Lin Ting heard the sound of the door opening and couldn’t help but lift her head, only to realize this wasn’t her room, but Duan Ling’s.
She felt an awkward chill crawl up her scalp.
When they were little, Duan Xinning was very clingy to their parents.
For several years, when their parents had to travel for work, they had to bring her along, leaving Duan Ling alone at home.
So, they asked Lin Ting’s parents to help take care of him for a few days.
Li Jingqiu, to make things easier, had Lin Ting bathe and sleep together with Duan Ling at that time.
She figured they were just a few years old and didn’t need to be wary of anything.
That’s how their revolutionary friendship formed—they even bathed together in the same basin as kids.
But now, they had grown up.
They needed to be more careful.
“I just thought this was my own room,” Lin Ting explained hurriedly, flipping open the blanket to find her bra.
“Hm.” Duan Ling turned his back to her.
His blanket happened to be the same color as the bra she was wearing today, making it hard to spot.
Lin Ting shook the blanket, and the bra, buried deep within, finally slipped out.
Maybe she shook too hard because it fell off the bed and hit Duan Ling, who was standing nearby.
Just before it was about to fall on the floor, a slender hand caught it in time.
Lin Ting’s gaze followed the hand upward and stopped at Duan Ling’s face.
His expression was calm as he handed the bra back to her, then glanced at the math test paper where she had circled key points with a pen.
“You almost done with this test?”
“Almost. There are a few questions I haven’t figured out yet, so they’re blank. It feels a bit hard,” Lin Ting replied, heart pounding like a drum as she took the bra back and hurried into the bathroom to put it on.
She picked up her phone from the desk to check the time and tried to sound natural: “You’re eating way too slowly, half an hour behind me.”
Duan Ling sat down on the bed she had just vacated.
“Aunt Li asked me some questions.”
Lin Ting noticed he seemed to have forgotten what had just happened, so she relaxed a little: “You’ve known my mom for a while now. You know she’s talkative. You should have found an excuse to avoid her.” She usually ran off as soon as Li Jingqiu started going on and on.
He smiled but said nothing.
Lin Ting stretched and skillfully poured herself a glass of water.
Duan Ling’s room always had a cup of water for her.
“What did my mom ask? About your grades?”
Older generations loved to quiz younger students on their academic performance every now and then.
Duan Ling took the test paper and looked it over.
“Aunt Li asked if you had any early romances at school.”
Lin Ting choked on her water.
Even if she did have a boyfriend, so what?
As long as it didn’t affect her studies, it was fine.
Abroad, there wasn’t even a concept of “early romance.”
It was seen as part of learning and growing up.
Apparently, that was only a domestic thing.
Well, Lin Ting could understand.
After all, cultures vary from country to country due to their own circumstances.
There was no right or wrong, only differences.
And sex education at home was still conservative.
By domestic standards of early romance, she was definitely old enough to date—she had just turned eighteen, and although it was recent, she was officially an adult.
So, it wasn’t early romance.
Lin Ting sat down beside him and took another sip of water.
“My mom wants you to keep an eye on me?”
Duan Ling marked a score on her paper with a pencil.
He had done this test before class today and remembered the correct answers, so he could quickly grade it.
“She just asked. It’s not really ‘keeping an eye on’.”
“How did you answer?”
“What else could I say? Of course not.” He suddenly smirked and teased, “Or are you hiding a boyfriend from me?”
‘Not a chance. No time, and besides, there wasn’t anyone she fancied.’ She thought to herself.
Lin Ting leaned back on the bed and grabbed the test paper from his hand.
“Yes, I’m dating—Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry, and biology. We talk day and night. Been dating them for years. They torment me thousands of times, but I treat them like my first love.”
Duan Ling also lay down and unconsciously took a deep breath, sensing the new scent in the room.
Lin Ting looked at the scores on the paper, dissatisfied: “Why did you grade so fast? I haven’t finished some questions.”
“I’ll add points after you finish.”
“Alright then.” She continued working on the test, the pen gliding over the smooth paper.
“I’m not going home tonight. After I finish this test, I’ll sleep on the floor in Xinning’s room. My room is so hot.”
The air conditioner had broken yesterday afternoon.
Last night, she had to sleep with a fan on, waking up drenched in sweat.
She didn’t know how her parents could stand sleeping in a room without AC.
She had asked them if they were hot, but they said, “A peaceful mind keeps you cool.”
Maybe some people could really do that, but Lin Ting couldn’t.
“Okay.”
Duan Ling got up to grab a book.
He and Lin Ting were a bit different—she liked studying problems at night, he preferred doing so during the day and reading extracurricular books on human anatomy at night.
Lin Ting poked her head over to look and immediately saw a bloody photo with an accompanying caption.
“Looking at those books again?”
Duan Ling glanced up and casually scanned her low neckline before quickly looking away.
Lin Ting clicked her pen on his book and curiously asked, “Why do you like those books? Planning to be a surgeon someday?”
She had wanted to ask for a while.
Duan Ling pointed vaguely under the bed, replying with a question instead, “Then why do you like that kind of book? Planning to try each one out?”
In middle school, Lin Ting got into some slightly risqué novels through classmates.
Now in high school, she read more explicit books.
But she had a strange habit—she didn’t like ebooks and preferred physical books, and she had slowly collected a big box of them.
Li Jingqiu never allowed Lin Ting to read those kinds of books at her young age and would have confiscated them.
So Lin Ting secretly moved that box of books under Duan Ling’s bed, asking him to keep them safe for a while until she found a better place to move them.
She thought about putting them in Duan Xinning’s room, but Aunt Feng came to clean there every few days, so it was too risky.
Duan Ling’s room was different.
He had cleaned it himself since middle school, and his parents rarely entered.
It was safe.
Lin Ting flipped off the bed and pulled out the box from under it, giving a sheepish smile.
“You’re overthinking it. I don’t read those books because I want to practice what’s in them. I just find it relaxing.”
Duan Ling turned the page.
Another, even bloodier photo showed a human heart sliced open.
“I don’t read those books because I want to be a surgeon. I just find it interesting.”
She shrugged, “Alright then, humans don’t share joys or sorrows, nor hobbies.”
Lin Ting confirmed her books were still there and pushed the box back under the bed.
Returning to the bed, she mischievously asked, “Duan Ling, how much money have you saved up?”
Duan Ling asked, “Why?”
She smiled ingratiatingly: “I’ve been eyeing a new set of books for a few days. It costs a few hundred.”
Her monthly allowance was limited, and she spent almost all of it on books, so she couldn’t save much.
“How much do you need?”
Lin Ting held up five fingers: “Five hundred. I’ll pay you back next month.”
Then she added another finger, “Actually, six hundred.”
Duan Ling’s eyes curved slightly.
“You said the same thing two months ago.”
“Geez, like I wouldn’t pay you back,” Lin Ting said, putting away her sweet smile.
“Forget it. If you don’t want to lend me the money, then don’t.”
“I never said I wouldn’t.”
Able to yield and assert herself as needed, Lin Ting’s smile returned smoothly as she shook his hand.
“So you’re saying yes?”
Duan Ling opened a drawer and took out some money for her.
Lin Ting received it excitedly, arms opening wide to hug Duan Ling.
“Ahhh! I can finally buy that limited edition set! Thank you!”
They hugged face to face.
The softness of her body pressed against his chest, and Duan Ling pushed her away, pulling the blanket over himself.
Lin Ting was so caught up in joy that she didn’t notice anything unusual.
***
At 10:30 PM, Duan Ling heard the faint sound of a pen dropping.
He looked up and saw Lin Ting had fallen asleep on the bed, the air conditioning making her too comfortable.
Her grip loosened, and the pen rolled off the bed.
Duan Ling wanted to pick up the pen, but Lin Ting, restless even in sleep, suddenly slapped him.
He grabbed her hand.
In her dream, she felt restrained and kicked him with her leg.
The blow landed in his waist and abdomen.
The pain mixed with pleasure, making his breathing go haywire, and he instinctively released her hand.
The next second, Lin Ting slapped him again, the sharp sound echoing through the room.
She slowly woke up, saw Duan Ling’s face was half red, then noticed her own palm was red and tingling.
Naturally, she guessed what had happened.
She fell asleep in Duan Ling’s room and hit him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” she said.
Duan Ling whispered, “I know.”
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Duan Xinning’s voice came through: “Tingting, bro, I cut some Hami melon. Are you guys coming out to eat, or should I bring it in?”
Lin Ting got out of bed and put on her shoes to open the door.
She walked out briskly, grabbed a piece of melon to eat, and asked, “Do you have any ice packs at home?”
Duan Xinning was puzzled, “There are a few. Why do you need an ice pack? Are you hot? Doesn’t my brother’s room have air conditioning?”
Lin Ting closed the door casually to prevent Duan Xinning from seeing Duan Ling’s “miserable state.”
She felt a bit embarrassed.
“I accidentally hit your brother just now. I want to get him an ice pack so he won’t be swollen tomorrow. Tomorrow’s Friday, and we have school. If Duan Ling goes with a swollen face, he’ll definitely attract attention.”
As soon as Lin Ting said this, Duan Xinning, who had been hit by Lin Ting before, immediately knew what happened.
Lin Ting had fallen asleep in her brother’s room and hit him.
Lin Ting usually didn’t exercise much, but she was really strong and the hits really hurt.
Duan Xinning didn’t even dare to think about what it felt like to be hit by her.
“Yeah.”
She quickly finished the melon and ran downstairs to get an ice pack for Duan Ling’s face.
***
After applying the ice pack, it was very late.
Lin Ting leaned against the window and called toward their house, “Mom, I’m sleeping over at Xinning’s tonight. I’m not going home.”
“Remember to get up early tomorrow. Don’t sleep in again,” Li Jingqiu replied, as usual not paying much attention.
Lin Ting had always liked hanging around the Duan siblings and staying over at their house.
“Got it.”
Lin Ting closed the window, happily leaving Duan Ling’s room to head to Duan Xinning’s room.
After Lin Ting left, Duan Ling stared blankly at the ice pack in his hand, suddenly feeling hotter and hotter.
He grabbed the remote, turned the AC to the lowest setting, pulled the curtains, turned off the light, and went to bed.
In the middle of the night, he had a dream.
***
The next morning, when Duan Ling woke up, he felt wet and sticky below, with a slightly fishy smell.
His blanket and pants were dirty.
He wanted to go to the bathroom to change.
Just as he got out of bed, there was a knock on the door.
“Duan Ling, can I come in?”
It was Lin Ting’s voice.
He instinctively replied, “You can.”
Lin Ting’s footsteps were light, and her tone was cheerful: “Duan Ling, I woke up early today and am going to buy breakfast for you guys. What do you want…”
She stopped halfway, looking at the wet stain on Duan Ling’s lower body.
Duan Ling instantly remembered his situation and almost immediately turned his back.
Because under her gaze, it had risen again.
Duan Ling knew the difference between “normal morning reaction” and “sexual craving.”
This was not the former but the latter.
His sexual cravings, which began at fifteen, hadn’t disappeared but had grown stronger, tormenting his body.
After a few seconds, Duan Ling’s voice was lower than usual: “Can you go out for a moment?”
“Okay.” Lin Ting left quickly.
Boys are full of energy; morning erections are normal, and she fully understood.
Still, Lin Ting’s face couldn’t help but flush.
What a coincidence to run into him at that moment!
Duan Ling locked the door, entered the bathroom, and turned on hot water for a shower.
Even near the end of the shower, there was no sign of it subsiding.
He reluctantly grabbed himself.
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