“Then I guess I’ll have to be your prisoner for life.”
“…You’re so confident, so let’s just take the final exam right now.” Even though her face was already flushed red, Lan Yan steeled herself and directly lifted the hem of Liang Jingchuan’s T-shirt.
As she expected, he reflexively grabbed her wrist, stiffening up like a robot that had suddenly lost response.
…She really didn’t know what to say about him. He was clearly still at the stage of all talk and no action, yet he kept provoking her every time, as if he wouldn’t be satisfied unless she completely turned the tables on him.
Lan Yan reached out and pinched his earlobe, watching his thin lips press tightly together as if he was forcing himself to stay calm.
“…Your abs are pretty well-trained.” She commented.
Liang Jingchuan completely froze. Visibly, from his neck to behind his ears, a whole patch of skin began to turn red.
This air that had heated up too quickly made even Lan Yan unable to hold on. She planted her left foot on the ground, about to get off his lap, when her waist was suddenly gripped and pressed forward.
She wedged back into his embrace, and the kiss chased right after.
The entire evening, they spent kissing in a sticky, mushy way, interspersed with sweet nothings and nonsense, from the sofa to the bed, from the brightly lit living room to the darkened bedroom.
It was as if he wanted to make up all at once for the years of longing he hadn’t been able to fulfill.
“…Time to sleep, okay?” Lan Yan had to forcibly put an end to it.
“Mm…” Liang Jingchuan’s breath came close again. “One last time.”
“…How many ‘last times’ is this for you?” Lan Yan was utterly speechless. “…My lips are about to swell.”
“Where? Let me see…”
A fist pounded on Liang Jingchuan’s shoulder, and he finally chuckled muffledly and pulled back.
“Sleep. Good night.” Lan Yan said.
“Good night.”
The space quieted down.
Lan Yan opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
Liang Jingchuan lay on his side next to her, one arm draped over her waist—a scene that yesterday’s her could hardly have imagined.
After a good while, she heard Liang Jingchuan’s breathing grow longer and more even.
Lan Yan turned over, from lying flat to lying on her side.
The air conditioner hummed, its indicator light glowing, neutralizing the room’s dimness and allowing her to make out the contours of his features in the faint light.
She had no idea what time it was now; it had already been past eleven when they entered the bedroom.
“…Are you asleep?” Lan Yan asked softly.
Liang Jingchuan didn’t react.
Lan Yan worried he was pretending to sleep. She waited a bit, and seeing no response, she scooted her head closer to him, a little closer still.
At such a close distance, she blinked, leaned in, and brushed her lips against his.
Just as she was about to pull back, her nape was gripped, and Liang Jingchuan’s deep voice landed on her lips: “You won’t let me sleep, but you won’t let me kiss you either—what do you mean by that?”
“Who said you can’t sleep…” His tongue tip probed in, cutting her off.
Like two hot coals that hadn’t cooled, needing just a bit of oxygen to reignite even more fiercely than before.
Lan Yan’s palm pressed against Liang Jingchuan’s chest, feeling his extremely rapid heartbeat.
His palm roamed repeatedly over her waist through her sleepwear. Though he kept stealing her air, his breathing grew rougher and heavier each time.
Lan Yan’s mind sank, falling into a dizzy haze like from high heat and lack of oxygen. During a breath, she turned her head and murmured almost inaudibly into Liang Jingchuan’s ear: “…You can.”
She heard his breathing suddenly lighten, and the hand on her waist stopped.
After a moment, he tilted his head, his warm breath puffing against her ear, making goosebumps rise uncontrollably all over her body.
Her earlobe was enveloped in a hot, wet sensation, and she instantly wanted to curl up entirely.
She heard Liang Jingchuan say something, but with the roaring in her ears like ocean waves, she didn’t catch it and just hummed through her nose in question.
“I said… your ears are so soft, Yanyan.”
“…”
Why were words sometimes more lethal than physical touch, like magical incantations? She felt not just her ears, but her whole body, had its bones drawn out, melting into him like a puddle of water.
Liang Jingchuan kept sucking on her earlobe continuously. She didn’t realize how tightly her fingers dug into his shoulder where her hand rested.
But that was just the start of her nerves tensing, because the next instant, she felt the hem of her sleepwear lifted. Without the barrier of fabric, his palm was like it held a ball of fire, slowly scorching over her skin.
Lan Yan unconsciously held her breath.
And at that moment, her heart skipped a beat entirely.
“Yanyan…”
She wasn’t sure if her “mm” made any sound.
“…Softer than your ears.” Liang Jingchuan’s voice was hoarse and muffled as it entered her ear, like soaked in water.
“You…”
He seemed not to hear clearly and leaned his ear closer to her.
“…Can you not talk?”
“Sure.”
But the next instant, she wished he would say something to distract her attention, so all her senses wouldn’t focus on his palm and fingers.
Though she’d never properly observed them, she knew how good-looking his hands were.
Long fingers, distinct knuckles, pale skin, nails trimmed short and clean.
When he gripped things—like a pen, chopsticks, a fruit knife, or an umbrella handle—veins would stand out on the back of his hand. Same when he exerted force.
Was it like that now?
Just imagining it short-circuited her thoughts.
And clearly, she wasn’t the only one exceeding the threshold, because Liang Jingchuan’s breath moved away from her ear. In the darkness, he found her lips, and when he kissed her, she could feel his whole body trembling slightly.
“Yanyan…”
“Mm?”
He seemed to remember the no-talking rule she’d imposed and stayed silent.
“You say it.”
“…Like little pebbles.” As he spoke, he used his nail to indicate the position.
“…” Lan Yan opened her mouth and bit.
He hissed softly in pain, then laughed. “So fierce.”
“…Shut up. No more sounds.”
“Oh.”
Unable to speak, he substituted with kisses. The rhythm of the kisses synced with his fingers and palm—now light, now heavy—gradually leaving her overwhelmed.
Sometimes, the line between pleasure and torment was razor-thin, and clearly Liang Jingchuan felt the same.
He pulled his head back, his chin resting on her shoulder, his hand withdrawing. His breathing was short and heavy, as if he’d just endured a long drowning.
Lan Yan didn’t deliberately guide anything further, though her “you can” had allowed a broad scope.
But she wanted Liang Jingchuan to decide the pace.
Tonight’s Liang Jingchuan clearly thought that on the first day of dating, pulling the progress bar this far already far exceeded expectations.
He wisely didn’t provoke her further, waiting until his heartbeat and breathing returned to normal rhythm.
Lan Yan curled in his arms, her palm touching the bones of his shoulder and back under his T-shirt, feeling a strange, indescribable sense of security.
“Yanyan.”
Lan Yan rubbed her head against his chin to show she was listening.
“What are you going to do about Uncle and my mom?”
Lan Yan thought for a moment and could only say: “I don’t know. It feels too selfish to keep them from being together openly because of us.”
“Then what do you want…”
“Can we just let nature take its course? Deal with it if we’re found out, and if not…”
“Keep having a secret affair forever?”
Lan Yan paused. “From your tone, it sounds like you’re looking forward to not being found out.”
“That must be you mishearing.”
Lan Yan rolled her eyes, then remembered he couldn’t see in the dark. “As if I don’t know you. You just want to do it right under the adults’ noses…”
“Mm?” Liang Jingchuan’s voice carried a laugh. “Why’d you stop? What do I want to do under the adults’ noses?”
“…Pervert.”
“You’re convicting me based on your own imagination.”
“Too lazy to deal with you.”
Liang Jingchuan’s body temperature was a bit higher than hers; the usual setting felt a little hot. She reached for the AC remote, lowered the temperature a notch, and glanced at the time on her phone nearby.
“Sleep. It’s really late.”
Liang Jingchuan said “okay.”
“Did you set the alarm?”
“Yeah.”
Lan Yan nodded, and they bid each other good night.
The silence lasted less than ten seconds before Lan Yan spoke up again. “What was your business trip for?”
“Meeting two headhunters.”
After a hesitation, Lan Yan still said: “I saw the non-compete agreement you signed.”
“…The day you came to my place?”
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t you worrying about too many things? Can’t you just focus on whether you like me or not?”
“…I’m considering your future, and you don’t appreciate it.”
Liang Jingchuan chuckled. “It’s nothing, Yanyan. Even if Chen Boyu activates the non-compete because he finds out about us, there are still plenty of ways to get around it… But if I really have to stay home for two years, will you support me?”
Before Lan Yan could answer, he added: “I’m very useful. Keep me at home, and I can cook, clean, and also…”
A hand clamped over his mouth.
“…And be your loyal bodyguard.” Liang Jingchuan laughed until her palm itched. “What did you think I was going to say?”
She tried to pull her hand back, but Liang Jingchuan caught it and lowered his head to kiss her fingertips.
She finally felt that toothache sensation from eating too much candy.
“…You really liked me from the first time we met?” Only in the darkness did she dare bring it up again.
“Of course.”
“…I didn’t feel it at all.”
“That’s why I said you’re oblivious.” Liang Jingchuan accused, nipping her fingertip. “The umbrella wasn’t something Uncle asked me to deliver to you; the light in your room wasn’t something he asked me to fix; I wasn’t unhappy about going to the bar because I didn’t want to go with you; when you were sick at home resting, I didn’t just happen to have nothing to do and stay home; the two hundred yuan you lost wasn’t something I happened to pick up; I didn’t fail to buy a high-speed rail ticket and have no choice but to fly with you…”
“…Stop.”
Why he’d stayed in South City for undergrad, then gone to North City for direct PhD, why he’d never planned to go abroad… She understood it all now.
“…Are you an idiot?” Lan Yan’s nose stung inevitably. “With acting skills like that, why not go into entertainment?”
Liang Jingchuan laughed helplessly. “What could I do? You hated me from the start.”
“Then you could… you could be like you are now. Aren’t you good at being unreasonable?”
“Yanyan, I don’t have a strong desire to possess things that were never meant to be mine.”
Like luxury items in a shop window—every time he passed by, that faint unwillingness at their unattainability faded quickly.
Liang Jingchuan heard a faint choking sound and froze.
“What’s wrong?”
Lan Yan shook her head. “…I don’t want to say it and make you feel bad.”
“Say it.” Hearing no response, he repeated: “It’s fine. Say it.”
“…I wish you were my first love too.”
Liang Jingchuan froze.
He reached out, lifted her face, and kissed her. As expected, he tasted a bit of tears. “You just made me feel a little bad now.”
“…Sorry.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one apologizing? I was too cowardly before.”
“Then how will you make it up to me?”
“I’ll make it up to you?” Liang Jingchuan laughed in disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to be your prisoner for life.”