Holding On [Nine Percent/ Idol Producer]

Chapter Three

Wang Ziyi stands at the corner of his office, his gaze fixed at the back of his chair.

“The former Editor in Chief of Summit Publishing House was killed,” his mother had said, “are you sure you'd want to take over the position?”

“It will be fine, Mother,” he had said, “you don't have to worry about it.”

He walks over to his desk, dragging his hand against the edge of it as he rounds it and reaches the opposite side. Picking a pen, he writes his own name on the back of his business card. Just below it, he writes the name of the former EIC, Wang Michelle.

And below it, he writes Cai Xukun.

Repeatedly drawing circles over it.

The paper eventually gives out as the nip of the pen touches the polished desk, a painful sigh of confusion and distress escaping Ziyi.

--

“Are the reports ready?” Jiayi asks as she passes the two new employees assembling their sheets while both of them reply with a yes in unison.

“Hand it over to me after lunch,” Jiayi says as she comes back and stands in front of them, “now, both of you know Wu Shen, I suppose. We received his letter yesterday and he is willing to publish his work with us. I will be the one negotiating the terms, and the two of you need to assist me during that.”

Justin nods in affirmative.

“It's next week, on Tuesday. Keep the documents ready for that day,” Jiayi says before tapping her forefinger on the cubicle screen and leaving.

“You coming or nah?” Zhu Xingjie asks as soon as Jiayi leaves.

“I don't feel like calling you ge. Huba still suits you the best.”

“How is that even relevant?” They step out of their departmental site, greeting familiar people on their way.

“I don't know,” Justin says as he adjusts his ID Card, “but Huba really suits you.”

Xingjie rolls his eyes before patting the younger on his back and walking away towards the stairs, leaving him waiting for the elevator doors to open.

However, when they do open and he sees Nessa standing in, he mentally facepalms himself, regretting why he didn't just follow Xingjie to the stairs.

For a moment though, Justin looks at Nessa and sees her staring straight ahead, without any sudden burst of enthusiasm or random lunch plans.

Getting in, he stands two fig away from her, not wanting to take any risk, in case she changes her atmosphere.

Which doesn't happen as she simply gets down on the First floor without even acknowledging Justin's presence.

When the elevator doors open at the ground floor, he immediately spots Jiayi standing near the huge glassdoors of the company, as if waiting for someone.

That someone being Wang Ziyi as she straightaway walk towards the direction of parking lot as soon as Ziyi motions her to.

“Justin,” he actually looks back at her with genuine interest, and curiosity too, as Nessa asks as flatly as possible, “let's go out for lunch?"

For the first time in forever, Justin nods. “Sure. Let's have lunch together.”

While sitting across from each other, Justin gets the urge to shake Nessa by her arms, try to wake her up from her own unenthusiastic self.

“Do you like this?” he asks with a smile and as enthusiastically he could.

Nessa doesn't answer to his question, while she makes her own statement. “It's dangerous.”

His smile drops.

“What do you mean?”

“You're (y/n)’s brother, right?”

Justin takes a small breath in, “yes.”

“Why are you here even after everything?”

“I work here. What do you mean why I am he-"

“I saw Ziyi, okay?” Nessa lowers her voice further, “the way he was losing his mind over in his office, and then he mentioned something about your sister and then remembered she had a brother.”

She looks around subtly, to make sure none of the familiar people followed them, or to point out if someone seems out of place. “He knows you're her brother, and he definitely knows something is up.”

Justin says as flatly as possible, trying to fight the nervous bopping of his left leg, “he knows nothing because nothing is up. You're simply overanalysing things.”

“Really? So, why did you join Summit Publishing House, then? Even after that entire incident involving the Cais and your sister, you still somehow end up here?” Nessa frowns, “doesn't quite add up.”

“It's none of your business, I have my own reasons and I don't think I need to go around advertising my life goals to everyone.”

“But it's dangerous, and I don't want anyone to get hurt in the process.”

“In the process of what?”

“Survival.”

--

“What did you have to talk about?” Jiayi asks once Ziyi is in the car and on the driver's seat.

“It's a little confidential.”

“Everything we do is confidential,” Jiayi raises her hands up to tie her hair in a bun.

“Take those monstrous heels off too,” Ziyi says leaning towards the backseat to pick up a foot massage cream. She uses the pen on the dashboard to tie her hair as he hands her the cream.

Jiayi smiles to herself as she thinks about the first time he handed her a foot massage cream and the pen he still keeps on his dashboard.

“Yeah,” Jiayi opens her heels, “you were saying it's something confidential?”

Ziyi eyes her hands fiddling with the cap of the cream tube, sighing to himself before taking the tube and opening it himself, “is there someone named Justin in your department?”

“Um, hm,” she nods as Ziyi hands the tube back, “he's a newcomer, he's under me.”

“Can you bring me some information regarding him?”

Jiayi stops with the cream and looks at him. “Ask the HR department for that? It'll be much more convenient for them. Oh, but, you're in the Editorial Department and Justin is in mine. Okay then, I'll ask the HR-"

“No, not that information information.”

Jiayi raises her eyebrows.

“Like, what he's like, I mean, what type of person he is,” Ziyi beats his fingers against the steering wheel, “how he behaves, how his personality is, you know?”

Jiayi stares at him for some time before asking, “what's the matter?”

Ziyi stops beating his fingers against the steering wheel.

“I think he has something to do with the incident of the Cai family.”

“What do you mean?”

“You remember the incident, right?” he looks at her, his hands frozen against the steering wheel, “how Xukun's long-term girlfriend killed his entire family?”

Jiayi doesn't response.

“Justin is her brother,” Ziyi stops for a moment as he lets out a long held breath, “and I don't think he's here just to work.”