Chapter 146 - A Name She Wanted to be Called By

Ayu still didn't bother turning around to look at Mei. Instead she just chugged another cup of wine. 

Mei rolled her eyes at Ayu and poured herself another cup of Sake too. 

"Fine, ignore me, I guess we'll just drink in silence" Mei hit back at Ayu's indifference. 

"What would you know about being ignored?" Ayu said quietly. 

"So who's been ignoring you?" Mei asked, sipping her drink and leaning sideways to face Ayu. 

She never got much out of this woman, it'd be interesting to know the things running through her brain right now. The upright, perfectionist who helped the great demon king run Moshi Corporation, what would she let slip in this state of inebriation? 

Mei grinned to herself, wondering what Ayu was like outside work. 

"None of your business" Ayu snapped back at Mei, wiping the grin of her face, sipping the last of her wine. 

Ayu ordered still another bottle wine. 

"Hey, hey, haven't you had enough? Maybe you should stop drinking now!" Mei protested. 

"I don't have to explain my drinking to you. Why don't you keep sipping, little girl" Ayu's words were harsh and belittling. 

"Maybe you should tone that attitude down. You're not better than me, or anyone else for that matter." 

Mei chugged down two cups in her anger. This woman was insufferable. Maybe she never let her guard down, or perhaps she was an actual bitch nobody could get through to. 

"I never said I was better than anyone, I know I am not" she whispered softly in her cup. 

Mei's ears pricked up. What did she just say? She sounded almost…weak? 

"Well, you definitely act like you're better than me! Why do you always look down on me so much?" Mei whined, "I work for a real taskmaster too, I work just as hard as you!" 

Ayu smiled a small, dreamy smile. But it was gone before Mei could get a proper look. 

She looked angelic for a second, so Mei convinced herself she had only imagined it. 

"Yes, that's right…you do work hard" Ayu replied softly, letting out a little yawn. 

Mei noticed the dark circles under her pretty green eyes, they looked a lot like her own. She giggled. 

"What is it? What are you laughing at?" Ayu questioned her, her eyes tired as she got a little drunker yet. 

"We have matching eye circles" Mei giggled, as she could feel the alcohol in her blood, making her light-headed. 

Ayu grinned. 

Mei gasped lightly. 

"She knows how to smile!" she exclaimed loudly. 

Ayu forwned. 

"You're so noisy Meimei. Who told you I didn't smile!" 

"It's just that this is the first time I've seen it, it's…pretty" she said softly. 

Ayu's drunk eyes widened. She recalled the last time someone said she was 'pretty'. 

She remembered the first time she had seen Lina since she woke up from the coma. Shen had to deal with his uncle Sojin and James causing a mess at the office. 

She was looking after a sleeping Lina who was having nightmares, whimpering in her sleep. 

Ayu remembered running into the bedroom and holding her, trying to comfort her. She hadn't noticed, and instead gotten scared and broken Ayu's wrist. 

Yet when Lina had awoken and looked at her face, she'd reached out, gently touched Ayu's face and said those words, — "…so pretty" 

Ayu bit her lip as she felt her throat tightening. Her hand involuntary touched the wrist that had finally recovered from the shattered bones. 

It didn't matter that Lina had hurt her, as long as she touched her again, Ayu felt like she could trade anything in the world for it. 

"Hey, are you ok? Did I upset you?" she heard Mei's voice, bringing her out of the daydream. 

"I'm fine" Ayu��s face returned to its normal, unreadable state. 

Mei looked at her thoughtfully, but her own thoughts were unclear since she was slightly tipsy as well. 

She observed Ayu's side profile. Her bone structure was exquisite and well defined. Yet her skin was dry, and her hair lackl.u.s.tre. She was a natural beauty, yet looked like she hardly took care of herself. 

'If I had her face and body, I wouldn't bother working a day in my life!' Mei thought to herself, but then quickly reproached herself for such terrible fantasies. How could she think of not working for her amazing boss!

"You work too hard, let your hair down sometimes" Mei mumbled quietly, slightly scared at trying to advise capable assistant Ayu of Moshi Corporation. 

To her surprise, she heard a drunk giggle come out of the stoic woman sitting by her side. Ayu had seemingly chugged down yet one more glass of wine and was now positively drunk, slumping slightly. 

"You work too hard as well, Meimei" 

Mei's eyes widened. Was she hearing things correctly? The woman who always acted like she was no use, actually claiming that she did indeed notice her working hard? 

"Thanks Ayu, for finally acknowledging that" Mei said, smiling brightly. 

However, Ayu just looked at Mei and drunkenly pouted. She looked so funny, Mei had to stifle laughter. 

Ayu rested her head down on the bar table, facing Mei her eyes glazed and watery again. 

"You know Meimei, my name isn't really Ayu" 

Her voice was so quiet, Mei had to bend down slightly to hear her better. 

"What are you saying?" she asked, amused. 

"Ayumi" Ayu whispered, her voice even quieter now. 

"Huh?" Mei couldn't hear Ayu as she realised she was drunkenly passing out at the restaurant. 

"No, no Ayu not here! Where do you live, let me take you home!" Meimei tried to gently shake her awake but Ayu could barely hold herself up. 

"Miss, the lady lives in the apartment right opposite" the server at the bar came over to tell Mei. "The lady drinks here regularly" he said with a casual, light-hearted smile. 

Mei nodded graciously and she flung Ayu's arm around her neck and helped her walk out. 

She was surprised Ayu lived so close to her! Her boss and the young master must provide company apartments in the same vicinity, it wasn't that surprising. 

As she lugged a drunk Ayu to the top floor and shuffled through her purse to find her keys, Ayu kept mumbling something. 

"Hang on, Ayu, give me a minute. You'll be inside soon and you can go to bed comfortably" Mei chimed in encouragingly. 

But Ayu still kept mumbling. 

As they entered the apartment, Mei dragged Ayu to the bedroom and lay her on the bed. However, as she pulled back after helping her into the covers, she felt a slender hand clutch on to her sleeve. 

Mei knelt down to put down a glass of water next to Ayu, thinking that's what she clutched on to her sleeve for. 

But instead, Ayu pulled her close into a tight embrace. Meimei held still in Ayu's drunken embrace, confused, and slightly amused.

"Hey, hey Ayu…it's time to sleep. Let go" she mumbled, as Ayu held her tighter. 

But Mei finally heard what Ayu had been mumbling the whole time. 

"It's Ayumi. I want her to call me Ayumi" Ayu's voice was so soft, and so gently, Mei felt like she could barely recognise the stone-cold woman she had grown to be wary of. 

"Her? What do you mean?" she questioned. 

"The person I…love"