7:32 AM.
Li Xingya lay slumped over the desk, clutching her stomach in silence.
‘My eyelids are so heavy.’
‘I want to rest.’
“Xiaoya, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll be late for class.”
“Mmm.”
“Is something wrong?”
“…I’m a little cold.”
“Cold?”
Lin Jin’an looked at the untouched breakfast and brown sugar water on the desk.
She leaned in and reached out to feel Li Xingya’s forehead.
“You’ve got a fever.”
“Have I…?”
“What do you mean ‘have I’? You’re already delirious from it.”
Lin Jin’an took out her phone.
“I’ll help you request leave from school. Stay home and rest properly today.”
“Mm.”
Li Xingya cautiously inched her way closer to Lin Jin’an.
‘Just a little closer.’
‘I want to be closer to Sister.’
In contrast, Lin Jin’an picked up the bowl of brown sugar water and brought it to Li Xingya’s lips.
“Open up.”
Li Xingya: “?”
Her head spinning, Li Xingya couldn’t figure out what Lin Jin’an was trying to do.
She mechanically reached out her hand.
“I’ll do it myself.”
At times like this, the adult soul inside her body started to act up.
‘I’ve already been cared for this much. Drinking a bowl of brown sugar water should at least be something I do myself.’
‘Don’t judge me by my looks. I fought through colds on my own quite a few times in my past life.’
‘I have plenty of experience with this.’
That was what Li Xingya thought.
But when she took the bowl from Lin Jin’an’s hands, her physical weakness proved far worse than she’d expected.
With a slight tremor of her wrist, the brown sugar water she couldn’t hold steady spilled out, staining Li Xingya’s white school uniform and the floor beneath her feet.
When it came down to it—Li Xingya’s body was naturally frail.
She was a Sleeping Beauty who’d topple over with the lightest push.
When sick, she was naturally even weaker and more helpless.
A Li Xingya like this couldn’t even take care of herself, could she?
‘Ah.’
Li Xingya blinked.
She stared at the conspicuous puddle of water on the floor.
“I’m sorry.”
Li Xingya looked up.
“Sister, please don’t be angry.”
Her body instinctively craved being cared for, and instinctively feared being abandoned.
The Li Xingya who despised Lin Jin’an yesterday.
The Li Xingya who depended on Lin Jin’an today.
When it came down to it, both were Li Xingya.
“I’m not angry.”
“Then why are your eyebrows furrowed…?”
Lin Jin’an let out a sigh and carefully scooped Li Xingya up.
“Because the way you look right now is worrying.”
Back in the room, Lin Jin’an set Li Xingya down by the bed, then pulled off Li Xingya’s butterfly bow tie.
“Take off your clothes. When you’re soaked through, you’ll only feel colder.”
Her voice was soft.
“Mm.”
Li Xingya trembled slightly and nodded.
Before she realized she had a cold, Li Xingya could still maintain a shred of composure.
But once she knew for certain she had a fever, her willpower crumbled completely under the justification that “sick people are allowed to act spoiled.”
‘I want Sister to keep taking care of me.’
“Raise your arms.”
Lin Jin’an patted Li Xingya’s arm.
Li Xingya raised her hands, then suddenly lowered them again halfway.
She shook her head.
“I—I’ll take it off myself.”
Lin Jin’an: “?”
‘Sick Xiaoya is so fussy.’
‘She gets shy at times normally, but it’s never been this troublesome before.’
“Mmm, so cold.”
Hearing Li Xingya’s complaint, Lin Jin’an thought it over seriously.
‘I’ll just use a firmer approach.’
And then, the school uniform on Li Xingya’s body was removed through means that bordered on rough.
Li Xingya, now in her underwear, shrunk in on herself.
“Still cold.”
Lin Jin’an grabbed the blanket and draped it over Li Xingya.
“Lie down for now. I’ll toss the clothes in the washing machine and find you some cold medicine while I’m at it.”
“No…”
Li Xingya shook her head, tightly gripping Lin Jin’an’s sleeve.
“What is it now?”
Li Xingya looked up, gazing at Lin Jin’an with a pitiful expression.
“I don’t want Sister to leave… My body feels awful, but being by Sister’s side makes it feel so much better. Really.”
Li Xingya’s face turned bright red.
Whether it was from the fever or from what she’d just said, she couldn’t tell.
“Do you know what you’re saying?”
Lin Jin’an placed her left hand on her hip.
‘How is she subconsciously seducing people again?’
‘You’re honestly such a terrible person.’
‘Think about me a little, would you? Keeping myself in check as your sister has been really hard.’
‘I need to put a firm stop to this.’
“Li Xingya.”
Lin Jin’an’s voice dropped.
“Yes?”
Li Xingya looked up with innocent, wide eyes, carrying an air of “whatever you say, I’ll do,” and stared straight at Lin Jin’an.
“Guh…!”
Lin Jin’an couldn’t find her words.
‘In practice.’
‘This only makes me want to commit a crime even more.’
“Sister.”
Li Xingya tilted her head slightly.
“Let’s rest together today?”
‘Like I did with the other Sister yesterday.’
Li Xingya endured the pain in her abdomen, struggling to kneel up on the bed.
She grabbed Lin Jin’an’s collar, then let her body fall backward.
The two of them tumbled onto the bed together.
Lin Jin’an looked down at Li Xingya beneath her, and her Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbed.
‘Xiaoya, do you really want your sister to commit a crime and retire from the industry?’
Fortunately, there was a reason Lin Jin’an could become a national idol—her restraint had always been impressive.
Lin Jin’an held back.
“It hurts.”
Li Xingya puffed out her cheeks and complained in a small voice.
“Then don’t do things like that if you know it hurts.”
“But… when I smell the fragrance on Sister, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Li Xingya remembered that whenever she held Meng Yiqiao’s hand, Meng Yiqiao would agree to sleep together.
So what about now?
‘Why is Sister still not agreeing even though she’s already on top of me?’
Li Xingya was very cold right now.
She remembered that Lin Jin’an’s body was very warm.
Hugging Sister while sleeping would definitely be comfortable.
Schlrp.
Lin Jin’an: “!”
Li Xingya tentatively licked Lin Jin’an’s finger.
“Sister is an idiot.”
“Sister…”
Li Xingya gently bit down on Lin Jin’an’s knuckle.
“If I do things like this… will Sister get angry?”
“No.”
“Then come sleep together with me?”
‘Since you won’t get angry at me,’
‘then please grant my request.’
“Xiaoya.”
“What is it, Sister?”
“When you’re out there, you’re not allowed to show this side to anyone else. Understood?”
“Huh?”
Lin Jin’an reached out a finger and poked Li Xingya’s rib.
“Say it. Understood?”
‘Anyone else would definitely not be able to hold back.’
‘Like…’
‘Right, like Meng Yiqiao, your good friend at school.’
‘Not everyone has the same professional integrity as your sister.’
“It hurts.”
The sharp pain above her abdomen made Li Xingya shrink back.
“…I understand, Sister.”
“Good.”
Lin Jin’an muttered under her breath.
She then grabbed the crumpled blanket from the side and casually draped it over both of them.
“For now, let’s get some proper rest.”
Lin Jin’an wrapped her arms around Li Xingya.
Lin Jin’an had finally agreed, and Li Xingya was so happy she was like a little kitten, burrowing into Lin Jin’an’s embrace over and over.
Once she’d pressed as close as physically possible, Li Xingya finally closed her eyes in satisfaction.
‘Lin Jin’an is a good sister.’
‘Even when my requests are a bit excessive, she won’t scold me.’
‘A good sister can like me, but please never fall in love with me.’
‘Because when I finish paying back my debt and leave, you’ll be heartbroken.’