The young woman was currently wearing casual clothes that looked like a uniform. The breeze brushed past, making her skirt sway as she stood there quietly watching Lin Yu.
She stared at him until he instinctively swallowed, feeling uneasy.
‘Even though this resort is yours, you don’t need to be patrolling at this hour, right?’
‘And what kind of good person patrols on rooftops?’
He hadn’t expected Mu Liuli to appear at all. Or rather, he hadn’t expected anyone to be here. For a moment, Lin Yu didn’t know what to say.
He could only open his mouth on reflex, asking a question that seemed somewhat obvious.
After a long moment, Mu Liuli raised her hand and stroked the head of the wooden bird on her shoulder. The bird seemed to enjoy it, nuzzling against her.
Lin Yu’s eye twitched. ‘She’s really selling the act.’
Then Mu Liuli spoke indifferently. “Walking the bird.”
“Hiss…!”
For some reason, Lin Yu strongly suspected she was making a veiled jab at him, but he had no proof.
“Also,” her gaze first looked downwards, then shifted away. “Your door is open.”
“My door…?” Lin Yu was puzzled. Following her line of sight, he turned and, upon realizing which door she meant, immediately turned around. The sound of a zipper sliding shut rang out.
‘So awkward. I wasn’t paying attention just now. If I hadn’t run into Mu Liuli, I might have really gone down like this… walking the bird.’
“Ahem,” he slowly turned back, his expression somewhat embarrassed. “Thank you.”
“No need. Just remember to be gentler next time. The Captain seemed to be in quite a bit of pain earlier.”
“!”
These words struck Lin Yu like a thunderbolt, leaving him thoroughly fried and awkwardly frozen in place.
“You… you saw all of that?” Even though he considered himself thick-skinned, having it stated so bluntly still made his face feel a bit warm.
“I was here first.” As Mu Liuli spoke, she walked towards him. Lin Yu subconsciously took half a step back.
Then she passed right by Lin Yu, walking straight to the spot where the two of them had been active earlier. She crouched down, as if observing something not easily noticeable. “I heard movement over here. I was just about to call out to you, then the Captain kissed you.”
Lin Yu watched from the side, scratching his head, really wanting to say, “Don’t look, there’s nothing good to see.”
But he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. He just stood there quietly, waiting for Mu Liuli’s next words.
Unlike the earlier tension, the air was now filled with awkwardness, and it was solely directed at Lin Yu.
So that saying held true: as long as I’m not embarrassed, then the embarrassment belongs to someone else.
Just as she was about to reach out and touch the spot, Lin Yu finally couldn’t hold back. “What are you doing? Leave it alone, it’ll dry in a bit.”
Mu Liuli turned her head to look at him, the corner of her mouth curling up into a slight arc. “Oh, quite experienced, aren’t you.”
“……”
Lin Yu was left speechless by her once again. It was like this before too. Even after their substantial relationship, Mu Liuli would occasionally show this cold, hard side.
Generally speaking, this was because she was in a bad mood.
“You…” Lin Yu frowned, staring into her eyes. “Are you angry?”
Mu Liuli didn’t reply. She stood up and walked in front of him. Her pupils trembled slightly, which Lin Yu noticed. He sighed inwardly.
“Why do you ask that?”
Lin Yu was silent for a moment. He couldn’t tell the absolute truth, so he used an ambiguous excuse. “Intuition.”
Mu Liuli stared into his eyes for a while.
“The Captain is a good person.”
After leaving these words, she walked away without looking back, leaving Lin Yu standing there alone, stunned.
“Huh?”
He had a strong feeling she had misunderstood something, but… this kind of misunderstanding might be acceptable too…
“Heh…” Lin Yu let out a self-mocking and helpless laugh.
—
Mu Liuli returned to the room specially prepared for her.
She didn’t turn on the main light, only pressing the switch for a soft wall lamp by the wall.
The warm yellow glow spread out, illuminating the spacious but simply furnished guest room.
Of course, the room was filled with all sorts of stuffed toys.
The air carried the faint scent of standardized fragrance, mixed with a trace of cool air she had brought back with her. She walked straight into the bathroom and turned on the light.
Reaching out, she twisted the bathtub faucet. Warm water gushed out with a rush, steaming up white mist that gradually blurred the mirror surface.
She didn’t look at the mirror and began to take off her clothes, piece by piece.
That set of casual clothes resembling a JK uniform was, as if she had OCD, carefully placed on the rack beside her. Skirt, shirt, necktie—her movements were methodical and orderly.
Only after all her clothes were removed did she lift her eyes to look in the mirror.
The steam had already veiled the mirror with a thin layer of gauze, only vaguely reflecting a slender, elongated outline.
Her pursed lips revealed a hint of mental tension.
Lifting her leg, she stepped into the bathtub. The warm water immediately enveloped her skin, which appeared exceptionally clean under the light, carrying the delicate luster unique to a young woman and a paleness akin to malnutrition.
Her black hair was draped over her shoulders, a few strands disheveled from the night breeze.
Her face showed little expression, her eyes calm, even somewhat empty, only slightly… The water rose, following her calves, knees, thighs, slowly surging upwards until it submerged her waist, abdomen, and chest.
She slowly sank her body down, submerging her entire shoulders in the water, leaving only her neck and head exposed.
The water temperature was just right, dispelling the chill on her skin’s surface, yet unable to penetrate deeper.
The bathtub was large. She curled her legs, wrapping her arms around her knees, resting her chin on them, letting the hot water soak her body.
Her long black hair floated on the water’s surface, like scattered seaweed.
The steam was hazy, making her features appear somewhat blurred in the billowing white mist. Staring at a shimmering spot of light on the water’s surface, her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the rooftop earlier.
It was true.
But she hadn’t expected to witness such a scene.
Lin Yu… and Captain Xin Yao.
Originally, she had just wanted to go there to be quiet for a while, look into the distance, feel the breeze, walk the bird. She really had arrived first.
When she heard faint noises, she initially thought it was some animal or something else.
As she got closer, the sounds changed.
Suppressed panting, the friction of clothing, and a woman’s moans carrying a sobbing tone.
The Captain’s tight-fitting clothes were pulled into disarray… She stopped in her tracks, hidden in the shadows.
Then, she saw.
The Captain was frantically kissing Lin Yu. The young man was stiffly enduring it.
Their bodies were tightly entangled, rising and falling on the cold concrete floor.
The young man’s shirt was open, his skin glowing with an abnormal flush under the dim twilight.
In that instant, Mu Liuli felt her breath stop.
It wasn’t shock, nor was it anger. It was more like… a stifling feeling of being hit by something.
She averted her gaze, but didn’t leave.
She couldn’t explain why, but she just stood there, listening to those ambiguous and chaotic sounds masked by the wind, until everything gradually subsided, leaving only heavy panting and the ensuing dead silence.
She heard Lin Yu’s words. She also heard the Captain’s crying.
Then she walked out.
Lin Yu’s flustered yet forcibly composed appearance was somewhat amusing, but it also made the stifling feeling in her heart more pronounced.
“Walking the bird,” she said.
Watching him fumble to zip up his pants, his ears turning red, amidst the ridiculous feeling, an indescribable sense of annoyance mixed in.
‘Why am I annoyed?’
Mu Liuli sank her face deeper into the water, only her wet eyes showing above the surface.
The hot water was comfortable, yet it couldn’t soothe her mood.
She didn’t believe she liked Lin Yu.
At most, she just found this person a bit special, not dislikable.
Even, after he rushed over despite the danger today and saved her in that forceful way, she had developed a tiny bit of… something close to favorable feelings.
But that was all.
So then, what was with this lingering sense of annoyance and vague stinging in her heart when she saw him entangled with another woman?
She remembered Lin Yu asking her on the rooftop earlier, “Are you angry?”
She had avoided answering then.
Now alone, she could face herself more honestly.
Yes, a little.
But rather than anger, it was more like a feeling of being offended.
It was as if she had just developed a faint interest in something, but before she could take a closer look, someone else had already messed it up first.
And, in a way that, in her view, wasn’t particularly “good-looking.”
Perhaps, there was also a trace of… disappointment… towards Captain Xin Yao.
In her impression, the Captain was a calm, strong senior who carried wounds yet still stood tall.
But the scene she witnessed tonight had peeled away that layer of resilient shell, revealing the shattered fragility and失控的 desire beneath.
This made her feel somewhat… unfamiliar, somewhat uncomfortable.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand human weakness. She just didn’t like that kind of scene.
“The Captain is a good person,” she had said to Lin Yu.
There were unspoken words that followed: “But you two aren’t suited for each other.”
The warm water made her skin slightly red, gradually soothing the fatigue in her body.
But the tangled mess in her heart remained unresolved.
She closed her eyes, her eyeballs trembling slightly.
‘Troublesome…’
‘Lin Yu, this person, is so troublesome…’
‘Getting close to him seems to always involve getting caught up in complicated and awkward situations.’
‘I should stay away from him.’ This thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
But immediately, another voice rose to refute it.
‘If he hadn’t rushed over during the day, would you be able to soak peacefully in hot water right now?’
Mu Liuli gently let out a breath. Bubbles burst on the water’s surface.
‘Annoying…’