Bai Tao pointed to herself.
“Me?”
Qi Heting offered a polite, standard smile.
“Mhm.”
“What’s it got to do with me?”
Bai Tao was all for guilt-tripping people, but when she was the one being guilt-tripped, that was a different story entirely.
Qi Heting circled her halfway, intrigued.
“Whether we’re talking about you provoking their argument, or about you failing to stop their fight.”
“It seems you need to bear a little joint responsibility, don’t you, Bai?”
Bai Tao swallowed.
“W-well, what about that whole thing with the game company before?
Did you take responsibility, Senior Qi?”
“Of course, I did.”
Qi Heting replied without a second thought, his smiling eyes making it impossible to tell if he was being truthful.
“I don’t believe you,” Bai Tao couldn’t help but mutter.
‘What kind of shakedown is this?
A bunch of evil capitalists, the lot of them…’
“Hm?” Qi Heting leaned in a little closer.
A lock of his platinum-blonde hair slid down over his shoulder, shimmering with a beautiful golden sheen.
Bai Tao waved her hands.
“It’s nothing.
But, I think…
Senior Qi, since you’re the gentlest member of the F5, you surely wouldn’t hold a grudge against a small fry like me.”
“The gentlest?” Qi Heting’s gaze shifted, his gilded-gold eyes openly sizing her up.
She hadn’t made any effort to keep her distance from him, looking completely defenseless.
The skirt of her Heslington uniform wasn’t supposed to be short; by rights, it should have reached her knees.
But on her, it looked like it was a size too small.
He was still smiling, the motion tugging at the tea-colored mole by the corner of his lip.
“So that’s how it is.”
“How honored I am to be the gentlest in Bai’s eyes.”
Qi Heting braced one hand on the wall by Bai Tao’s ear, leaning in with his broad shoulders.
The top two buttons of his uniform, which he’d casually undone, formed a slight V-neck.
The scent of roses seemed to have steeped into his very bones.
Just by getting a little closer, it easily enveloped her, fragrant and rich but not overpowering.
He slowly let his eyelids drift open.
“But people…
are complicated.”
“What if…
I took advantage of the fact that we’re all alone right now and insisted that Bai pay me back with her body?”
“After all, 20 million isn’t a small sum.”
With every word, Qi Heting leaned in closer.
Until finally, he’d driven away all the air in front of her.
His palm slid down toward her waist, the heat of it hovering just behind the small of her back.
Bai Tao couldn’t help but tremble, instinctively squeezing her eyes shut.
Qi Heting’s gaze fell.
Bai Tao’s curled lashes were trembling slightly, and her fingertips were wrinkling the hem of her skirt. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Her lips looked moist, as if she were wearing a clear, colorless gloss.
And, just like her name, she carried the faint scent of unripe peaches.
She felt the warmth hovering before her and held her breath.
“Anyway…
I don’t have money, but you can take my life!”
The man’s straight nose was already brushing against her cheek.
‘So close.’
‘We’re about to…
We’re about to kiss.’
Her heart was pounding so hard it made her sternum ache.
But unexpectedly, all he did was blow lightly on her lips.
Bai Tao slowly opened her eyes, her expression a little dazed.
It felt like one of those ‘I got all undressed and this is all you’re gonna show me?’ moments.
“Disappointed?” Qi Heting murmured by her ear, a light chuckle in his voice.
When he laughed, he always reminded people of a sly fox.
Realizing she’d been tricked, Bai Tao turned her head away.
“Of course not.”
“I can’t help it.
Bai is just too cute.
It makes me feel a little bad about teasing you any further.”
Qi Heting’s warm fingertips gathered a stray lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear.
“I quite admire what you just said, Bai.”
“However, reality is cruel.”
“Sometimes, a person’s life—everything they are, all added up—might not even be worth 20 million.”
“Wouldn’t you agree?”
Qi Heting’s tone was gentle and calm, and though there was a clear smile in his golden eyes, looking at him for too long sent a chill to the bone.
Bai Tao didn’t deny it.
After a long silence, she replied:
“But mine is different.”
Qi Heting’s eyes shifted.
“Different?
Do tell.”
Bai Tao wasn’t joking.
Hers really was different.
On the wanted list back in her original world, her bounty was clearly listed.
She said with a completely serious face, “Dead, my life is worth eighty million.
Alive, a bit over one hundred million.”
Qi Heting froze.
Then he turned his back to her and leaned against the wall, forcefully suppressing a laugh.
His lips looked strikingly red against his jade-like, fair skin.
Bai Tao frowned.
“What’s so funny?
I’m serious!”
After all, right before she came to this world, she had just offed the leader of some group called the Azure Dragon Organization.
‘My value skyrocketed!’
Qi Heting’s shoulders shook even more as he tried to stifle his laughter.
After a long moment, he used a fingertip to gently wipe away the tear that had squeezed from the corner of his eye.
‘She really is far more interesting than I imagined.’
He gently ruffled Bai Tao’s hair.
“I was just messing with you earlier.
You don’t have to take any responsibility.”
“With Heslington’s financial situation, even if Sen and Mu smashed the entire academy and rebuilt it, we’d have more than enough to cover it.”
Bai Tao huffed an “Oh.”
He glanced at the time.
“They’ll probably be getting lectured by the student council for a while.
They won’t be back anytime soon.”
“Are you free in a bit?”
She said, her cheeks puffed out, “I don’t really have anything to do.”
“Why?”
“Then do you want to come to my place?” Qi Heting dangled the keys in his hand.
The girl before him pouted, her expression full of suspicion.
She didn’t agree right away.
“Ah, is that so?
Alright then.” Qi Heting feigned disappointment.
“And here I was, about to let Bai have a taste of the very cream puffs that made Sen and Mu fight until they were black and blue.”
Bai Tao’s ears perked up.
The moment she caught the words “cream puffs,” she started nodding her head like a chicken pecking at rice.
“I’ll go, I’ll go!”
‘This Bai Tao…
one second she was pouting, and the next she’d dropped her guard and was ready to go with him.’
‘How could she be so easy to lure away?’
‘Well then, let’s kill some time before Sen and Mu get back.’
Qi Heting’s home was a pure white, European-style manor, adorned with intertwined red and pink roses.
The manor, much like the man himself, was an expanse of pure white, reminiscent of his own preference for simple, clean clothes.
A closer breath revealed a sweet and elegant floral fragrance.
He led her to a kitchen on the first floor.
It was brightly decorated, and its large, floor-to-ceiling windows opened directly onto a lawn.
The oven light was on, and you could already see the puffs beginning to rise.
The entire room was filled with the milky fragrance of baking cream puffs, a scent so blissful it nearly made Bai Tao faint.
“Just five more minutes.” Qi Heting took the pre-chilled cream puff filling from the refrigerator.
One bowl contained dark chocolate cream dotted with small chunks of ganache, while the other held a translucent blueberry jam.
“Are you allergic to either of these, Bai?”
Bai Tao shook her head, her mouth watering nonstop.
“Nope.”
Qi Heting took out two clean little spoons, scooped up a little, and offered it to her lips.
“Want a taste?”
Without a second thought, Bai Tao leaned in and took a taste directly from the spoon Qi Heting held out.
She swallowed the first bite, and her almond eyes lit up as if she had discovered some great treasure.
A delicate trace of dark chocolate clung to her skin, right below the center of her cherry-pink top lip.
Qi Heting stared, completely unable to look away.
He couldn’t stop the absurd thought from forming: ‘to taste the lingering dark chocolate right from her lips.’
‘It would probably be incredibly sweet.’
‘I’m starting to regret it.’
‘Just now…
I should have kissed her.’