His casual reply cut Ji Yi like a knife, tearing into her heart.
She didn't dare keep looking at He Jichen. A second after his voice fell, she averted her gaze out the window.
After some time, she cried, "I also heard that..."
She didn't manage to finish what she was saying when a warm, piercing pain crept into her eyes. Her throat became stifled as she tried her hardest to swallow. When she was sure her voice was back to normal, she continued to say: "...You might not come back this time?"
He Jichen brought the beer to his lips. After drinking half the bottle, he finally replied to Ji Yi. This time, he didn't nod but gently replied, "Mhm."
He wouldn't be making a grand return. Perhaps it'd be like four years ago when he secretly came to Beijing on his own and watched over her from afar, but he wouldn't let anyone know...
Ji Yi's throat felt unbelievably stifled. She was afraid to cry, so she started to chug the beer.
The bottle of beer only left her lips when it was completely finished. Then she stared up at the ceiling and held her gaze for a while. She waited for the ache in her eyes to fade away before she slowly lowered her head and deliberately tried to sound relaxed. "Are you going back to take over the company?"
Lately, he'd been busy setting out her future path that he hadn't been thinking about his own future. He was more or less going back to Sucheng and was going to make other plans, but he hadn't really thought about it...
As He Jichen was deep in thought, he didn't reply. Ji Yi took that as silent affirmation and said, "He Enterprises is great. Compared to YC, you'll probably be a little busier, but there'll be less pressure. After all, you'll be on the right track for everything. Most importantly, you can earn more money, which is pretty great..."
Actually, it wasn't great at all. She didn't want him to leave Beijing or YC at all...
...even if she was now signed to a different company. However, after she finished speaking, she raised her lips slightly. She turned to look at He Jichen and spoke as though she was trying to convince herself by emphasizing it again, "...It's really great."
He Jichen gazed deeply at Ji Yi for a while but didn't say anything. All he did was raise his bottle to his lips as he withdrew his gaze.
Ji Yi watched him drink and grabbed another bottle from the bedside. After she removed the lid, she started to drink with him.
Before He Jichen arrived, Ji Yi already drank quite a bit. In that very moment, she was feeling a little tipsy. She was really afraid that after she sobered up, she'd suddenly start crying uncontrollably if she continued talking about He Jichen's future without her.
So Ji Yi waited until after she swallowed the beer in her mouth then changed the subject. "During my afternoon shoot, one of the lines I had to deliver was 'Can we really not go back to how things were?' That made me think back to what happened on my birthday..."
Even though Ji Yi didn't describe it in detail, He Jichen knew she was talking about the time he told her "Can we go back to how things were before?".
He knew she hadn't finished speaking, so he didn't interrupt her.
Ji Yi took another gulp then continued, "...Then I thought back to what happened in senior high."
As she said that, Ji Yi looked over towards He Jichen again. "Oh yeah... He Jichen, did you know?"