CHAPTER 923: ORION AND KATE (PART-3)

The city mall buzzed with kids running between stores, shoppers juggling bags, and the hum of escalators filling the air. The Thursday morning rush hours brought many people to the mall for the discounted prices.

Orion and Kate moved through the crowd, the blonde practically glowing with excitement as she darted from display to display. handbags, shoes—her arms were full in no time, while Orion trailed behind, hands in his pockets, nodding occasionally, not intending to carry her shopping bags at all.

In the end, they ended up in the dress section. She went on trying on dresses over and over again, showing off to Orion and asking his opinion every time, but only simple diplomatic but disinterested words escaped his mouth.

"What do you think?" she asked, twirling in a light blue dress.

"It’s good," Orion replied flatly.

She tried another—a red evening gown. "And now?"

"Yeah... good."

Another—a white summer dress.

"Okay," he nodded.

Kate pouted, puffing her cheeks in frustration. "Can’t you give a more enthusiastic answer?!"

Orion just shrugged. "They all look fine."

After a dozen attempts, Kate stopped and gave him a pointed glare. "You’re... really noncooperative," she said.

Orion shrugged casually. "It’s not like we’re familiar. I’m not bold enough to act like that."

Kate narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a few seconds. Suddenly, her eyes wandered around, spotting that only a couple of shoppers were around apart from the staff members nearby, and something clicked in her head.

With a huff, Kate turned and stomped back into the fitting room, clearly not satisfied with his lack of excitement.

After a moment of silence, she peeked out from behind the curtain, her head barely visible. Her voice was sweet yet playful as she called, "Orion~"

He raised an eyebrow, sensing trouble. "What?"

She giggled. "I need some help."

Orion frowned. "With what?"

"The zipper," she said, her tone innocent. "I can’t reach it."

He hesitated. "Why are you calling me?"

"Who else am I supposed to call? The strangers?" she teased. "Come on, I can’t stay in here forever!"

As Orion hesitated, Kate then said, "Aren’t you my bodyguard who was supposed to protect me? Now, Your Miss is in trouble of facing embarrassment. Shouldn’t you help her out?"

Orion wasn’t convinced by her logic, but not wanting any trouble, he sighed and stepped inside the fitting room, expecting to see another one of her usual dresses. But when his eyes landed on her, he froze.

Kate stood there in a tight, one-piece swimsuit, her thighs exposed, her smooth skin practically glowing under the soft light. The suit hugged her figure, accentuating her curves in a way that made Orion uncomfortable.

He quickly averted his gaze, focusing on the zipper rather than the sight before him. "Just stay still," he muttered.

She smirked, clearly enjoying his reaction. "Why are you looking away? It’s just a swimsuit. Moreover, for someone who looked me bare naked, don’t you think you’re feeling an embarrassment, a joke now?"

Ignoring her teasing, he swiftly unzipped the back of the swimsuit, stepping away as soon as the task was done. "There, it’s done."

Kate hummed. "Thanks~ but don’t go just yet."

Before he could react, Kate casually began undressing right in front of him.

Orion turned his head sharply, his face heating up. "What are you doing?!" he scolded.

But when he dared to glance back, he realized that she wasn’t naked—she was still wearing her undergarments.

Kate burst into laughter. "You’re so easy to mess with!"

He clenched his jaw, feeling utterly played. "Stop messing around," he grumbled, turning to leave.

Still chuckling, Kate slipped into another dress. "Be honest. If you think I was naked, why did you glance back? Aren’t you taking your chance to see me naked again?"

Orion folded his arms, looking away. "No way. Why... why would I like to see you naked? I know that you are wearing a dress underneath." Then, as an afterthought, he murmured. "I slept with many beauties in the past. Your body isn’t great to bring an arousal."

After a brief pause, he further added. "And for your information, even if you expose yourself in front of me, you can’t embarrass me. I’ll go out and wait. You finish and come..."

Kate didn’t take his words to heart. But instead, she smirked, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes. "Oh? You think that wasn’t embarrassing?" She stepped closer, tilting her head. "Then maybe I should show you what real teasing looks like."

Orion frowned, sensing trouble. "What are you—"

Before he could finish, Kate suddenly let out a loud, dramatic moan.

"Aaah~! honey~!" she cried in an exaggerated, sultry voice. "Not here... Aah~ don’t touch me there..."

His eyes widened in horror. "What the hell are you doing?!"

She didn’t stop. "Mmm~! Honey~ not so rough~! Please be gentle... Aah~"

Orion immediately left the fitting room, but just as he stepped out, he locked eyes with a staff member who had been walking past.

The woman froze.

Orion froze.

The air between them grew painfully awkward.

The staff member’s eyes flickered between Orion and the closed fitting room curtain, her expression slowly turning into a knowing smile.

Orion’s face turned crimson. Without another word, he spun on his heels and stormed out of the store, his jaw clenched in frustration. Behind him, Kate burst into laughter. Holding her stomach, she wiped away a tear and grinned. "That was way too funny! Can’t believe this is the same cute guy who exhibited such coldness yesterday..."

Several hours later, the sky had darkened, and the streets of the city were glowing with neon lights.

Over the past ten hours, they went shopping, had a lunch date, went to Arcade games, then bowling, then on a street food tour.

And yet, Kate still wasn’t done.

"Come on, one last stop!" she declared just when Orion thought they would return to the hotel.

Orion sighed. "Where now?"

Kate grinned mischievously. "The movies!"

Orion immediately shook his head. "No, I’m exhausted, not physically. But mentally." After a pause, he sort of complained, "Just how much do you want to spend this day to remove that bad mood you had in the morning?"

Kate, however, smirked and placed a hand on her hip. "Orion~ did you forget that you promised to protect me 24/7?"

Orion tensed. "Yes."

"Well then!" She clasped her hands together dramatically. "What if I get attacked inside the theater? What if a dangerous assassin is hiding in the seats?"

Orion pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply. "Seriously?"

"I’m a VIP. You never know when I will be attacked." Kate giggled in victory and practically skipped ahead toward the movie theater, dragging him along. "Let’s watch a romantic movie! I heard Actress Xiaomei’s movie is still in theaters..."

Orion didn’t even bother arguing anymore. He simply resigned himself to his fate.

And so, he found himself sitting in a dimly lit theater, watching a romance film filled with dramatic confessions, passionate kisses, and emotional love scenes, one of the boldest movies of Zhonggou origin. While he likes to watch such movies too, he doesn’t want to watch them with Kate. He would want to watch it with his girlfriend instead. And moreover, disinterested as he was, as someone from the future who had already seen this movie more than a few times in his life, none of the scenes excited him a bit.

Kate, on the other hand, was enjoying every second of it. Occasionally, she’d steal glances at him, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

Today seemed to have been way too fun for her.

For Orion, however, it was one of the most exhausting days of his life. He could only look forward to the day he finishes his 3-day work commitment and returns to Selene’s side.

After a while, at Hotel Oasis;

Mark, Kate’s fiance, was striding left and right in the room, looking at his watch every now and then.

"It’s already 10:45... how long does it take for her to return..." He muttered in frustration.

After taking a couple of steps, he stopped as a thought crept into his mind. "She will return, right? She won’t check into some other hotel with that bast*rd, right? She wasn’t even picking up my calls..."

Right then, his phone buzzed, and he hurriedly lifted the call. "Hello, babe..."

Kate’s voice sounded a bit annoying from the other side as she said, "What is it? You called more than thirty times..."