The sound of running water could be heard in a simple small house. After a moment, the sound stopped, and GuiGui with only a towel wrapped around her body came out of the bathroom. She walked slowly toward her closet in order to search for a suitable dress to wear.

Today had been a nightmare for her. When she woke up in the morning, her head suddenly felt so heavy and painful. She had no choice but to give herself and her employees a day off. After having a glass of warm milk as breakfast, she ended up spending the rest of the day relaxing in hope that she would feel better by the afternoon which luckily turned out the way she hoped. Then she began to bake a strawberry cake for Xiao Xing’s birthday. After she finished touching up the cake, it was already 4pm. That’s when she decided to get ready for the party.  

When she finished her makeup and hair, she walked to the full-length mirror and looked at herself. She was wearing a simple yellow dress that went just above her knee while her hair was tied up in a ponytail. Satisfied with how she looked, Guigui grabbed her key, cake and left for Xiaoxing’s birthday party.

By the time she reached the destination, some guests had already arrived. The party was small with only close relatives and friends. As soon as she saw Guigui, Xiaoxing excitedly ran to her. Guigui smiled and put the cake on a table nearby before gave Xiaoxing a hug.

“Ayi! You’re here!” Xiaoxing cheerfully shouted

“Sorry for making Xiaoxing wait for ayi for so long.” 

“It’s ok, ayi. I’m so happy that you come!”

“How can ayi not come to my beloved niece? Oh. Where are your parents? They don’t accompany you again?” 

“Daddy is there greeting the guests.”  Xiaoxing said pointed to Geunsuk who was talking to his relatives.

“And mommy is in the kitchen preparing food!” Xiaoxing said the word ‘food’ energetically.

Seeing how cute she was, Guigui couldn’t help but chuckled.

“Now ayi go to the kitchen to help your mom. Xiaoxing can go play first, ok?”  Guigui suggested while patting her beloved niece. Xiaoxing nodded and ran toward Geunsuk.

Guigui stood up and took her cake to the kitchen. At the time she reached the kitchen, she saw Shinhye was busy tasting and decorating her food which Guigui assumed was some Korean and some Chinese food.        

Finished touching up her food, Shinhye smiled happily and washed her hand. She was quite surprised when she saw Guigui stood at the door smiling at her, but it wasn’t long before she returned the smile and walked happily toward Guigui.

“Both mother and daughter are the same.”  Guigui thought and let out a giggle

“What were you thinking? Don’t tell me you’re thinking something bad about me.” Shinhye playfully threatened Guigui.

 “Nah. You don’t have to know.” Guigui said with a smirk.

“This is how you treat your best friend, huh?” Shinhye glared at Guigui as she took the cake from her best friend to put on a beautiful cake stand. Guigui just shrugged and went to help Shinhye transfer the food and cake from kitchen to living room.

The party went on smoothly, but an hour after Xiaoxing cut her cake, the guests slowly went home. There were only Guigui, Shinhye, Geunsuk, and Xiaoxing now. They were rounding up on the sofa when Xiaoxing suddenly asked Guigui.

“Ayi! Mommy and daddy have told me about their love story, and they also said a little bit about ayi and an uncle, but ayi never tell Xiaoxing anything. Who is that uncle? Can ayi tell Xiaoxing?”  Xiaoxing asked curiously.

Guigui wasn’t prepared to hear that, but she couldn’t really reject that cute little child. She looked at Geunsuk and Shinhye who gave her a look that silently assure her she didn’t have to talk about that. Didn’t want to let the little girl down, Guigui mouthed ‘It’s ok.’ to the couple and smiled at Xiaoxing.

“Xiaoxing really want to know?”  Guigui asked. Xiaoxing nodded as she climbed to sit on Guigui’s laps.

“Alright, but let’s start with the day ayi had to attend a wedding on a cruise ship.”

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*6 years ago*

“Guigui, here’s the password of your room.” Guigui’s dad said handing her a series of numbers. Guigui raised her eyebrow but still accepted it.

“There’s no key?” She asked, still confused.

“If there’s key, why would I hand you the password? The rooms here require password to unlock, not key. Modern technology, you know.” Guigui’s dad explained.

“Cool! I love that! I go to my room first then!” Guigui exclaimed as she ran happily to her room. After entering the password to a machine next to it, the door was unlocked with no problem. Guigui smiled and quickly opened the door.

“Surprise!” a female voice echoed in the room all of the sudden making Guigui jumped a little. As she calmed down, she turned to look at the source of the voice, and her eyes wide opened with joy.

“Auntie Li!” Guigui shouted excitedly while hugging her middle-age nursemaid in the name of auntie Li. She’s the closest person to Guigui, maybe closer than Gui’s parents because she was the one who took care of Guigui since she was born.   

“My dear Gui!” Auntie Li replied back happily. A moment had passed by the time they broke the hug.

“Auntie Li, why are you here?” Guigui asked puzzled.

“You don’t want me here?” Auntie Li pretended to ask in disappointment.

“No! I didn’t mean that way. I’m really happy that you’re here, but I thought you should be in your hometown right now. Didn’t you say you want to go there until next 2 days?” Guigui asked

“Yes, I did go there, but there were no more important things to do, so I came back early. I really miss you, my dear.” Auntie Li said patting Guigui’s head after they sat on the bed.

“It’s fantastic! I really miss you, too. With you here I can feel safe now!” Guigui giggled. Then they spent the whole day talking with each other, even during meal time since they just ordered the meal to be delivered to their room.

“It’s quite late now. You’d better sleep, my dear. It’s already 11pm. The wedding ceremony is held tomorrow morning.” Auntie said as Guigui pouted but still did as she said.

“Ok. Wait- Oh my god! I forgot to pay a visit to my aunt! She’s gonna kill me!” Guigui terrifyingly said.

“You’re making her sound like a mean aunt when she is in fact a sweet woman. Still you can get up early and visit her before ceremony start.” Auntie Li suggested. Guigui just nodded and closed her eyes.

“Good night, auntie.”

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“Guigui, wake up!” Auntie Li said shaking Guigui

“5 more minutes!” Guigui covered her head with blanket

“No. You’ll be late to pay your aunt a visit.” Auntie Li said still trying to wake up her up

“It’s not important. I can visit her later. She can wait.” Guigui mumbled

“Didn’t you say she’d kill you because you didn’t visit her yesterday?” Auntie Li was sure that Guigui would definitely wake up after she heard that.

“Oh my! I totally forgot! What time is it now?” Guigui asked as she rushed to the bathroom. Auntie Li had already prepared a simple knee-length pink dress with black straps and black ribbon waistline with a pair of beautiful white high heels.

“It’s almost 9 o’clock now! The ceremony starts at 11! I told you to sleep early yesterday, but you didn’t listen.” Auntie Li said.

“There you go.” Auntie Li announced. Guigui looked at herself in the mirror with a satisfied smile. Her long hair was curled covering half of her back while her straight bang was let down. Her face was covered with a little makeup making her even more beautiful than she already was.

“You’re the best! Oh no! It’s 10am now! I don’t have much time! I have to go now. See you at the ceremony!” Guigui grabbed her purse and quickly left.

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Standing in front of the bride’s door, Guigui stood nervously before opened it big enough for her to peek in.

“No peeking. You’d better come out now.” Fanfan, who was sitting in front of vanity table opposite the door while her stylist was doing her makeup and hair, said making Guigui pout.

“Auntie, you caught me again.” Guigui walked slowly, with the pout still on her face, and sat down near Fanfan.

“I see that you still call me auntie. I thought you already forgot this aunt already. Not even appeared a second yesterday.” Fanfan said with straight face.

“Oh come on, auntie! You know I love you, right? Please forgive me.” Guigui pouted while shaking Fanfan’s arm. Suddenly Fanfan giggled.

“You tricked me!” Guigui’s eyes wide opened as she realized her aunt was joking with her.

“How can I stay mad at my lovely niece?” Fanfan pinched Guigui’s cheek.

“I should have known that. Anyway, where is my soon-to-be uncle in law?” Guigui looked around.

“He’s in the other room.” Fanfan said full of love as she mentioned her soon-to-be husband.

“Wow. Goosebumps.” Guigui pretended to rub her arms while Fanfan’s giggling.

“You haven’t told me how you two met yet, auntie.”

“Well, I met him when I was attending a charity. The moment I saw him, I knew that he’s the one for me.”

“How can you know he’s the one?” Guigui asked curiously.

“When I looked at him, my heart beat so fast as if it was going to explode! I couldn’t even breathe properly, and I had a strange but special feeling that I’d never known before. That’s when I realized he’s my other half.” Fanfan said with a loving smile on her face.

“Wow~” Guigui said dreamily, “Tell me more, aunt!” Fanfan continued to tell her about how they started their relationship, and what kind of person her soon-to-be husband was.

“You are so lucky, aunt.” Guigui said feeling happy for her aunt.

“Don’t worry. You’ll also meet your prince charming sooner or later, Gui.” Fanfan teased.

“Who says I’m worried? I don’t care about that stuff at all.” Guigui blushed.

“Really? I doubt that.” Fanfan raised her eyebrow playfully.

“Wow~ Auntie! You look amazing!” Guigui admired Fanfan as soon as she stood up to take a final look.

“Try to change the topic, huh? You’re lucky that I let you off today.” Fanfan smiled satisfied with how she looked before turning to face her niece who was giggling.

“Is the bride ready? The ceremony starts in 5 minutes.” The wedding coordinator informed.

“We’re ready.” Fanfan said smiling.

“Wow~ You look so beautiful, Miss Fan, or should I say Mrs. Chen?” The coordinator complimented.

“Thanks.” Fanfan smiled.

“Since you’re ready, let’s go to the venue.”

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“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” The priest said. The couple shared a short but sweet kiss to seal their promise, followed by a round of applause.

“They look so perfect and happy together.” Guigui said to auntie Li but with her eyes still glued on the happy couple.

“Do you want to get married too, my dear?” Auntie Li .

“Auntie Li!” Guigui pouted.

“Alright, I’m just joking.”

“You’d better be!”

“By the way, there’s no throwing flower?” Guigui wondered.

“Maybe no. If there was, Mrs. Fan should have done by now.”

The new married couple slowly went to the reception room along with the guests. Guigui had no choice but to follow behind. After had a small portion of lunch, Guigui excused herself to the balcony. She wasn’t the party type especially this kind of party.

Seeing how happy her aunt was, she began to wonder how it felt like being in love. For the entire 20 years of her life, she was never once in love which pretty much confused everyone because she’s both beautiful and smart. Not only others, Guigui herself also wondered about that. Was she really bad that nobody loved her?   

“Excuse me, miss.” A male voice interrupted her thought. She turned to see a man with his suit with his hair neatly combed while holding a drink in his hand.

“Me?” Guigui asked after looking around to make sure the man really called her.

“Yes, the beautiful lady who is standing on the balcony.” The man showed off his charming smile. Guigui just stared at his face blankly. She never liked his kind of person, using sweet words to charm ladies.

“I hope you don’t mind but may I know you?” The man asked. This girl really attracted him. She was so beautiful like an angel, cheerful around her family, but seemed so cold toward him.

“Sorry, no.” Guigui replied coldly.

“Why?” Not wanted to give up, the man questioned, “If you’re worried about my status, don’t worry. I’m the heir of Sunway Group, and my father is the famous John He.”

Guigui’s eyes showed obvious criticism toward the man. At first, she just didn’t feel like knowing him, but now she totally disliked him. Why did he try to show off? High status? Rich? Her new uncle in law was the richest man in the country, but he didn’t even say a word about his wealth. Who was he to show off proudly when his father was only the 8^th richest? She just wanted to shout to him that her own parents were the 4th richest, but she’s not the type who liked showing off.

“Are you the bride or the groom’s relative?” After not getting any reply from Guigui, the man assumed that she was interested in him, so he decided to show off a little more.

“My father is a business friend of the groom, and I have met him several times at business parties. For dinner tonight, can you be my dancing partner?” He said.

“I don’t know how to dance.” Guigui said. Even she knew how to, she wouldn't agree either because she really couldn’t stand this guy, let alone being his partner.

“Are you kidding? Every girl on this cruise ship knows how to dance.” He was right. He's right. Every guest was from upper class which meant they had attended every classes including dancing, and this cruise ship was the most luxurious ship that uncle in law borrowed from his friend. Not that my uncle in law had no money to buy the ship. It’s just that my aunt told him not to because she thought it was such a waste of money.

“I can’t dance, and that’s the final.” Guigui turned away leaving the man stunned. Suddenly, she felt a grip on her right wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Guigui asked in annoyed voice. She was sure that if he continued to invade her space, she would teach him some lessons with her fighting skill. Being the only daughter, her father had assigned many bodyguards to protect her, and as curious as she was, she actually learned quite a lot martial art from them. Although she wasn’t skillful, she still learned enough to defend herself.

“I just ask you to be my dance partner, why are you making a big deal about it?” The man asked.

“Let go of my hand before I lose my temper.” Guigui said in serious voice.

“What if I refuse to let go?” The man said in mocking tone. The girl in front of him was so small and fragile. She couldn’t do any much damage to him.

As soon as he finished his question, Guigui used her left hand to grab the man hand, which was around her right wrist, and twisted it hard. Before the man had a chance to shout in pain, Guigui used her now free right hand to punch his face with all her strength making the man fell down and cried in pain.

“Don’t ever bother to come near me again, or I can’t guarantee what I will do to you.” Guigui threatened. The man ran away frightened, and sworn that he would never come near this girl again. She was so scary.

“That guy totally ruined my good mood.” Guigui annoyingly said, “Maybe I should go to the library then.” As Guigui was leaving to the library which she just got the direction this morning, she didn’t realize there was a man standing at a corner seeing the entire interaction between her and the other man. His serious face did seem a little bit shocked since he had never seen any girl as bold as her, but he had to admit she was the most interesting girl he had ever laid eyes on. Unknowingly, the corner of his lips suddenly curved upward into a smile.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guigui went into her room to find her nursemaid staring at her confusedly.

“Where did you go this entire afternoon?” Auntie Li asked.  Guigui signed while taking off her heels.

“Now that you mentioned it, I feel mad again.” Guigui flopped on her chair as auntie Li came to help her remove hair accessories.

“Who dared to make my dear mad?”

“An annoying guy, but I’ve already taught him some lessons. I hope that he would keep his distance tonight.” Guigui said before she stood up, took a long red dress, and headed to the bathroom.

“No wonder that I never see any guys go near you.” Auntie Li joked shaking her head.

“I heard that!” Guigui shouted from the bathroom.

“So how was your day?” Auntie Li decided to ask after Guigui came out of the bathroom.

“It was fun. I spent hours checking the computer in the library. There are many interesting things in it. Oh, have I mentioned that the desserts there are so yummy!” Guigui said as she sat back in front of her vanity table.

“You really like to eat.” Auntie Li chuckled while applying new makeup for Guigui.

“It’s not my fault. Those desserts are too yummy to resist.” Guigui pouted making auntie Li smile.

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“Done!” Auntie Li announced. Guigui smiled while checking her reflection. Her curled hair was put up into a high updo, and her makeup was almost like the one she had in the morning except that the eye shadow was changed to light red color.

The dinner went on smoothly, and Guigui was pleased that the man this afternoon didn’t even dare to go near her. She really had a lot of fun spending time with her big family. Her uncle in law was passionate yet funny which made her like him a lot. She’s so happy that her aunt had found the right man. The party finished after midnight, but everyone still continued to celebrate at a bar on the ship.

Under the black night sky, Wangzi was standing near the railing silently looking at the dark ocean. Since everybody was gathering in the bar, there was only him out on the main balcony. After a moment, he stepped forward until he reached the railing. His eye glued on the ocean view while his mind wandered. He felt as if my heart had grown up in the freezing ocean because it was so cold and emotionless.

He had never actually received the warm happy feeling since his parents died. He had always blamed himself for the death of his parents. Suddenly, he felt as if he saw his parents in the dark freezing ocean calling for help.

“Father, mother, I’m coming to help you. I’m sorry it’s my fault. If not because of me, you wouldn’t have died.”  He said in his mind while gripping the railing.

“Please stop, sir!” A female voice appeared from behind. Wangzi frowned before turned around to see a girl running quickly toward him.

“Isn't she the bold girl he saw yesterday?” He thought.

“Please calm down, sir. Why do you think this way? If you do like this, your parents will be brokenhearted.” Guigui said trying to catch her breath. After dinner, she went to the main balcony to get some fresh air instead of joining others. That’s when she saw a man trying to commit suicide. She was so shocked, so she rushed to stop him. The moment her eyes met his, she felt like there was an invisible spark between them. She could feel that he was special and mysterious.

“Pardon, what did you say, miss?” Wangzi said politely. He didn’t know why but he felt that there was something about this girl very appealing to him. He had to admit that she was indeed beautiful. She had silky hair, a pair of big round eyes, small nose, cherry lips as well as a nice figure. She was also interesting, smart yet bold from what he witnessed. She’s not like any other girls, which was something that caught his eyes.

“Em. I.” Guigui blushed and stuttered after she realized she had misunderstood the situation, “I think I’ve had some misunderstanding. You didn’t try to- er- commit suicide, did you?”

“Commit suicide?” Wangzi stared at her. This was new to him. How could he dare to think about committing suicide when he still had to manage the company which his parents had worked hard on?

“You thought I wanted to commit suicide, so you ran so fast to stop me?”

“I am so childish, aren’t I?” Guigui blamed herself. She had never been a mature woman at all. “Every guest came here to attend the wedding and give blessing to the couple. I’m so stupid to think that you were going to commit suicide.”

“I should thank you for your concern.” Wangzi unintentionally smiled a real smile which was quite surprising for himself. He had never had this smile since his parents’ death.

On the other hand, Guigui thought that he wanted to laugh at how stupid she was. All she wanted to do was running away from him before she embarrassed herself even more, but there was something inside her told her not to.

“Why didn’t you go join others?” Guigui asked curious. Although she just wanted to change the topic, she indeed wondered about that. “There are many people enjoying themselves inside. Why are you standing here alone instead of joining them?”  

“How about you? Why don’t you go and join them, too? Why did you come here?” Wangzi asked back.

“To be honest, I don’t really like that kind of gathering. I don’t know how to show off, dance, drink, and what is right or wrong to do at all. I also don’t know anything about fashion, jewelry, brand names-.” Guigui quickly covered . Did she just tell him her embarrassing things? She really wanted to smack her forehead. What if he disliked her behavior?

“I mean the atmosphere there was so stuffy, so I came out to take some fresh air.” Guigui quickly gave excuse.

Wangzi as smile grew wider. He really liked the way she talked so directly. Even she did try to find excuse, he knew that she was an honest person. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have blurt her embarrassing things out loud. “Me too. I don’t like crowded place.”

“Really?” Guigui was quite satisfied that they did have something in common. “Do you know any quiet place on this ship?” Guigui pretended ask even she already knew the place.

Wangzi looked straight at Guigui’s sparkling eyes as he shook his head. “I don’t know.”

He spent most of his time staying in his room thinking about his company business plans, and never actually explored the ship at all. “Do you know where?” Wangzi asked because he saw excitement on her face, not because he was interested to know that secret.

“Library!” Guigui said excitedly while jumping up and down, “There is a huge library on the ship. I have spent my whole afternoon in that place before, but never see anyone there.”

A beautiful girl who attended a wedding on this luxury ship spent her entire afternoon in the library? It wasn’t usual. Most girls on this ship spend their time go to salon and spa. With a big shopping mall here, girls will go crazy, even his fiancé who wasn’t really into this stuff also went crazy and bought a lot of clothes.

“Don’t you know where the library is?” Guigui questioned. Seeing Wangzi moved his lips around trying to think, she was sure he didn’t know it. Since her parents always taught her that sharing her happiness with others was the best gift ever, she decided to tell him. “Have mouth but don’t know how to ask. Do you have pen? I’ll draw the map for you.”

Wangzi handed her his pen wondering what she would draw on.

“Here, the library is here.”

Wangzi looked at her surprisingly. Did she just draw on her hand? When she saw his eyes looking at her in shocked, Guigui realized what she was doing. She gasped and quickly put both hand and pen down. Oh my god! Her first expression toward him must be ruined now!

“I mean I will draw a map for you next time. Today- today let’s pretend that you don’t see anything.” Guigui stuttered. Wangzi couldn’t help but laughed at how adorable she was. Guigui looked up to meet his charming smile and sparkling eyes. Suddenly, he leaned closer to her. She became so nervous and didn’t know what to do. What was he doing? Her heart beat like a train without the brake and she couldn’t really breathe. As he leaned closer, she began to experience a new feeling. It was so special and good that she couldn’t really describe.

*Flashback*

“How can you know he’s the one?” Guigui asked curiously.

“When I looked at him, my heart beat so fast as if it was going to explode! I couldn’t even breathe properly, and I had a strange but special feeling that I’d never known before. That’s when I realized he’s my other half.” Fanfan said with a loving smile on her face.

*End of flashback*

“Oh no.” That’s all Guigui’s mind could process.