The only response she got was Lin Xiaoyu’s utterly unwavering expression and her body leaning forward just slightly.
Beside her, Mo Ran chuckled warmly, teasing, “Eh, with such a tiny paper, it’s probably impossible, right? Little Lingling, you don’t want to take the punishment, do you~”
She giggled softly, looking genuinely pleased.
Fang Wannian watched the two intently, her brows furrowed slightly, as if ready to step in and stop things at any moment.
Bai Xue said nothing, but picked up the drawing box with keen interest and examined it.
Xu Nuo, meanwhile, stared at the clearly struggling Jiang Ling with shining eyes, her hands clasped in front of her in eager anticipation.
Ah… even a Lingling-chan who couldn’t resist was so adorable!
Feeling all the gazes falling on her, Jiang Ling inexplicably sensed an invisible pressure. Her body instantly tensed up as she took a cautious step forward.
Lin Xiaoyu tilted her head slightly to the right, her lips dry and thin, biting down on the piece of tissue.
Jiang Ling steeled herself and went straight for it… No way!
She was even trembling a little.
The problem was that the paper scrap was just too small. No matter the angle, it was difficult to pass it without accidentally touching the lips.
After struggling for a while, Xu Nuo stepped forward immediately, making an X sign with her hands, then mimicked the sound of a buzzer with her mouth: “Jiang Ling, out!”
Lin Xiaoyu peeled the paper scrap from her mouth and placed it in her palm.
“Then we’ll carry out the punishment now. Mo Ran, please read out the punishment written on the back of the paper.”
“Alright! The punishment is that the person who drew the paper gets to pick someone, and the loser has to kiss that person on the lips for thirty seconds…”
“Xu Nuo!”
Jiang Ling jumped up abruptly, her fists tightening without her noticing. “Stuff that harms young minds like this must never appear again! Besides, I’d rather just complete the task properly!”
She suppressed the urge to kick Xu Nuo and looked toward Bai Xue with tearful eyes. “Captain, look at her!”
“Kissing is a bit much,” Bai Xue said as she gently ruffled Jiang Ling’s hair. When Jiang Ling’s expression relaxed, she added immediately, “But just a light touch should be okay.”
“It’s a big deal! A huge deal!” Jiang Ling screamed.
“Eh, then why don’t you finish the task now? Sister Ran will make an exception and count it as a success, okay?”
Mo Ran, seeing Jiang Ling about to throw a tantrum, held back her laughter and suggested.
Hearing this, Lin Xiaoyu looked at Jiang Ling with eyes full of deep suspicion and calmly asked, “Can you do it?”
“I, of course I can!”
Jiang Ling was annoyed at being doubted — a real woman can’t say she can’t!
Filled with determination, Jiang Ling’s heart shattered the moment she saw the scrap of paper on Lin Xiaoyu’s lips.
Wah, she just couldn’t do it!
But she could only scream this in her mind, maintaining a casual appearance on her face. She cleared her throat awkwardly and slowly moved closer.
As the distance shrank, Jiang Ling caught a faint fragrance from Lin Xiaoyu — the scent of body lotion.
She saw Lin Xiaoyu diligently applying it every day and sometimes even rubbed a little on herself, so she was very familiar with the smell.
But now, an indescribable nervousness surfaced deep within Jiang Ling, and her gaze drifted uncontrollably.
Following from the lips downward, she touched the fair neck and slightly exposed collarbone, both emanating an irresistible allure.
“Mm.”
Lin Xiaoyu whispered softly, as if urging her on.
Jiang Ling dared not close her eyes for fear of accidentally really kissing her, so with trembling lashes, she gently bit down on a corner of the paper scrap with her teeth. Then her lips brushed past the soft, pudding-like texture.
She trembled and bit down firmly.
Lin Xiaoyu held her position, motionless for a long while.
The tissue dissolved in Jiang Ling’s mouth. She frowned, pulled out another tissue, spat the fragments into it, and when she looked up, her ears were already flushed bright red. “Is that enough now?”
After speaking, she withdrew her gaze and discreetly stepped a bit further from Lin Xiaoyu, feeling heat surge all over her body, silently repeating in her mind—
I kissed her, I kissed her, I kissed her, I kissed her, ahhhhhh!
Though she tried hard to feign calm, Jiang Ling knew clearly that her lips had unmistakably pressed against Lin Xiaoyu’s, even if only for a brief moment, and it had sent tremors through her entire body.
And this was just rehearsal. What if she drew that punishment on stage…
Thinking this, Jiang Ling immediately grabbed the paper and tore it up in front of Xu Nuo, throwing the scraps into the trash bin in anger: “Forbidden!”
“Oh, it’s fine! There are plenty more inside — like biting a Pocky stick down below 1cm, blowing up balloons together, and so on! Plenty of options!”
Xu Nuo showed no sign of discouragement, instead bursting with energy as she added.
“Where did you even find these backup games?” Jiang Ling felt a bad premonition.
“Neon variety shows!”
“Can you just copy stuff like that?!”
After Fang Wannian’s imitation of otherworldly harem dramas, now Xu Nuo borrowed ideas from variety shows. Jiang Ling felt utterly cursed by fate…
“It’s okay though; the content just flirts with the borderline of acceptability.”
Bai Xue actually considered its feasibility seriously: “Like I said, this is part of your idol growth journey too, learning how to sell yourself, young lady~”
Jiang Ling had no energy to argue against that.
Because since preparing to join NOVA, she had added a lot of idol knowledge and discovered that when it comes to selling oneself, regardless of the group’s popularity, everyone basically agreed — you have to sell!
After all, imagination is free, and if you can’t stop it, you might as well make full use of it.
So Jiang Ling had no choice but to reluctantly accept it.
And why reluctantly? Because usually, she was the one who ended up punished in these games!
*
November 2nd, a beautiful and sunny day.
At 7:30 in the morning, Jiang Ling woke up full of energy and exchanged a subtle glance with Lin Xiaoyu.
“Um, I wasn’t the one who woke you up, right?”
Lin Xiaoyu shook her head, “I’m nervous too.”
Looking at her calm and composed face, Jiang Ling felt the words lacked any real conviction but went along anyway. “Shall we practice a bit more after breakfast?”
“Okay.”
After washing up and heading to the kitchen, Mo Ran had already prepared breakfast for five. For convenience, Fang Wannian had stayed over last night.
After breakfast, almost simultaneously, everyone rose and headed to the dance studio, seamlessly beginning practice.
Smooth movements flowed with the music one by one, and Jiang Ling’s nervousness eased significantly.
Xu Nuo busied herself arranging everything meticulously, leaving no room for error.
Time seemed to pass especially quickly today, at least from Jiang Ling’s perspective. By five o’clock, everyone had changed into their stage costumes and arrived early at the backstage area.
After checking the equipment, everyone’s faces were tense as they used every spare moment to review their moves again and again.
Amid the noisy chatter, Jiang Ling took a deep breath and slowly placed her hand over her heart.
At this moment, it was pounding wildly.
“Get ready, you’ll be on stage soon. Five fifty-nine and thirty seconds…”
Xu Nuo’s voice came through the in-ear monitor.
During these thirty seconds, Bai Xue reached out her hand, and the others immediately stacked their palms on top.
The passionate and excited cheers echoed throughout the backstage area.
“NOVA, fighting!”