Lou Fan sat in the theater waiting lounge, biting down on her milk tea straw, crossing her legs, and sizing up the two busy figures on either side of her.
How strange.
How on earth did the relationship between these two suddenly improve?
Even though she actually hoped Qin Peiran would make more friends at school, this person was just too unreliable.
Besides, Lou Fan had only taken her eyes off them for a single second, so how on earth did Qin Peiran get talked into this?
If she weren’t so worried, she would have gone home by herself long ago and let the two of them watch the movie alone. Thinking this, Lou Fan tossed her empty milk tea cup into the trash can, checked the time, and walked over to Qin Peiran. “It is time. Let’s go in.”
Lü Wang had picked the movie, a foreign horror film. Lou Fan had watched the trailer online, and it looked like a totally middle-of-the-road flick.
Lou Fan led Qin Peiran inside to take their seats first. Lü Wang followed behind, standing by Qin Peiran’s seat with an expression that looked like he wanted to say something but did not know how to start.
It was only after everyone else had filed into the theater that Lü Wang finally managed to tap Qin Peiran on the shoulder. “I am a bit nearsighted. Would you mind swapping seats with me?”
Qin Peiran no longer possessed the obedient demeanor she had used when talking to Lou Fan earlier. Her thin eyelids were half-drooped, and she cast a lazy, unbothered glance at Lü Wang. “Wasn’t this your way of making it up to us?”
Lü Wang fell silent. He scratched the back of his head through his baseball cap, then simply pulled the cap off entirely before sitting down on the outer aisle seat.
Lou Fan found this movie screening genuinely awkward.
Not only did she dislike this genre of film in the first place, but there was also an unappealing guy sitting right next to them.
However, seeing that Qin Peiran seemed to be enjoying herself, Lou Fan decided not to say anything more.
The movie opened with a few phone calls from an anonymous caller meant to build suspense. Accustomed to this cliché, Lou Fan tossed a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth while letting out a yawn, continuing to watch half-heartedly.
“Ah.” A short, extremely faint gasp escaped.
Then came a chilling sensation on her hand as Qin Peiran’s hand clasped onto hers.
Qin Peiran’s hands were always warm, even in winter, but right now they felt ice-cold. Lou Fan instinctively gripped back, using her palm to gently rub the girl’s hand warm.
She really is just a kid.
Qin Peiran seemed shaken by the sudden jump scare on screen. Even though the display had already returned to a cozy scene of a family of three eating breakfast together in the morning light, her hand remained tightly locked with Lou Fan’s, showing no intention of letting go.
Lou Fan patted the back of her hand again.
Fortunately, Qin Peiran was not the only one startled in the theater; even Lü Wang, the person who had personally chosen this movie, now sat with his eyes closed, looking terrified.
No one noticed their corner.
“Scared?” Lou Fan leaned her head over to ask in a soft voice. She had never watched a horror movie with Qin Peiran before.
“Yeah.” Qin Peiran nodded, pulling her hand back with a look of embarrassment.
In her past life, Lou Fan had rarely watched movies with Qin Peiran, let alone horror flicks, so she never knew that someone as seemingly emotionless as Qin Peiran could actually be afraid of something.
And, whether it was her imagination or not, Lou Fan always felt that this lifetime’s Qin Peiran seemed a bit pampered and clingy.
Qin Peiran picked up the iced cola from the armrest. Instead of drinking it, she just kept holding it.
As the movie progressed, frightening scenes appeared more frequently. Qin Peiran was spooked almost every ten minutes, her body leaning further and further sideways until she was practically slumped against Lou Fan.
Lou Fan tilted her head to the right.
In her lower field of vision was Qin Peiran’s head, brushing its fluffy hair against her chest, and further down was Qin Peiran’s freezing hand, which squeezed rhythmically into Lou Fan’s palm with every scream from the movie characters.
The chilly sensation tightened unpredictably, grew firmer, suddenly released, and then tightened again, teasing Lou Fan’s nerves over and over. She looked down at Qin Peiran’s lowered, trembling eyelids, feeling grateful that this was a horror movie. Even if her heart beat a little faster, no one would notice.
Looking past Qin Peiran to the right, she saw Lü Wang, who had long been scared completely rigid, keeping his eyelids shut so tightly that not even a crack of light showed.
These two. Lou Fan shook her head.
When the film finally ended, Lü Wang put on a casual facade and poked at his cheek with his tongue. “Well, that was alright. What did you guys think?”
“Yeah.” Lou Fan took the cola handed over by Qin Peiran, took a sip, and realized there was still quite a lot left.
Qin Peiran did not speak, only giving Lou Fan’s palm another squeeze.
They did not let go of each other until they stepped out of the theater. Lü Wang walked ahead of them, turning his head every three steps with a hesitation written all over his face.
“Sister Lou Fan,” Lü Wang began, walking backward to face the two of them.
“Just call me by my name.” Lou Fan tugged at the corner of Qin Peiran’s shirt, signaling her to walk toward the straight elevator instead.
“Hey, isn’t that a bit impolite?” Lü Wang eagerly reached out to block the elevator doors, then followed the two of them into the cabin. “Sister,”
Qin Peiran shot him a cold, icy glare.
“Oh, right, Lou Fan.” Lü Wang put his purple baseball cap back on. “You guys drove here, right? I have a driver’s license and I drive pretty well. Do you want me to drive you back?” He winked at Qin Peiran as if signaling some secret code or expressing gratitude for her cooperation earlier. “Don’t worry, I’ll drop you off at your dorm first.”
“No need.” Qin Peiran stood at the elevator doors, blocking Lü Wang from stepping inside. “I’ll take Sister back myself.” With that, she decisively hit the close-door button, leaving a bewildered Lü Wang to disappear behind the closing metal seams.
The elevator quickly descended to the second basement level. Lou Fan located her Mercedes-Benz E300 Coupe, but she did not get straight inside.
She walked over to the passenger side and gently pulled Qin Peiran’s hand away from the door handle. “Don’t you think we need to talk?”
Her slender, dark eyelashes curved gracefully at the corners of her eyes, lending her a seductive allure. Lou Fan was not working today, and her makeup was much bolder than usual. A black silk slip dress hugged her curves into sexy lines, making her look like an alluring spirit from the dark night in the dim parking garage lighting.
Qin Peiran tried to speak, but her throat caught. Watching Lou Fan’s lip’s part and close, looking like cherries dripping with crimson juice and tempting someone to taste them, her mind tightened and she could not get a single word out.
“Well?” Lou Fan curled a finger and tapped it lightly against Qin Peiran’s forehead. “Talk. Why did you agree to watch a movie with Lü Wang?”
Qin Peiran instinctively rubbed the pad of her left thumb, where the warmth of the other person’s palm still lingered.
“You might as well take whatever free perks you can get.” She avoided Lou Fan’s gaze, staring at their reflections on the car window.
The smile on Lou Fan’s face vanished instantly.
“As long as you can get a perk, you will do anything?”
“Huh?” Qin Peiran was startled, watching as Lou Fan turned and walked to the driver’s side while she herself pulled open the passenger door and climbed in.
As Lou Fan started the engine, she glanced into the rearview mirror and spoke off-handedly, “If you could get a perk, would you agree to date someone you do not like, too?”
Qin Peiran’s voice was hoarse as she muttered a quiet “No.” Realizing her voice was far too soft and that Lou Fan probably had not heard her, she followed up by shaking her head.
No one could have predicted how a conversation could escalate to such a tense standoff. Lou Fan felt she was being a bit aggressive; besides, given the current timeline, none of the events from her past life had happened yet or ever would, making her behavior seem rather petty.
A red light came up. She gently pressed the brake, halting amid the bustling traffic.
The chill from the air conditioner failed to clear the stuffiness inside the car, and Lou Fan broke into a fine sweat. She reached out to turn the AC down by a couple of degrees, turning on the audio system at the same time to break the stagnant air inside the cabin.
“One night to be confused, One night to speed up truth, We had a promise made, Four hands and then away.”
Lou Fan hummed softly. Just as the traffic light turned green and she stepped on the gas pedal, she heard Qin Peiran, who was looking at her phone beside her, suddenly speak up. “Lü Wang just asked me if I could help him pursue Sister.”
Lou Fan kept her eyes on the road ahead while glancing briefly at the passenger seat.
Qin Peiran was wearing a washed-out black T-shirt paired with black cargo pants today, her long hair tied up simply. Combined with her cold, distant facial features and a tightly pressed, expressionless thin lip, she looked entirely detached, as though discussing a trivial, irrelevant matter.
Where was even a trace of the pampered girl who had curled up in her arms to watch a horror movie just a moment ago?
Pampered? Must have been my imagination, Lou Fan thought.
“I don’t have the patience to play around with kids.” Lou Fan flicked the turn signal and remarked casually.
“Yeah.” Qin Peiran’s voice was very soft, swallowed by the lyrics.
“Sharing different heartbeats in one night.”
“I figured as much.” A tiny murmur, sounding more like she was talking to herself.
“What?” Lou Fan made a turn. Not only was Qin Peiran’s voice quiet, but the ticking of the turn signal drowned out part of it. She placed her hand on the center console touchscreen, intending to turn the music down a bit.
“Don’t.” Qin Peiran’s fingers deftly slipped through Lou Fan’s fingers, prying her hand away. “This song is pretty good. Just leave it.”
“I will help you reject him.”
“Mhm.” Lou Fan gave a noncommittal response.
She had never been interested in men. Leave aside Lü Wang; even men who excelled in worldly terms, such as appearance, financial background, or capability, held zero romantic appeal for her. On the contrary, she always developed an out-of-place possessiveness toward her female friends.
At first, she thought she was just a late bloomer, until she entered university and encountered the concept of homosexuality.
During college, Lou Fan read quite a few related novels and attended a few offline book signings. Then, on graduation day, her parents tore open the packed luggage she had shipped home in advance.
Lou Fan’s parents were calm yet extremely firm. Acting as if they had seen nothing, they still brewed a pot of chicken soup for Lou Fan upon her arrival, while unilaterally arranging an engagement banquet for three days later with a man whose name she did not even know.
Lou Fan felt like a breeding cat, forced to sell away her life for the benefits of the owners of this house.
So that very night, she chose to wander away.