Chapter 448 - Under A Spell(3)

"Do you have any good reason to keep staying?" Han Xichen asked her after a long pause.

She thought about it for a while before listing her reasons out. "Yeah, I already found a job, which was something I had been dreaming of for a while. I met some new friends too. Besides, I think I like it here more than in Australia. I grew up there anyways, a little change wouldn't hurt."

Most importantly, I met you. She concluded in a soft voice in her mind, not daring to directly voice her thoughts that she believed would make him find her strange. He did not say anything but he had a feeling that there was something that she left unsaid. When she was ready to say it, she would talk about it. Until then, he decided that he would not probe.

He studied her expression that looked excited when she talked about the comparison between B City and the City where she had grown up. Although she would miss her parents if she did not follow them, she would miss Xiehan and Lanni if she went back with her parents. Aside from missing her parents, there didn't seem to be anything else that made her want to go back.

It was clear where the young lady's heart really was.

"Have you ever thought about your future?" He asked out of the blue.

"The future?" She was baffled at the sudden change of topic. They were talking about her urge and reluctance to follow her parents. When did the topic morph to her future?

He resisted the urge to tap her forehead as she looked cute with her eyes widened in surprise. "Yes. When you get married and have kids."

He talked about the matter of marriage and kids so casually that it made her cheeks burn up. It was a normal topic, why was her reaction so exaggerated?

The man chuckled, having taken in her reaction. He must have done it on purpose because his lips curled upwards. "I'm talking about something that most women go through. You will meet someone you love enough to settle down with, then you will have a family. Your in-laws will not want to be distant from you and will expect you to pay attention to them once in a while.

You will have a husband with whom you will want to spend most of your time and when you have kids, they will need your attention. Not to mention, you have a job too. You don't seem like one to stay at home without working, from my observation of you."

She nodded to his last words. If she could simply stay at home, she would have long quit working at Moonlight Studios where she felt unwelcome sometimes.

"Tell me, how often will you stay beside your parents?" He dropped his main question.

His words got her thinking. Indeed, when she was younger, she liked to stick to her parents and would watch the door for their return every time they left for work. With time, however, things slowly changed. She grew to have different interests but that did not mean that she no longer loved her parents.

"Do you get my point now?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Then follow your heart." He smiled at her. "You are a grown up woman now and can travel on your own. If you miss them so much, you can always go over for a visit and stay for a few days or weeks. I think you like it here"

"I will take you along!" She blurted as though her brain had gone offline, it always did in his presence. Sometimes she wondered whether he had a superpower that helped him switch people's brains off when they were with him.

"What?" It took a second for him to realize that she was talking about how he had mentioned wanting her to take him along to her trips around the world. A smile laced over his thin lips at the fact that she had remembered it. "I would be glad to go."

"Thank you. I feel much better now." She sighed in relief as though she had solved the most difficult puzzle. Her big eyes blinked with her words, draining away all the self-control that had been keeping him sane all along. He swallowed as he stared down at her face.

She was not the most beautiful girl he had met but she was the most charming. A brilliant pair of eyes that were like a pair of vortices out to charm whoever was looking at them into drawing closer and closer, until they sank into their allure.

He didn't realize how close his face had moved to hers until his lips landed on her small, red ones.

She was startled and reflexively moved away from him while staring at him with her widened eyes and trying to catch her breath. Her heart raced wildly from the shock and it took a while to successfully calm it. When she finally registered what had happened, she averted her gaze as she felt heat creep up her ears. Did Han Xichen just kiss her?

"I'm sorry, that shouldn't have happened." He massaged the space between his brows. He was not just saying it to appear like a gentleman. He was truly apologetic. One should only kiss a girl if she was okay with it, and she might be offended if he caught her off guard like he had just done. How could he be such a j-

"It's okay. I don't dislike it." Her shaky voice shocked the crap out of him. What did she just say?

When she realized the words that had just left her mouth, Xiaoshi wanted to drown herself in the juice inside the half-filled glass on the table. While it was true that she didn't find the kiss annoying or repulsive, how could she say such a thing to a man?

It was still possible to control himself before he stole her kiss but now that he did, it was harder than his most mind-wrecking test in medical school. Although it had happened for a second, he had felt the warmth and softness of her lips and they only enticed him into wanting more of it. If he continued staying here, he would do something that he might regret.

"I have to go finish up on some work." He said as he stood up to leave.

Her expression fell, as though she was displeased about his departure. He had the urge to pat her head but fought it.

After gauging his expression and being convinced that she had not done anything to upset him, she felt happier. "See you when you're free?"

"Yes." He agreed before scolding himself. He had just decided to create some distance so he would stop the mistake he was making. What was wrong with him? It was too late to take back his words so he could only let her see him off.

___

The following day, in Moonlight Studios.

Luna had ensured that the security of the entire building was foolproof, having modified it herself. She secretly led Luo Chen into the building and into a meeting room that only she and Cheng Yu knew about.

The young man was not surprised to be brought here since he knew that Luna was planning to give him instructions after all. He sat on his chair and obediently waited for her instructions.

"I'll offer you a job." She had other things to handle after this meeting with him so she went straight to the point to save time.

"What? Why would you do that?" He was shocked. Who would offer a job to the person who almost destroyed their future?

"Are you willing to take it or not? I don't want to waste such a brilliant brain as yours. I believe you have other works?" Before he could respond, she strictly added, "Those that belong to you."

"I have another software." The young man nodded, touched by Luna's ability to be able to tell.

It was just within her expectations. Her father could not have found a random boy on the street and had him frame her. He must have found a genius who lacked enough exposure to showcase his talent and share his ideas with the world—one who had probably been robbed of his blood and sweat a few times before. She had investigated him and was pleased with his talent.

"Thank you, boss. I will do my best."

She smiled and said nothing of it. It was a win-win situation. "I will check out your softwares, then I will send a contract to you and you can start working after this matter is sorted. For now, you just have to pretend that I still haven't met you."

"That's a piece of cake. But what about Lanlan?" He asked. The girl had been kidnapped and the man would probably soon find out that she was no longer in his custody.

Luna smiled evilly, "Don't worry. That man is a psychopath and his henchmen are scared of him. They will probably hide her escape from them and try to find her on their own.. They will fall into our trap as well as buy me some time."