Hearing Aria’s words, MOKA hung her head low, clutching her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white, eyes brimming with unwillingness.
To go and apologize to Su Li…
It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered it.
It was just…
She had clearly spent her own money—how could she possibly bring herself to bow her head to Su Li?
“You just need to figure it out yourself.”
“Su Li just left not too long ago, so the inspiration you left from composing is probably still there. If you wait too long to decide, this transaction of yours will leave nothing behind.”
“As for how to choose, you’re an adult now. Decide for yourself.”
“As your assistant, all I can do is give you advice.”
Aria spoke seriously, while MOKA only hung her head, stubbornly clenching her fists.
Aria had never interfered with her decisions, but every time she chose and failed, the disappointment in Aria’s gaze would brand itself into her mind, stabbing at her heart like a needle.
MOKA knew Aria was much older than her, and the advice she offered usually had value.
But what about her pride?
Aria’s suggestions were always in her best interest, yet she had never considered things from her perspective.
She’d already spent two hundred thousand!
Two hundred thousand!
And now she still had to shamelessly beg for Su Li’s forgiveness!
How was she supposed to do that?
Aria glanced at the dazed MOKA and said softly:
“I’ve already called a janitor for you. Later, just stay in your room and don’t show your face.”
“Otherwise, if your fans find out you’re a bit of a slob, your account could lose a lot of followers.”
With that, she got up and left MOKA’s room.
MOKA stood there in a daze. Only at this moment did a sense of absurdity wash over her, making everything before her feel unreal.
The money was gone…
And she had nothing left.
If it were before, she would have already been impatient to start dealing with the new song.
But now, there was nothing.
Nothing left at all.
MOKA’s gaze fell on her phone not far away, and she panted heavily.
She gripped her phone tightly, her fingers whitening from the pressure.
The blinking cursor in the chat box stabbed at her eyes, making them ache.
The words “apology” she typed, deleted, then rewrote, loomed and shrank on the screen, crawling over her body like biting ants.
It was just typing a few words, yet for her it was unbearably hard and tormenting.
Sweat, unnoticed, covered her forehead as she stared at the “apology” on the phone’s screen. For a moment, she felt she didn’t recognize those three words.
Suddenly, she slammed her phone face down onto the sofa, slumping against it, gasping for breath, her nails digging deeply into her palm.
Why?
Why should she be the first to bow her head?
That was a full two hundred thousand yuan!
But then the image of Su Li’s blood-stained back and her hands gripping MOKA’s neck flashed through her mind, and she swallowed hard.
Of course, she wasn’t sincerely willing to bow her head!
This was just a temporary compromise.
A compromise for the sake of the song!
She grabbed a cold beer from the refrigerator and took two big gulps. The alcohol ran down her pale cheeks, making her shiver from the chill.
When MOKA reopened the chat, her fingers hovered over the send button, trembling uncontrollably.
Scene after scene flashed through her mind, making her heart ache faintly.
In the end, MOKA gritted her teeth and sent three exclamation points in a row.
Only when the message notification sounded, did her whole body collapse weakly onto the sofa, her back molars biting so hard her cheeks ached.
“This bastard!”
“Idiot!”
“If it wasn’t to earn more money, why would I even apologize!”
“It’s just typing a few words, after all.”
MOKA muttered to herself, but her eyes stayed glued to the phone’s screen.
Not getting a reply from Su Li made her increasingly anxious.
She pressed her phone tightly to her chest, and every message notification made her heart thump wildly.
But when MOKA swiped the screen again and again, the “apology!!!” she’d sent still hadn’t received any response.
“Damn it, could something have happened to Su Li?”
She wasn’t actually worried about Su Li’s life.
But Su Li’s back carried the song she’d just written.
If anything happened to Su Li, her new song would definitely be in trouble.
She couldn’t accept such an outcome.
Most importantly, MOKA was a little worried: if something really happened to Su Li, would someone be able to identify her song style from the score written on Su Li’s back and drag her into a storm of public opinion?
The cold beer can left wet streaks on the coffee table as MOKA curled up on the sofa, bored, idly hooking the charging cable with her toes.
The cable’s end kept missing the charging port because her hands trembled.
The moment the screen lit up, she jerked up, but when she saw it was just junk ads, she slumped again, her nails unconsciously picking at the dried blood scab in the sofa’s seam.
That was from yesterday when Su Li cut her knee on glass.
If she hadn’t suddenly lost her temper with Su Li, what would she be doing now?
She’d probably have finished composing her new song and would be waiting for her fans’ praise and admiration.
She definitely wouldn’t be in such a frantic state, waiting for Su Li’s reply.
If Su Li didn’t see her message, what would she do?
MOKA couldn’t imagine it.
She felt that if Su Li didn’t see her message and washed the blood off her back, her whole life would plunge into darkness.
A wave of regret slowly filled MOKA’s heart.
This time, she didn’t regret having lost her temper with Su Li.
She regretted not being prepared, not writing down her song in advance.
She regretted not leaving a deeper mark on Su Li.
If she had, it would take Su Li a long time to erase it.
At least it wouldn’t wash away cleanly after just one shower.
MOKA felt her mind growing foggy. In this state, she had no way of composing a good song.
Her only hope was for Su Li to reply.
She quietly opened the refrigerator, took out a beer, and planned to ease her anxiety with a drink.
But soon, as if remembering something, MOKA hurried back to her room, grabbed her sunglasses and hat, and put them on.
She was worried the janitor who’d be cleaning up soon would recognize her.
As long as she was prepared, no one would be able to recognize her.
“Su Li…”
She took one last look at her phone, gritting her teeth and spitting out that unbearably frustrating name.