Pandora's Heart | d.cx ✓

CHAPTER 32

Chengxin felt very drained the next morning. Too much crying the previous night gave him quite a good amount of pain in his eyes, and he was hoping the puffiness would go away soon enough. He looked himself in the mirror fixed to the wall in his room and groaned.

Jiaqi came in just a minute later. 'Hey how are you doing man?'

Chengxin turned to him. 'Not good.'

'Yeah and you look terrible,' he gritted his teeth. 'Pandora won't believe you're happy with those swollen eyes. Not to worry, I heard ice gets rid of puffy eyes pretty quickly.'

'Okay.' Chengxin replied languidly.

'Come on, try to cheer up. If you want this to work, you have to act happy.' Jiaqi patted Chengxin's shoulder then walked out to have ice. Chengxin forced a smile as he looked into the mirror, trying to make it as believable as possible. He had to try to put on his acting skills for this one.

...

When Chengxin and Jiaqi walked down the stairs for breakfast that morning, Chengxin felt even more hurt seeing Haoxiang and Pandora sitting next to each other happily. They had just finished talking when Chengxin and Jiaqi had walked in.

'I already told Rio what to do, just play along.' Jiaqi whispered to him then went over to take a seat next to Zhenyuan.

Chengxin looked at Rio and she looked back at him with a smile. Slowly, he made his way over to sit next to Rio. Pandora had stared at him for a while, but she stopped staring when Haoxiang turned her face to him. She smiled at him while he gave her a warning gaze, he didn't want her staring at Chengxin and he made that clear.

'Do you like the food?' Rio asked Chengxin as she cut through her bacon.

'Yeah, it looks really great.' Chengxin answered with that forced smile once more, but it looked quite genuine to the watchers.

Rio cut through her bacon and offered to feed him a piece from her fork. Everyone on the table looked at the two with curiosity, wondering if Chengxin was really going to eat the bacon.

Chengxin's eyes wandered to Jiaqi, who gave him a discreet nod.

Chengxin looked back at Rio with a smile then ate the bacon she was offering to feed him. Everyone was surprised looking at the two of them, and most didn't bother to hide their surprised expressions. One of them was Pandora who covered her mouth with her hand.

Haoxiang laughed and shook his head, then continued to eat his meal. He was the only one who wasn't surprised and didn't care about what Chengxin and Rio were doing. Whatever was happening, he found it quite petty.

'Actually, I made breakfast today.' Rio told him.

Chengxin nodded. 'It's really good. I almost wish you could make breakfast every day.'

'Maybe years from now I'll be making breakfast for you every day.' Rio leaned on Chengxin's shoulder momentarily before she continued eating.

'Really? I can't wait for that day to come then.' Chengxin replied.

'This is really cringey,' Zhenyuan whispered to Jiaqi, not having any idea what was going on.

Jiaqi glared at Zhenyuan then turned to Rio. 'Whoa, we're all wondering if you guys are dating. That's a bit too close.' Jiaqi spoke his rehearsed line, seeing that Pandora and Haoxiang were paying attention to the conversation as well.

'Well...' Chengxin started.

'Yes we are...I kind of realized I really like him and I didn't know he likes me too.' Rio answered on the "couple's" behalf.

Everyone on the table was now surprised, including Chengxin who was quickly getting uncomfortable. He didn't know if it was a good idea to present himself as someone who was dating when his aim was to get Pandora jealous.

'Wait I'm confused, I thought Chengxin liked Pandora.' Yaxuan commented.

'Ever heard of moving on Yaxuan?' Jiaqi face palmed.

'I don't know if anyone moves on that fast. At least not in the movies.' Yaxuan then continued to eat, after having been greeted by no answer. Everyone in the room was feeling quite awkward at this point.

Jiaqi kicked Chengxin's leg underneath the table. When Chengxin looked up to him, Jiaqi looked in Pandora's direction, prompting him to look as well. Even though Haoxiang was eating normally, Pandora was looking down at her plate and not having any nibbles. She looked uncomfortable and disturbed.

'It's working.' Jiaqi whispered.

Chengxin smiled to himself, feeling a bit more encouraged than the previous day.

...

Haoxiang and Pandora were sitting on the porch facing the front yard. They watched as butterflies landed on some flowers in the green grass, and the occasional birds which would pass by. They once again had a free day, so they were spending it right by relaxing and catching up with each other.

Pandora still wasn't very sure of her decision, but she knew for sure that she was enjoying her time with Haoxiang.

'Actually, I think I was the one who told you get a puppy instead of a kitten. You would have chosen a kitten.' Haoxiang recalled.

'Really? Well I don't remember it like that. All I remember was that that puppy caused trouble and my dad got rid of it.' She explained.

As she and Haoxiang continued to talk, she started to realize something she didn't want to admit. She looked up at him sadly.

'Haoxiang? Do we have anything else to talk about except the past?' She asked him a serious question. It was all they had been doing, and she felt like the past was bound to run out at some point.

'Of course, why would you ask something like that?' he held her close and put his hand on her back. 'It thought we're just talking about the past to remind each other of all the good memories.'

'Well then let's talk about something else.' She wanted to test how far this would go. 'What do you think about Apogee's music?'

'I've never listened to Apogee music before.' he admitted shamelessly.

Pandora looked at him with a disappointed look.

'What?' he shrugged. 'I'm pretty sure you don't listen to TNT music either. How was I gonna listen to Apogee when I knew I would hear the voice of the girl whom I knew I loved so much and would never get back?'

'Aww, Haoxiang.' Pandora cooed. 'You can be so sweet sometimes. I thought you were going to give a silly reason.'

'Sad that you would think that about me.'

After the two of them were done with their chat, they went back inside the house. Pandora was surprised to see Rio and Chengxin sitting in the living room, with Rio leaning on Chengxin's chest as they watched the TV. Haoxiang didn't care, he just went past the so-called couple and went into his room. Pandora stopped momentarily.

Chengxin felt very uncomfortable doing this in front of Pandora, but he loved how it was working. Things were surely going to work out for him one way or the other.

'Oh Pandora, you're here.' Rio said to her loudly. 'Can you hand me the remote? I don't wanna move from this comfortable position.'

Pandora looked down at the remote on the table in front of them. She grabbed the remote and handed it over to Rio, then walked out of the room quickly. She felt her heart on fire as she walked up the stairs. She didn't understand, if she really loved Haoxiang, why was she feeling so jealous every time she saw Chengxin with Rio?

'She's gone. You can move now.' Chengxin told Rio who was still leaning on him.

'No, this position really is comfortable.' Rio closed her eyes against his chest.

Chengxin rubbed his temples at her action.