It wasn’t until they reached the entrance of their accommodation building that Ji Heng finally turned off the music.
Along the way, he had listened to four or five of Xia Wan’s songs.
“Every single one of them is really good,” Ji Heng praised sincerely.
He wasn’t skilled at giving professional critiques, but he genuinely thought they sounded great.
Moreover, while searching for her songs earlier, he had noticed that she was solely responsible for both the lyrics and composition.
No wonder her musical works enjoyed such high acclaim both domestically and internationally.
She possessed a natural, innate musical talent.
Hearing his compliment, Xia Wan broke into a smile, her eyes curving like delicate flowers trembling gently in the morning breeze—beautiful and captivating. “Thank you.”
It always made her happy when others liked and praised her songs. After all, each one was a product of her heart and soul.
Ji Heng was momentarily stunned by the radiance of her smile, but he quickly regained his composure.
Xia Wan, completely unaware, handed the earphones back to him. “I’ll head upstairs first to take a shower and change. Meet at the restaurant?”
“Sure.” That suited Ji Heng perfectly.
With all the sweat on him, he wouldn’t be able to eat breakfast without freshening up first.
“Then I’ll…” Xia Wan’s words trailed off abruptly as a male voice called out from ahead.
“Why are you two together?” The speaker was Su Yi, who had just come downstairs.
Noticing their outfits—one black, one white—he exclaimed in surprise, “What’s going on here? Are you wearing matching couple outfits?”
“Ji Heng, what have you been up to behind our backs? Yesterday you acted like strangers, and today you’re already in matching outfits.”
Su Yi’s teasing remarks brought a hint of girlish shyness to Xia Wan’s face.
She hurriedly explained, “No, it’s not like that. We just happened to run into each other.”
Su Yi clearly didn’t believe her. “Then how do you explain your clothes? Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence—I won’t buy that.”
“It really is just a coincidence.” If he hadn’t mentioned it, Xia Wan wouldn’t have even noticed that her and Ji Heng’s workout clothes looked like matching outfits.
“It’s all just coincidence. Believe it or not, who do you think you are?” With that, Ji Heng walked over and pressed the elevator button.
Seeing Ji Heng’s calm and assertive demeanor, Su Yi decided to believe him.
After all, these two colors of clothing were quite common. He had just been trying to tease them to see if Ji Heng was really hiding something from the rest of them.
Now it seemed they were innocent.
Given Ji Heng’s way of doing things, if he really had a girlfriend, he definitely wouldn’t keep it a secret.
He would make it public to give his girlfriend a sense of security.
In that regard, all five of them were the same.
After stepping into the elevator, Ji Heng noticed Xia Wan still standing in place. “Aren’t you coming in?”
His voice snapped Xia Wan out of her thoughts. “Coming.”
She hurried over to the elevator door just before it closed.
“I’ll go have breakfast first,” Su Yi said to Ji Heng inside the elevator just as the doors were about to shut.
“Sorry about that. My friend can be a bit tactless sometimes. Don’t take his words to heart.”
That was just how they interacted with each other—speaking their minds freely without too many formalities.
But Su Yi’s remarks might have put Xia Wan in an awkward position. As a girl, and with their relationship being completely innocent, it wasn’t fair to her.
“It’s fine. He was probably just joking,” Xia Wan replied, not taking his words too seriously.
After all, she had already explained the situation.
Xia Wan took a quick shower and changed into a black fitted short-sleeved top paired with a retro denim miniskirt.She casually picked up a perfume bottle and gave a light spritz before immediately heading out.
If she were eating breakfast alone, she definitely wouldn’t be in such a hurry.
But since she had made plans with Ji Heng to treat him to breakfast, she couldn’t keep him waiting—that would be impolite.
When Xia Wan arrived at the restaurant, she found Ji Heng already seated, dressed in casual attire that was both simple and elegant.
With his looks and physique, he would look good in anything.
“Sorry I’m late. Have you been waiting long?” Xia Wan felt a bit apologetic, even though this was the fastest she could manage.
“It’s fine. I just got here too.” When he arrived, he had even spotted Su Yi, who had just finished breakfast and was about to leave.
They mentioned going hiking together later.
“Take a look at what you’d like to eat—order anything.” Xia Wan slid the menu over to Ji Heng.
Ji Heng didn’t stand on ceremony and casually selected a few breakfast items.
Both of them ordered the same drink—coffee.
Xia Wan took a sip of the coffee, and her pupils widened slightly.
Her expression was clearly noticed by Ji Heng, who sat across from her. “Not good?”
“No, it’s not that.” Xia Wan shook her head. “This coffee tastes different from what I had yesterday.”
Ji Heng took a sip and vaguely understood. “Which one tastes better?”
Without hesitation, Xia Wan replied, “Today’s.”
This cup of coffee tasted exactly like the one made from a particular type of coffee bean she had at home.
Those beans were imported from abroad and quite expensive.
Logically, a resort catering to tourists shouldn’t be using such high-quality beans.
Ji Heng cleared up her confusion. “The coffee beans used for your cup are probably the ones I brought over last night.”
“The barista might have noticed you were with me and used the same beans for both our coffees.”
None of them were used to the taste of coffee made from lower-quality beans.
Every time they came here, the coffee they drank was different from what the tourists were served.
Xia Wan understood and joked, “So I’m benefiting from your influence, letting a tourist like me enjoy the same coffee as the resort’s owner.”
Ji Heng raised an eyebrow with a light smile. “I’ll let the barista know—whenever you come here, they’ll use today’s beans for you.”
With that, he called the barista over.
Coffee wasn’t all that expensive, and he wasn’t that stingy.
“Thank you.” Xia Wan didn’t refuse. Who would choose mediocre coffee when a better option was available?
But she didn’t plan to accept it for nothing. Once she returned home, she would send Ji Heng some coffee beans—she had plenty at home, including almost every high-quality variety.
The two ate their breakfast, occasionally exchanging a few words, and the atmosphere remained comfortable.
Just as they were about to get up and leave, three men approached them.
“Xia Wan, good morning.” Gu Chi quickened his pace to greet his idol as soon as he saw her.
“Good morning.” Xia Wan replied politely.
“Why are you two having breakfast together?” Xu Haonan and Chen Yubai reacted just as Su Yi had when he saw them earlier.
Incredulous and slightly surprised.
“What brings you here?” Ji Heng skipped their question and asked instead.
“We’re here for breakfast, of course.” Chen Yubai pulled out a nearby chair and sat down.
Xia Wan now felt a bit awkward staying. “I’ll leave you to chat. I’m heading out.”
Seeing her stand up, Gu Chi quickly spoke up, “We’re going hiking later. Why don’t you join us?”
Going out with his idol—if her fans found out, they’d be so envious of him.Xia Wan was somewhat tempted by his invitation. She really wanted to go hiking, but still declined, “I’d better not go. My physical stamina isn’t very good.”
She was afraid that if she went with them, she would hold them back. Her physical condition simply couldn’t compare with those men.
She didn’t want a repeat of this morning’s run, where Ji Heng had to turn back to get her.
That would spoil their fun, and she would feel embarrassed too.
Chen Yubai: “It’s fine if your stamina isn’t great. We can take breaks along the way.”
Xu Haonan: “Yeah, you playing alone here definitely won’t be as fun. We know best how to have a good time around here.”
Xia Wan thought for a moment, “I’d still rather not.”
“You…” Gu Chi was about to continue persuading his idol to join them when Ji Heng interrupted, “If she doesn’t want to go, you shouldn’t keep forcing her.”
Hearing this, Xia Wan felt relieved she hadn’t agreed earlier. Judging by Ji Heng’s tone, he probably didn’t want her to come. “Have fun, I’m going ahead.”
As soon as Xia Wan left, Gu Chi criticized Ji Heng, “Listen to what you just said.”
Xu Haonan: “Right, Xia Wan probably wanted to go, she was just afraid of ‘holding us back’.”
“She refused repeatedly. How do you know she wanted to go?” Ji Heng remained unconvinced. If she really wanted to go, why would she refuse?
What was there to “hold back” about hiking? He simply thought Xia Wan didn’t want to go.
Chen Yubai shook his head, “You’re hopeless.” It was so obvious, yet he couldn’t see it.
“After hearing what you said, even if Xia Wan wanted to go, she won’t now.” If he could beat him, Gu Chi would really want to fight Ji Heng.
The opportunity to go out with his idol had been ruined by him.
Seeing that all three of them shared the same view, Ji Heng asked, “She really wanted to go?” Could he have misjudged the situation?
Gu Chi: “Yes. Here’s your chance to make up for what you just said – go find Xia Wan now and invite her to go hiking with us.”
“Alright.” Ji Heng agreed readily.
If it was really because of what he said, he was willing to apologize and explain. He would take responsibility for his actions.