What was she doing?
Mu Xuefei followed Yun Yongjun’s line of sight and turned her head, only to realize that the posture between her and this strange woman was more than a little ambiguous. The two of them were leaning close, and the woman had been holding her chin and leaning in to examine her up close, so from an angle, it probably looked like they were—kissing?
Realizing this, Mu Xuefei quickly pushed away the woman who had practically plastered her entire body against her, looking flusteredly at Yun Yongjun. “It’s not what you think.” Realizing that sounded like a lame excuse, she quickly added, “This lady was just curious about the color of my eyes. I have absolutely nothing to do with this strange lady.”
“Oh, little beauty? How can you be so heartless to me?” The moment Mu Xuefei finished speaking, Yun Xi clutched her chest and ran off to crouch in a corner, gazing at the two of them with aggrieved eyes.
Yun Yongjun took a deep breath, her face dark with anger as she walked over to Mu Xuefei’s side. She lifted the other’s chin and carefully examined her for a moment to make sure there were no injuries before casting a cold glance at the woman in the corner. “What is Eldest Sister doing running over to my place? Didn’t you know your guy was about to tear the hospital apart looking for you?”
“Who’s a couple with him?” The moment she heard Yun Yongjun’s words, Yun Xi unhappily retorted, “Who asked him to be so overbearing? He practically wants to help me go to the bathroom—how is a grown man not annoyed by that?”
Eldest… Eldest Sister?
Watching the interaction between the two, Mu Xuefei realized she might have misunderstood something.
Although she kept telling herself in her heart not to get her hopes up too early, the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily. “This strange lady is your sister?”
Even though Yun Yongjun was puzzled as to why Mu Xuefei asked so specifically, she still nodded promptly. “She ran over here to hide because the family was hounding her about marriage.” Seeing the sudden spark of light in Mu Xuefei’s eyes, she felt as though she was finally grasping something.
“Oh.” Afraid that the other person would discover her little thoughts, Mu Xuefei quickly looked away, only to find that “Eldest Sister” was still staring at her unblinkingly from the side. She shifted her gaze back to Yun Yongjun and asked somewhat confusedly, “What’s wrong with Eldest Sister?”
Yun Xi tried to reach out and poke the other’s cheek, only to have her hand swatted away by her younger sister midway, leaving her to clutch her fingers with a grievance-filled expression.
“My sister is out of her mind sometimes, just ignore her.” Patting Mu Xuefei’s head, Yun Yongjun explained with a straight face. Then, she turned her gaze toward Yun Xi in the corner. “Still here? If you don’t have anything else, I’ll have someone send you back to the hospital.” As she spoke, she reached for her phone.
“Hey, hey, wait, I really do have something.” Yun Xi’s eyes rolled as she hurriedly pleaded for mercy. “Look how big your place is. Aside from this little beauty, there’s hardly any life around here. Can I—”
“No negotiation.” Yun Yongjun knew Yun Xi inside and out; the moment the other started talking, she knew she wanted to come over here to hide, so she decisively cut off her wishful thinking.
“I knew it. Brothers are like limbs, women are like clothing,” Yun Xi said, giving Yun Yongjun a look that said I see right through you. “Just like a person can have broken arms or legs, who goes around naked?”
Yun Yongjun nodded in complete agreement before casting a disdainful glance at the other. “Since you know that, why haven’t you rolled away yet?”
Yun Xi, who had been planning to play the pity card, choked instantly and had no choice but to cast a pleading look at Mu Xuefei—a gaze that looked suspiciously like a predator eyeing a delicious meal it wanted to drag away.
Mu Xuefei, who had become the target of that gaze: “…”
Junjun’s sister, it’s no use looking at me! Didn’t you notice I’m still being held captive here?
Wait? Captive? Mu Xuefei finally snapped back to reality regarding her own situation, and then recalled that the root cause of this whole mess seemed to be… that she had eaten fake vinegar over a misunderstanding? Remembering the ridiculous farce she had stirred up, Mu Xuefei’s face turned beet red.
“Are you okay?”
The moment she heard Yun Yongjun’s voice, Mu Xuefei—still deep in thought—blurted out what was on her mind: “I didn’t actually think you and that woman were together.”
The words had barely left her lips before she felt the hand resting against her forehead pause. Then, her entire body was tilted forward and pulled into a warm embrace.
“You misunderstood because you saw me with my eldest sister?” Yun Yongjun hugged her tighter as the pieces clicked in her mind. “So, you wanted to leave me because you thought I liked that crazy woman?”
“Hey, hey, hey, who’s a crazy woman? I’m your sister!” Yun Xi protested unhappily from her corner, waving her fists.
“Let’s go back to the room to talk properly. This isn’t the place for it.” Yun Yongjun took Mu Xuefei’s hand and led her away, completely ignoring Yun Xi’s continued whining.
Mu Xuefei felt like her brain was short-circuiting. Glancing at the back of Yun Yongjun walking ahead of her, she voiced the question naturally on her mind: “What on earth is so important that we have to go back to the room to talk about it?”
Yun Yongjun stopped dead in her tracks, turned around, and looked at Mu Xuefei with a half-smile. “Are you sure you want to talk about it here?”
Junjun’s look is terrifying, seriously! Taking in the other’s expression, Mu Xuefei shook her head vigorously.
Noticing Mu Xuefei’s fear, Yun Yongjun reined in her imposing aura a bit, though she still kept a stern face as she dragged Mu Xuefei into her room.
Thud—
Yun Yongjun opened the door—pulled her inside and closed it, all in under three seconds. By the time Mu Xuefei was pinned against the back of the door, she still hadn’t fully recovered her wits.
She looked at the arm propped up beside her head, then at Yun Yongjun, who appeared to be “pinning” her against the door. Mu Xuefei swallowed hard with some difficulty and asked in a small voice, “Junjun, is something wrong?” She had a lingering sense that Yun Yongjun currently possessed an aura intense enough to ignite a fuse at the slightest provocation.
Yun Yongjun didn’t speak. She simply remained silent as she raised her right hand, slowly reaching out toward Mu Xuefei.
Mu Xuefei quickly closed her eyes, turned her head to the side, and scrunched her entire face up. However, she waited and waited without feeling any pain; instead, she heard a pleasant chuckle coming from right above her.
Huh? Mu Xuefei cautiously cracked open one eye and discovered that the other person only intended to stroke her cheek and had no intention of hitting her at all. Her heart finally dropped back into place.
“What, did you really think I was going to hit you?” Seeing the little antics of the person in her arms, Yun Yongjun’s slightly gloomy thoughts instantly vanished, and she amusedly tapped the other’s brow.
“How would I know?” Mu Xuefei lifted her chin and let out a cold huff. “You’re the one holding me captive. If anyone’s doing the hitting, it should be me hitting you.”
“Then… are you going to hit me?” Yun Yongjun leaned in close to Mu Xuefei’s ear. “I promise I won’t fight back.”
Mu Xuefei stopped listening to whatever else Yun Yongjun was saying. She suddenly remembered a popular little trope trending on Weibo lately, and her mind instantly conjured up a mental image of herself acting spoiled while Junjun coaxed her. The whole scenario made her cringe so hard she didn’t know what to do with herself.
After a sudden shudder of secondhand embarrassment, every single pink bubble in her heart popped and vanished. She quickly wriggled out of the other’s embrace, rubbed her burning earlobes, and awkwardly spoke up, “Now that we know it was all a misunderstanding, I can leave, right?”
“Of course not.”
“On what grounds can’t I—” Mu Xuefei turned around to glare indignantly at the other, only to find that Yun Yongjun had already dropped to one knee in front of her. Looking at the small box presented right before her eyes, the rest of her words vanished in her throat, leaving her to choke out a difficult question, “What are you trying to do?”
“I want you to stay in the capacity of my partner.” Yun Yongjun opened the ring box and looked up at Mu Xuefei with complete sincerity. “I know this decision is a bit rushed, but I’ve already thought it through.”
A bit rushed? That’s an understatement! The two of you haven’t even officially confessed yet, and you’re already jumping straight to a proposal?! Is that really okay?! A swirling storm of mixed emotions left Mu Xuefei feeling like a mouthful of blood was stuck in her windpipe.
“How about a relationship with marriage as the goal—do you accept?”
Meeting the absolute sincerity in Yun Yongjun’s eyes, Mu Xuefei didn’t know how to choose.
[Ding! Romance target affection level: 98/100. Affection interpretation: You’re the only one I’ll ever marry.]
Mu Xuefei: “…”
What does “You’re the only one I’ll ever marry” even mean? Shouldn’t it be “You’re the only one I’ll ever wed”?! Mu Xuefei once again wanted to pull the system aside to talk about the meaning of life!
After a long silence, thinking about her mission and the impending departure, Mu Xuefei finally made up her mind. “I can agree, but you have to listen to me.”
“Okay.” Yun Yongjun’s expression finally relaxed as she quickly slipped the ring onto Mu Xuefei’s finger, as if afraid the other might back out.
Looking at the ring on her finger, Mu Xuefei sighed silently, comforting herself with a mental mantra: It’s just a game, the worst-case scenario is just treating it like a fake marriage.
“Rule number one: You’re marrying me, I’m not marrying you.” Since she had already agreed to be together, she naturally had to secure some perks.
Yun Yongjun nodded readily. After all, matters like this were best resolved in bed anyway.
“Rule number two: What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is still mine.”
Yun Yongjun was practically itching to tie every single thing she owned to the other person, so how could she possibly refuse? She nodded promptly once more. “Got it.”
Giving her a suspicious look, Mu Xuefei quickly raised a third finger. “Rule number three: You—Mmph…” But this time, before she could state her demand, her mouth was sealed by a kiss.
After a long while, Yun Yongjun finally released Mu Xuefei, who had melted into a soft puddle in her arms. Meeting the other’s damp, glistening eyes, she couldn’t resist leaning down again to press a kiss to the corners of her eyes, which were still wet with residual physiological tears.
Feeling the slight numbness on her tongue and the kiss against her eyelids, Mu Xuefei’s face flushed beet red at a speed visible to the naked eye. “Why did you suddenly just kiss me out of nowhere?”
“Rule number two: What’s mine is yours,” Yun Yongjun whispered near Mu Xuefei’s ear, playfully trailing her lips down the other’s neck before continuing, “Naturally, my saliva should belong to you too.”
Mu Xuefei, whose face was completely flooded with crimson: “…” Who explains things like that?!
After a moment, she grumbled softly, “I never expected you to be this kind of Junjun.”
“What kind of me?” Yun Yongjun’s voice grew a bit muffled. “We still have a long, long time to get to know each other.”
Mu Xuefei was starting to regret her impulsive decision. How did I manage to sell myself out just like that?
Perhaps sensing Mu Xuefei’s fluctuating emotions, Yun Yongjun smiled and said, “All sales are final, no refunds.”
“You’re a black-hearted merchant.” Mu Xuefei grumbled, mimicking the other’s earlier move by leaning over and playfully biting down on Yun Yongjun’s neck—though she misjudged her strength a bit, leaving a distinct pair of tooth marks behind.
“You actually dare bite me?” Yun Yongjun scooped her up in an instant, tossed her onto the bed, and immediately loomed over her, pretending she was going to bite her right back.
“Bite me then, who’s afraid of whom?” Mu Xuefei desperately needed to prove her prowess, so she immediately counter-attacked.
In an instant, the entire room filled with the sound of their childish laughter, brimming with a deep, contented relaxation.