Left with no choice, she had to turn back and ask Lin Ziyan for help.
“Hm? You don’t even know how to do this? If you beg me, I’ll teach you.”
The girl fell silent at those words. Clearly it was the other person who wanted her to wear them, yet now she had to beg just to be told how. Yes, she was the weaker one, the softer one—but did it have to be bullied like this?
She pursed her lips. A spark of anger rose. She simply turned her head away and decided to figure it out herself.
It’s not like she’d never worn socks before. They were just longer, and she was afraid of accidentally tearing them since it was her first time handling something like this. She smoothed the thigh-high socks flat and stubbornly tried pulling them up her legs.
In the end, she did manage to get them on… but it felt all wrong. Some parts were tight, others loose—everything felt off. The girl frowned. She tried to stand and take a couple of steps, but before she could even move properly, the very top of the sock suddenly slipped straight down. She had no choice but to sit back down.
“How does it feel?”
Arms crossed over her chest, Lin Ziyan had been watching the girl’s every move with the attitude of someone enjoying a good show. She had already guessed the girl would struggle, but she deliberately didn’t say anything—she was waiting for the girl to come begging.
Surprisingly, though, Ye Xingmian refused to speak. She fiddled with the socks again for a while—tugging here, adjusting there—until who knows whether she actually fixed anything. In the end she just sat there frowning, head lowered, retreating back into her shell.
“Hm? Don’t just stay quiet.”
Finding it somewhat amusing, Lin Ziyan deliberately used a teasing tone. She quietly scooted closer and sat right beside the girl.
The girl instinctively clenched her fists.
“Why do you want me to wear these things… Is it just to mess with me?”
From the moment she was inexplicably called into Lin Ziyan’s bedroom, to having her identity exposed and being threatened, to now being treated like a dress-up doll—being toyed with, occasionally insulted—she really couldn’t understand why Lin Ziyan was doing all this. Was it really that fun?
Yet she herself felt zero enjoyment.
“Hm? Aren’t you a girl now? Of course you have to wear girls’ clothes~” Lin Ziyan said in a tone that implied it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“I don’t need to!”
“No, you do. If I say you wear it, you wear it. From now on, at home, you’ll always wear outfits like this.”
“…What exactly do you want?” Ye Xingmian asked through gritted teeth.
“Of course, it’s to—”
Lin Ziyan suddenly paused mid-sentence. A strange, meaningful smile curved across her lips.
“Since you only have half a year left before you leave… how about, for these next six months, you act as my little maid and serve me? What do you think?”
“Don’t I already serve you every day?” Ye Xingmian felt Lin Ziyan was becoming more and more incomprehensible.
“That’s different!”
Lin Ziyan suddenly leaned in close and wrapped her arms around the girl’s slender frame. Those dark eyes were filled with amusement, curved like crescent moons.
“Before was before. Now is now. There are a lot of things I couldn’t do back then that I can do now~”
“Things you couldn’t do?” The girl instinctively shrank back a little.
“That’s right—for example—” Suddenly slipping her arms under the girl’s armpits, she pulled the light body tightly against her chest. While inhaling the faint, clean fragrance from the girl’s hair, she smiled wickedly.
“Back then I couldn’t openly dress you in girls’ clothes, and I definitely couldn’t hold you like this. Mm… the old you wasn’t nearly as cute as you are now.” Perhaps the old Lin Ziyan used to think about how to bully Ye Xingmian in the most entertaining ways—but now her thoughts had shifted slightly. She felt that having Ye Xingmian serve as her personal little maid actually sounded pretty nice. (Though honestly the two ideas weren’t mutually exclusive.)
Ye Xingmian listened to her words and only felt more baffled. What did she mean by “openly dress you in girls’ clothes”? Did she really enjoy seeing her in female clothing that much? Also—her embrace was way too tight. The two soft mounds pressing against her back made it hard to breathe.
“Let… let go of me…”
Trying to break free from Lin Ziyan’s arms only produced the opposite effect—Lin Ziyan hugged her even tighter. In a place the girl couldn’t see, an intoxicated look briefly flickered across Lin Ziyan’s face.
“So—no more going to the class president’s place, got it? I’ll convince Mom and Dad to treat you better. They might even consider getting you tutoring… as long as you obediently become my little maid. Oh, right—don’t sleep in that attic room anymore. From now on, just quietly come sleep in my room at night, okay?”
Ye Xingmian was at a complete loss for words. Right now Lin Ziyan seemed like a total pervert. Was this really the same aloof, sharp-tongued little sister she used to know?
“No way—if Uncle and Auntie find out…”
“Don’t worry. Mom and Dad won’t be home during the day today, and they almost never come into my room anyway. Even if they do, you can just hide in the wardrobe.”
“Still no…!”
Struggling, trying to win herself even a little breathing room. The girl felt like she was about to cry. What was all this? How had she never noticed before that Lin Ziyan was this… obsessive over girls?
She kept trying to escape the embrace, but suddenly Lin Ziyan let go. Without the restraint, the girl shot out of her arms and nearly lost balance, almost falling to the floor. After finally steadying herself, she lightly clutched her chest, turned around in confusion—and saw that Lin Ziyan’s expression had cooled considerably.
“Fine. I’ll give you time to think. Give me your answer tonight.”
Breathing heavily, Ye Xingmian frowned at her words.
“I already said no!”
Lin Ziyan’s face didn’t change. She stared coldly into the girl’s pink eyes and repeated herself.
“I’m giving you time to think.”
Hearing that, the girl felt her heart sink halfway to ice. In an instant she understood: the “think it over” Lin Ziyan was offering wasn’t about whether to agree or not—it was about whether to agree willingly… or be forced to agree.
This was an outright threat!
But what could she even say? Agree? Then what would happen afterward? Refuse? Who knew what Lin Ziyan might do next?
For a moment the girl felt completely lost. Agreeing felt wrong. Refusing also felt dangerous. Caught in a dilemma, in the end she simply lowered her head in silence.
“Come here and sit. Take the socks off.”
“What’s wrong?”
“You said they’re uncomfortable, right? I’ll help you put them on properly.”
“Huh?”
“What are you spacing out for? Hurry up.”
“…Okay.”
Silently sitting on the edge of the bed, the girl took off the thigh-highs she had just struggled so hard to pull on.
Lin Ziyan took the socks from her, got off the bed, and—to the girl’s stunned gaze—suddenly dropped to one knee on the floor.
“Zi… Ziyan… what are you doing?”
“Teaching you how to wear them, obviously.” Lin Ziyan said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Stretch your foot out.”
“This… feels kind of weird…”
“Just stretch it out. Stop talking so much.”
The girl still hesitated. One pale, delicate foot hovered in mid-air—unable to move forward or back. Impatient, Lin Ziyan simply reached out and took the small, fair foot directly into her hand.
“Eek!”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing…”
When she looked up, she saw the girl’s cheeks were bright red—nothing at all like “nothing.” Lin Ziyan found it a bit strange but didn’t dwell on it. She rolled up the sock and began explaining to the girl:
“First roll it up like this, then slowly slide it on. You have to go slowly—make sure it fits snugly against the skin.”
“Mm…”
Watching Lin Ziyan kneel beside her legs and patiently explain, the girl’s mind momentarily wandered.
For just a fleeting second… it almost felt like maybe agreeing to Lin Ziyan’s proposal wasn’t entirely impossible?
After all… right now, the other girl didn’t seem to be treating her that badly…?
But she failed to notice the faint, secretive smile that quietly curled at the corner of Lin Ziyan’s lips.