Xia Yanran walked closer step by step, her white silk-clad legs tracing ambiguous arcs in the dim light.
She stopped at the bedside, her face flushed crimson, her eyes brimming with emotion.
Looking down at Lin Yu, who was half-sitting on the bed with his clothes in disarray, her breathing noticeably quickened.
Lin Yu’s fingers were still frozen on the mis-buttoned buttons.
Looking up at her, the girl stood backlit, her lovely figure gilded by the faint light filtering through the window.
Her eyes burned with a fire he was very familiar with, yet also felt somewhat strange.
“Yanran,” his Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice a bit dry, “Listen to me…”
“I won’t listen!”
Xia Yanran immediately cut him off, leaning down, her hands pressing into the mattress on either side of his body.
This movement brought her face instantly close, her warm breath brushing against his.
Lin Yu instinctively leaned back, his back pressing against the headboard.
“What were you doing just now?”
Xia Yanran’s gaze slid down from his open collar, settling on his belt that hadn’t been fastened yet. Her cheeks were so red they seemed about to drip blood, but her tone was unusually stubborn.
“I…” Lin Yu forced his brain to work rapidly, “I just woke up feeling a bit hot, wanted to change clothes.”
“Change clothes?” Xia Yanran clearly didn’t believe him.
She narrowed her eyes and leaned even closer, their noses now only inches apart. “Little Brother Lin, when did your lying skills get so poor?”
Being questioned by this silly girl left Lin Yu momentarily speechless.
Indeed, that excuse did seem rather lame.
Seeing his rare look of embarrassment, the corner of Xia Yanran’s mouth lifted, a flicker of triumphant cunning flashing in her eyes, but more than that was a courage born of desperation.
Maintaining her leaning posture, one leg slowly pressed onto the edge of the bed, sinking into the soft mattress.
Her white silk-clad knee gently rubbed against Lin Yu’s calf, making his whole body stiffen, his gaze involuntarily drawn there.
“Yanran,” Lin Yu gently pressed her shoulders, wanting her to back away a bit, “Calm down first, let’s talk properly…”
“I am very calm.”
Xia Yanran once again didn’t let him finish, and her other leg also knelt onto the bed.
Now she was almost straddling the boy’s legs. Although there was still some distance, this posture genuinely made Lin Yu’s scalp tingle.
Xia Yanran reached out, grabbed the hand he had on her shoulder, pulled it down, and slowly pressed it against her own waist.
His palm against her delicate skin, Lin Yu could clearly feel that despite her slender waist, it was full of tight elasticity.
This first time of such direct contact inevitably made the girl’s heart tremble, but the hand holding his only tightened more.
She wanted to feel more.
“Xia Yanran.” Lin Yu took a deep breath, calling her full name.
His tone grew serious. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“I know.” Xia Yanran stared into his eyes, her red lips parting slightly as she spoke very bluntly, “I want to get close to you, I want… to touch you.”
The last few words were spoken very softly, almost inaudible, but her gaze didn’t waver in the slightest.
Lin Yu looked into her eyes.
The girl’s eyes reflected the deepening night outside the window, and his own face.
Within them was a sense of throwing caution to the wind, but also a deeply hidden timidity.
He knew her well.
Lin Yu suddenly realized she was far from as “brave” as she appeared.
“Yanran,” he softened his tone a little, his other hand gently stroking her burning cheek, “You like me, I know. I also… really like you.”
Xia Yanran’s pupils trembled violently.
This was the first time Lin Yu had admitted to liking her.
“But,” Lin Yu continued immediately, “Some things shouldn’t be so rushed, and shouldn’t be in this place, at this time.”
His fingers lightly brushed through the stray strands of hair by her ear, meaningfully glancing towards the direction of the door.
Xia Yanran followed his gaze, her body shrinking back slightly.
Lin Yu felt it.
Good, it’s working, intensify it!
“Aunt Qin might come over at any moment,” his voice carried a gentle, coaxing tone, “My sister will be back soon too. If they see…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but the effect was already achieved.
He saw the flush on Xia Yanran’s face fade somewhat, replaced by a trace of panic. She clearly also didn’t want to face that awkward scene.
“I… I’m not afraid…” she continued to be stubborn, but the arms propping her up on the bed were already beginning to weaken.
“I am afraid.” Lin Yu said frankly, his hand sliding from her cheek to her shoulder, giving it a light pat. “I’m afraid you’ll regret it, Yanran. Some things should be more careful, more… ceremonial, shouldn’t they?”
Unintentionally, he chose the same rhetoric his sister had used before to coax Xia Yanran.
Sure enough, hearing the words “ceremonial,” Xia Yanran’s eyes wavered.
Lin Mowei’s previous romantic descriptions about a “wedding night” had clearly left a deep impression on her.
Striking while the iron was hot, Lin Yu used a bit of force with his hands, slowly pushing her away from himself a little, pulling her to sit side-by-side with him on the edge of the bed.
Although their bodies were still very close, the previous tense atmosphere had completely vanished.
The situation was back under Lin Yu’s control.
Xia Yanran lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the edge of the white silk on her legs. The impulsive momentum from earlier had mostly dissipated, leaving only thick embarrassment and a little bit of disappointment.
“So,” she mumbled quietly, “You still don’t want to…”
“It’s not that I don’t want to.” This time it was Lin Yu who interrupted her. He turned his head to look at her profile, his tone so sincere he almost believed it himself. “It’s that I feel now isn’t the right time. Yanran, we have plenty of time in the future, right?”
Xia Yanran didn’t speak, just let out a soft “Mhm.”
This non-answer answer made Lin Yu heave a huge sigh of relief, knowing the crisis was temporarily averted.
He looked at the girl’s lowered profile. The light from the window cast a small shadow under her long eyelashes. The tip of her nose was slightly red, her lips pressed together lightly. She looked a bit wronged, and a bit pitiful.
This scene touched a soft spot in his heart. Hesitating for a moment, he reached out and put an arm around her shoulders, gently drawing her towards him.
Xia Yanran’s body stiffened at first, then softened, obediently leaning into his embrace.
Her cheek pressed against his chest. Through the thin fabric, she could hear his steady, strong heartbeat.
The scent of the boy she loved enveloped her—clean, fresh, with a hint of laundry detergent.
And that unique, heart-calming yet heart-fluttering sensation she had begun to feel from him at some point, flowed along their closely pressed bodies, seeping little by little into her heart.
Xia Yanran extended her arms, wrapping them around his waist, burying herself deeper into his embrace, like a small animal that had found a warm nest.
Lin Yu lowered his head slightly, his chin gently resting on the top of her head, slowly rubbing against her soft hair.
The girl’s body was soft and warm, her white silk-clad beautiful legs pressed against his, the sensation subtle.
He closed his eyes, suppressing the complex emotions churning in his heart. If it’s just like this… that’s fine too.
The room fell quiet, leaving only the sound of their intermingled breathing and two heartbeats gradually falling into sync.
After a long while, when it had grown completely dark outside, Xia Yanran spoke up, her voice muffled against his chest. “Lin Yu.”
“Hmm?”
“You promise… you won’t avoid me in the future?”
Lin Yu opened his mouth and paused, but still answered, “…I promise.”
“Then tonight… can I sleep with you? Just like this, not doing anything.”
Lin Yu’s brow furrowed slightly. He couldn’t see her expression, but the careful pleading in her words, and the unmistakable dependence, made it impossible for him to say “no.”
“We’ll see when the time comes…” Left with no choice, he could only resort to delaying tactics.
Xia Yanran didn’t force him to answer now. But with some things, not denying them immediately on the spot could already say a lot.
The corner of her mouth curved into the arc of a victor.
This block of wood… I’ve finally taken a big bite out of him.
In the darkness, Xia Yanran adjusted her position, finding a more comfortable spot, and let out a sigh of contentment.
Lin Yu opened his eyes, gazing at the blurry play of light and shadow on the ceiling.
The girl’s warm breath brushed against the hollow of his shoulder. The arm wrapped around his waist had an unusually strong presence. The sensation of the white silk rubbing against his calf through his pants lingered.
Outside the window, the night deepened.