An Unexpected Encounter

“Wh…What does that mean?”

Hearing Chen Si Yi’s words, I was instantly stunned, even forgetting to resist as she pulled me into her embrace, teasing me mercilessly.

“Hehe, of course it means exactly what it says.”

Chen Si Yi ignored me, busying herself by stroking my chin and playing with my hair, causing me to become increasingly irritated.

“Enough, stop moving around!” I angrily brushed away the hand that had been caressing my cheek. “Chen Si Yi, you better explain what’s going on, or else…”

“Or else what?”

“Uh… no… or else…”

I gritted my teeth, steeling myself to threaten, “Or else, I’ll tell Mom and Dad to come deal with you!”

Desperate, I was small and agile, and completely at Chen Si Yi’s mercy. Other than using my parents as a shield, I couldn’t think of any other way to make Chen Si Yi hesitate.

“Ha, I thought you were going to do something!”

However, Chen Si Yi simply laughed off my threat. She reached up and pinched my cheek, then leaned in close to my ear, dismissively saying, “Really, Lin Yan, even if you wanted to scare me, you should at least consider the situation. Mom and Dad are still on a business trip overseas, and it’ll be months before they’re back.”

“Besides, you’re already in my hands now. I’d love to see you try to tell them anything.”

With that, under my astonished gaze, Chen Si Yi wrapped one arm around my waist and grabbed my shoulder, effortlessly flipping me over so that I was pinned beneath her.

“Hah…hah… Now you can’t get away, can you?”

Whether from anger or embarrassment, a rosy hue spread across Chen Si Yi’s usually pale cheeks. She touched her tantalizing red lips, slowly leaning in until our noses almost touched. I watched in disbelief as she stopped just inches from my face.

“Th…Thinking, Si Yi, just calm down.”

Seeing Chen Si Yi’s face so clearly, I panicked, losing all trace of my previous composure. “Did I do something to upset you?” I asked nervously, swallowing hard.

“………”

Chen Si Yi didn’t answer, only frowning slightly, her dark eyes fixed unwaveringly on me. Ah, please stop looking at me like that.

Being stared at so intently by my little sister, my heart was racing so fast it felt like it might stop.

When Chen Si Yi still hadn’t responded after a long while, I tentatively spoke up again. “Um… I don’t know what I did to upset you, but since we’re both civilized, can we just keep it together?”

Yes, when a girl gets this worked up, the best thing to do is to apologize, no matter what.

But just as I finished speaking, an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed through the room. “Seriously, this guy still doesn’t get it, does he, Si Yi?”

The voice was hollow and eerily soothing, and for some reason, I found myself momentarily transfixed. Had there been a third person in the room this whole time?

I looked up toward the source of the voice and was astonished to see that at some point, a fiery red-haired girl had appeared, floating upside-down on the ceiling of the bedroom.

Moreover, she had two barely noticeable brown horns atop her head, and a long, slender black tail that swayed back and forth behind her.

Noticing my wide-eyed stare, the girl winked at me seductively, then slowly descended from the ceiling, curious and amused as she poked at my face. “Could it be that you really don’t understand? We’re planning to keep you locked up, you know!”

“What?!?”