She was rubbing her face again on his chest.

"Does your body react violently if I do this?"

Chen Linyun almost puked blood. He coughed. He coughed some more. *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

This lady was really pus.h.i.+ng her luck.

They were still at the camping site. She was teasing again.

When he had the opportunity, he sent a message to Mo Wenbin: "Wenbin, I went out with her. She said we were eloping, but don't worry we're not. Relax! I'll correct this. We will be back in the morning. Inform Guangxi, tell him not to worry, but don't tell him everything!"

In a few seconds, he received Mo Wenbin's response. "Wow, Chen Linyun, you're moving quite fast. Did you bring protection?"

Chen Linyun's face turned red. He sent his response to Wenbin. It was a simple "Shut up."

He returned his attention to the lady currently with him.

"You said you weren't playing with me, but look at what you're doing." Chen Linyun said, intentionally shrugging off her question.

"I'm just teasing you. Because your reactions are so cute. But please don't doubt my sincerity." She wrinkled her forehead and proceeded in rubbing her face on his chest.

They were lying by their side together inside the tent, facing each other. The lady requested for this setup. She insisted.

So, he decided to oblige, and teased her back. He suddenly grabbed her waist and hugged her tight – so tight that she could not break loose.

"Let go." She said, while trying hard to break free. In truth, she's starting to freak out.

"What objective do you have in mind, milady, for provoking me? Do you really want to play with fire?" He was only acting tough. In actual truth, he was so nervous that his heart was drumming so loud, it was deafening. He wanted this lady to learn her lesson.

The lady buried her embarra.s.sed face on his chest, but did not rub any more. "I won't tease you I promise. I'll behave." Deep within, she was panicking, her heart banging loud towards the walls of her soul. And so, she had learned her lesson.

Chen Linyun, who was a bit intoxicated with alcohol, and therefore a little bit more courageous said, "Can't we cuddle like this?"

She stopped struggling. She nodded.

"I'm afraid I will have to leave soon." Chen Linyun said.

"Why? Is it because your body reacted violently?"

"Jinxu!" He warned.

She pursed her lips.

"No, I mean, I will be physically away for a while. I will be needing to travel a lot for the company I'm building."

"Is that so?" She was saddened by this news. She could not help but sigh.

"I need to." He kissed her forehead. "I want you to be proud of me. I want your family to acknowledge me as a good match for you."

"It will only be temporary. In a few days, I will have to leave Apartment 201 too, as it was a lodging arranged by Tiankong Investments. I cannot stay there anymore."

"Then stay with us. You can stay at the guest room with Guangxi."

"No, that's not going to work out. Don't you care about your reputation at all?"

"I don't." She shook her head.

He sighed. "Please be more mindful and careful while I'm away. Please be safe. Don't roam around in your grey hoodie and white cap. Most likely it will only end up you getting unconscious for one reason or another. I won't be there for you."

"Okay." She was fluttering her eyelashes.

"You are my safety blanket. I have already been used to your presence. What would I do without you near me?"

"At this point, I am most effective when I'm at a distance." He paused. "The a.n.a.logy's like this. Imagine we are in a battle, and you are the commanding general. I am not one of the foot soldiers or knights which fight alongside you, but I'm an archer which is more useful and effective at a distance, behind the shadows. If I show myself and fight beside you, I will only become a weakness, a liability, which only burden you, or even cause your downfall. I cannot allow that, and I don't want that to happen."

"I'm going to be away so that I can improve on myself such that when I return, I can fight alongside you, lend you a hand and support you, be worthy of you. If I couldn't be your right hand man, at the very least I can be a foot soldier, another warm body that could be used for head-on battle. I can also be an ally from outside of your troop, with equal power as yours."

"What's wrong with being an archer?" She curiously asked.

"There's nothing wrong with that, only, I want to be beside you. It's my personal preference. I also want to be your strength. In the future, I want you to be able to rely on me too."

"How long will it take for you to achieve your goal?"

"My estimate would be one to two years."

"That's long!" She pondered for a little while. "Well, for a startup that's already short... But it's long considering that I have a deadline!" She was pertaining to her engagement.

"I will come visit once in a while. Can you drag your engagement? Please don't give up or give in. I will come back for you. I promise." He kissed her forehead.

"We don't have to cut all our communication lines. You can tell me everything through WeChat or call or videochat. We can still be updated with each other." He added while tightening his embrace.

"While I'm away, Wenbin will once in a while check on you and Guangxi, just to ensure you're safe. By the way, Wenbin is not just a close friend, a roommate or an officemate. He's also my cousin." He smiled.

Her eyes widened but did not say anything. His relation to Mo Wenbin wasn't that important at the moment.

She sighed. "You're sacrificing a lot for me."

"It's for me too. It's for our future together. There's only one question I'd like to ask." Chen Linyun said. He looked down at her face, in his arms. "What are we?"

"What do you mean 'what are we'?" She was lost. She blinked her eyes several times.

"What do you call 'us'?" Chen Linyun probed.

"Is it still important?" She was being coy again. "I'm not fond of labels." She admitted.

"Well, you could say, we are... an 'almost-couple'."

Chen Linyun lowered his head and kissed her lips tenderly.

After this night that was well-spent cuddling with warmth together, they recognized the fact that each would inevitably go to their separate ways for a while, not knowing when they would permanently be together again.