Jiang Ling looked up at Fang Wannian as she opened her arms toward her. The usually proud and delicate young lady now wore an expression of complete submission.
“You’re not really the heiress, are you?”
Jiang Ling blurted out without hesitation, her finger trembling slightly as she pointed at Fang Wannian. “She—she wouldn’t be this gentle with me!”
The warm atmosphere instantly vanished.
Hearing this, Fang Wannian frowned, a look of disbelief on her face.
“You want me to call you names, huh? Hopeless, pervert, sex maniac, idiot!”
Saying that, she closed the distance between them and forcefully grabbed Jiang Ling’s arm.
Jiang Ling stumbled to her feet, staring at Fang Wannian’s slightly annoyed expression, shrinking her shoulders nervously. “No, no, wait, listen to me first.”
Her response was a hug.
The sudden force made Jiang Ling feel a loud “thump” against her chest, followed by their bodies pressing tightly together, the scorching heat spreading through her entire body.
The moment she was embraced, Jiang Ling closed her eyes, her mind racing:
That really is an… unflatteringly sized chest…
But she didn’t dare say it out loud. Instead, she asked stiffly, “Um, may I ask what exactly is happening right now?”
“Do I really have to explain? Of course, it’s to build our bond.”
Fang Wannian’s tone sounded rather displeased.
“I was planning to take advantage of this warm moment to give you a loving hug from a teammate, but instead, I discovered your little secret, Miss Masochist?”
“Sorry, but I really don’t have that kind of hobby!”
Jiang Ling immediately protested, her body swaying within the embrace, the friction of their skin bringing a faint heat.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Fang Wannian let out a short gasp, gripping her shoulders firmly, her ears reddening as she bit her lip. “Don’t move… right now…”
Jiang Ling was pinned down by the strong grip, looking at Fang Wannian with wide eyes full of confusion as her skin slowly flushed warm.
Huh?
Although she knew Fang Wannian was easily embarrassed, she didn’t think she had done anything wrong.
They were just hugging tightly in the bath—wait!
Tightly hugging?
A chord suddenly snapped in Jiang Ling’s mind.
So the rough sensation rubbing against her chest from earlier was actually…
She clearly heard herself swallowing nervously, and her voice grew cautious: “Uh, um, you, I—”
What now!
Could someone please tell her how to handle this situation?
“Whew…”
Jiang Ling shivered helplessly as Fang Wannian’s sultry breath echoed slowly in her ear, half her body trembling uncontrollably. Using all her strength, she grabbed Fang Wannian’s shoulder and then painfully pushed her away.
Because of this movement, Fang Wannian’s not-so-firm bun loosened, golden hair cascading like a waterfall over her shoulders, brushing Jiang Ling’s fingers now and then, causing a tickling sensation in her heart.
“Hah, let’s go out and rest first. There’ll be plenty of time later to ‘bond’!”
Jiang Ling avoided looking at Fang Wannian’s expression, turned away, grabbed the bath towel that had been set aside, quickly wrapped it around herself, and hurried out.
“I command you to forget everything that just happened right now!”
Inside the room, Fang Wannian shouted angrily, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“How could I just suddenly forget something like that! Besides, you’re the one who suddenly hugged me first!”
Jiang Ling was on the verge of a breakdown. The more she tried to forget, the more the scene replayed in her mind.
“So we really have to resort to physical methods. I remember if the human brain suffers sudden trauma, it’s possible to forget certain memories. In that case—”
Seeing the gleam in Fang Wannian’s eyes fade, Jiang Ling immediately stepped forward, shaking her shoulders in panic.
“Stop thinking such dangerous things! You could seriously hurt yourself. That would be headline news!”
“What should I use to hit myself… a baseball bat…?”
“Hey! Stop thinking about it! Stop!!!”
For her own safety, Jiang Ling kept reassuring her over and over. “You’ll forget everything after a good night’s sleep. Don’t give up!”
Only then did Fang Wannian look dazedly at Jiang Ling. “Really?”
Of course, it was a lie.
“Really.”
But Jiang Ling nodded vigorously like a little chick pecking.
Fang Wannian stared at her suspiciously for a long time before finally sighing heavily and turning her face away, pointing irritably at her wardrobe.
“Go pick out one of the stage outfits.”
Jiang Ling was momentarily stunned but quickly realized she meant the stage costumes for Dangerous Party. Wanting to change the subject quickly, she hurriedly opened the wardrobe and started searching.
The clothes were varied but all exquisitely made. Jiang Ling recalled and selected a Gothic-style dress, holding it up for Fang Wannian’s approval.
“How about this one?”
“Hm, I think it’s good. I happen to have a matching one for my sister. Let’s go with this.”
The awkwardness gradually faded with time. Their lives hadn’t changed much—just taking a break from Bai Xue’s place, sleeping and practicing somewhere else.
It had to be said that living, eating, and training together had remarkable results. Their stage performances had improved significantly, sometimes even their eye contact could stretch silk threads.
Although some inexplicable feelings were mixed in, it was real, solid progress.
A week later, after the special training ended, Jiang Ling returned to the dormitory in the evening.
Tomorrow would be the day Bai Xue evaluated their progress. She was nervous but also a little excited.
However, the moment she entered, Lin Xiaoyu stared intently at her face, but didn’t say a word, just looked her up and down.
“W-what’s wrong?”
Jiang Ling felt uneasy under that gaze and asked in confusion.
Lin Xiaoyu was silent for a moment before speaking. “Where have you been these past few days?”
“Huh?” Jiang Ling answered instinctively, “I was sleeping at Nan Nan’s place. No, I mean, I was training.”
“Training?”
Lin Xiaoyu stepped closer, her eyes fixed on Jiang Ling’s flustered face.
“Yeah, because Xiao Ran said we should practice properly, so to build our bond…”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lin Xiaoyu cut her off and took another step forward.
The distance between them shrank rapidly, and Jiang Ling even caught the scent of Lin Xiaoyu’s shampoo, sweet and citrusy… Wait, this is not the time to think about that.
“B-because…”
Jiang Ling racked her brains but couldn’t come up with an answer.
After all, Lin Xiaoyu didn’t seem like the type to fuss over someone’s whereabouts.
“When you’re not here, my sleep quality inexplicably gets worse.”
Lin Xiaoyu’s tone was calm, as if chatting casually. Jiang Ling could only vaguely tell from her furrowed brows that she wasn’t in a good mood.
She recalled how Lin Xiaoyu almost hugged her like a koala while sleeping, feeling a bit amused.
No hugging pillow, no wonder her sleep got worse.
Just as Jiang Ling was about to say something, she saw Lin Xiaoyu glance thoughtfully toward the prop box nearby.
“Oh, right, I think Xiao Ran has a prop that can fix this problem.”
Lin Xiaoyu rummaged around and then pulled out a pair of metallic pink handcuffs that gleamed faintly.
Handcuffs…
Huh?
Suddenly, Jiang Ling’s mind froze. She was shocked as Lin Xiaoyu grabbed her wrist and, with swift movements, locked her right hand to Lin Xiaoyu’s left.
“Click.”