Beauty and the Bodyguard

Lin Yi ordered himself some red wine, and sized up the many types of patrons at the bar. He didn’t plan on drinking the wine, but he didn’t need the waiters getting pissed at him for not ordering anything.

“Anyone sitting here, handsome?” Lin Yi was glancing at Mengyao and Yushu with the corner of his eye when someone stood in front of his table.

Lin Yi raised his head- it was a woman dressed elegantly and maturely, around twenty seven or eight years old. The lighting was dim, but the woman’s curves were quite visible, along with the perfect features on her face. She was more womanly, more alluring than young beauties like Mengyao, Yushu, or Tang Yin.

There was a cunning in the woman’s eyes, and Lin Yi could tell that she was a veteran who visited bars regularly. He wasn’t naive enough to think that the beauty had taken an interest in him, however.

“Not right now.” LIn Yi said as he moved his eyes away from the woman, not paying her anymore attention.

Sun Jingyi raised her eyebrows at Lin Yi’s cold composure. She’d scanned the room and decided on Lin Yi- the guy was probably one of the wolves out hunting, but there was a youth and softness to him, meaning he was most likely not a veteran. Jingyi was confident that she’d be able to play a guy like him right into her hands, get him to do something for her with sheer appeal.

Lin Yi’s coldness in his attitude towards her, however, angered her a little- the guy didn’t seem to be paying her any attention at all! Could he maybe prefer younger women?

It was still pretty early, and there weren’t too many people in the bar either. It was only natural for Jingyi to assume that Lin Yi had his eyes on Mengyao and Yushu, since he’d chosen one of the worse spots to sit at, and that there weren’t any other customers nearby other than the two girls.

How was she losing to two saplings like them? Jingyi’s radiant beauty was borderline poisonous, after all, and the two girls didn’t even seem like they’d graduated from school yet. She could tell right away how young they were, even through the clothes they were wearing.

“Aren’t you gonna invite me to sit?” Jingyi asked with a smile as she pressed her frustration down.

“Ha…” Lin Yi smiled faintly. “It’s not my bar- It’s not like I can stop you if you wanna sit, right?”

“I like the way you talk.” Jingyi recognized the tone in Lin Yi’s voice, but sat down regardless. The clock was ticking, and it wasn’t an easy task to find a harmless looking man like Lin Yi again- she might even find herself in more trouble after just getting out of some. “Those two little beauties over there- your targets, right?”

Jingyi made a slight bitchface towards the girls as she spoke.

(i don’t have a better word..)

Lin Yi turned to look at Jingyi, not answering her question. “Let’s not waste time, alright- tell me what you want.”

“Hm?” Jingyi wasn’t expecting that from Lin Yi- the guy was aware that she came with a purpose in mind, instead of sitting down just to hang around. A frown formed on her forehead, and she wondered if perhaps Lin Yi wasn’t as harmless as his appearance made him out to be. This man might not be that easy to deal with.

Was it a mistake, then, that she’d decided on Lin Yi?

“How bout you help me out a little?” Jingyi said, deciding that she’d continue on, since she’d taken a seat at Lin Yi’s table already.

“What’s your name?” Lin Yi asked, his eyes on Jingyi.

“Me?” Jingyi wasn’t expecting this- this good-looking dude here didn’t follow the conventional path, always answering questions with another question.

“Sun Jingyi.” Jingyi answered after some hesitation.

(she keeps calling Lin Yi ‘handsome man’, which isn’t a cringey thing to do in chinese, but it sounds pretty bad if I added ‘handsome’ to all her sentences earlier)

“Stop calling me handsome, I’m Lin Yi.” Lin Yi made sure to make eye contact the whole time they were talking- he’d be able to tell if the woman were lying or not through small details and movements coming from her eyes. He’d have asked her to scram if she lied, regardless of how pretty she was.

Lin Yi wasn’t keen on wasting time with bullshit at all.

Jingyi hadn’t lied, however, and Lin Yi decided to keep the conversation alive for a bit longer.

Jingyi didn’t think Lin Yi would just give her his name like that, and she wondered the nature of Lin Yi’s patronage. He didn’t seem like he was on a hunt for women… Could he be putting on airs, so as to attract the attention of people like her?

“Alright, Lin Yi- what do you say to helping me out?” Jingyi didn’t care if this was Lin Yi’s real personality, or just an act to make himself look cool- the most pressing matter at hand still remained unsolved.

“What do you need?” Lin Yi asked.

“Be my boyfriend.” Jingyi said.

Lin Yi looked up and down at the woman’s body, sizing her up. “Love at first sight..? Are you okay?”

“……” Jingyi’s face reddened as she explained herself. “It’s just temporary, just for a while. Well?”

“Ah, a shield, right? Should’ve said so earlier.” Lin Yi understood Jingyi’s intentions immediately- it wasn’t the first time he’d been in a situation like this, after all. Mengyao sent him to Songshan precisely for that reason as well, after all, although he wasn’t given permission to get into that role yet. “I thought you were horny or something.”

“……” Jingyi was speechless- only this guy could say something like that to her. So this was what it felt like when a woman got disregarded, apparently… She wanted to kick Lin Yi to death for that.

She’d have left the table if she weren’t in such a rush for Lin Yi’s help.

“Yep, that’s it. Just follow my lead later if you get it- you won’t need to say much. Let me handle everything.” Jingyi ordered. “I’ll treat you to a feast after this whole thing.”

“Maybe not a feast. Just give me some money- I don’t have time.” It was true- he still had to get the two girls home safely afterward… He hadn’t the luxury to be feasting or anything. Mengyao would explode again if she found out about that, too.

Jingyi was in disbelief- this Lin Yi was too much. He’d even let his eyes waver a little longer on her chest when he was sizing her up earlier, didn’t he?

Yet the guy just rejected the chance to dine with her directly, even asking her to give him money! Was this even considered putting on airs, at this point..?

Jingyi didn’t really think that that was the case anymore- she’d met her fair share of people who’d put on airs. She knew the appeal her features and curves had on men, after all.

Her beauty always stunned the men around her, compelling them to lust over her and try to win her favor… Some men, however, went for the opposite route, opting instead to act uninterested and cool, so as to get her to have interest in them. They were the type of men she held the most disdain for.