Qin Chaomu pursed her lips. She casually found a pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes and replied, “It’s not on the way.”
“Hey! Qin Chaomu!”
“Even if you’re faking it, you should at least try to be decent about it.” Shen Guai pouted discontentedly, her large eyes looking at Qin Chaomu pitifully.
“You haven’t even asked me where I’m going yet…”
Qin Chaomu tilted her head slightly. With half her face hidden behind the sunglasses, her expression was unreadable. She asked in a calm tone, “May I ask, Miss, where are you going?”
“Where are you going?” Shen Guai retorted, seizing the initiative.
“To find Chen Qinghe.”
“You’re not allowed to go!”
The words slipped out of Shen Guai’s mouth before she could stop them. Realizing she had misspoken, she coughed awkwardly and changed her tone to a flirtatious whine: “I mean…then let’s go together! I want to see Sister Qinghe too~”
“Get out of the car.” Qin Chaomu’s voice was cold as ice.
“I won’t…” Shen Guai clung to Qin Chaomu’s arm like a rogue, leaning her small face against Qin Chaomu’s shoulder.
“I’m not getting out. Please, Qin Chaomu, take me to see Chen Qinghe~”
Underneath the sunglasses, those phoenix eyes flickered with a sense of loss. Fortunately, they were hidden, preventing anyone from noticing the rims of her eyes turning slightly red.
Qin Chaomu shook off Shen Guai’s hand and started the engine.
“Sit properly.”
It had been a long time since Qin Chaomu had felt this kind of stinging sensation. She only felt a dull ache in her heart, a suffocating discomfort.
To say she didn’t care about Shen Guai’s affection for Chen Qinghe would be a lie. Qin Chaomu cared, she cared to the point of madness.
Qin Chaomu couldn’t quite figure out the source of this concern. Was it her usual possessiveness acting up? Or was she dissatisfied that her friend was liked by such a fool?
The sunglasses were suddenly snatched from her face, and Shen Guai’s face moved very close to hers. Shen Guai held the sunglasses high, her tender face filled with deep confusion.
“Qin Chaomu, what’s wrong with your eyes? They’re red… Qin Chaomu, are you crying?”
Shen Guai’s voice softened. She had originally intended only to tease Qin Chaomu, but she never expected to see her like this for the first time.
Shen Guai stared blankly at Qin Chaomu. The woman’s small face was flushed with a layer of crimson; her eyes were red, the tip of her nose was red, and even her cheeks were glowing.
Qin Chaomu remained silent.
Shen Guai’s sharp eyes spotted an uncapped bottle of eye drops in the car. Frowning, she picked up the bottle, examined it for a moment, and then suddenly leaned over, hovering her entire body above Qin Chaomu.
Shen Guai hooked her index finger under Qin Chaomu’s chin, staring seriously into her eyes.
“I’m just a bit tired,” Qin Chaomu said, hurriedly averting her gaze.
“Qin Chaomu, look at me.”
Shen Guai’s frown deepened, her tone brook no argument.
Shen Guai gently pressed down on Qin Chaomu’s lower eyelid and easily squeezed the eye drops into her eyes.
The cool, moisturizing sensation hit Qin Chaomu’s ocular nerves. Her eyelashes trembled slightly. She turned her face away, caught Shen Guai’s fingers, took the bottle, and held it between her own fingers.
“I can do it myself.”
“Tsk.” Shen Guai shook her head, her lips turning down. “A grown woman like you, and you don’t even know how to take care of yourself.”
“Go to sleep. I’ll drive.” This sentence was even more commanding than the last.
Before Qin Chaomu could react, Shen Guai unbuckled her seatbelt, got out of the car, circled to the driver’s side, and tapped on the window, signaling for Qin Chaomu to move to the passenger seat.
Qin Chaomu’s throat moved slightly. She bit her lower lip as a strange, unprecedented feeling welled up in her heart.
Shen Guai stepped into the car with her long legs and buckled the seatbelt in one fluid motion.
The moment the car door closed, Qin Chaomu’s heart throbbed violently in sync with the sound.
The air in the car was filled with a sweet, milky scent. Qin Chaomu’s ears turned slightly red, and her eyelids drooped, losing her usual arrogance.
The person beside her suddenly leaned over. One hand braced against Qin Chaomu’s shoulder while the other fumbled for something near the seat.
Shen Guai’s soft hair brushed against Qin Chaomu’s earlobe. Qin Chaomu could easily distinguish which brand of shampoo Shen Guai had used the night before.
The intoxicating milky scent on Shen Guai’s body made Qin Chaomu’s mind race, and her cheek inadvertently grazed Qin Chaomu’s nose.
Qin Chaomu held her breath and closed her eyes in agony. She felt like an ant on a hot pan, the rising temperature scalding her into a mess.
Click…
Shen Guai finally buckled Qin Chaomu’s seatbelt.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I just don’t want you driving while fatigued after all, my life is in this car too.” Such close proximity allowed Shen Guai to sense the ambiguity flowing in the air.
“It’s not because I like you or anything,” Shen Guai added.
Qin Chaomu only raised an eyebrow at her and said nothing.
Shen Guai sat back and followed the navigation.
Perhaps Qin Chaomu was truly exhausted, the moment her head hit the headrest of the passenger seat, she fell into a deep sleep.
From the set to the hotel Chen Qinghe had booked was a full thirty kilometers, a two hour drive.
Shen Guai let out a long breath. She figured if they just wanted to see each other, they would have picked somewhere closer. To go so far, it must be for work, right?
Shen Guai felt a bit more at ease.
Still, that Chen Qinghe really wasn’t a nice person. Who makes someone drive out there at one o’clock in the morning?
Shen Guai cursed Chen Qinghe in her heart.
The two hour drive passed in a flash for the sleeping Qin Chaomu.
For Shen Guai, however, it was incredibly long. Qin Chaomu’s body heat and the scent of tea surrounding her made Shen Guai’s head spin.
Several times while waiting at red lights, Shen Guai would turn her head to quietly observe Qin Chaomu’s sleeping face.
The woman was a quiet sleeper. Her long, curled eyelashes fluttered occasionally, her breathing was steady, and her rosy lips looked as soft and elastic as a baby’s cheek.
“So cute…”
Shen Guai couldn’t resist stealing a kiss on Qin Chaomu’s cheek.
That kiss was fatal, it left a lipstick mark directly on Qin Chaomu’s face.
Shen Guai instantly panicked. She scrambled to find something to wipe it off, but tissues or wet wipes would wake Qin Chaomu up…
What should she do?
If Qin Chaomu found out she had stolen a kiss, wouldn’t that confirm she liked her?
To Shen Guai, letting Qin Chaomu discover her feelings was the worst thing in the world.
Her heart was in her throat, she didn’t know whether to move forward or retreat.
“Damn it, Shen Guai, why did you kiss her?” she muttered to herself. She squinted one eye and peeked at the kiss mark on Qin Chaomu’s face.
The pale pink mark was both obvious and subtle, but it was impossible for it to go unnoticed.
Shen Guai felt like a child who had stolen something, waiting for an adult’s punishment, it was pure agony.
When the navigation announced that the trip was over, Shen Guai nervously licked her lips.
“Sister, we’re here.”
Shen Guai leaned in, hoping to use this chance to wipe away the lipstick print.
“Mm…”
Qin Chaomu murmured incoherently. Her head rubbed against the seat for a moment before she groggily opened her eyes, only to see Shen Guai’s hand suspended in mid-air, looking at her suspiciously.
Qin Chaomu raised an eyebrow, her pupils contracting. Her body instinctively pressed back against the leather seat, making a “creak” sound.
“What are you doing?”
Qin Chaomu’s voice was cold, startling Shen Guai.
Shen Guai took the opportunity to cup Qin Chaomu’s face and kissed her again right over the lipstick mark. She curled her lips into a smirk and feigned aggression: “In those little movies, young women who don’t have money for the fare usually use their bodies as payment.”
Qin Chaomu shook her head helplessly, saying with disdain, “What kind of mess are you thinking about every day?”
Seeing the kiss mark covered up, Shen Guai breathed a sigh of relief and winked. “Consider this kiss your reward for driving me.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Guai hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, not daring to stay in the car for another second.
Thud…
Qin Chaomu had a perfect figure with long arms and legs. She easily caught Shen Guai’s hand and slammed the door shut again just as it had opened a crack.
“Didn’t you say you’d pay with your body?”
Qin Chaomu’s voice was soul-stirringly seductive, making Shen Guai’s face turn bright red. Qin Chaomu used one hand to hold the back of Shen Guai’s head while the other quickly unfastened the ribbon of Shen Guai’s dress.
Word by word, she said, “I am someone who doesn’t like owing favors.”
Shen Guai’s thoughts collapsed. Her large eyes watched as Qin Chaomu pressed closer and closer. She stammered, “Qin Chaomu, you can’t…”
“Can’t what?”
Qin Chaomu’s smile was enchanting, but her hand moved efficiently to pin Shen Guai’s wrists together, binding them in a few swift motions.
“Is it that I can’t be too fast, or can’t be too forceful?”
In the dim car, Qin Chaomu looked at Shen Guai’s soft, delicate body in the shadows. She leaned against Shen Guai’s chin and took a deep breath, the girl’s sweet scent was as lethal as poison.
It destroyed one’s sanity.
Qin Chaomu traced the contours of Shen Guai’s face. Her lips brushed against Shen Guai’s cheek, feeling the tremors of the girl’s facial muscles and her increasingly erratic breathing.
“Qin Chaomu…”
Shen Guai’s voice was soft and honeyed. She looked at Qin Chaomu with blurred eyes, her blush spreading from her face all the way down to her collarbone.
Shen Guai was already exceptionally fair-skinned, now she was white with a pinkish hue, looking like the tip of a July peach, the sweetest part making Qin Chaomu want to devour her completely.
“When you’re doing it, do you like calling out other people’s names?”
“Qin Chaomu, if you dare sleep with me, I promise I won’t let you off!”
Shamed and flustered by Qin Chaomu’s words, Shen Guai tried hard to bite her lip and turned her face away, attempting to dodge Qin Chaomu’s sniffing.
Her chin was forced back around. Qin Chaomu narrowed her eyes and smiled. “Shen Guai, you are the first person who has ever dared to seduce me.”
“And the first person who has ever dared to threaten me.”
With that, Qin Chaomu decisively bit down on Shen Guai’s lips. Her teeth pressed down hard, and a trace of blood immediately seeped from Shen Guai’s lips.
Her tongue flicked over the wound, greedily sucking on her trophy.
Shen Guai’s slender body trembled uncontrollably. No matter how she tried to hide, that intense scent of green tea always managed to accurately overpower her.
Shen Guai was kissed until she could barely breathe. Her hands struggled, but the more she moved, the more the pain in her wrists intensified.