A Billion Stars Can't Amount to You

When he chose the apartment, he stood in front of the bedroom window and thought that seeing those words was a coincidence.

A billion stars can’t amount to you... Don’t they mean Yi and Chen?

At the time, there were better apartments he could’ve chosen, but because of those words, he didn’t consider the other options and settled on this one. He paid up front and signed the contract right there and then.

He thought the slogan opposite his balcony window was his secret. Who knew that tonight, she would actually make the same connection?

The phone was still facing the night view, so she couldn’t see his face. After he replied to her, he thought about all this and his lips couldn’t help but curve up.

“You realized this coincidence before, right?” said Ji Yi, sounding a little proud.

He Jichen absent-mindedly responded with an “Mhm” but didn’t tell her he realized this many years ago.

“Oh right, tomorrow you...” Ji Yi changed the subject again.

But as she started to speak, a voice came from He Jichen’s side of the phone. “Mr. He, please sign these documents.”

It was Chen Bai’s voice.

Ji Yi was quick to stop the words: “First go to work.”

“Mm, please wait a moment,” replied He Jichen softly. Ji Yi noticed that the image on her phone screen had changed. He Jichen must’ve put the phone on the table as she was now looking at the ceiling of the balcony.

Then she heard the sound of paper rustling and she knew that He Jichen was reading through documents.

The picture of a serious-looking He Jichen in a suit, sitting behind a desk couldn’t help but pop up in her mind... It was truly quite a sight, yet it was an image she tried to repress...

Just as Ji Yi’s mind was deep in thought, she heard Chen Bai say, “Mr. He, why’s your hand bleeding?”

She suddenly snapped back to reality and perked her ears up, carefully listening to the conversation through the phone.

“Was it this afternoon...” It was a shame that Chen Bai only managed to say four words before he stopped. Was he stopped by He Jichen? But Chen Bai said He Jichen’s hand is bleeding. Is it serious?

Deep down, Ji Yi suddenly felt worried. Just as she was about to ask He Jichen, Chen Bai spoke again. “... Mr. He, I’ll go find you some band-aids. Though it might not be serious, what if it gets infected?”

He Jichen didn’t say anything, but Chen Bai’s footsteps sounded further and further away.

Soon enough, Ji Yi went back to listening to a wall of silence. Aside from the sounds of He Jichen flipping through papers and signing documents, nothing else was heard.

Bandaids... then it can’t be serious... Ji Yi relaxed slightly and didn’t bother He Jichen. She waited until she couldn’t hear anything on his side before asking, “Finished with work?”

“Mhm,” responded He Jichen as the image on the phone screen changed to the night’s view outside his window.

“You injured your hand? Is it serious?” asked Ji Yi, who was still actually worried about it.

“Not serious. It was just two scrapes.”

“Oh.” Ji Yi let out a sigh of relief then heard He Jichen’s bedroom door being pushed open. Chen Bai’s voice was heard. “Mr. He, there are no more band-aids in the first aid kit. Shall I go down and buy you two boxes?”

“No, it’s okay. The documents have been signed. If there’s nothing else, you can head home early,” said He Jichen immediately afterward in a flat voice.