Rong Jing thought that if one had to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won’t taste sweet[1] so he had planned to find an opportunity to break up with Qi Ying and let him free.
But before he could even think of a reason, the other person had proposed it first. Wasn’t that just perfect?
His silence due to his sluggish reaction was naturally misunderstood as sadness by Qi Ying.
He thought that Rong Jing was on the verge of breakdown even after saying that it was ‘okay’. No one knew better about what kind of terrifying power an Alpha’s outburst carried than an Omega.
Qi Ying straightened his back, and his tone became wary, “Rong—, Rong Jing, we’re cool right?”
Qi Ying looked at his own thin arms and legs. Rong Jing could flip him over with just one arm. One should never underestimate how strong an Alpha could be after experiencing a break up.
If Rong Jing cried bitterly and begged him to change his mind like he always did in the past, he wouldn’t have thought much about it. But now, he had an indifferent expression on his face, and he spoke less. How could he just answer him with only one word?
It was as if he was talking about something that has nothing to do with him.
It was already rare for such an Omega like him to stoop down to his level and accept him, so how could he act so indifferent to their break up? This was just too much!
He’s probably holding back. He must be really angry right now.
Qi Ying couldn’t tell if he wanted to see Rong Jing explode or if he wanted to just break up peacefully. The man’s reaction was beyond his expectations.
The atmosphere turned stiff. Rong Jing looked up at Qi Ying, trying to tell him with his sincere eyes that he had really agreed, “Yep, we’re cool.”
Qi Ying’s expression shifted from contempt to dissatisfaction to subtle anger.
Rong Jing assumed that the people in this world were way too different from where he came from. He recalled the man that he met in front of the bathrooms, how he got startled because of him, as if he was some kind of fierce beast that would attack at any moment.
Qi Ying observed him more carefully before he was sure that Rong Jing sincerely agreed to the break up, however the man looked like he actually just didn’t care.
Even though he was the one who proposed their break up, he somehow felt a fire burning in his heart.
He was the flower of the Film and Television Academy’s Film and Television Art Design Institute’s Film Character Design Department. Awfully long, right? He got assigned to this department when he took the entrance exam. Except for the most popular Acting department, this department had the lowest admission score.
Extremely smart of Qi Ying to play this clever trick. As long as he went out and said that he was from the Film and Television Academy, outsiders wouldn’t even care which specific department he belonged to. In short, he had the very same opportunities to contact directors and screenwriters like others who came from different departments.
No matter which department he came from, he was still a very rare Omega and was treated as a beauty. Rong Jing spent years chasing him so how could he agree that easily?
Isn’t this quite odd?
He looked at the man across him drinking cappuccino while playing with a cat, as if indirectly telling him the answer to his question: It’s not odd.
Qi Ying was a bit unsatisfied. He wanted to say more, at least he wanted to see more reaction out of Rong Jing.
He had a lot of ways to deal with Alphas. This was also a skill he found pride in and had cultivated for many years now.
Qi Ying, who was still sulking just then, soon turned into a sobbing mess, “I don’t want this to happen either, I swear. But look at you. You’re an Alpha, yet you don’t have the courage and charm that an Alpha should carry. Have you even accepted some of the good audition opportunities that were given to you before? How many times have you let me down?”
If the original owner of this body heard his words, he would have surely died of shame.
But Rong Jing’s thoughts had completely gone off on a tangent. What he saw in front of him was a man looking too soft and weak. He was at a loss on how to adapt to this situation.
He tried to tell himself that the way he viewed the world could still be fixed even if it was broken. Though it would be hard to accept six genders, he’d still be able to overcome this overtime.
In order to not embarrass the other person, he agreed courteously.
Seeing that it didn’t work, Qi Ying decided to strike again, “You’re so timid. Many Betas are living better than you!”
This sentence could be considered an insult to an Alpha. No Alpha would accept being compared to a Beta.
When Qi Ying said this, he looked under the table and glanced at Rong Jing’s socks which were filled with holes.
If the original soul ever heard this, he would have surely dug a hole in the ground by now. No matter how frugal he was, he wouldn’t want to lose face in front of Qi Ying.
But Rong Jing acted as if he heard nothing.
Qi Ying would never know that the person across him had a different dimension of thinking compared to him. He only knew that Rong Jing didn’t pick up on his cross-gender insult at all.
“You know what I’ve always wanted but you didn’t even try to audition. I don’t see a future for us…”
And just like that, what was originally Qi Ying’s problem gradually turned to Rong Jing being useless and disappointing, as if he had no choice but to leave.
Rong Jing listened quietly to him and didn’t retort. Qi Ying suddenly thought that maybe Rong Jing just loved him too much so he thought to act insipidly.
Qi Ying went from picking faults to pouring out his bitterness, and sincerely talked about the difficulties he was facing in his life. During that time, Rong Jing also thoughtfully made a cup of coffee for him. Now he felt like Rong Jing really was a catch. He was so docile and compliant, where could he ever find someone like him again?
Rong Jing may look like he was being very attentive but in fact he was already lost in his thoughts. After he got reprimanded, his mind started wandering off to the person he had caught a glimpse of on the TV.
After speaking for a long time, Qi Ying finally stopped talking. He still wanted to tell him more about his grievances, but his ‘benefactor’ had made an appointment for him this evening for an audition of a new film. He couldn’t lose such a good opportunity.
No matter how good Rong Jing was, he was nothing but a lap dog who was hardly worth feeding, though it would still be quite a pity to discard him[2].
He made no mistake by cutting ties with Rong Jing. It was only a matter of time before their relationship would end.
Qi Ying finally managed to bring his thoughts back on track when thinking about it like this.
Rong Jing looked at his phone and remembered what the waiter told him about the time the medicine would wear off. Seeing that it was almost the mentioned time, he got up and decided to settle the bill.
Qi Ying knew that Rong Jing had always been thrifty and that the man lived a hard life. His socks were torn, even his clothes looked like they hadn’t been changed in a while. He tried to pay the bill himself but was stopped by Rong Jing.
“I’ll pay.”
Since he was finally able to get rid of one problem left by the original soul, Rong Jing breathed a sigh of relief. Though he’ll lose money because of this, he thought that he should still uphold his dignity as a man.
Again with that concise yet powerful way of speaking of his. Qi Ying blushed slightly and stood in place, looking very obedient.
Why did Rong Jing suddenly look attractive? Was it an illusion?
The expression on Qi Ying’s face turned strange when he saw a few cats loitering near Rong Jing’s feet.
Rong Jing was his senior in university. There were stray cats in the school before but he never liked to be close to them.
He has been to this cafe a few times now so he knew that the cats here were a bunch of tsundere. Without giving them food, they won’t actively approach humans. The cats were hardly seen coming up to humans and following them closely.
Qi Ying said, “They seem to like you a lot?”
Rong Jing looked at the orange cat lying on his feet and casually said “Ah.”
He was very popular with animals in his previous life so he didn’t feel anything wrong about this.
Before leaving, Qi Ying looked at Rong Jing’s despondent appearance and found a rare moment of pity for him.
He had an audition opportunity in his hand that he had given up on because he thought that the role didn’t fit him.
He asked the waiter for a pen and wrote down the time and place for the audition, then he put it on Rong Jing’s hand. “Stop fooling around. If you go on like this, no Omega will be willing to be with you. An Alpha like you also needs to grow up.”
Back in his previous world, Rong Jing was an accomplished person. Even if he disagreed with others, he was willing to listen to their beliefs and advice, and rarely embarrassed people to their faces.
But still, his nerve reflexes were slower than that of ordinary people. He answered by saying, “I’ll consider your words.”
In Rong Jing’s memory, the original soul’s boyfriend was unruly and hard to deal with so he planned today to just go along with whatever he would say. As the saying goes, it was easier to invite the devil in than to send him away. Now all he wanted was to send the devil first.
He spoke in a very casual way, yet to other’s ears, it sounded very serious and sincere.
Qi Ying felt like he had punched some soft cotton and the rest of the words of dislike that he was about to say remained unspoken.
[1] If something was not meant to be, it’s no use trying to force it to happen
[2] QY is saying that MC has little to no value, yet he’s somehow reluctant to part with him