Chapter 1279: BRIGHT NEON RED

SU YUQI stared at Luo Jin. Because of his angry expression, she couldn't even appreciate how handsome he was in the suit he's wearing. She couldn't even think on what the other was doing here. And then she remembered Ning Feng's question that led to the conversation they had just now. A conversation that Luo Jin obviously heard.

She turned to glare at Ning Feng. He simply smiled and raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.

"You two need to talk this out. Might as well get it over with now," he said with a casual shrug before walking away, leaving them to deal with the situation alone.

Su Yuqi gritted her teeth before turning back to face Luo Jin. His jaw was clenched so tight she could see the muscle twitching in his cheek. His eyes had darkened with an intensity she had never seen in him before. The bitter anger radiating from him was almost overwhelming. She let out a frustrated sigh, unsure how to even begin.

But she knew they had to talk. They could not just stand there staring at each other forever. Since she did not know how to begin, she finally asked, "What are you doing here, Ah Jin?"

Luo Jin let out a humorless laugh. "Is that really what you want to talk about, Yuqi? Why I'm here?"

Yuqi frowned. She didn't like the sarcastic tone in Luo Jin's voice. She knew he was annoyed, and she understood why. But that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed herself. She'd been dealing with a lot of frustrating thoughts for the past several days. Ning Feng's comments had created doubts in her mind that she couldn't shake. Hearing Luo Jin speak to her like that was the final push. All the confusion and irritation she'd been holding inside suddenly came out, and she couldn't hold back her anger any longer.

"Fine! You want to get straight to the point? Then let's do it. What do you want to know?"

Luo Jin stared at her, his expression dark. She could practically hear his teeth grinding together. "Is it true you've been avoiding me because of what that bastard told you? That what I feel for you is just some stupid infatuation?"

She couldn't answer him right away. Her mind went blank for a moment. What was she supposed to say? Should she just admit that was the reason? But it wasn't that simple, and the situation felt more complicated than that. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She wanted to explain the confusion and doubt that had been eating at her for days, but she couldn't find the right way to say any of it.

Luo Jin watched Su Yuqi's silence stretch between them. Each passing second felt like a heavy weight settling on his chest. Her inability to answer his question directly felt like a sharp, twisting pain in his heart. A bitter taste filled his mouth, and he had to swallow hard against the sudden tightness in his throat. Her silence felt like a direct confirmation to his question. And it hurts. It hurts so damn bad.

"Is that really what you think about me? That I'm just some clueless child who can't understand his own emotions? Do you think I'm that shallow? That I can't tell the difference between a simple crush and something more? Are you saying my frontal lobe hasn't developed enough yet? Are you calling me stupid? What exactly is it?"

Luo Jin's voice grew louder with each question, his words sharp and filled with hurt.

Su Yuqi squeezed her eyes shut. The rapid-fire questions made her head ache. At the same time, a heavy guilt settled in her stomach. She could hear the pain in Luo Jin's voice, and she knew she was the one who had caused it.

She was the older one here. She needed to act with more maturity and responsibility. Instead of staying silent and letting Luo Jin draw his own conclusions, she owed him a proper explanation about the doubts and confusion that had been troubling her. She took a long, steadying breath, pushing all the noise from her mind. She focused completely on organizing her thoughts and finding the right words to make him understand.

"A few days ago, Ning Feng talked to me. He brought up the age gap between us. He said you are young and your feelings are strong now, but they might not be permanent. He told me that when you go to college and meet new people, your feelings might change. What seems important to you now might not be important later. He said I should be careful because I might get hurt when that happens."

Luo Jin felt his anger grow as he listened to her words. Hearing Ning Feng's opinions repeated back to him made his hands curl into fists. The idea that someone else was putting doubts about his feelings into Su Yuqi's mind filled him with frustration. He was furious that his sincerity was being dismissed as just a phase he would outgrow.

But the more painful part was the thought that Su Yuqi might have believed Ning Feng. That she had avoided him was the actual proof she did, in fact, believed the other.

"And you just believed him, just like that?" Luo Jin said. His voice was flat. It sounded more like a statement of fact than a real question.

Su Yuqi pinched the bridge of her nose, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. "Please," she said in a low voice. "Just let me finish, Ah Jin."

Luo Jin gnashed his teeth. He forced himself to take a deep, slow breath, then another, fighting to calm the storm inside him. After a moment, he gave a single, sharp nod.

Seeing his effort to calm down, Su Yuqi felt a small wave of relief. She met his gaze, her own expression softening as she prepared to speak.

"It's not that I believed him. I just understood the point he was making," she began. "It was like a sign glowing in bright neon red, so obvious it was impossible to miss."

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