Chapter 27: That’s Not My Boyfriend

"Xue Ning?" Jingwei asks cautiously, for his dinner companion had gone silent. Was his question too much?

"Yes? Ah, right. How do I put it - you're not a bad person," Xue Ning says, trying to form words. "And honestly, you won't be a bad boyfriend - for a girl with a rich family, I think you'd be great."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Jingwei says, trying to smile, but it seems less happy than before.

"But I'm not rich, and I'm technically working for you." Xue Ning shrugs. "So theoretically dating you would be fine, but it would be troublesome in real life."

"Ah I see," Jingwei says, disappointed. Xue Ning had the strangest feeling that she kicked a puppy and then left it outside in the rain. It was not a good feeling.

"So it's not because of your boyfriend? Because even if you wouldn't date me, I'd still think you deserve a better man."

"My boyfriend?" Xue Ning asks, confused.

"Yes! I can't believe that man never showed up the whole time when you were in the hospital to visit you. What kind of neglectful boyfriend is he?" Jingwei asks, incredulous. Before Xue Ning could reply, he continued.

"What's more, even if you didn't tell him, shouldn't he be worried about not hearing from you for over a day? Especially if he knew you were working as a bartender in the wee hours of the morning!" Jingwei exclaims, louder now.

Xue Ning hastily makes shushing noises, reminding him to quiet down. It barely works, because Jingwei still wasn't done complaining about her fictional boyfriend.

"And look, even if he couldn't visit, he could have a get-well gift delivered. The hospitals have balloons and flowers for that reason. What's more, he didn't have the guts to confront me in the hospital, or post something on social media to condemn me online for what happened to you."

He clearly gave it a lot of thought. She didn't know whether to feel flattered or worried.

"But then when he finds out I'm taking you out to dinner he decides to send me threats on my phone, I can't believe this… Xue Ning-ah, I'm telling you as a friend, this boyfriend of yours is a spineless coward. He should be threatening me in person."

"Wait." Xue Ning holds up her hand to stop him from speaking. "What threats?"

"Threatening messages. Telling me that 'this dinner would be my last.' So dramatic. Is he a Bond villain? Honestly, it's so old school. Your boyfriend really needs to work on intimidation."

Jingwei makes an offended sound at the very thought, but all Xue Ning feels is horror.

"It's definitely not from my boyfriend." Xue Ning says, a cold chill settling into her body at the dawning realisation, her breath quickening as she takes another look around the room. Was it just her imagination, or is the surrounding area too quiet for a busy restaurant?

"I know you have a lot of faith in him, and it's hard to believe -" Jingwei starts, but Xue Ning cuts him off easily by grabbing his arm.

"It cannot be my boyfriend, because I. Don't. Have. One." She says slowly, and watches as this new realisation sinks in for him. All outrage at Xue Ning's fictional boyfriend seems to leak away, replaced by gradual alarm and increasing panic.

"What. So. Oh my god." Jingwei leaned forward. "Wait, so you were lying about the boyfriend when I first met you?"

"That's not important! Let me see the messages." Jingwei hands his phone to her, with minimal grumbling about how her lack of a boyfriend was very important news, and she unlocks it easily to read the threatening message.

From Unknown Number:

ENJOY YOUR EVENING

IT'LL BE YOUR LAST

"Did you send this to your brother?" She asks.

"No, I thought this was from your boyfriend!" Jingwei is trying to remain calm, but she can see the panic rising in his eyes. "I was going to tell you to break up with him because he's a piece of shit, but it turns out he doesn't exist and someone else is trying to kill me!"

She looks at the phone messages to see if Jingwei's brother has replied with any new information, but his brother only said that he sent the video to the investigators, and for them to wait patiently for news.

Well. Fuck.

Xue Ning was technically his bodyguard, but in that moment she felt that she was the one that needed the bodyguard. She really should have just demanded he send them back to his mansion after the black car appeared, instead of allowing him to go for this fancy restaurant dinner.

If something happened to him, she would never forgive herself. She breathes deeply to calm herself down. No matter what, she must make sure he gets out of this unscathed. For what it's worth, he had put his trust in her when he hired her, and she wasn't going to betray his trust.

"Alright, forward this message to your brother too, tell him to get someone he trusts to pick us up as soon as possible." She instructs. The sky was getting dark, it'll be harder to see who was tailing them when night falls, even with the streetlights. Accidents would also be more likely to occur.

They had to get out of here by nightfall.

"Okay," he obediently did as she said. "Now what? Do we just leave?"

"I…don't know," she confesses. "I'm worried that someone might come after you in the restaurant, but leaving would mean that we might get tailed again."

"And this time, we might not be lucky enough to get away again." He accurately guesses the train of thought.

"Yes, and your car is so eye-catching," she adds. "It'll be very easy to find us, even at night."

"I see your point," Jingwei sighs. "Who knew my love for fast cars would bite me in the ass?"

"Next time, just drive a taxi or something," Xue Ning mutters bitterly. "No one notices a taxi."

"Noted," he says tiredly. "So now, let's order food for dinner."

"You're still in the mood to eat?" She asks. Her own stomach had been replaced with a nest of snakes, writhing around, causing nausea to rise.

"Why not? We're already here." Jingwei shrugs. "And if I do die tonight, I refuse to become a hungry ghost. So order away, Xue Ning. We also need to kill time before my brother arrives."