody is moving from their damn place, and this is why this shit is happening!"

By the end, her red cheeks had puffed up as her chest heaved up and down, taking angry breaths. Her eyes were moist with tears. She had enough of seeing Yunru in pain.

"You...you have no idea how much courage it took for him to confess to you! You have no idea how scared he was. He was afraid of your rejection so much. He feared that you would end this relationship once you knew! Did you think about his feelings before crushing them with your cruel words? You trampled upon everything that he did for you in just one night! You are indeed heartless!"

The silence rang for a long time.

Shuang clenched her fingers. Zizi's every word stabbed her heart like a sharp arrow. It pained even more than her slap. It hurt more than the stinging burn on her cheek.

"Y-you are right…" she said in a daze.

Zizi said, "Since you have rejected him, you are free now," she angrily laughed, "You are free to waste your life chasing after that man's shadow who you know will never become yours. Waste your heart for someone who has already given his own to someone else. If a life of loneliness is what you choose, then congratulations, An Shuang! You got just that! I just hope that after this, you don't regret your decision!"

Zizi trembled and faced her one last time. "You know Shuang... stuck with you until the very end. Even though…" she gasped. "Even when I confessed my love to him, he still remained loyal to only you."

Her eyes slowly widened and she looked at her stunned. She felt her mind go blank.

Confess her love?

Zizi smiled. "Yes. My love. I love Yunru. I confessed and he rejected me. Only for you. It hurt a lot. That's why I understand how hard it is to gather your courage to...to bare your heart in front of the one you love. But thank you for opening his eyes to reality once and for all. He needed that reality check from you that I have been trying to give him for so long. To stop wasting your feelings for someone who doesn't appreciate it."

She froze.

"But this ends now! Yunru's pain and all his suffering he had to endure seeing you love someone else ends now! An Shuang. You lost your chance. You threw away a happy life and future with your own hands. Don't regret it because you are never going to get him back!"

Zizi suddenly grabbed Yunru's hand and pulled him away. She narrowed her eyes. "There is nothing left to be said. So let's leave!"

"Princess…"

Zizi refused to listen to him and dragged him away, leaving Shuang standing in silence frozen at her spot as she saw Yunru leaving.

This time, it was forever.

---

Zizi kept walking and walking until she finally got tired. She looked around and saw that they were quite far now. She inhaled and exhaled deep breaths. As she began to calm down, she realized what she did in a rush of adrenaline. Everything flashed in her mind one after the other.

She looked back at Yunru and before he could say anything, she said, "Don't you dare blame me for interfering!"

Yunru looked at her dumbstruck. "Huh?"

"Yes! You must be angry at me for barging in right in your supposedly 'heartwarming' confession, right? But I couldn't help it! I kept hearing her nonsense and just couldn't stand it anymore. She deserved all that pep talk! You got no right to get angry at me."

Yunru stared at her and folded his arms. "What were you doing listening to us anyway? That was a private conversation."

Zizi froze. She coughed and looked away. "I-I was just passing by. You came into my sight! So it's your fault. Don't look at me as if I followed you!" Her cheeks flushed red.

"I didn't mention anything about you following me."

"..."

"That's not the point!" She gritted her teeth in annoyance after apparently being caught by him.

"The point is that she disrespected your feelings and it's over. Now…" her heart sped faster in her chest and she slightly gulped.

"Now you are mine!" She declared.

Yunru's eyes widened in shock. "Huh?"

"Yes! You are officially single now. So I can officially claim you too. I don't have to be on the sidelines anymore."

He stared and stared at her until his eyes began to sting. "Come again?"

At first, she was nervous, but then let go of her inhibitions and stood tall in front of him. "I said that I will claim you now. I, Han Zizi, will chase after Soo Yunru as of this moment."

He looked at her in a stupor.

"You heard it right! This time I will chase you. You have done enough chasing for seven years. Now it's your turn to know how it feels to be loved by someone. How it feels to be chased by someone. You have done enough already. You are tired. So you rest. Let me do the running now and win your heart!" She harrumphed.

His ears buzzed upon hearing her words. "I…"

What am I supposed to say?

He was at a loss for words.

Technically, she was right. He was rejected. Yunru and Shuang could never go back to how things were before. Everything was over between them.

"...I just got rejected."

"Yes."

His mouth twitched. "Let me at least cry."

Zizi glared at him. "You won't! You have cried enough for her. You have shed enough tears. Now no more."

"My heart is broken here…"

Zizi indignantly said, "I will mend your broken heart with my love. And if you really want to cry, you can cry on my shoulder too. I won't mind," she haughtily said.

Yunru didn't know how to respond. "Where did you learn to say such cheesy words?"

Her nostrils fumed in anger. "What do you mean!? These are my sincere words from my heart! You remember what you said to me at the terrace that night? I will say it now!"

She pointed her finger at him. "Hah! I am a princess! Serve me! You cannot leave my side and that is a princess's order!"

Yunru choked in his throat.

Zizi then looked around and found a potted plant at the side. She quickly broke a thin twig off a leaf. Yunru was confused as he saw her doing something with that twig.

She walked up to him again and grabbed his hand.

"What are you doing?" He asked speechlessly.

Without saying anything, she slipped that twig -?that she wound up and circled in the shape of a ring in his ring finger.

His eyes widened in shock.

Zizi met his stunned gaze with her determined one. "This is temporary. But this ring means that you are mine now! This is an unofficial engagement!"

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