Beloved Nemesis

Chapter Fourteen

I kept trying to hold my whimpers but there's no use. Zuo Hang in front of me held my wrist and tried to take my hand off my face, but I didn't bulge. No. No one should see me crying, especially not him.

"Why? What happened?" He kept asking but I only shook my head as an answer.

A few moments later, he stopped asking me. I tried to peek between my fingers to see if he has already left, but he didn't. He's there, kneeling in front of me. He looks like he's trying to assess how on Earth did I get into this situation. He hasn't noticed my cheeks yet, (which are still painful to touch), and I'm thankful of that. There's this part in me that thinks he's gonna go crazy once he sees it.

I tried to breathe since my chest is really getting heavy. My breathing was fast and I could feel my mouth starting to get dry.

"W-water." I stuttered. My voice is a bit croaky out of minutes of crying.

"Water? Water, okay!" He seems to be in panic. He rushed out the clinic and just a few seconds later, he came back.

I held the tumbler he gave and shifted my body's direction away from him. My hand is still covering my face as I hydrated myself. I know I probably look crazy, but I don't want him seeing me in this situation. I hate it when anyone feels pity for me.

"There were no nurses available. Do you want me to call your brother? Maybe you'd feel much more comfortable with him. You can tell him your feelings."

I gave him a side-eye. He's eyes are genuinely saying that he wants to help. He wants to ease whatever the reason I'm crying.

I shook my head. "It's okay." I honestly don't really mind it if it's either Zuo Hang or Ismael sitting in front of me. I mean, I'm comfortable with the both of them.  I can be myself with them, show my bitchiest side and they'd still follow me around like idiots.

For a moment, I felt the desire to tell him what happened. I want to report to him about the boy who smacked me in the face, twice. I want to tell everything to him as if I'm a kid complaining to her father.

But what can he do? If I tell everything to him, so what? Will anything actually change?

"Jie? Where are you?!" Someone bulged inside the room. I didn't need to see who it is. It's obviously Ismael. I felt him near to me and see my situation. Hell, I wanna cover myself with a blanket. I literally should stop crying or whimpering but I just can't control it.

"Oh no, Hangjiang. You're screwed." Ismael said the moment he saw me.

"What? Why?"

"You really don't know why she's crying?"

"What? I just got here from the pageant. I don't know what happened."

"Exactly the reason why, Hangjiang. The pageant! You and Eva Sloane kissed during the talent portion!" Ismael said without any hesitation.

"They did what?!" All of a sudden, I found myself react. My hands are taken off my face and my swollen eyes and bruised cheeks were exposed.

Zuo Hang immediately went closer to me and held my chin. "Who did this to you?!"

I avoided my gaze. "Doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter? You're hurt!"

"So what? What can you do about it?"

"Tell me who did it to you and I'll do something about it." He spoke with utter seriousness. I've never seen him this way before. He's serious when it comes to academics, but I've never seen him this serious. It was different. He looks like he's ready to hurt someone else.