Autumn Frost

Chapter 8

Qiu Shuang's pov

"Qiu Shuang? Baby.. are you crying?" mum's concerned voice rang through the phone.

Mum knows best. That theory is proven correct.

I'm having those times where we suddenly get depressed and we try to cry ourselves out of it. And no. It's not pms.

Since Vivian had her own life to take care of, I shouldn't bother her with my problems.

So instead I did what any injured child would do. I went to my mum.

"Yeah...I just felt kinda homesick." I forced myself sound cheery, though if she were here it would be a whole different story.

Messy hair. Crumpled pajamas. Tear stained cheek and red swollen eyes.

Definitely not what mum would want to see.

"Oh honey...we miss you too, me and your dad...."

I blew my nose hardly on the tissue paper as I threw it on the bed.

There's shit tons of tissue paper. And god knows how many millions of germs are there on the mattress.

I have to ask Lilian to help change a new bed sheet tomorrow.

"How's dad doing? Busy with more work?"

"Yeah...he really miss you though he doesn't show it. Sometimes he would stare at the picture where three of us took at Japan, remember the one with sakuras? Yeah, he'll stare at it for a long time before sighing and getting back to work."

"I know he loves me, mum. And I love you both too."

"Awww love you too baby girl. Look I gotta go but if you have anything else to say call me later, alright? Because Ohana means family and... " I could almost imagine her wink when she said this

"Family means no one gets left behind." I finished her sentence with a smile.

"Right. Remember that. Bye sweetie!"

"Bye mum." I hung up the phone.

Talking with mum made me lift my mood up a little higher. But still, I hadn't get this frustrations out from my chest. I had to pour it out to someone.

Who can I talk to?
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The guy before me looked guilty. He kept blaming himself for this whole incident and didn't stop apologizing once I've finished the story.

"Stop it. I came here to tell you my problems, not to hear you apologizing." I cut Jeremy off, feeling slightly annoyed.

Jeremy closed his mouth while giving me a hard stare.

We both looked down at our drinks, not knowing what to say.

Then he spoke up. "I can help you clarify though. I actually have a cousin and she can pretend to be my girlfriend, would you like to, you know, bring him over for coffee some day and we can solve this shit?"

I wanted to say that that was a pretty good idea. But my arms were grabbed by a hand and I turned to see a furious Grayson.

"Stay away from her. " he growled at Jeremy.

Pin drop silence filled the cafe. Everyone's attention was fixed on our little trio, eager to see how the scene unfold.

Jeremy coughed and regained his composure. "Dude. Man you have to calm down."

Grayson wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, before burying his nose into my hair and deeply inhaled and exhaled.

Seeing that Grayson had visibly calmed down, Jeremy did what he mentioned seconds ago.

"I have a girlfriend you know. I'm not interested in your girl, man. I mean she's hot and stuff," Grayson glared at him when he said this but nevertheless he continued. "But she's not my type, alright?"

"Right. Still, stay away from her. "
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Grayson's pov
I'm currently grumbling while driving in the driver's seat. Qiu Shuang had somehow put the pieces together, and knew that I had actually stalked her to the cafe and saw them talking.

And I couldn't stand them smiling at each other so I miraculously appeared in the cafe and pulled them apart.

And now Qiu Shuang refused to talk to me as she looked out the window.

"So.. He has a girlfriend huh."

"What did you think you were doing?! Huh?! Barging in the cafe like that and causing a scene?! We could've talked about it at home but you were too stubborn to allow me to make friends!"

Qiu Shuang said everything in a go and by the time she's finished, her chest rose quickly as she took in deep breaths.

Her angry self is much more intimidating. My eyes trailed down from her furious eyes, to her pink lips, to her pale neck to her chest...

No no. Focus.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled guiltily.

"What for?" she glared at me.

"For jumping into conclusions and forbidding you to make friends. "

"And?"

"And being stubborn, and not trusting you. "

She snorted and turned her attention back to the outside view, but I could tell her anger subsided.

After another minute of driving, she gave in and sighed. "Look...Grayson..."

"Call me Gray."

"What?"

"Call me Gray."

She threw me a look I don't quite understand. What was that for?

"You let anyone call you Gray so what's the difference if I call you Grayson..." she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" I did heard every word she said but I wanted to make sure if...

If she was jealous.

"Nothing. Right. Gray, Jeremy was lying to you just now. "

"Wha-"

"But please. I'm big enough to take care of myself. " she gave me an assuring smile. "If I'm afraid or insecure you'd be there for me, won't you? "

She won the argument.