Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

When Jun and Ai returned to the condo, he cautiously bent and let the new member of their family down on the floor. "I hope you like your new home."

Like every other curious cat, she began to quietly but nimbly move around the house and furniture. At one point, she stood straight and looked up towards the crescent swing where another cat was already resting inside it.

The cat with the dark brown eyes jumped down out of the swing and stared at the newcomer.

Ai hopped to his side and beamed. "She will be staying with us from now on too. Why don't you say hello?"

He didn't move. Then he suddenly backed away and scurried to the other side as if he wasn't interested in meeting the new cat at all. The new cat patiently remained in her position.

"Hey, tell him not to scare her," Jun bent down and tickled under her chin.

Ai pursed her lips. "He just needs some time to be friendly."

"Well, he better not bully her or I will throw him out."

"..."

"You changed your colors so soon," Ai complained. "And you are completely biased."

He sneered and picked up the cat, ruffling her fur. "Ai is just jealous. Don't worry about her, okay?"

The cat softly meowed in response.

She said, "By the way, we still haven't thought of names for the cats. Have you thought of any?"

Jun petted the cat on his lap and stared into her beautiful eyes. "To be honest, I feel like naming her Ai. She has the same eyes as you."

She giggled. "I had thought the same. I really want to name him Jun."

He glared at her. "Don't use my name for the cat who steals you away from me!"

She was speechless. "Then isn't she already stealing you from me too?"

"Well, it's your time to suffer," he looked down and grinned. "Right?"

*Meow*

Ai harrumphed. "Who told you that I want to name him Jun because of your eyes? Jun as a name for a cat also means a handsome cat, and he is definitely one beautiful cat. So, I will name him Jun."

His expression darkened. "Well then, I will name this little one as Ai and not because of your eyes. Ai means loving and she always showed me love even when I met her as a stranger. Definitely not like yours who doesn't let anybody touch him, not even you."

Her brow twitched. A war brewed in the air where nobody wanted to back down. But then a question arose. If they kept the same names as their partners, it would be confusing to call them out and mean which one they were referring to - the human or the cat.

But Jun thought of Zhou Yichen, and an idea flashed in his mind. He smirked. "She will be Ai-chan."

"..."

"But Dad calls me Ai-chan."

"Only he does. The rest don't. He will figure something out."

Her nostrils flared. "You know what Jun? You are also a cat. A copycat!"

He snorted. "You are just jealous of my intelligence."

"There is no intelligence in copying a name."

"A nickname."

Ai looked away for a moment and then said, "In that case, his name will be Jun-kun."

'Kun' was the boy's counterpart of 'chan' in japanese.

"Who is being a copycat now?" He sneered.

"At least I didn't outrightly steal a nickname like a certain someone here. I just took inspiration."

With the names being somehow settled, there was a beat of silence. Then Jun got up on his feet. "Let me feed you something. You must be hungry, Ai-chan."

"It's time to feed Jun-kun too."

"Provided he let you~"

"Hmph. Jun-kun will definitely warm up to me one day. Just like you. He is also taking his own sweet time like you did. You weren't so friendly initially either."

"..."

"But then you fell for my charms," she gave a proud smile.

A vein popped on his forehead. "Ai…Now you are outrightly comparing me to the cat!"

"Jun-kun. Please be respectful and call by his name," she pointed out.

Amidst their banter and unknown to them, the two cats were staring at each other from that distance as if having a foreboding of what was to come.

—

Chyou alternated her gaze between Zixin and Guiying and so did Yating. For them, Zixin and Guiying together at a restaurant was an odd sight to see. They both clearly took this as their date which felt even more surprising.

I had no clue when Chen Zixin and Guiying got so close, Yating thought.

Chyou, who had already investigated Guiying on Jun's request, knew her well too. But what she didn't understand was her connection with Zixin.

The only place she remembered she saw Guiying and Zixin was at Shui's birthday banquet when they danced together.

Was it after that…?

Chyou was a little unsure of what to think of this. Since Jun was always hostile to Guiying and had suspicions about her, she didn't know what she should feel about seeing her with Zixin. On top of that, Zixin had lost his memories which left him a little vulnerable according to her.

"Chyou. How come you are here?"

Yating eyed Guiying, asking the same question through his eyes. She coughed.

"Ah, Yating and I are out shopping for Yin's birthday gift. But before that, we thought to fill our tummies so I brought him here. Wait, I think you didn't properly meet Yating before, right?"

She pulled Yating forward. "Yating, he is Chen Zixin, Jun's cousin."

The mention of Jun slightly stirred Guiying.

"And Zixin, he is Gu Yating, Chief Editor of Dream High and technically Cai Guiying's boss hehe."

They nodded and greeted each other.

Zixin said, "I have heard of you from Guiying."

"Same. Chyou has talked about you from time to time. Nice to meet you," he smiled.

Guiying politely bowed. "Hello."

Chyou smiled back at her. She didn't waste time to leave after the introduction. "Sorry for suddenly calling you out, Zixin. I had no plans to disturb your date."

Date?

He tilted his head.

Guiying widened her eyes and quickly said, "Th-this is not a date! We c-came just like that."

"..."