Meanwhile, Sunny and the others didn't leave because they hadn't received Sophie's call.
“Mark, is Sophie in trouble? It shouldn't take her longer than three or four minutes to ride the elevator. Why hasn't she called after so long? We should go up and check on her,” Sunny uttered worryingly.
“Give her a call first.” Now that Sophie is officially dating someone, the situation will become awkward if we go up and end up meeting Mr. Tristan there.
“Why? Wouldn't it be easier to go upstairs directly and check on her?” We've been waiting here for half an hour.
“What if Mr. Tristan is there?” Mark glanced at Sunny. The latter was still young, so it was normal for him to consider a matter from fewer perspectives.
Sunny was rendered speechless this time.
“Are you all right, Mark?” Undeniably, Sophie has rejected him, so he must be feeling anguished.
“I'm fine. Seriously. It is common for everyone to experience rejection. You all don't have to feel so worried about me. I am quite tough.”
There are so many other options out there for me. I am Mark Wheeler, after all. If I wish to, I can make girls offer themselves up to me with a flick of my finger.
“Shut up, Sunny!” Another one of the band members was at the limit of his patience.
Sunny was still young, and he had always hung out with them. He didn't have any dating experience, so it was a given for him to be clueless about how it felt to be lovelorn.
Mark was behaving in a typical manner as someone caught up in unrequited love. They would try their best to pretend they were fine in front of others regardless of the circumstances, and they didn't want others to sympathize with them.
“All right, then.” Sunny had no choice but to take out his phone and call Sophie.
Sophie was feeding Tristan when her phone rang. Hearing the ringtone, she put down the spoon in her hand before picking up the phone.
“Have you all gone back?” Sophie had completely forgotten about her promise to call Mark and the others.
“What the h*ll are you doing, Sophie? Didn't you say you would call us once you reached? Why haven't you called after so long? I was about to rush upstairs, thinking something bad might've happened to you,” Sunny immediately jabbered away after hearing her voice.
“I'm sorry. I forgot about that. I'm fine, so you all should go back and get some rest.”
Sophie patted her head. What's wrong with me? I tossed this matter to the back of my mind right after I saw Tristan when I returned home just now. Honestly, his presence is affecting me too much!
“This is unacceptable, Sophie. I reckon you don't even care about us. Is that it? All you had to do was to call and update us about your status, yet you'd forgotten all about it. What's keeping you busy?”
Sunny couldn't believe Sophie had failed to remember what she had promised while they had waited so long for her to call.
She glanced at Tristan, who was still lying on the couch.
Instantaneously, a hint of guilt rose within her.
Truth be told, she did not do that on purpose, but the moment she laid her eyes on Tristan, all she could think of was him.
Taking in her demeanor, Tristan immediately got up from the couch and took the phone from her.
“She's hanging out with me, so she wasn't free to call you guys. What's the matter? Do you have a problem with that?”
He wasn't pleased because his quality time with Sophie was being interrupted.
“Tristan? Why are you at Sophie's home? What are you trying to do? I'm warning you. Don't try anything funny. Otherwise, I won't let you off the hook.”
Sunny suddenly had the urge to leap out of the car. This Tristan has crossed the line. What is he doing at Sophie's house so late at night?
“It's nothing out of the ordinary even if something were to happen between a couple, right?”
“You—” Sunny was so pissed he was about to lose his mind.
Sophie was exasperated. What is he doing?
Then, she grabbed the phone from him.
“Sunny, I'm really sorry for forgetting about that. You all should go back now. We'll talk again on another day.”
“Sophie, I need to tell you this. Tristan is not a nice person. You should ask him to leave as soon as possible.” How can she allow a man to be at her home so late at night?
“Okay. I got it. You all should go home now.” She hung up the call after saying that.
On the other end of the call, Sunny put down his phone and glanced at the screen in utter disbelief after he heard the beeping sound coming from the speaker.
“What the h*ll!? I can't believe she hung up on me. What should we do, Mark? Tristan is at Sophie's home. Let's go upstairs too. I'm worried about leaving them alone inside the same house at this late hour.”
Upon listening to Sunny's complaint, Mark drove away at once.
He could rest assured knowing Sophie was safe.
As for the other aspects of her life, he figured she should manage on her own now that she was an adult.
Although they were her friends, they shouldn't meddle too much in her way of living.
“Mark—” Sunny wanted to speak further, but upon noticing Mark's expression, he didn't dare to utter another word. Perhaps Mark is feeling the worst right now. This is all Tristan's fault. If he hadn't shown up, Sophie would've become a couple with Mark. Unfortunately, things did not pan out as we had hoped, so Mark is left alone now. What exactly is love?
Meanwhile, after Sophie ended the call, Tristan hugged her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“Mark still hasn't given up on you?”
“Mr. Tristan, they are my best friends. They kept me company and provided me with all the support I needed during the lowest point of my life. Therefore, the bond between us will remain regardless of what happens.”
“I understand that.” Tristan had no intention of comparing himself to them.
“As for Mark, I trust he'll get over this sooner or later. Besides, if I did like him, we would've become a couple a long time ago. If that's the case, you won't be in the picture.”
She was implying to him that the sequence of people showing up in her life was not a deciding factor in romance, so he didn't need to worry.
“Yeah, I know that too.”
Tristan was aware of all the theories and principles, but he couldn't help feeling insecure.
Under normal circumstances, the female in a relationship would be the one who felt insecure. Unexpectedly, in their case, he was the unconfident one.
“I just care too much about you.”
In fact, he had never considered Mark his love rival because he knew Sophie had never harbored romantic feelings for Mark.
Tristan tightened his hold on the girl in his arms, as if she would vanish before his eyes if he let go of her.
Sophie responded by turning around and pecking him on the lips while standing on her tiptoes.
On Friday, at a quarter past three in the afternoon, a group of students discussed the recent big news in the entertainment field after their first class ended.
“Did you all know? The Wheelers terminated their contract with Sky Media.”
“It's been so long since we last heard any news about The Wheelers. I like them a lot. Their songs are amazing.”
“I heard they signed with a new company and are about to release their new album.”
“Did you all know Sophie established the new company?”
“What?”
“Willow, are you aware of this?” Sophie set up an entertainment company? This is such a reckless move. Are members of The Wheelers planning to ruin their careers?
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