Author's Notes: I will admit that I am not the biggest fan of either Erxi or Cao Guang but I will admit that seeing the writing disappear off her hand during the intern interview was what gave me the idea of having ink on the skin being my soulmate thing. I have a couple other ideas for this universe that I will probably write. I don't know when but they will eventually be written. As always I own nothing.
Cau Guang glanced at the messy handwriting that erupted on his palm annoyingly. This was not the first time or likely the last time that his so-called soulmate dirtied his hands with random notes or plain old ink blotches. While other people call it a blessing he thought of it as a curse. He didn't need the universe to pick out the perfect spouse for him. Not by a long shot. Which is why he always made it a point to keep his hands as clean as possible. He had seen how his parents acted around each other and he wanted none of that. Choosing to go back to his book before his appointment with Bei Weiwei that evening so she could 'clear her name'. Like she could, he knew her type from a mile away. A beautiful vapid man-eater who tried to play innocent. He felt justified posting her picture online getting out of that sports car. The campus needed to be put on guard from women like her.
Glancing at his phone he sighed and put his book down. It was time to get this charade over with. Grabbing the photo she gave him, Cao Guang left the comfort of his couch and made his way to the listed address. She was late and he was ready to walk away when he spotted her getting off the bus. He was about to give her grief when she gestured for him to follow her into the complex. At this point he was curious how far she would take her lie as he got off the elevator and watched her confusingly as she started to knock in a pattern. When he started to complain the apartment door opened to reveal the very same boy in a wheelchair that was in the photo that Bei Weiwei had given him for evidence. The kid greeted her like he knew all along it was her behind the door. He paid half attention when Bei Weiwei asked the kid err Xiao Yang where his mother was.
The moment that Bei Weiwei stepped out of the room to get the kid something to drink, Cao Guang turned his interrogation on the kid. The kid was too smart for his own good. First thing he did after correcting that he was not a kid was to call out Cao Guang's interest in his tutor and to scoff at Cao Guang's intellect for not knowing morse code. The kid's mocking of Cao Guang did not stop, it just got more subtle when Bei Weiwei was in the room. Cao Guang distinctly heard the kid asking Bei Weiwei if Cao Guang was her boyfriend which the beauty quickly denied. Cao Guang watched entranced as she looked over the math workbooks and assigned the kid his next lessons promising that they could game if he did all his school work to her satisfactory level.
Choosing to ignore the kid's attempt to tell Bei Weiwei that she should start dating Xiao Nai; Cao Guang and Bei Weiwei left the apartment complex. When Bei Weiwei suggested to wait around for the kid's mom so he could see the kid's mother's car Cao Guan informed her there was no need and in a token of good faith he pulled up his forum post and showed her that he deleted the post. He did try to reprimand Bei Weiwei for trying to get the kid to neglect his school work and waste time with video games. She explained that for people like Xiao Yang and even people like herself gaming was an outlet to explore the world without prejudice that people would have in the real world.
Her words on gaming made him recall the writing on his palm earlier. She had to be his soulmate and he had been brushing her off all of their lives. From that point on he was going to make it his top priority for Bei Weiwei to fall in love with him. For starters he was going to start spending time with her on campus. When she brushed him off telling him she wasn't interested. He took it as a mild setback. His luck seemed to have improved when he noticed one day that she was hanging out with the pain in his Film Appreciation class, Zhao Erxi. The loud mouth would be easy to bribe with simple flattery. Well simple flattery would not be enough. He added food to the flattery after the loud mouth fell from the broken chair. He figured if he was continually nice to that woman it would flatter Bei Weiwei. It hadn't been working so far; the only thing he learned was where Bei Weiwei's dorm was and that was because he started to deliver breakfast to the loudmouth.
The next time he crossed paths with Bei Weiwei was in the cafeteria and while she told him that she wasn't interested in someone like him her taste was for someone like Xiao Nai who was smart and athletic. She said nothing about the senior's looks but he just knew that had to be the main reason. He just could not sit for that. The next time he spotted Xiao Nai on the courts he was going to challenge the senior and show Bei Weiwei just who is the better man.
It was just his luck that later in the day he spotted Xiao Nai and the rest of the Computer Science basketball team at the basketball court. Xiao Nai took the challenge and promptly wiped the floor with Cao Guang. After a sound trouncing Xiao Nai was about to leave the court when he heard that Cao Guang was after Bei Weiwei. The second round of one on one was much more brutal than the first. If Cao Guang didn't know any better he would think that the senior was warning him away from his territory.
Cao Guang needed to bump up his plan and needed to take matters into his own hands when he bribed one of his classmates to find out what game Bei Weiwei was playing and her account name. She was playing A Chinese Ghost Story and her name was Huantian Xidi. It took a little while to pick a server but ultimately he chose the one that sounded the most femine and started to play there. It took a little while to find her but in the end she found him by rescuing him from a large creature. He quickly got her to take him on as an apprentice and spent any online time together praising her fierceness in battle.
After weeks of playing with Huantian Xidi Cao Guang decided to pull out all the stops and with a little help from his wallet he made the most romantic proposal to her. With fireworks and fireflies, he really pulled out all the stops. After the extravagant wedding Cao Guang was ready to confess to Bei Weiwei and ask her to be his girlfriend but first he had to find just the right gift.
He spent all week finding just the right gift and once he had bought it his plan was set. He was going to reveal his identity online then ask her to dinner. Plans didn't go as planned when one of his friends told him the news that Bei Weiwei is now dating Xiao Nai. How could she do this to him? Wasn't she his soulmate? He needed a drink and he knew right where to get one. As he guzzled bottle after bottle of Rio he told his buddy about how they were married in-game and how he was so sure that they had to be soulmates. He saw the text on his hand talking about gaming after all.
The day after he woke up with a massive migraine and the urge to punish Bei Weiwei. It didn't take long for Huantian Xidi to log in and he put his plan into motion. When she played oblivious to his backhanded hints he decided to bide his time so he could really hurt her.
Cao Guang went through the rest of classes for the semester in a foul mood. It didn't help that the little loud mouth Zhao Erxi kept getting him into trouble with the Film Appreciation professor. The last straw had to be when he and the loudmouth were told that they were the ones who would be making the senior class documentary. Cao Guang tried to keep his temper with the energetic woman but she was so loud and complained about the littlest thing. By the time she pulled Bei Weiwei and Xiao Nai into an interview his fuse was already at the limit and he stormed off with the camera. Sadly, also with his mandatory assistant.
When Zhao Erxi would not stop complaining about being hungry he reluctantly took her to an outdoor cafe and stressed that she was on her own tab. While waiting for the food Cao Guang was going through the footage on film making sure that Bei Weiwei's interview was erased. The cheater didn't need any extra attention but while he was in the process of erasing that damnable loudmouth tried to grab the camera causing it to fall in his order of egg drop soup. The idiot then decided to turn it on, frying the camera and for the time being footing him with the bill.
Annoyed and finding someone who was close enough to Bei Weiwei for retaliation, he demanded that Zhao Erxi work off her debt with him. He was willing for her to visit family and return for her internship that she would not stop talking about. He would give her the worst chores that are needed to be done for his beloved cat, Coffee. Was it mean? Yes, but boy did it feel good making someone as miserable as he was. All the better when he learned that she was afraid of cats.
Things with making Zhao Erxi were going well and occasionally he saw the harlot, Huantian Xidi online doing something he knew not what. Everything came to a bit of an inconvenience when the loud woman got scratched by his cat. Zhao Erxi did not want to get a shot and frankly was acting like a child. Cao Guang took matters into his own hands when he stole Zhao Erxi's phone and called Bei Weiwei informing her what happened. He was both excited and annoyed when he saw her again for the first time since summer let out. She was just as pretty as he remembered, if a bit pale. She hardly spared him a glance as she acted all noble to her friend. But Cao Guang was aware of her Good Samaritan act and blew up when Bei Weiwei offered to pay for Zhao Erxi's debt. Who did she think she was playing? She may have ensnared Xiao Nai in her act but she was his not that he actually wanted her anymore. When Xiao Nai entered the hospital Cao Guang had had enough. If he didn't leave then he would probably be kicked out by making too much noise.
When he returned home decided to vent his anger on packing when he got back from his trip to Germany he would get his revenge. The next day as he was plotting his doorbell interrupted his plots and he was shocked to see a Three Squirrels nuts delivery person at his door. He was about to deny the shipment when out of nowhere Zhao Erxi came bounding in to sign for the package. She stated it was for her to munch on while she took care of coffee. Her reasoning caused Cao Guang to be amused until she dropped an envelope of cash on him. She was paying off her debt with Bei Weiwei's money. Causing him to chastise her. She told him it wasn't his business on who she decides to owe money to but she informed that she would still be taking care of the cat while he was away like she promised.
That promise caused his heart to soften some and the little video messages that she kept on sending reserved a small spot in his heart for the excitable woman. Each time he heard his new notification alert hit he couldn't wait to check what absurdity she was doing this time. He could not help but tease her about it and for the moment he admitted to himself that she was rather pretty and had a good heart. He didn't know what he was going to do about it so he pushed it aside until he saw her next.
Returning home refreshed him and he was determined to humiliate Bei Weiwei and put her in her place so that way he could get Zhao Erxi out of her spell and closer to him. Logging onto the game he didn't have to wait long until Huantian Xidi contacted him. While he was a little surprised by her making him a sword he was also disgusted by her innocent act. Attacking a few times with the sword she so lovingly crafted before running her through and telling her he was all too aware of the games that Bei Weiwei had been playing. Satisfied he went to bed and woke up the next day in a pleasant mood.
Zhao Erxi was already in his apartment taking care of Coffee when he woke up. Greeting her he told her he brought her a present and handed her a box of chocolates. Which caused Zhao Erxi to yell at him and storm off. He had no idea what was going on but he wasn't going to let it ruin his good mood. Going to the kid's apartment and checking on how much he worked on during his vacation was next on his to do list.
Getting confronted by Bei Weiwei in front of the building made his hackles raise as she played dumb to her little scheme. Then when she had the nerve to pull out her phone and play a video of a drunken him complaining that she had married him ingame and was his soulmate he denied any wrongdoing about the video and then called her out on her cheating nature. When he called her Huantian Xidi she paused before asking if he did something to Huantian Xidi last night. He snapped at her trying to get her to drop her clueless act when she rebutted that that wasn't her account and she is sure enough not in-game married to him.
Turning the table on him stating if he believed Huantian Xidi was her all along why did he wait so long before doing something? To add the extra bit of hurt she added she had no idea why he thought that she was his soulmate and for him to stay away from her and her friends from now on. She had never liked him.
In retaliation he pulled a permanent marker from his pocket and wrote a large 'Liar' in bold black letters across his palm. He watched in shock as she opened her hands showing that they were both clean before walking off.
That evening he got a call from Xiao Nai to meet him at the basketball court on campus. Cao Guang, still upset from his run-in from the man's girlfriend, went down in hopes to humiliate the man. But just like last time Xiao Nai trounced him but this time telling him that he better make things right the friendship of two people has been strained by his jumping to conclusions.
Cao Guang didn't need the pep talk and yelled out "Don't tell me you would not act the same way if you were in my position!"
Xiao Nai just looked at the pathetic language student and told him he trusted Weiwei. Cao Guang scoffed and asked how could he put so much trust in her? The older man just gave him a pitying smile and told him. "She's my soulmate and my in-game wife, why would I not trust her?" Seeing that his comment hit his mark Xiao Nai left the language major to his own thoughts. He had a distraught soulmate at his house to take care of after all.
He had always thought himself an intelligent and an unbiased man but in the last twelve hours he was beginning to doubt himself. He was so sure he got the correct account from his classmate. If the account did not belong to Bei Weiwei who did it… It couldn't be her, could it? Oh please don't let it be her. It was late he would go see her tomorrow at that interning job that she had been talking about non-stop about. Cao Guang could not sleep that night every single time he shut his eyes he could not stop imagining seeing Zhao Erxi dressed as Huantian Xidi looking at him with the expressions of shock and betrayal erupting across her face. He tossed and turned until the sun finally rose. He barely had the presence of mind to change his shirt and somewhat make his hair presentable before rushing out the door.
It didn't take long for him to spot Zhao Erxi getting off the bus. Not willing to wait another moment he rushed towards her calling her name to get her attention. When she tried to quickly walk away Cao Guang quickly caught up to her and grabbed her arm to stop her. It was obvious that Zhao Erxi did not want to talk to him as she tried to free her hand from his grip. He was able to spot something dark on her palm. Taking her hand he gentilly pried her figures open to see what was on her palm. There in it's smeared glory was his handwriting with the word 'Liar'. Cao Guang dropped Erxi's hand in shock. She was his soulmate and he had been treating her like crap all this time. He couldn't let her know just yet he had to get her to change her opinion of him. He just had to. But the moment he opened his mouth and mentioned Bei Weiwei she freaked out and ran off.
Cao Guang had screwed up and he knew it. He didn't know had to fix it. Choosing to retreat for the time being. He would give her space. He would wait until she cooled down some until attempting to get in her good graces too soon would make her stay upset longer. Weeks went by until he sent his first text then another day and attempted to make amends again. It took three days until she finally called him and asked if he ever considered apologizing to her friend. When he replied in the negative stating that Bei Weiwei wouldn't want to hear from him. Erxi just sighed before telling him her point of view how Bei Weiwei was the one who was accused of being something that she is not by multiple people and she bore the slander without complaint. It wasn't fair to Weiwei. Cao Guang had to admit that Erxi was right but could not admit it. Hearing her sigh once again and tell him that she had feelings for his character in-game but not him he could feel the tightness in his heart. But when she told him that she did not want him in her life caused his heart to plummet.
He would honor her wishes and bow out of her life and keep the secret of him being her soulmate in silence. Zhao Erxi deserved better than what he could give her and maybe just maybe one day he would become the man that she deserves.