Chapter 24 (1/2)

Screen Partner Chapter 24

On the day of his birthday, Xu Zheyi was on high alert. He took the little ball of fur out for a morning walk.

The puppy probably did not know very much about the world; everything was new and exciting. He was running all over the place, rubbing against things and sniffing different areas. Compared to its lively behaviour, Xu Zheyi felt like a pool of stagnant water.

He looked for a pet-friendly café to sit down in, opened a newspaper he had brought along, and flipped to the entertainment pages. This was a habit of his that the years had not managed to change. As expected, his name did not appear anywhere within those pages.

To say Xu Zheyi was not lonely was impossible. His birthday had been so lively in the past few years. During the daytime he held a party event for fans, and then in the evening he would have plans to get together with his friends and celebrate into the night. Reporters would often show up, and he would usually appear in the tabloids soon afterwards.

Unfortunately, once he began to pick up low-grade film roles, the company cancelled the birthday party activities that included his fans. It was not long before his friends began alienating him, drawing away one by one. After he took the GV role, only a few people kept in contact, albeit sporadically. In the end, he only received a few cursory ‘happy birthday’ messages.

He looked at the text messages, took some time to express his gratitude, then invited those few people out for dinner. He waited all afternoon for replies, only to receive refusals in the end.

He had indeed invited a snub.

It went as he anticipated, so he picked up his things and prepared to head home. It turned out that even Ruka didn’t call him. That was not a surprise. After all, he did not tell the guy the actual date.

Xu Zheyi allowed his mind to relax completely. He slowly walked down the road with the little puppy, and even stopped to buy the little one a cheesy dog treat. That caused the happy little fluff-ball to jump up excitedly on his leg.

“Little one, you’ll have to serve this old man for his birthday today.”

Xu Zheyi picked up the little furball and tucked him beneath his armpit. After walking until he was just a few steps from home, he suddenly stopped.

The man he was complaining about just a moment ago stood in front of his door with a box of beer and a cake at his feet. He frowned impatiently when he saw him and asked, “Just how long of a walk did you take?”

****

Xu Zheyi’s somewhat bitter thought was that if that scene had taken place in a daytime drama, that would probably be the moment the protagonist fell in love. Even so, he was truly struggling in his heart. It was as if a voice in one ear shouted, “Run for it! Ruka came,” and another voice said with relief, “Luckily he came.”

He felt that he had seen the line.