With each lash of the belt, Liu Xie felt as though a faint phantom pain began to emerge, her delicate eyebrows furrowing tighter and tighter.
Then, just as the belt was raised high and about to strike again, Liu Xie snapped her eyes open in fright.
Her heart raced as she quickly glanced around, discovering that she was not, in fact, tied to a bench at home being whipped by a belt. Only then did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
A sense of safety after surviving disaster washed over Liu Xie as she hugged the head in her arms.
Wait a second, head?
Liu Xie abruptly looked down and saw, nestled in her embrace, the head of her dear little brother.
Because he was facing her, when Liu Anran’s head was pulled tight against her chest, his face was buried perfectly between those two soft mounds, pressed so deep that the flesh was squished into a very conspicuous shape.
Although, it seemed this squeezing was because she had pushed Liu Anran’s head tightly into her chest herself.
Awkwardly, she loosened her grip. Liu Anran’s steady, warm and slightly ticklish breaths that had been brushing her chest now also seemed to pause.
Liu Xie knew that yesterday, she had drawn a line down the middle of the bed with that now-missing teddy bear as a boundary, but this morning, she woke to such a scene.
Which meant, something must have happened after she fell asleep last night.
Judging by the current situation, it seemed even more likely that she was the one who did something in her sleep—after all, she was the one holding Liu Anran’s head. Considering that, it was already quite fortunate that he hadn’t suffocated.
Liu Xie released Liu Anran and shrank backward, but before she’d put more than a couple inches between them, she felt a sense of restraint at her lower back.
Liu Anran, asleep, was hugging her waist, just as she had been hugging his head.
Now this was really hard to explain away. This was definitely something Liu Anran had done after falling asleep last night.
So she simply reached out and clamped his nostrils shut, apparently wanting to use this ruthless trick to wake him from sleep.
Of course, after such a move from Liu Xie, Liu Anran woke up. However, seeing his clear, bright eyes, Liu Xie got the feeling he had been awake for a while already.
“Look at you, look at you. Didn’t I tell you that men and women shouldn’t have such intimate contact? Do you think this is something siblings should be doing?” Liu Xie pointed at Liu Anran’s hand around her waist, looking righteously indignant.
Of course, she only mentioned this; she didn’t bring up the even more inappropriate behavior of pressing Liu Anran’s head into her chest in the middle of the night.
Liu Anran just gave her a mild glance, then decisively let go with both hands.
Because it seemed his sister really didn’t like it.
“After you kicked the teddy bear off the bed last night, you started rolling all over the place—sometimes you’d roll into my arms, other times, bored, you’d roll under the bed.” Liu Anran’s tone was calm, as if he were simply stating facts.
“If I hadn’t held onto you, you would’ve rolled yourself right under the bed.”
After hearing Liu Anran’s explanation, Liu Xie suddenly felt her cheeks heat up. She knew all too well that she was truly capable of doing such a thing.
“So I still think two people sleeping on the same bed isn’t very convenient…” Liu Xie muttered. “Look at you, you were busy all night long, clearly didn’t sleep well at all. Maybe I should just move back to my dorm?”
Right now, she simply felt embarrassed.
“It’s fine, I don’t mind the trouble.” Liu Anran tugged the quilt, already covering both of them, a bit more over Liu Xie. “It actually makes me happy that you need me like this. You can keep living here if you want—I don’t mind sleeping with you in my arms every night.”
Liu Xie raised an eyebrow, feeling like her dear little brother’s words held a hidden meaning.
“What time is it?” Since Liu Xie knew she was partly to blame, she didn’t want to dwell on the topic.
“Seven o’clock,” Liu Anran answered after checking his phone on the bedside table.
“What time do you start work?” Hearing that she still had a full hour before her 8 AM class, Liu Xie breathed a long sigh of relief.
“Seven.”
“Huh?” With her messy golden hair, Liu Xie shot upright in bed and looked at Liu Anran beside her. “So you’re already supposed to be at work?”
“It’s not a big deal. The real work that needs my attention doesn’t start cropping up until nine. If I go in now, all I’ll do is sit in the office pressuring other employees, catching latecomers, and giving heartfelt advice about their work.”
“Excellent, you fit every stereotype I have about bosses.” Liu Xie nodded approvingly.
“So do you want to sleep a bit longer? Or are you planning to head to school now? If you want to leave, I’ll drive you.” Liu Anran also got out of bed.
After weighing her options, Liu Xie decided to leave early. Her class started at eight, so she wanted to get to school sooner.
After all, she still had to stop by her dorm and dig through the chaotic but freshly stacked pile of books to find the textbook she needed.
The two of them left the bedroom one after the other. After a quick wash, Liu Xie wasn’t at all surprised to see Liu Anran pull out a dress in her size.
Blue and white, and not a short skirt.
Not only was it her favorite color, it was her favorite style.
Liu Xie didn’t know why, but she was starting to get used to these unexpectedly thoughtful touches.
“There’s brown sugar water on the table. Drink it after breakfast,” Liu Anran said, pointing at the living room coffee table.
There were two steaming hot shumai there, along with a cup of warm brown sugar water.
Not only that, there were red dates, donkey-hide gelatin, and goji berries.
“Little bro…” Liu Xie clutched the clothes and paused at the bedroom door before changing, calling out to Liu Anran outside, “If you keep being this weirdly considerate, I’m really going to start thinking the wrong way.”
“Thinking the wrong way about what?”
Liu Xie looked up into Liu Anran’s clear eyes, which actually made her feel like she was the one with a dirty mind.
“Nothing.”
She sighed, her face full of gloom as she changed clothes, then got into the passenger seat of her little brother’s car, stepping onto campus amid the admiring stares of others.
“If anything comes up, call me. I’ll come right away.”
Liu Anran left.
Liu Xie inexplicably let out a sigh, feeling a bit melancholy.
She couldn’t quite tell what kind of feelings her dear little brother actually had for her. It seemed like there was nothing wrong, but also maybe there was.
She also couldn’t figure out whether she was the one with a dirty mind, or if Liu Anran was.
Liu Xie let out a long breath and picked up her phone, ready to check on her favorite roommate.
[Second, did you forget to register your stay? You’re being counted as not returning to the dorm last night.]
“Crap.”
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