'Why is he here? Am I in his place?'
She forgot about the incident in front of the love hotel because she was drunk last night.
'Wait!'
She grabbed the blanket and lifted it.
"Phew…" She let out a sigh of relief when she knew she was still wearing clothes.
'Just what had happened last night? How did I end up in this place?'
She only recalled drinking with Aya.
After that, she remembered nothing.
As countless questions popped up in her mind, Ling Tian woke up.
"You are already awake, Nurse Shen?" he rose from the couch.
"I just woke up." At this moment, she was a little nervous because she had never slept in a man's home before.
Ling Tian grabbed the hangover drink he bought last night and gave it to her. "Here, drink it."
"Thank you." She drank it. "Student Ling, are we in your place?"
"Yes," he nodded. "I wanted to take you home last night, but you didn't tell me your address."
"Can you tell me what happened last night?" she asked curiously.
"Your friend wanted to do something bad to you, and I stopped her." He explained everything in detail.
"Aya did that?" she said in surprise.
"I'm not lying to you. Here is the proof." He handed his phone to her.
Shen Yueyan played the voice recording and listened to it carefully.
Once the recording finished playing, he immediately said, "These two men were about to take you to a love hotel when I saw you. At first, I only asked them to leave you alone, but they refused right away."
He continued, "Your friend tried to fool me, and these men attacked me after they could not hide their plans, so I had no choice but to beat them up."
At this moment, her chest tightened with pain.
She had known Aya for three years.
She thought she was a real friend, but now, she finally knew she was wrong.
'Aya, how could you do that?'
The more she thought about it, the more it hurt her.
She had been treating Aya like her sister, so the pain of Aya's betrayal hit her hard.
"My advice is to cut ties with her. Someone like her is not worth being a friend to." He believed Aya would betray her again if they continued being friends.
"You are right." She agreed with him. "I won't be her friend anymore."
"Do you want to take revenge on her?" he asked. "I can help you if you want to."
"No. I would be the same as her if I reciprocated her actions." She chose not to retaliate for her actions, but she would not forget it.
"You are a good person, Nurse Shen!" Ling Tian would repay Aya's actions a hundredfold if he were in her place.
Shen Yueyan returned his phone and said, "Thank you for saving me."
"You don't need to thank me," he said as he smiled.
She got out of bed and stood before him. "Then, I will go home now."
"You are leaving now? Why the rush? It's still 06:05 am." He was a little surprised because she had just woken up.
"I have to work today," she replied.
Ling Tian grabbed his jacket and put it on. "I will send you home."
"It's fine. I can take a taxi." She didn't want to trouble him any further.
"Wouldn't it be better if I drove you home? This way, you will get home faster." He had decided to help her, so he wanted to make sure she got home safely.
Since Ling Tian insisted on sending her home, Shen Yueyan agreed.
The distance between their homes was not far. It only took him twelve minutes by motorbike to reach her place.
After dropping her off, he went straight home because he had a morning class.
"A cold shower in the morning feels amazing. I feel so refreshed." He put on his clothes before returning to the bathroom to hang the towel.
'What should I make for breakfast?'
He walked toward the fridge and opened it.
'It seems I can only cook egg fried rice.'
He took the ingredients and closed the refrigerator.
Since he didn't have a lot of money, he decided to cook two portions so he would not need to buy lunch later.
To his surprise, the sound of the doorbell echoed right after he finished cooking.
'Hmm? Who is it?'
He walked toward the door and checked the visitor through the peephole.
'Nurse Shen? Why did she come to my place?'
A question popped up in his mind.
Ling Tian grabbed the handle and opened the door. "Nurse Shen, did you forget something?"
"No. I just want to invite you to breakfast." He had saved her last night, so she wanted to repay him for his kindness.
"But I just finished cooking breakfast. How about we eat at my place? I happened to cook two portions earlier." He didn't want to waste food, so he invited her to eat in his studio instead.
Shen Yueyan didn't agree immediately.
Her intention was to repay his kindness. If she ate in his place, didn't that mean she would owe him even more?
But just as she was about to say something, Ling Tian grabbed her right hand and dragged her in.
"Hmm?" Shen Yueyan widened her eyes in shock.
Maybe it was because he had saved her last night, or perhaps because he held her hand out of the blue.
At that moment, her heart suddenly pounded, and she could not take her eyes off him.
'What's wrong with me?'
She didn't know what was going on because something like this had never happened before.
After helping her sit on a chair, Ling Tian headed to the kitchen and served the fried rice onto two plates.
"Try it." He smiled as he sat on the opposite side of her.
She scooped up the fried rice with a spoon and ate it.
'It's delicious!'
Actually, she had already guessed it because the food was giving off a delicious aroma.
But it was tastier than she expected.
"How is it?" he asked.
"It's delicious!" she replied. "I didn't know you were good at cooking, Student Ling."
"You are praising me too much. I can only cook a little." Actually, he was good at cooking because a retired seven-star hotel chef taught him how to cook after he saved his granddaughter in his previous life.
"No. Your fried rice is as delicious as the ones in those famous restaurants." She believed anyone would agree with her statement if they tried his food.
"Thank you for the praise." He smiled softly.
During breakfast, the duo talked about many things.
They also laughed and joked together.
Even though it was her first time eating at a man's place, Shen Yueyan didn't feel nervous or awkward because Ling Tian was able to lighten the mood and make her feel comfortable.
"Hmm?" Ling Tian stopped smiling when he saw a grain of rice at the corner of her lips.
Shen Yueyan was stunned when his right hand slowly approached her face.
'What…what is he going to do?'
But despite that, she didn't stop him and only looked at him.
Ling Tian took the rice and ate it.
"There is a grain of rice at the corner of your lips." He smiled as he explained.
"I see." She didn't know why, but for some reason, she was a little disappointed.
'What's wrong with me? Was I hoping he would do something more?'
She scooped the rice and continued eating.
'He is really a bad young man! He made my heart beat fast.'