SCOM - Chapter 60
Chapter 60
The person in the room took a long time to come out, bringing with them a cloud of steam. Their wet hair was not yet dry. They had probably been in the bathroom for a long time, as the corners of their eyes were still a little red. They looked at Zuo Luohuan outside the door and asked, "What's wrong? I was just washing up."
This was how Ji Yuezhi looked after spending a long time in the bathroom. Zuo Luohuan didn't notice anything unusual about him and laughed, "Some things are just for looking at, nothing important."
"What things are you talking about?" Ji Yuezhi asked her.
Zuo Luohuan was momentarily unsure if he had seen the video or not. At the very least, when he saw that wanted poster in the underground black market, Ji Yuezhi should have recognized her.
In fact, she was a little surprised at the time. After all, that surveillance footage frame was from a year ago. Back then, Zuo Luohuan was a bit thinner, and her face had been altered. A normal person wouldn't be able to tell that Shui Bai was her, not to mention that the surveillance frame wasn't very clear.
For a moment, the two were somewhat silent. Just then, a waiter pushing a cart passed by in the hallway. Before Zuo Luohuan could react, she heard Ji Yuezhi say in a low voice, "Come in."
He reached out, pulled Zuo Luohuan inside, and forcefully shut the door.
The passing waiter only saw the two embracing, as if in an intimate moment, and didn't hear anything. They lowered their head and pushed the cart away.
Inside the room, a program advertisement had been playing loudly ever since Ji Yuezhi returned. After pulling Zuo Luohuan in, he let go of her hand, walked over to the sound system, and quietly looked at her.
Zuo Luohuan stood in place for a moment before walking towards him and asking in a low voice, "Did you see the video?"
Ji Yuezhi stared at her fixedly: "...I saw it. What drug did he give you?"
Zuo Luohuan's mood was a bit complicated. She hadn't expected a video to be circulating. It probably wasn't released by Hong Tongdao's people. Her gaze fell on the sound system: "Just a drug to stimulate the nerves. It wore off afterward."
"Wore off, yet you still had to go to Fang Yong's clinic?" From the moment he saw the video, Ji Yuezhi had connected it with the information his father had occasionally revealed. By his calculations, it was not long after she had returned to the capital.
Zuo Luohuan froze, then suddenly relaxed. She raised her hand to touch Ji Yuezhi's face, a hint of a smile in her voice: "It's all better now... Why are you angry?"
But she still didn't answer his question.
Ji Yuezhi turned his head to avoid her hand and asked in a cold, business-like tone, "What did you discover? For him to treat you like that."
The smile on Zuo Luohuan's face faded slightly. "I didn't discover anything before they caught me. I didn't kill the person."
"You..." Ji Yuezhi frowned at her, some emotion flashing in his eyes.
Zuo Luohuan wanted to raise her hand to smooth his brow, but ultimately restrained herself. She just smiled somewhat helplessly, "I'm not even angry. What are you so angry about?"
Ji Yuezhi's eyelashes lowered slightly, his knuckles tight and white. After a moment, he looked up at her and asked softly, "When you see a friend get hurt, you don't get angry?"
...Friend?
Zuo Luohuan went along with it: "Yes, I would too."
The two stood face to face. Ji Yuezhi finally asked her, "How long were you there?"
"A few days, I don't remember clearly," Zuo Luohuan said nonchalantly.
I don't remember clearly. From such vague words, Ji Yuezhi could sense the immense pain hidden behind them.
She always used this nonchalant attitude to hide her emotions. Every time she did so, it was just to brush things aside.
Zuo Luohuan's gaze fell on Ji Yuezhi's face. His lips were somewhat tight, clearly unhappy, and the red at the corners of his eyes seemed to be getting more obvious. She said seriously, "When we leave Xijiang Exile Star, I'll tell you a secret."
"What secret?" Ji Yuezhi was drawn in by her words. "The secret you discovered here before?"
There was something hidden deep in Zuo Luohuan's eyes. She watched a drop of water from Ji Yuezhi's hair fall onto his beautiful, straight collarbone and gradually slide down. She then casually caught another drop that fell from his hair. "It's not related to that."
Ji Yuezhi wanted to say more, but Zuo Luohuan stopped him, changing the subject: "Where did the condom go?"
"You..." Ji Yuezhi's gaze unconsciously fell on the headboard. "I took it into the bathroom and flushed it."
Zuo Luohuan smiled. "Mm, our Yuezhi is so considerate."
The tips of Ji Yuezhi's ears, hidden in his disheveled hair, turned a faint red. He forced himself to remain calm. "Someone will come to clean the room in the morning."
Zuo Luohuan took out the box that Zhou Li had stuffed into her pocket that morning. In front of him, she tore it open, took one out, and threw the wrapper into the trash can. "Like this?"
Ji Yuezhi pursed his lips, took the condom from her hand, walked into the bathroom, and flushed it.
After coming out, Ji Yuezhi's gaze fell on Zuo Luohuan's side. "I want to see your wound."
"It's already healed," Zuo Luohuan explained. "You should have heard of Fang Yong's reputation."
Ji Yuezhi stared at her without speaking.
Zuo Luohuan could only helplessly lift the corner of her shirt to prove her words were true.
The wound on her side was near her ribs. Ji Yuezhi, as if torturing himself, had watched the video several times. With each viewing, the pain in his breathing intensified. The location of her injury was now deeply engraved in his mind.
Two whitish scars remained on her rib area. A normal injury wouldn't have left scars. Only if that spot was repeatedly injured, coupled with delayed treatment, would such marks form.
Ji Yuezhi's breathing almost stopped. His fingertips tensed as he slowly reached out, wanting to touch them.
"Alright." Zuo Luohuan grabbed his hand and let her shirt fall. "It's fine now."
Ji Yuezhi still kept his head down, as if trying to see the scars through her clothes.
"It's getting late, I'll go back first." Zuo Luohuan lifted his chin, then quickly let go. "What's past is past. We still have things to do tomorrow."
Ji Yuezhi responded with a soft "en" and watched her turn and leave.
After returning to her own room, Zuo Luohuan leaned against the door, raising a hand to press her temple. She didn't really need to go find him. It was only a matter of time before Ji Yuezhi found out, and besides, they could have talked on the comms device.
What was she afraid of? It was hard to tell in that moment. She had just subconsciously walked out, knocked on the door, and then, after actually seeing him, she didn't know what to say.
Thinking of the secret she was going to tell him, a trace of gentleness appeared in Zuo Luohuan's eyes.
But in the room across the hall, Ji Yuezhi did not, as Zuo Luohuan had thought, go to bed to rest. He watched the video over and over again, as if torturing himself, almost feeling the same pain as the person in the chair. The back of his hand was taut, his knuckles white.
He didn't sleep all night.
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