The atmosphere at the dining table was somewhat heavy and silent.
Both of them were harboring their own thoughts. No one spoke, and there seemed to be nothing left to say.
When the meal was finally over, Ci Wenjun snatched the bowls and chopsticks right out of Chu Yu’s hands.
“Let me do it! Even as a guest, there is no reason for the host to do everything.”
Chu Yu stared closely at Ci Wenjun, as if pondering something. She didn’t think for long before nodding in silence. There were only two bowls anyway, and she didn’t feel like fighting Ci Wenjun over it. Exhausted from a full day of getting caught in the rain and cooking, she found herself unusually tired.
The thought of the rain made her frown, and she asked, “Did you take your medicine?”
Ci Wenjun froze in place, still holding the bowl.
Without waiting for an answer, Chu Yu already knew the truth.
Yet she had no energy to lecture her right now. Letting out a yawn, she lazily instructed, “Remember to take your medicine before going to bed.”
Ci Wenjun nodded obediently, though she looked rather like a wronged puppy.
So obedient, even if it is just an act.
This version of Ci Wenjun quietly touched a certain chord deep within Chu Yu’s heart. In the end, unable to completely hold back, she added one more piece of advice: “Your body belongs to you, so take good care of it. Health is the foundation of everything.”
With that, she closed her eyes, feeling that she had talked too much, and walked away, leaving behind only her back.
Ci Wenjun stood alone in the same spot, her lonely and desolate silhouette stretched long by the cold, dim light overhead.
After a very long time, that figure finally stirred, swaying slightly.
This was not the first time Ci Wenjun regretted her past choices, nor would it be the last.
Later that night, when Chu Yu emerged from the bathroom trailing a mist of warm vapor, Ci Wenjun was sitting somewhat cautiously on the living room sofa.
Wrapped tightly in the blanket Chu Yu had prepared for her, she was impossible to ignore.
“It is this late, and you are still not sleeping? What are you doing sitting over there?” Chu Yu asked casually while wiping her hair.
She had already made it clear before heading into the bathroom: Tonight, Chu Yu would sleep on the living room sofa, and Ci Wenjun would sleep in her bedroom.
No matter what, Ci Wenjun was ultimately a guest.
The other person did not directly answer her question. “Let me dry your hair for you.”
Chu Yu did not like using a hair dryer; she preferred letting her hair dry naturally after getting it halfway dry.
Chu Yu did not agree. She had hands and feet of her own; why would she ever need someone else to do it, let alone Ci Wenjun?
She was only prone to softheartedness toward Ci Wenjun, not out of her mind.
She knew what was on Ci Wenjun’s mind, but she felt she had made her rejection clear enough previously, and she had no intention of chewing on old grass. Ci Wenjun hadn’t brought it up again either, aside from acting a bit restless, and Chu Yu didn’t want to haggle over those details with her.
She was exhausted right now and only wanted to sleep.
Frowning with visible impatience, her tone took on a scolding edge: “Ci Wenjun, go back to sleep. You are leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
Chu Yu delivered her verdict with chilling indifference.
Ci Wenjun’s face paled, and her eye sockets stubbornly turned red once more.
Lowering her head, she shook it of her own accord, expressing her refusal.
Chu Yu frowned, her patience apparently wearing thin at an accelerated rate. “Ci Wenjun, do not test my patience.”
Before she could finish her sentence, her body was embraced once again, accompanied by a wronged murmur from the woman below: “I will sleep on the living room sofa.”
The words she was about to say choked in her throat.
It felt like punching a thick mass of cotton.
She narrowed her eyes, masking a flash of sharp edge. A thousand undercurrents surged beneath her gaze, yet in the end, she only spat out two simple words: “Suit yourself.”
Then she turned and walked toward the familiar bedroom.
She didn’t care what kind of expression she wore right now, nor why she was giving up her own bedroom to hand it over to her.
She didn’t want to know. The bedroom was hers to begin with anyway.
She had kindly offered it, and the other person had rejected it.
Hmph!
Her kindness had completely gone to waste.
Indescribable and unnameable, a ball of stifled frustration brewed within Chu Yu’s chest, with nowhere to vent and no origin to trace.
It couldn’t possibly be because Ci Wenjun refused to sleep in her bed!
What a joke.
Sleep wherever she pleased.
Chu Yu was gone. Left alone in the living room, Ci Wenjun curled into a tight ball in the absence of anyone else, her eyes red like a rabbit’s.
She actually wanted to sleep on the bed.
However, the person who made mistakes was not allowed on the bed.
That was a rule Chu Yu had personally set down.
Yet right now, the person who made the rule had forgotten it.
Aggrieved, Ci Wenjun wrapped herself tightly into a bundle and let her tears flow and flow.
She only dared to sob in soft whispers, terrified that a louder sound might startle Chu Yu out of the room and prompt a beating.
Though, part of her wouldn’t even mind being hit by Chu Yu.
After all, that could still be counted as a physical touch born of love.
The night grew deeper and deeper.
A faint sound echoed inside the dim room.
The breathing of the person tiptoeing stealthily caught in her throat. With extreme caution, her gaze locked onto the sleeping figure on the bed.
Seeing that the person on the bed remained completely still and seemingly undisturbed by her intrusion, she finally let out a sigh of relief inside.
Thank goodness she didn’t wake up.
The midnight visitor was none other than Ci Wenjun.
While Ci Wenjun’s heartbreak was genuine, she was also exceptionally skilled at finding her own sweet consolations.
Stealing cautiously to the side of Chu Yu’s bed, she gazed at Chu Yu’s delicate face laid bare without reservation before her. Her eyes traced every inch of skin with a lingering, passionate gaze filled with obsession and longing. Perhaps knowing that the person was fast asleep allowed her to drop all pretense and reveal her truest emotions without restraint.
That deep-seated longing, normally suppressed to the deepest corners of her heart, was finally able to poke its head out slightly at this hour and catch a glimpse of the daylight.
“Chu Yu.”
Unconsciously, she murmured softly.
Realizing just how close she was to Chu Yu, her heart began to beat wildly out of control.
Chu Yu is so beautiful.
She was afraid Chu Yu might hear her, yet equally afraid Chu Yu wouldn’t hear her at all.
She could only lower her voice into a breathy whisper, calling out quietly:
“Chu Yu.”
“Chu Yu.”
As she continued to whisper, her gaze grew hazy and increasingly bold.
“Chu Yu, won’t you look at me? Chu Yu, look at me. Do you no longer like me?”
“Xiao Yu, won’t you look at me? Isn’t A-Ci pretty?”
She pinched her voice, wrapping it in a seductive, soft, and alluring tone. Just hearing it sent a shiver racing up from the base of her spine.
She looked just like a bewitching siren.
Unfortunately, the person on the bed was fast asleep and offered no response.
Seeing that the figure on the bed showed no reaction, the unsatisfied hunger within Ci Wenjun’s heart yawned open like a massive gap, through which hollow, chilling winds howled.
Uncontrollably, she leaned in closer, the tip of her nose brushing against Chu Yu’s cheek as her gaze locked onto those vibrant, crimson lips.
Chu Yu’s lips were naturally brighter in color than most people’s, to the extent that others might mistake her for wearing lipstick even when she wasn’t. Her lip shape was exquisite, with a plump and delicate pout, and the skin surrounding her lips was flawless, free of any excess pigmentation. She looked as flawless as a digital 3D model.
She remembered that back in her senior year when she returned for the graduation ceremony, she even heard that a freshman from the art academy had used Chu Yu as a reference model for a digital art competition and won first prize.
Chu Yu’s beauty was something nobody could deny.
So much so that the very first time she laid eyes on Chu Yu, she had been struck with awe, feeling as though she was looking at someone whose beauty belonged entirely to another world.
And then there was that lazy, aristocratic aura she carried everywhere.
With just a single glance, Ci Wenjun knew that Chu Yu and she belonged to completely different worlds.
And yet, that single glance had turned into an incurable obsession.
Through all the years that followed, she had never changed, nor had she ever forgotten.
With the night dew growing heavy, Ci Wenjun was now mere millimeters away from Chu Yu.
At such close quarters, Ci Wenjun’s heart felt as though it might burst straight out of her chest, the excited light in her eyes dancing and flashing wildly.
Finally, holding her breath, she cautiously pressed against those red lips she had coveted for so long.
The moment their lips touched, a jolt of numbness swept through her entire body. Unable to help herself, Ci Wenjun let out a soft, melodious whimper.
Right then, Chu Yu shifted slightly.
Ci Wenjun’s pupils instantly constricted, and her breathing stopped dead.
One.
Two.
Three.
Her heart hammered furiously against her ribs. Her already flushed cheeks grew even hotter, the deep crimson spreading all the way down to her neck.
Fortunately, Chu Yu had only shifted casually in her sleep.
Confirming that Chu Yu hadn’t woken up, her heartbeat slowly returned to its proper rhythm.
Her tense nerves relaxed as she slowly let out a long breath of stale air.
Those red lips of Chu Yu’s were now coated in a thin sheen of glossy moisture from her licking, gleaming and immensely tempting.
And then, she watched as the corners of Chu Yu’s lips parted slightly, unconsciously sticking out a small, pink tip of her tongue to trace a circle around her mouth.
Ci Wenjun trembled all over with excitement, feeling as if her whole body was floating up into the clouds.
She ate it!
Chu Yu ate it up!
With tear-rimmed eyes, Ci Wenjun stared fixedly at those rosy lips.
The burning sensation deep within her body grew increasingly intense.
Desire scorched away her reason, leaving her teetering on the edge.
High in the sky, the moon hung suspended at its peak.
It was three-thirty in the morning.
Ci Wenjun felt as though her entire body had fallen apart, completely drained of strength. Furthermore, having kept her muscles tense in nearly the exact same posture for so long, her body had gone completely numb, aching with soreness at the slightest movement.
With no other choice, she could only lower herself to lie flat on the floor, savoring the lingering aftershocks rippling through her body. Once her blood circulation returned to her limbs and she recovered somewhat, Ci Wenjun carefully propped herself up.
Resisting the discomfort, she forced herself to stand.
The tops of her thighs were still aching and sore, and her calves lacked even the strength to support her properly.
Yet before leaving, she turned back for one last look at Chu Yu’s lips.
The mattress beside her still bore a slight depression.
“Mu.”
She left a light, gentle kiss upon the air of that corner.
“Xiao Yu, I love you.”
Only then did she turn around and tiptoe away, wincing and hissing quietly with every single step she took.
The lights in the room flickered from bright to dark.
Finally, everything settled back into tranquility. After echoing throughout the entire night, the commotion had finally come to an end.