Collar

“Senior Brother?!”

Gan Tang was stunned by that familiar, soft voice!

She instantly shot up from her boneless state on the stone table, her eyes bursting with a shockingly bright light.

“You’re back? Am I dreaming?!”

She rubbed her eyes hard, trying to focus on the striking azure figure before her.

“Then why don’t you go back to sleep, Junior Sister? Try to have a dream within a dream.”

Lu Qiancha crossed her arms, tilted her head back slightly, and shot her a classic eye-roll.

“No, no, no! No more sleeping! Hehehe~”

Gan Tang instantly shook her head like a pellet drum, her eyes curving into sweet crescents, her grin threatening to reach her ears.

“Senior Brother, oh, Senior Brother! You’re finally back! We’ve been apart for so many days…”

She leaned forward slightly, unconsciously twisting the corner of her robes, a strange blush blooming on her cheeks, her tone expectant yet shyly bashful like a new bride.

“Um, that is, could I…”

“Hm? Could you what?” Lu Qiancha raised an eyebrow.

“Could! Could you let me…” Gan Tang took a deep breath, mustering all her courage, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, “…hug… just for a little bit?”

After she said it, Gan Tang looked as if she’d been steamed, the blush spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

“Of course you can~”

The smile on Lu Qiancha’s face instantly became exceptionally brilliant.

Her blue eyes sparkled, as clear and innocent as an angel’s.

“I’ll only hug you for a little while, Senior Brother, I beg you…”

Gan Tang’s voice suddenly faltered.

Her neck creaked as she lowered her head, staring intently at the overly brilliant smile on Lu Qiancha’s face.

“Eh…?” Her brain, which had short-circuited from the immense surprise, finally managed to produce a slow, questioning monosyllable.

“What’s wrong, Junior Sister?”

Lu Qiancha tilted her little head, her expression still a flawless mask of innocent purity, but the little devil in her heart was already eagerly awaiting the start of the show.

“Senior Brother! You, you just said…”

Gan Tang’s tongue felt as if it were tied in knots, each word weighing a thousand pounds.

“I could hug you?!”

“Yes~ You can.”

Lu Qiancha smiled faintly, her tone even carrying a hint of urging.

“Waaah, Senior Brother, you’re the best!”

Gan Tang was so moved she was on the verge of tears, opening her arms for a starving tiger pounce, but her words caused an invisible tic mark to pulse on Lu Qiancha’s forehead.

‘What the hell does “you’re the best” mean! Why does it feel like I’m just some kind of tool!’

Lu Qiancha silently made a heavy mark against Gan Tang’s name in her mental notebook.

Grudge_held.jpg

But just as Gan Tang was about to pounce, her movement suddenly froze.

“Huh?”

Gan Tang’s motion stopped as if in a freeze-frame.

“What is it?”

Lu Qiancha asked with a frown.

‘Could it be that my little junior sister guessed what I was about to do?’

‘That shouldn’t be possible?! How could she guess something I came up with on the spur of the moment?’

“Senior Brother…..”

Gan Tang said slowly, “why are you wearing a dog collar?”

“Ahem, ahem!”

The angelic smile on Lu Qiancha’s face instantly cracked.

She was so struck by those shocking words that she broke into a coughing fit.

“Who are you calling a dog!”

Lu Qiancha shot up from where she stood, her paw whistling through the air—

Smack!

She mercilessly left a small, clear, faint red paw print on Gan Tang’s stunned face.

Gan Tang clutched the small paw print on her face.

She also felt that the term “dog collar” was indeed a bit inappropriate and quickly tried to remedy it, “Uh… a wolf collar then?”

“This thing is not a collar!”

Hearing this, Lu Qiancha felt an itch in her teeth, a sudden urge to bite something.

She glared at Gan Tang with a hostile expression.

“Then… what is this?”

Gan Tang squatted down beside Lu Qiancha, reaching out to touch the peach-pink lace choker on her neck. It was smooth, and cool to the touch.

And it was quite cute, it suited Senior Brother very well.

“This is the key to a small world.”

Lu Qiancha blinked, speaking in a mysterious tone.

“So amazing!”

Gan Tang’s eyes instantly turned into stars, and she cooperated perfectly by clapping enthusiastically.

“It’s good that you know it’s amazing.”

Lu Qiancha snorted lightly, her large tail flicking up proudly.

“But Senior Brother, why do you have to wear it on your neck?”

Gan Tang asked, propping her chin on her hand, looking puzzled.

“Because the moment it appeared, it was already wrapped around here…”

Lu Qiancha was momentarily stumped by the question.

She subconsciously fiddled with the choker with her paw and asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Where else could I wear it?”

“You can’t take it off?”

Gan Tang asked, tilting her head.

“Probably… I can, right?”

Lu Qiancha was also a little unsure now.

“Let me try then.”

Before her voice had even faded.

Shlick—

Gan Tang’s movements were as fast as lightning.

With two fingers, she precisely spread open the seemingly tough lace edge and, with extreme fluidity… just plucked it off.

The entire peach-pink choker… was just taken off like that.

“The elasticity is amazing.”

Gan Tang weighed the object in her hand, which had instantly shrunk into a ball of fluff.

Lu Qiancha: “…”

She looked down at her own neck, now bare and chilly again, and blinked her blue eyes.

“So…”

She stared at the ball of fluff and posed a question from the depths of her soul, “this thing… where exactly can it be worn?”

“Don’t worry! Let your junior sister study it!”

Gan Tang’s eyes instantly lit up with the light of scientific research.

Holding the fluffy, soft, pink choker, she gestured all over Lu Qiancha’s body.

“On your hand? … No… doesn’t look good…”

“On your waist? No, that doesn’t look good either.” “On your head? …” “On your leg? Wait…” Gan Tang’s gaze suddenly focused on her slender thigh, wrapped in a white stocking. “It’s a perfect fit here, and it looks really good.”

“On… on my leg?”

Hearing Gan Tang’s words, Lu Qiancha thought for a moment.

That was actually a pretty good suggestion. Worn on her leg, it could be hidden by her clothes, which was much better than wearing it on her neck like a pet collar.

‘Hmm, it’s rare for Junior Sister to have a reliable idea.’ Lu Qiancha’s blue eyes glinted, and she answered, “Okay.”

“Senior Brother, take off your shoe and lift your leg.”

Gan Tang’s voice sounded by her ear.

“Oh.”

Lu Qiancha responded subconsciously, obediently kicking off a small, strapped cloud-treading shoe and lifting her right leg, clad in a white stocking, revealing a delicate, pale ankle and the curve of her calf.

The moment those cool fingers—her junior sister’s fingers—touched the skin of her ankle…

Lu Qiancha’s brain exploded with a buzz!

Wait a minute!!!

Couldn’t she just go back to her room, close the door, and slowly put it on with her own paws?! Although her paws were a bit clumsy… it was still better than having someone else put it on for her.

It’s over, it’s over! It must be that damned pink spiritual energy from my heart demon still lingering in my body! It’s made me stupid!

At this thought, Lu Qiancha wanted to retract her foot…

But on second thought, if she pulled back, this one-legged stance… what if she lost her balance and fell flat on her butt with a thump…

‘Forget it, if I end up crying in front of Gan Tang, it would be so embarrassing… Choosing the lesser of two evils, it’s better to just let my junior sister help me put it on.’

And so, Lu Qiancha forcefully suppressed the desire to flee, rigidly maintaining her raised-leg posture.