EVERGLOW

VII. When lightning strikes

The flash of light blinded her for a few seconds before she blinked and looked down at the lobster in front of her.

She glanced up at Dylan and marveled at the way he was shoveling spoonfuls of his rib-eye steak into his mouth as if none of the dozens of cameras pointed their way existed.

A week had passed since that meeting. She had gone home, attended to her grandmother and broken the news to her family. Dylan had stayed with her the whole time, redundantly winning them over. They had welcomed the news without doubt, merely chiding her for trying to hide the relationship in the first place.

Dylan's own family took the news with even more aplomb, asking only for the date and location when he facetimed them. They had met Yue before when F6 visited Sichuan. That was when Yue discovered how Dylan developed his penchant for teasing. They both had to suffer twice as much ribbing from his family and their friends.

Having no objections on that quarter, they both flew back to Beijing the day before. That was when they received the instructions to fly to Sanya for their first public appearance as a couple. When they arrived at the airport, they were whisked off to the hotel separately by their own teams and she'd spent the next few hours being dolled up. It was like getting ready for a photoshoot.

As Jin jie warned, a number of reporters had been tipped of their vacation, and now she had to endure dinner under camera lenses.

She picked at her food. She should have expected this. She should have thought of this when she agreed to the whole charade. But her red knee-length dress that bared her shoulders was too glaring, even in the posh beachside restaurant. Even though Dylan had warned her that tonight was going to be for publicity, she wasn't quite prepared to be on show like this.

She watched him nonchalantly finish his dinner. Unlike her, he was doing a great job at it. Except for the frown on his face that wiped out his easygoing smile when she placed her left hand in his back at the hotel lobby. He had looked at the jewelry on her ring finger darkly and hardly spoke a word during the whole walk to the restaurant.

His thick dark hair was brushed back to show his handsome face. She had expected him to be wearing makeup. After all, wasn't he also playing the part of a besotted fiance? But tonight, he proved it unnecessary.

His black silk shirt gleamed under his black dinner jacket and even though the whole outfit was understated, it merely underscored his striking features. She tugged her neckline higher. The dress showed more skin than what she normally did and she wondered if her being engaged meant they were changing her image too. Why didn't they give her a black dress as well? Then maybe she could just blend well into the night.

"You look as excited as an inmate on your last meal, Yue." He took a sip of his wine and looked at her over the rim of the glass.

She threw him a death glare. She put down her fork as calmly as she could, careful not to let her shaking hand make a clatter.

"I can say the same for you. Don't they bother you?"

"That they're making you uncomfortable, yes, it bothers me."

She threw another glance around the three nearest tables, full of paparazzi who weren't even bothering to be discreet.

The blink of the enormous round-cut diamond set in an elaborate rose-gold band encrusted with loads of tiny stones on her ring finger caught her eye. Her stylist had handed it to her while getting her ready. So she had to put on her engagement ring on herself.

The whole thing was too gaudy for her liking. It just wasn't her. Would it be odd if she didn't wear it every day? Even their seating arrangement put it on perfect display, blatantly facing the cameras as if begging to be photographed.