Because I simply love you

Yukira waved his hand in front of his eyes. "Hey, where are you lost? You don't seem so excited."

Yukito said, "…Nothing."

Yukira quietly observed him and sighed. "Look, I know something has gone wrong between you and Jing. But please, I beg you. Don't even think about letting this chance go. If you miss it this time, then you will lose such a precious opportunity. Don't take out whatever happened in this competition and waste your chance. I don't want you to regret it later and wait another five years. Just think about it calmly, okay? This show is a dream of every model, so don't be rash."

Yukito nodded.

"Good. Now get out of the bed and eat something, or you will be kicked out for being too skinny."

Yukito threw a pillow at them. "Shut up!"

---

Yukito finally dragged himself out of the room after getting a nice hot shower. He thought about a lot what Yukira said and concluded that he was right.

Whether Jing and I are keeping a distance is irrelevant. I shouldn't let this show slip out of my hands.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize when Jing came and suddenly held him by his waist.

"Hey!"

Yukito was startled after being suddenly pulled back. He stared back at Jing and froze.

"What are you doing?"

Jing pulled the collar of his shirt and glared at him. "Are you an idiot? One more step, and you would have slipped down the stairs!"

Yukito widened his eyes and looked back. Indeed, he had reached the end of the corridor, and one misstep could have made him tumble down the stairs and hurt him badly. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize it.

Damn, if I had fallen and hurt my ankle or something, then I would have to say goodbye to the competition.

Yukito peeked at Jing. His heart shook to see the anger and worry in his eyes. He was really freaked out.

"If I hadn't caught you in time, then…" he gritted his teeth.

"I am sorry," Yukito apologized.

"Is this your way to take revenge on me now? To hurt yourself?"

"I am really sorry—my mistake. I wasn't watching where I was walking. And thank you for saving me."

Jing was annoyed more so because he was still panicked. His heart was refusing to calm down.

He pursed his lips and slowly released him. They stood awkwardly and silently like that.

Yukito said, "Thank you once again."

Jing sulked. His voice and tone sounded so formal, as if he was talking to a stranger.

He turned to leave, but Jing quickly said, "W-where are you going!? I am heading out myself…so…I mean I will drop you wherever you want to go."

Yukito hesitated a bit. He thought he would be upset by last night, but seeing him panicked just now melted his heart a little.

Weren't we supposed to keep our distance? What am I doing then?

He slowly nodded. "Just drop me at my agency…"

Jing felt elated. He was sure that Yukito would reject going with him.

"Yes, yes, let's go!"

As they walked away, somebody at a distance saw everything.

Jian rolled his eyes. "Are they even fighting?"

Nian said, "Wasn't it supposed to be a major fight? It surely doesn't look like it."

Jun sighed. "Seriously, both of them are impossible. They both were so serious and crying and now poof."

Nuo frowned. "But Uncle Yukito was crying. He wasn't too happy too."

"Lol. It's the same with Uncle Jing. But look at him so excited now just because Uncle Yukito agreed to go with him. Last night feels like it didn't even happen."

"What didn't happen?"

The boys froze hearing their mother's voice.

"Mama!" Nuo hopped and hugged Nana's leg.

"Aww, let me hold you, my princess," Nana kissed her. Then she looked at her sons. "What were you talking about last night?"

"Nothing."

Instantaneous answer.

Nana blinked her eyes. "What are you hiding from me?"

Jian smiled. "How can we hide anything from our beautiful mother?"

Nian nodded. "Lightning will strike us at this moment if we are lying."

A pause.

"See? No lighting."

Nana's mouth twitched.

"Jun."

Jun kept his poker face. "Mama, we are all good children. We don't lie."

"Nuo."

Nuo innocently looked at Nana. She seemed to conflict. "But I pwomised Uncle Yukito that I will not tell anybody."

The brothers internally facepalmed.

You don't say it that way, little sis!

"Ah…" Nana looked down at them and narrowed her eyes. They straightened up.

She put Nuo down and smiled. "Go to Dada. You know he wants to give you a gift!"

Nuo's eyes sparkled. "Gift by Dada?"

"Yes, yes. So quickly run to him."

"Yayyyy!" Nuo hopped away.

She looked back at her sons. "You three are coming with me to give me some answers."

Uh oh…sorry, Uncle Jing and Uncle Yukito. But this is it.

---

At the entrance of his agency, Jing parked the car. Once again, there was an awkward silence.

Yukito quickly said, "Thank you."

Jing wanted to stop him, but this time, he held himself. He knew something was going wrong in their relationship, so he wanted to figure out what it was.

But he was thankful that at least things were not as bad as not even being able to look at each other.

"En."

Yukito headed inside and met Yang Tian in his office. They had already discussed this over call, and he was really grateful to Yukira's co-star for doing the favor.

Yang Tian said, "Alright, Yukito. After our call, I tried to dig in and found out that the show will be held two weeks from now. They will officially announce the launch and start the registration next week. So, we have one whole extra week in our pocket to train."

Yukito nodded.

"Good. I have laid out your training plan. We will immediately start today. The more you are prepared, the more you will be flexible to face any challenge they might throw at you."

Yukito clenched his fists. "Yes. I will work my hardest and win this competition. Not for my career but my relationship."