Chapter 93: I Need to Think It Over Carefully

"No." Xie An shook his head. "Mo Qi is a public figure now. If we take her to the hospital in this state, tomorrow it will probably be another storm of public opinion."

"But we can't just stand here and watch her suffer. You didn't go in, so you don't know how bad she is right now." Lin Zheng looked at Xie An, then suddenly gritted his teeth. "Xie An, can you take care of Mo Qi for a lifetime, never leaving her no matter what?"

Xie An froze. Lin Zheng grew anxious and pressed on, "I know how you feel about Mo Qi. I'm asking you now: can you keep liking her like this forever, and take care of her for the rest of your life?"

Xie An met Lin Zheng's eyes and, as though making up his mind, nodded solemnly. "I like Mo Qi. I'm willing to take care of her for the rest of my life."

"I believe you." Lin Zheng stepped aside to make room at the private room door. "Go in. Mo Qi needs you now. You can help her."

"But—"

"Do you want to just stand there and watch Mo Qi suffer herself to death?" Lin Zheng said. "Or were all those words just nonsense, and you don't have the courage to bear responsibility at all?"

"No!" Xie An shook his head, then said with a trace of dejection, "I know Mo Qi doesn't feel that way about me. If I go in now, I may hurt her. And the friendship between us... it may never exist again."

"And if Mo Qi keeps enduring like this, what if something dangerous happens? What if it even costs her life?"

Xie An went still.

Lin Zheng sighed. "Mo Qi doesn't dislike you. Besides you, which other guy has she ever been this good to?"

Xie An was moved by those words. Lin Zheng said, "I just want Mo Qi to live better in the future. She's carrying everything on her own now, living so tiredly. If she doesn't cherish herself, I do."

Lin Zheng took a step forward, opened the door, and pushed Xie An inside.

"Lin Zheng!"

Xie An turned back in panic, but Lin Zheng blocked the doorway. "Xie An, if you ever dare to wrong Mo Qi, I'll be the first one not to let you off!"

Bang.

Lin Zheng shut the door.

The enclosed room made Mo Qi's ragged breathing even clearer.

Xie An slowly turned back and glanced at her present state, then immediately looked away.

Mo Qi rubbed her back against the sofa and let out a soft, pained sound.

Hearing it, Xie An's whole spine stiffened.

"Mmn." Mo Qi was already unconscious, her body moving only on instinct, searching for a way to relieve the desire tormenting her.

She kept pressing herself against the sofa, one hand blindly trying to tug off the shirt she was wearing.

Xie An's heart hammered like a drum. He swallowed reflexively, trying to calm his nerves.

"Mo... Mo Qi." Gritting his teeth, Xie An slowly looked back, his face flushed red.

Mo Qi was in a dazed, unresponsive state and could not hear him at all, much less answer.

Xie An clenched both fists as though steeling himself, then finally walked toward her step by step.

He truly liked Mo Qi and wanted to be good to her for the rest of his life.

If Mo Qi ever said she was willing to date him, willing to marry him, he might be so happy he'd die of it.

These days, besides busy rehearsals, whenever he rested, his thoughts were all of her.

At night, when he lay in bed, he had even shamefully imagined what it would feel like to hold Mo Qi.

To say he did not want to possess her would be a lie.

Xie An dared not let his gaze wander. He fixed it tightly on Mo Qi's face.

Mo Qi had the standard delicate V-shaped face, probably no larger than his own palm.

Her features were small and exquisitely refined, and beneath her naturally elegant brows were eyes that always shone with calm confidence and brilliance.

Her nose was dainty and straight, like a pendent gall bladder, complementing her rosy lips and petite chin, adding to her refined beauty a rare depth and sharpness.

But once she smiled, that sharpness and depth would be entirely hidden by the deep dimples in her cheeks, instantly making her sunny, approachable, and even a little childlike in her charm.

Only Mo Qi rarely laughed so freely. Most of the time, her light smiles were merely perfunctory masks to conceal her true feelings.

In his memory, the brightest smile he had ever seen on Mo Qi was probably when they first met during the talent search, when she played him a song and laughed at the look on his face.

Perhaps it was then that he had already been captivated by that radiant smile.

Xie An drew nearer and nearer. Mo Qi's breathing filled his ears, and he unconsciously held his own breath.

His heart still beat wildly, as if it might burst from his chest at any moment.

Xie An pressed a hand to the place over his heart, stopped three or four steps away from Mo Qi, and called tentatively again, "Mo Qi?"

Whether Mo Qi truly heard him or not, no one knew.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. In those familiar calm eyes of ink-dark clarity, a glimmer of restrained water shone, as if tears might fall at any second.

Her gaze was unfocused as she looked in Xie An's direction; no one could tell whether she had actually seen him.

"Mo Qi." Xie An took two more steps forward, now standing very close to her. In the dim light, he could not only see every slight expression on Mo Qi's face, but also the faint bite marks on her lips where she had bitten down to keep control.

Xie An froze.

The dim, enclosed room magnified every sensation in the body countless times over.

A feeling he had never experienced before suddenly surged up without warning, rising from his lower abdomen and seizing his heart in a tight grip.

It was like the aftershock of an electric shock.

"Mo Qi." Unconsciously, Xie An stepped closer again and crouched down by her leg.

He stared fixedly at Mo Qi's face and said in a low voice, "Mo Qi, I know I'm not good enough yet, and I don't have the ability to protect you. But I promise you, I will love you forever, and I will give you a happy marriage and a family. I... I really love you. Doesn't the saying go that if you love the right person, it's not corruption, but making yourself better for her? To be worthy of you, I'm working hard to make myself better too. Ah, I... I don't even know exactly what I'm trying to say."

Xie An rambled on without any logic, and only then did he carefully ask for Mo Qi's opinion. "Mo Qi, are you willing to entrust yourself to me? If you are, then nod, all right?"

Xie An knew Mo Qi's consciousness was now hazy, and asking her this way was in truth extremely despicable. But looking at her like this, his feet seemed rooted to the ground, unable to move even half a step.

He wanted to possess her. Once that terrible thought surfaced, it could not be forced back down.

"Xie An?" Mo Qi looked at him in a daze and suddenly called out.

Xie An was startled and instinctively stepped back two paces, stammering, "I-It's me. Mo Qi, I, I..."

He was anxious to explain, but the panic made him stutter, and his mind went blank. He could not think of a single word.

Yet Mo Qi seemed only to have murmured his name in a dream. After that, there was no further sound.

Xie An swallowed. "Mo Qi?"

Only ragged breathing answered him.

The heart in his chest loosened a little. Xie An leaned closer, gathering his courage, and reached out a hand toward Mo Qi.

Again, he swallowed. "Mo Qi?"

Only ragged breathing answered him.

The heart in his chest loosened a little. Xie An leaned closer, gathering his courage, and reached out a hand toward Mo Qi.