NOVPUBThe spotlight fell on Jin and Alix at the start of the runway. For a few long moments, a stunned silence hung in the air as everybody tried to grip the scene before them. Nobody had expected that Alix would appear on the stage in a wedding outfit.
Jin offered his arm and asked, "Shall we?"
He wasn't sure why he strangely needed to gather courage for those two syllables. The only thing he knew was that the more he watched her, the more he felt his chest constricted as if oxygen escaped him.
"Yes."
Alix paused for a moment but wrapped her hand around his arm anyway. Walking down the runway, the spotlight traced the path they took. With every step, gasps echoed in the air with the beauty of the cheongsam she wore. Alix walked, embodying the true spirit of a bride dressed in a red, traditional gown that flowed down her legs like the gentle waves of a river. The scarf on her neck perfectly matched the attire.
They walked slowly, drowned in the flashes of camera lights. It didn't bother Jin one bit, whose gaze was solely focused on Alix as if the rest of the world had fallen silent.
"I see the reporters crying," Alix said.
The cloudy fog from his mind lifted away and he said, "Huh? Reporters?"
"I think they want you to face the camera too."
"Haven't they taken enough pictures of me?"
"Nothing about the Lius is enough for them," she said, barely moving her lips. "But these photos are boring. I am tempted to show them your chipmunk picture."
"..."
From the reporters' side, it felt as if they were dreaming watching a beautiful smile bloom on his lips. It was so mesmerizing that it reached all the way to his sparkling black pupils. An exuberant smile on a serious Jin's face was too much to handle. Women collapsed left and right, seeing Jin lean towards Alix and whispering something to her ear.
"I am tempted to show them your cats' picture too. Jun on your shoulder and Ai on your lap?"
The corner of her lips twitched.
"You still have that?"
"You still have my picture so it's only fair," he chuckled.
Jin eventually faced the crowd, waving his hand at the cameras. As they were about to reach the end of the runway, he quietly slipped out his arm from hers. It went unnoticed for a moment after which Alix realized she was walking alone. She looked back, confused.
Jin smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. "You are the star of the show. It's your stage. Bask in all your success. You did great."
Alix stared at his genuine and sincere gaze, his eyes that were smiling in pride and satisfaction. But unable to bear that warmth she quickly looked away, a faint tightening gripping her chest.
My success huh…
She couldn't make up her mind of what to feel. She had never given it a thought about what life would look like after reincarnation. She certainly held no interest in gaining any success or popularity. She only wanted to just live her life, mending her mistakes along the way if possible.
She looked at Ai, who was eagerly waving her arm at her along with Ailun and Jun on her side.
She looked at Liu Hai, Jing, the twins and Jinhai, whose expressions could barely contain their happiness.
She looked at Shui, who was clapping so hard for her despite knowing that the man she loved was now falling for her.
She looked at Ren Luoyang and Ren Cuifen, who couldn't hold back their tears as they watched their daughter on the stage, holding her head high and mighty.
Her nasty reputation of the past seemed to be a minor bump in her story now. She could see the happiness in their misty eyes, the reward of the patience they held for Alix to just become a normal girl.
She looked at Mui, a sister who viciously threw her into the coma but was now clapping along with the audience for her without any sense of defeat.
And lastly…
She looked at Lin, who was staring at every movement of hers with such intensity as if it would swallow the venue whole. She noticed a strange light in his eyes as if watching her would let him decipher the confusion in his mind.
Alix calmly looked away but her heart trembled inwardly. A pang of guilt filled her heart. She knew what his gaze was searching for, yet there was no way she could reveal the truth to him and return the chaos in his life. Being far away from him was the only path of Lin finding his own life and voice.
"Miss. Ren, can you tell us your motivation behind designing a traditional wedding dress?"
She softly exhaled amidst the applause and looked at the reporter who was stretching his mic from below the stage.
"I have always liked the traditional attire. I wore it today because I like weddings. Marriage unites two souls," she cast a glance at Jun and Ai before she returned her gaze back at the reporter. "I like that concept."
The reporter giggled. "But for you to be dressed in one…does it probably hint at your own…?"
The question caused ripples of gasps flowing like a wave on the sea.
"My wedding? That is impossible."
"Ah? Why?"
Alix stared at her, a small smile curling her lips up as her mother's face appeared in her mind. That marriage had left het nowhere.
"Some people…are meant to live alone. I am one of those people."
"Th-that's harsh…" Even the reporter was at a loss. "Maybe you don't like someone right now but what if you do so in the future? What if someone confesses to you?"
Alix burst into a hearty laughter.
"When have you seen a villain falling in love? Or somebody falling for a villain? That would be very dystopian for evil to find love."
Jin stared at her back, his eyes tracing her chuckles in a stupor. Her lips might be echoing with laughter in front of the world but feeling a tinge of loneliness hidden in her eyes gripped his heart like a prickly shackle pressing on it. She was dressed to look like the most beautiful bride yet why did she say that a groom would never stand beside her?
A strange force within him made him lift his feet and he walked towards her with slow steps. He stood beside her, filling the empty space.
Alix looked up and raised her brow. "Hah. So you came to bask in my success, after all."
With his chest overwhelmed with a barrage of inexplicable emotions, the words escaped from his lips before he knew it.
"You won't live alone when I…am right beside you."
