Chapter 199 - I'll pay you back?

Thud!

Han Ye looked at the bowl of soup that was placed in front of him for a second before looking up at Xiao Lei, who was glaring at him with a disgruntled expression. 

"You're so going to pay for this..." she sneered.

"What?" Han Ye asked innocently. 

"Head Manager Han called me in the middle of the night to go down and pick your drunk a*s up. I'm pretty sure that's not in my job description!"

"Erm... I'll pay you back?" 

"Pay me back?! You vomited all over my floor, and I have to clean up after you!" 

"I did?" Han Ye frowned. He did not remember puking or anything embarrassing last night... well, if one were to discount the fact that he sang like a pig last night. He narrowed his eyes and asked in a suspicious tone, "Are you sure I did that?" 

"Yeah!" Xiao Lei nodded with an extremely determined expression. "And when I scolded you, you said that you'll compensate me whatever I want!"

"Are you sure about that? I don't recall anything of that sort..." Han Ye gave her a suspicious look.

And in response, Xiao Lei narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "Weren't you dead drunk yesterday? How would you know? I thought people can't remember the things they did when they were drunk?" 

Han Ye gulped and cursed inwardly, "F*ck!" 

He then averted his eyes from hers and mumbled an apology. "Erm... I'm sorry... I just don't have a habit of throwing up, that's why I thought you might be mistaken."

Pak!

Han Ye's eyes went wide, and his body leaned further to the side when Xiao Lei suddenly placed her hand on the back of his chair and leaned her face so close to him that he could probably count her eyelashes. 

"Wh-what?" Han Ye gasped as he looked at her while thinking about how long her eyelashes were. 

"Were you really drunk last night?" she asked in a serious voice as she leaned even closer to him. 

"I-I..." Han Ye gulped. He felt that there was something wrong with this position, yet he could not really tell what was wrong about it. "I was drunk!" 

"What was the last thing you remembered?" 

"Erm..." He hesitated and averted his eyes, only to have her roughly handled his chin and make it so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "Erm... I remember that I went to Hotel W after I dropped Angela off, and I talked to my... I mean Head Manager Han. I remember we talked for quite a while... and I drank a lot as well... And... I think he carried me on his back..."

He coughed and gently pushed Xiao Lei away. Sitting up straight, he then said, "Everything was fuzzy after that..." 

Xiao Lei stared at him for a long time before sighing loudly. "Fine... But yeah, you vomited and you promised to compensate me."

Han Ye nodded. He could not say anything else! It would only make things awkward if he were to do so. 

"Damn!" he cursed when he realized what was wrong with their position earlier. As he stared at Xiao Lei, who was carrying another small bowl of soup for herself, he thought, "Our positions were wrong! Damn Chinese drama!"

"That's hangover soup. I thought you would be hungover after seeing how drunk you were yesterday, but I guess I was wrong. You don't look sick."

Han Ye smiled as he picked up a spoon. "I don't really get hungover..." 

"Good then... Oh, by the way," Xiao Lei said with a mischievous grin as she pulled out her phone. After swiping here and there, she turned the phone around and showed the video of Han Ye singing in the lobby to him. 

Han Ye was taking in a mouthful of soup when he saw the video.

"Pfft!" 

Thankfully, he reacted fast enough and covered his mouth with the back of his hand, causing the soup to spurt onto the back of his hand instead of at the dishes that were placed between the two of them. 

"So... I'm not threatening this, but I just want to say this..." She giggled before continuing, "I'm your boss now, B-O-S-S!" 

"What? You think I'd be threatened by something like that?" Han Ye scoffed as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Secretary Xiao, you're too naive," he said while placing a fried egg on her plate. 

"Aren't you afraid? What if I send this to President Du? Surely that would lower his impression of you."

Han Ye chuckled. "President Du has more videos like that..."

"Whaaaattt...." Xiao Lei groaned and placed her forehead down on the table. "Man, I thought I can blackmail you with this!" 

"I don't think 'blackmailing' your boss is something that a good secretary should do," said Han Ye as he continued to drink the soup.  

"Well, I don't think giving your secretary unnecessary trouble after 6 pm is something that a good boss should do."

"I've never said that I'm a good boss," Han Ye said. 

Xiao Lei placed her chopsticks down and leaned back into her chair before saying with a smug face, "I've never said that I'm a good secretary." 

Han Ye smirked. He reached over and took her hand before placing her chopsticks back in her hand. "I'm joking... Here, continue eating."

When he sat back down, he added, "I didn't know that Head Manager Han would send me here. I thought that based on our relationship, tense as it was, he would allow me to stay at the hotel. Maybe throw me in another suite or something... If I had known that he would send me back so late at night and bother you, I wouldn't have drunk myself stupid."

"Good that you know your mistake then..." Xiao Lei said. She then waved a hand and said, "I'm not really angry." 

They ate quietly for a while before Xiao Lei asked in a small voice, "You... broke up with her?" 

Han Ye was about to pick up a braised chicken drumstick when his hand stopped in mid-air for a few seconds. He then continued to pick the drumstick, before putting it on Xiao Lei's plate. He picked a piece of chicken b.r.e.a.s.t and placed it on his plate before saying, "Yeah... It's over between us."

Xiao Lei peeked up and asked curiously, "Why?" 

"I don't think we are suitable for each other." He shrugged and placed the piece of chicken b.r.e.a.s.t in his mouth. 

"Was it... because of me?" 

Han Ye glanced at her for a short moment before bursting out in laughter. "Xiao Lei, you're just my secretary. Why would it be because of you?"

Xiao Lei shrugged. "I thought it's because of our fight yesterday..." 

Han Ye smiled. "I knew that it wasn't your fault... at least, it was not all your fault. Angela... She's been hiding a lot of things from me, things that I don't like to be lied to... And I think it's better for us to end things now. We haven't been together that long, so the pain won't last for too long." 

Nodding slowly, Xiao Lei thought about his words for a while before asking, "Are you in pain?" 

"What are you going to do if I'm in pain?" he teased. 

Xiao Lei thought for a moment before standing up, surprising Han Ye with her sudden movement. 

She then walked over to Han Ye and bent over to hug him, which surprised him even further. 

He gasped, "X-Xiao Lei... What..."

Still in a hug, she gently patted his back. "It's fine, Han Ye... The pain will go away soon... You'll meet someone better soon."

Han Ye glanced at her neck for a second before hugging her back. He nodded softly with a sad expression, yet his sadness had nothing to do with the fact that he broke up with Angela Zhang. Instead, it was because of what he realized last night. 

"Yeah... I might have met someone better, but she belongs to someone else now..." he thought sadly. Han Ye did not know if what he felt for Xiao Lei was real, that it was something that transcended beyond friendship... but... 

Han Ye groaned inwardly. He felt extremely confused now... mostly by what he felt toward her. What happened yesterday was probably fuelled by the fact that he was emotionally unstable and that he under the influence of the alcohol. Yet he did not regret it. After all, it might be his only chance of ever letting her know of his feelings. 

When Xiao Lei let him go and walked back to her seat, Han Ye had to force himself to look away from her... and to force his owns feelings down.  

He knew that Head Manager Han might be right... That he had some strong feelings for her that caused him to keep thinking about her, whether it was for work or for something else. But what was the point of having that pointed out to him? How could he act upon his feelings, especially knowing how much she loved her husband? How could he even try to find out if there was really something?

Up until now, she had been an important old friend, someone that he promised Wu Yuexue that he would protect on her behalf.

Han Ye glanced at Xiao Lei, who was eating quietly while she read the news on her phone. "How do I move past this..." he thought to himself as he continued eating. 

xxx

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