Hello my dear readers!
First of all, I think an apology is in order. I totally went off-grid for the last couple of months. I had the longest case of writer's block I've even had in my life and sadly I can't say that it's gone. This chapter was literally painful for me to write. I hope that doesn't come out on the chapter itself, but no promises here – I'm not the best person to judge it right now.
Second, as I said before, I have no clue when I'm gonna find the will to fight my resistance to writing more chapters, so this time, I won't give myself any deadlines. Which I can tell, by how badly it went last time, it's not a working method for me. I do hope that you stick around for more, though. ^^
Third, I wasn't planning on ending the chapter the way I did. I was planning for it to be longer, but you've waited long enough. So bare with my cliffhangers. xD
Fourth, Thank you so so much for all your support and kind words. Honestly, that's what this chapter was truly made of. Without your reviews and comments, this would probably still have like five paragraphs. ( I'm not even kidding) You're the best!
Enjoy, xoxo
Who she is
"Listen, Adrien," said Thomas Astruc with a glint of amusement dancing on his eyes, "I know I said you had no creative binds to make the wardrobe, but… Taking Ladybug's iconic suit and turning it pink, it's a bit much, don't you think?"
"That is not pink!" Adrien feigned offence, "That colour is called French rose."
"It sure as hell looks a lot like pink to me." Laughed Astruc, "Doesn't really matter what it's called. You will have to redo-it." He finished on a more serious note, "Ladybug's suit has to be red. You can add in some more black to make it less childish, but we have to keep the red."
Adrien sighed, defeated. He had known he was probably not going to get away with it right from the moment that he had started working on the suit, "Alright, but can I use a reflective fabric with pink highlights?"
"Why do you want it to be pink, Adrien?" Astruc asked, with the amusement back in his eyes. Adrien blushed faintly but held Thomas' gaze. When he didn't respond to the question, Thomas chuckled and added, "You have to redo the figurine, but I was thinking..." a glint of mischief crossed his expression, "Maybe it would be funny to make Zhi believe that that will be the actual figurine." He said pointing at the 'French rose' fabric laying on his desk. Adrien's head popped up quickly followed by the left side corner of his mouth, "I mean, why waste such a beautiful coloured-bent specimen of Ladybug's suit when you can pull such a funny prank with it?"
Adrien's smile grew, "That would be brilliant!"
[22h49 yesterday]
Chat_Noir999: Tomorrow's the day! Are you ready to meet gorgeous me, M'Lady!? ^^
[22h53 yesterday]
Buggzhinette: As ready as I could be!
[22h53 yesterday]
Buggzhinette: I think.
[22h54 yesterday]
Chat_Noir999: You think? Are you having second thoughts?
[22h55 yesterday]
Buggzhinette: No.
[22h55 yesterday]
Buggzhinette: ...But I can't help but feel a bit frightened.
[22h57 yesterday]
Chat_Noir999: Frightened? Why? I mean, I'm really nervous too, but I'm not frightened... I'm finally meeting the love of my life!
[23h00 yesterday]
Buggzhinette: Well, you see, that kind of comments right now don't really help me.
[23h01 yesterday]
Chat_Noir999: Why not? It's the truth.
[23h06 yesterday]
Buggzhinette: Because what if it isn't? What if when you see me, you get a bad surprise? What if you don't like me when we meet? What if you can't see the girl you've been talking to in me? It's pretty frightening.
[23h09 yesterday]
Chat_Noir999: M'Lady, you scared me for a second there. Don't be frightened, please. I won't get a bad surprise when I see you. I won't only like you, I will adore you, love you with all of me. And when I look at you tomorrow, I will see you for exactly who you are: perfect.
It was the third time that Zhi was reading the text thread that she and Chat had traded the night before. She had just arrived home after the last morning of shooting for 'Where the flowers grow' and she should eat something before she left the house to meet with Chat, but she wasn't hungry. Her stomach was revolving with nerves, it was hard to breathe. She had been ready for half an hour. She hadn't taken off the make-up that the make-up-artists had done on her, she looked good and they sure did a better job than she ever would. She had on a simple pastel yellow dress with quarter sleeves, that slightly covered her knees and twirled around when she moved. Even after spending time getting ready, she still had more than one hour to get to the coffee shop they had scheduled the meeting in which was pretty close to her house, but after trying to read a book, watch some tv, and even just jump and walk around her house, she could not stay put one minute more. So, she grabbed her long grey jacket, not that she thought she would need it because the day was warm, her purse and her sunglasses and walked out the door.
She walked the longest route to the charming Caffe, taking a detour or two along the way, but she still got there way earlier than the time they'd scheduled. The coffee shop was in a corner of a building, so it had two windowed fronts. There were tables outside, but they were full of groups of more than three. Even so, she scanned the tables for the X tag (Chat's way of letting her know he was him), but there was none on sight, so she walked through the wooden golden painted doors and entered. Chat wasn't outside.
Inside there was a dark brown counter, with two busy waiters preparing orders, the floor had this cute dotted black and white pattern, there were some mirrors on the walls, most of them painted Nouveau Style and the tables and chairs were ornamented with flowery motifs. She loved the ambience of it. Since she moved to her house she was used to coming here.
Zhi knew she should eat something, she had barely eaten anything all morning, she had barely slept too, but who can sleep and eat right before something like this!? She was really glad that Alice hadn't been up yet this morning when she left the house. Zhi hadn't shared that she was meeting with her pen-pal with anyone. She totally would have, if Alice didn't act so weird lately whenever she brought up the matter. Thinking of it, Alice had been behaving very strangely lately, either when she talked about Chat Noir or when they had Lucy and Simon over. Honestly, Zhi felt a bit guilty, for not saying anything to her best friend about this date, but now there was nothing to be done and maybe it was for the best. She would tell her everything once she got home.
Now she only had to wait. And what a waiting nightmare this whole night and day had been!
With her heart pounding, Zhi looked around for men sitting alone that had a X tag on their table. There were two men sitting alone, one old and another around the same age as she, but no tags on either table.
With a sigh, she sat, facing the door, at a table for two and softly laid down her Catphone with the paw up, in a visible spot on the table, because that was the sign Chat would be looking for when he got there. Not that she thought he'd need it too much. Like she'd been telling him since they first started talking, she was Zhi Ruo Lèi.
Soon, one of the waiters, a good looking young man, came to ask her what she wanted to have. She didn't look directly at him, she didn't want people to recognize her if possible, but since it was early, she decided to order a bottle of water while she waited. The waiter came with the water right away, he poured it in a glass, and – it could have been because she was barely breathing, or because of how distracted she was, or how nervous – she made a move to drink some water and somehow she managed to throw the napkin holder and the glass of water off of the table. The napkins floated for a moment finally landing on the floor and soaking up the water and the broken glass. Not before all the water was spilt on top of the poor waiter and the floor.
Zhi's face went instantly red. She apologised many times, and the waiter made sure to let her know that it was okay, but that didn't make her feel less mortified. WHAT IF SHE DID THAT TO CHAT!? What the hell was wrong with her! How can one do so much damage in a fraction of a second?
The waiter went away, probably to change, and the other one, a girl this time, cleaned up the glass, napkins and the water off the floor and brought a new bottle and glass.
After apologising for the last time, Zhi looked at the time, Thirty-four minutes, fifteen more seconds to go. She had time to recompose herself. To feign calm, at least. Oh, how she wished she knew how she'd react when he came. She imagined their conversation… How would it be? Would it be as wonderful as she hoped for? Would she stay quiet all the time? Would she talk non stop? Talk so much that he didn't even get a chance to answer her? WOULD SHE GO INTO A FULL ALICE MODE?
Her thoughts were drowning quickly and she knew she had to distract herself and fast before she chickened out and ran away from there. So she picked up her book and she tried to read. It relaxed her a bit, but she was reading it without fully reading it, her eyes focused on the same sentence over and over again. She kept looking at the door whenever it opened, at some point she started to check her Catphone too.
Twenty minutes to go!
Should she text him? Letting him know how excited she was? That she was already there!?
No. She sighed. He hadn't texted her either, so she should wait like a normal person.
Fifteen minutes to go!
Ten minutes to go!
At this point, her heart was beating so loud that she was sure that the people sitting at the table next to her could hear it. She made an even bigger effort to try to focus on the book and not check the time anymore. This was it! He was going to come to her table and touch her shoulder, or her hand, and say Hi and a witty pun with a dazzling smile! The minute she thought it, she felt a warm tingling in those exact spots, her shoulder and her hand as if he'd already touched them. A shiver ran down her spine.
She had to look her best and if possible like she didn't even notice the time pass! Which was certainly a really hard thing to do, because that meant not looking at her Catphone to see the clock, or never look up whenever the door of the cafe opened and closed.
After the longest minutes in her life, she gave up and finally looked at the time.
She shouldn't have, because what she felt when she saw the time was like a punch in the gut. Chat was seven minutes late, and there were no new messages from him.
It's alright! She thought, He is just a little bit late!
But she kept glancing at her phone and the door from time to time.
Ten minutes late.
…
Sixteen.
Twenty-five.
By this point, she had laid down her book. There was no way she could focus on that. Did something happen to Chat? He should have said something already, right? She looked at her phone, wondering if she should text him. There had to be a reason for him to be so late, right!? Maybe he got caught up in work. She knew he had to work in the morning… But if he couldn't do it he would have warned her, right? Zhi tried to focus on her breathing. What if he had had an accident? She grabbed her Catphone like she was holding her life in it and began to type only to pause again.
…
But, what if…
...
What if he had come?
...
What if he was there on the scheduled time? Or even before that?
Zhi stopped writing and tears pricked her eyes.
What if he saw me, and … ran?
This thought hit her harder than she'd expected because it was a real possibility.
He might not want anything to do with me. He hates me as a celebrity.
Zhi drank her water and decided she needed something stronger, so she ordered a glass of wine.
She needed to think rationally.
Zhi rested her forehead in her palms and shut her eyes closed. She could send him a text and end this agonizing pain the minute he answered. But what if he did not answer… If he had gotten in some kind of accident and was knocked out, he would not answer or read the text… If he read it but didn't answer… Well, we'd all know what that would mean, right? Part of her wanted it to happen because that would mean that he wasn't hurt, and that was the next blow she took.
Zhi held in a frustrated sigh, the moment the door of the cafe opened. Her head popped up violently from her head and she had to contain herself not to groan. Lady Luck was not on her side today.
What the heck was he doing there!? Didn't he have work to do?
She tried not to roll her eyes when he walked up to her and her grip on her Catphone doubled.
"Hi, there!" She let herself say when he stopped near her table. The quicker she'd be into it, the quicker she'd be out of it, "What a coincidence, what are you doing here?"
Adrien was going to arrive at the cafe early.
Of course he was. He could not wait another minute in the hotel, it was even worse because he had no one to help him pass the time. Everyone else was on the set recording, so he was left alone and it was driving him crazy.
As Adrien walked up the street towards the charming old Caffe, he could barely stop himself from running. Not that it would make a lot of difference. He'd arrive thirty minutes early, give or take, and it was very unlikely that she'd be there already.
On the way, a tiny florist shop caught his eye, and he decided he might as well buy his Lady some flowers. After all, he had the time to go in. There were many options to pick from, and in a fit of panic, he realized he had no idea what kind of flowers he should get her.
"Do you need any help, sweetheart?", said the flower shopkeeper, barely lifting her eyes from the bouquet she was putting together.
Adrien turned to look at her with his head trying to decide what to get. The old lady had her glasses on the tip on her nose and was carefully adding some greens to the sunflowers on her hands.
"Yes." He nodded, some help would be deeply appreciated since he had no idea what to pick. "Please." He added, clearing his throat.
If the flowers were for Zhi, he'd probably go with some lotus flowers because those were her favourites, or maybe some salmon roses just to make fun of the face she'd make, followed by a reluctant smile caused by his laughter. But he wasn't shopping for his EX, and even though he had a feeling that his lady would love some lotus, those were out of the question.
The woman nodded as she laid the flowers, she was working on, carefully on her counter and turned her full attention to him. There was a glimpse of recognition in her eyes, but she didn't say anything about having a celebrity in her store. Instead, she gave him a warm smile, that somehow reduced his angst and repeated: "What can I help you with?"
He frowned, lost to what he was looking for, "I don't know…"
"Alright, no need to look so worried, sweetheart," she added, laughing it off with a smile, "First of all, what do you need flowers or plants for?"
"I'm about to meet this beautiful Lady for a date."
Before he was finishing the sentence, she was already nodding knowingly, "And I'm assuming you don't know this Lady's preference in flowers?"
He shrugged, "We never really talked about it directly, but I know she knows her way around the meanings of flowers, so I didn't want to just grab a random bunch."
"I see… So a predictable bouquet of roses is off the table then?"
"Not really…" Adrien answered, lost in thoughts, "and I don't see why a rose bouquet has to be predictable."
The old lady smiled at this, "I agree." Then, she walked to a zone in the shop where the roses were exposed and he followed, "How about colours? Any of these captivate you?"
Adrien looked at the big selection of colours and some did cativated him! "Can you put together a flower arrangement with only black and red roses?"
The woman lifted her eyebrow at his wide grin, "I can, but I must warn you, sweetheart, black roses might not be the best to give to your love interest. Especially if she knows the meaning of flowers, they are often related to failed romance and broken hearts."
"I am hoping that together with the red ones it means something different for her." He was confident that his Lady would look past the meaning of the flowers and see that he was trying to put together a Miraculous Ladybug themed bouquet.
"Alright then…" Said the woman picking up some of the most beautiful roses she had, "How many do you want, sweetheart?"
"I will leave that up to you, but if possible don't make it too big or exaggerated" Adrien answered, he didn't want people to have reasons to look at them and recognize him. He was feeling excited, though! The nervousness was still there, obviously, but he knew he had something to give her and, with that, another idea popped in his head, "Is there any chance that you have catnip flowers?" he asked the flower lady.
Her brows raised higher than the first time, "I do, but the ones I have are lilac… They won't go well with red and black…"
"There's no way of making it look good?" he asked, disappointed.
The woman frowned, clearly thinking of a solution, followed by an expression that made Adrien wonder if she was fighting with herself. Finally, she said with a sigh, not very satisfied with the solution she had for him, "I could use the greens of the plant around the roses?"
Adrien beamed at her, "That sounds perfect."
She chuckled, returning to her station with the flowers to start on the arrangement, "For someone who didn't know what to get, you are taking with you an incredibly specific request, sweetheart!"
He nodded, happy with the choice. He still had around twenty minutes, so he was not worried about being late. He did wonder if she was already at the coffee shop, and just that thought made him want to ask the flower saleswoman to go faster, but he wanted the bouquet to look perfect, so he held it in.
Adrien left the store with a beautiful ladybug bouquet of roses and catnip! He now had an icebreaker with it. He just hoped she'd notice it and find it funny as he did. She was his catnip.
He had now ten minutes to get to the Caffe, and he knew it would take him less than two to arrive. This notion hit him differently than he was expecting. His whole body was overwhelmed with rush and excitement, but also with fear. All her suggestions and concerns about the possibility of him not liking her when he saw her… They could easily turn to his side, aka her not liking him. How heartbreaking it would be... He was absolutely sure he was going to still love her, no matter what she looked like. He loved her for Who she was. But she did have a lot of doubts… Was it possible that she wouldn't love him when she saw him? Being the girlfriend of a celebrity was pretty hard…
He shook it off when he realised he had stopped walking. She was already at the Caffe now, for sure, and he would not let himself stop to think and let the fear overtake him. With a deep inhale, he kept moving.
His heart started beating faster when he saw the little Caffe down the road and that made him walk faster. When he was closer, he stopped to catch his breath. He didn't want to go inside breathing heavily, like he'd been running. That wouldn't look good. She might think he'd forgotten about their date or something like that. He did not want to leave a first bad impression. He looked at the clock: seven minutes to the date. He was totally on time. He decided he could focus on his breathing for two more minutes and then go inside. He checked the flowers and then checked himself on the window of the Caffe's neighbour store. He looked pretty presentable.
Adrien looked at the Caffe's door. So close to him… This was it.
She was already there. For sure.
Without a thought to it, he peeked through the Caffe's window and scanned for a girl alone.
He felt his stomach sink when he recognized Zhi Ruo, sitting alone reading what looked like a very interesting book.
Fuuu** my life.
Could his life get any harder?
By some crazy stupid random reason, Zhi Ruo Léi was sitting at the same Caffe where he was meeting his Lady!
His Lady!
Zhi being there had thrown him out of the track, he scanned the little Caffe, focusing on the girls sitting alone, but Zhi was literally the only one.
His throat went tight and his stomach furiously fought itself. Was she not coming?
With a heavy heart, Adrien's eyes went back to Zhi. He really hated that she was there. Sitting with perfect posture, reading her interesting book, in her designer's yellow dress and her stupid shiny hair and her intelligent eyes, and her glass of wine laying maybe a bit too close to the board of the table near her idiotic phone with Chat Noir's paw, and her–
–
– the Catphone –
No.
Not her .
Adrien's mind started a raging journey on trying to find some kind of proof that Zhi wasn't really the owner of that phone. She couldn't be...
But all he could find was proof that she actually was.
First of all, that had been the name she'd introduced herself with...
And… All the talks about how she thought he was going to hate her… Hadn't he been perfectly clear when they'd started talking that he hated Zhi Ruo Léi? That had been the reason they'd started talking in the first place!
It does matter who I am.
This statement rang in his ears in Zhi's voice and that made him realize with great shock that His Lady had always sounded like Zhi in his head.
He had said that it mattered Who she was, of course it did! But that wouldn't change how he'd feel about her! He remembered feeling offended that she thought so little of him.
To which she answered, and this he remembered perfectly clear, because it had broken his heart:
Wrong again.
She had been right… This should change everything…
He shouldn't care about Zhi! Even if she was Bugzhinette!
Then why was this so painful?
Truth be told, he didn't even hate Zhi that much anymore…
If he was completely honest with himself, it did change everything, except the fact that he was in love with her. Because if he wasn't, why the hell did this hurt so much?
Not that it changed anything… He was NOT going to get back together with her! And that only made it hurt more, because he knew she was the last girl on earth he'd give another shot to. And they had been so close to becoming sort of friends now…
Apologies on a rooftop be damned, he was not going to do the same mistake again. He knew he wouldn't recover a second time.
How did he not see it before?
He sighed in frustration...
He did know how. He hadn't wanted to.
He had seen what he wanted to see.
Adrien took a good look at his surroundings and realized he wasn't near the Caffe anymore. He'd stormed off and was now sitting on the grass of a small park ten minutes away from the Caffe and that somewhere along the way he must have dropped his flowers, because he no longer had them.
He let his head fall in between his knees again, feeling the despair crawling in like venom.
Did she know? Had she been mocking him this whole time?
He had told her who he was, so she could very well have known who he was.
She could have done it on purpose. Make him fall for her again… But to what end?
Was this a very elaborate prank?
Was this for the sake of good publicity again?
'I'm sorry, I can't hold it back any longer.
I was only pretending for the sake of good publicity. The truth is I never loved you. You can't really blame me, can you? How could I ever be in love with someone like you?
Don't call me because I won't be able to recognize your number.'
She had done it before…
Had she done it again?
Adrien thought she'd grown and become a better person, that was why he was giving her as Zhi Ruo a second chance, but had she? She was literally the best actress he'd ever seen. She could easily use that to make him want to forgive her and give her another chance. Although, if she thought this was a good way to do that, she was wrong as can be.
He had to see it for himself. He knew she was a good actress, but if she had made this up, she was going to have to lie to his face.
Adrien got up and started walking towards the Caffe again, this time with the solemn purpose of unmasking Zhi Ruo Léi once and for all.
Was it possible that she didn't know, tho? A tiny voice whispered in his mind.
She did tell you her real name and you didn't believe her. Maybe she didn't believe you either.
He did remember chuckling with amusement when she'd tell him her name. He also remembered telling her his real name, knowing that she would probably not believe him. I mean, come on! What were the odds?
And she did seem true when she talked about the man she was in love with. With a punch in the stomach, it hit him that man she was talking about, just a week ago underneath the stary sky, was him.
She'd smiled sadly, with the moon beaming on her face and her dress glowing in the night, the dress he had unknowingly made for her, and had told him how her heartbreak had been her fault for not believing, for thinking their love wasn't enough, for being a coward. And how her face lit up with love, love for him, when she said she knew better now. That she wanted to be with him…
That couldn't have been all fake… Could it?
The Caffe across the street seemed to mock him now. He was about to enter that establishment to get heartbroken. He knew that. He could simply walk away. Pretend he'd never had a penpal. Pretend that he was never even there, that Zhi was nothing more than a coworker… But he knew he wouldn't. He couldn't. Heartbreak or not, he still had to go in. He would never be able to live with the 'what if'. Adrien didn't believe in soulmates or destiny, but… What if she really didn't know?
What if she had left already?
With that thought startling him, he crossed the street and entered the small Caffe. He didn't need to scan for her, because he knew where she was. Her head popped up in his direction with the sound of the door opening and their eyes met. The moment she recognised him, her eyes went from hopeful to disappointed, and he felt so upset that he had to remind himself that that was a good sign.
He didn't even pause, he walked straight to her, forcing himself to look casual and friendly. He wanted to know what she knew.
"Hi, there!" Zhi said awkwardly, the minute he was close enough, "What a coincidence, what are you doing here?"
"Nothing much, passing by!" Adrien answered, focused on keeping his cool, "Just love this Little Caffe! Don't you just love this Little Caffe!?" Great. Now he was babbling. He cleared his throat, "What about you?"
"I– I'm–" She looked abashed and Adrien realised he didn't remember the last time Zhi Ruo had actually stammered, "Nothing much really, yeah." She giggled embarrassed, glancing at the door "Just readin' ma' book here!"
He lifted his eyebrows at that comic accent, "Is that so!?" he could see she wanted to slap herself for that and it only made him want to tease her more.
"Yep! Really good book!" She said looking at the clock on her Catphone and the door again, she couldn't possibly be faking this, right? "So i–if it's okay with you, I would like to go back to it…" She added with what he was sure it was supposed to be a warm apologetic smile but looked more like a simper.
"Oh, come on, Zhi! Let's catch up!" He said sitting on the chair meant for him. Her smile dropped and eyes went wide open, "You said today was your last day of shooting! How did that go?" Adrien had to grip on every single drop of self-control not to laugh at Zhi's panicky face.
Zhi paused for a moment and drank all the left wine in her cup, bottom's up style, as if it was liquid courage, "Okay, actually," Zhi said really quickly, clear in her face that she might regret saying it, but also that she couldn't care less – or maybe that was the wine shot –, "I'm waiting for someone."
Adrien grinned widely and he leaned on to her side of the table, supported by his elbows, "Oh!" Zhi gulped at his closeness, suddenly not so keen to glance at the door, "Someone… Like... a date?" he asked, thoroughly disregarding the fact that she had just drunk half a cup of wine in one go without even blinking.
Zhi's eyes popped back open and she pushed him away looking terrified, "Yes. Like a date." She said coldly, "So if you don't mind, leave."
"Isn't that something!" Adrien said feigning excitement, completely ignoring her request, "What's he like?"
"That's none of your business!" Zhi exhaled, clearly trying to calm herself down. He almost pitted her, almost. But he was enjoying this way too much.
"Is he handsome? What's his height?" He asked, his grin growing bigger by the second.
"Can you leave?"
"Eye colour?"
"Leave."
"Hair colour?"
"Adrien…" The warning tone didn't go unnoticed.
Zhi was now glaring at him with such intensity that he felt like maybe he really should stop the funny business, but part of him just wanted to know more. Know for sure that this wasn't a highly elaborate lie. "Wait-a-minute!" He said in a mocking way, "You don't know! Do you?"
The way her face fell from angry to hopeless hit him harder than anything else had that day. Harder than the realisation that Zhi was BuggZhinette. Especially now, that he knew.
"Adrien." Zhi let out, looking at him and then to the door. It was less of a warning now.
Adrien could never tell you why, if you'd ask later, but he still kept going, "Oh My! Miss Léi, are you waiting for your blind date? How'd that happen!? Did Alice set you both up!? Without a picture!?" To his horror, he just kept going, "Don't tell me you are on a dating app! Ah, but that wouldn't make sense, because you don't know what he looks like and a dating app would have had pictures, right?! Oh! Oh my! Is the man you are in love with your secret penpal!?–" Zhi turned to look at him, red, with her eyes filling up with tears and anger.
"If you stay on that chair for five more seconds I'll get you thrown out of this establishment." That was when the third hit of the day came. She was mad at him. Really Mad. And not only mad because he was talking to her right now… No. She was Mad because Chat Noir had left her hanging. Zhi was mad at him for not coming to meet her. And with that realisation, also came the irony of it all.
Without being able to contain himself, he guffawed.
"You think this is funny!?" She let out with helplessness on her voice.
He felt instantly bad for laughing, of course, but was still unable to contain it. Chat Noir was there! He has come! And she was throwing him out!
"I actually do think it's a bit amusing." He confessed. She was about to say something else, but he cut her right before it, "But if that is what you want…" He paused as if he was scanning her for an ulterior wish, like him staying, but didn't find one, so he finished the sentence getting up from his chair, sighing deeply, "I will leave." The look of relief on her face hurt way more than he thought it would, "But I want all the details later!" She quickly nodded, eager for him to leave, and he did, "Take care, Zhi."
Zhi nodded thankfully, and whispered with a heavy heart, "You too, Adrien."