Lan Yucheng moved forward subtly, snatching the clothes from Qing Xinxue’s hands.
“Eh?”
Qing Xinxue, her hands suddenly empty, first froze, then turned to stare blankly at Lan Yucheng.
She met Lan Yucheng’s somewhat cold gaze.
“Sister Cheng, when… when did you arrive? I… I was just washing clothes!”
To prove her point, Qing Xinxue, fearing Lan Yucheng wouldn’t believe her, quickly picked up other clothes belonging to Lan Yucheng that were already soaking in the sink.
Lan Yucheng simply watched her, silent and expressionless.
“I… I… I’m sorry!”
Perhaps it was Lan Yucheng’s silent demeanor that truly frightened Qing Xinxue, for she stopped trying to explain herself. Her eyes reddened, and she apologized to Lan Yucheng with a hint of fear.
Lan Yucheng glanced at Qing Xinxue’s red eyes, then at the clothes in her own hands. Ultimately, she relented, letting out a soft sigh.
She tossed the clothes back to Qing Xinxue, leaving her with a single statement.
“Just this once!”
Naturally, Qing Xinxue smiled upon receiving the clothes once more.
“Sister Cheng, you’re so kind!”
Lan Yucheng returned to the bedroom without a word. She kicked off her shoes, got into bed, and pulled up the covers in one fluid motion.
Staring at the pale ceiling of the bedroom, she began her analysis of Qing Xinxue once more.
‘So infatuated with my scent… isn’t that a little… abnormal?’
She brought up her panel and checked the favorability rating. Under Qing Xinxue’s avatar, a pink number was displayed.
[60%]
‘It’s already at 60%, but… is it truly only 60%?’
She closed her eyes, realizing there seemed to be a significant problem with this panel.
‘Perhaps… I shouldn’t use it anymore.’
She silently made up her mind. Since she couldn’t confirm the panel’s authenticity, she decided to stop looking at it and trust her own judgment instead.
****
While Lan Yucheng was still lost in thought, staring at the ceiling in her bedroom, Qing Xinxue on the balcony was descending into a state of near-frenzy, oblivious to everything around her.
Cool night air brushed against her flushed cheeks, yet it failed to disperse the crisp, gentle scent that lingered in her nostrils—a scent unique to Lan Yucheng.
She clutched the ‘recovered’ garment tightly in her hands, as if it were a rare treasure.
“Sister Cheng…” she murmured unconsciously, burying her face deep into the soft fabric.
The lingering scent of sweat, mingled with Lan Yucheng’s own faint body fragrance, created a captivating aroma that utterly enchanted her.
This scent was like an invisible thread, coiling around her heart, pulling at her most secret desires.
She yearned for more.
Not just the scent through the clothes, not just this mere gazing.
She craved more genuine touch, more warm embraces, and… a response that was uniquely hers.
This thought, like a wildfire, instantly spread, burning through her reason until it nearly collapsed.
As if bewitched, her lips involuntarily pressed against the fabric. Her teeth gently gnawed, as though through this almost childish, possessive act, she could thoroughly merge that person, that very essence, into her bones and blood.
“I like you so much… I like Sister Cheng so much…”
Once the floodgates of emotion opened, the surging tide became unstoppable.
She reveled in this moment, promised by Lan Yucheng. Her senses were infinitely magnified; everything around her blurred and receded, leaving only this scent that made her heart race and her soul utterly captivated.
However, as a stronger gust of cool wind swept past, disheveling her half-dry hair, it also jolted her clouded mind into sudden clarity.
A damp, abnormal coolness spread across her palm.
She abruptly looked down, horrified to find a large, dark water stain on the clothes—was that… her saliva?
“I… why am I eating Sister Cheng’s clothes?”
A wave of immense shame, like ice water, poured over her head, instantly extinguishing her earlier fervor.
She snatched the clothes away as if burned, her cheeks blazing red, all the way to her earlobes.
Her heart pounded like a drum, not from悸动, but from sheer terror and intense self-loathing.
What was she doing?! This behavior was utterly… utterly perverted!
Sister Cheng had just looked at her with such a cold gaze, only barely forgiving her this one time.
If… if Sister Cheng knew she not only secretly sniffed her clothes but also did something so… so unspeakable, what would she think?
She would definitely find her disgusting, wouldn’t she?
She would certainly look at her with even more distant, more disgusted eyes, wouldn’t she?
Just imagining that scene made Qing Xinxue feel as if an invisible hand was squeezing her heart, making it ache so much she could barely breathe.
More than the fear of not receiving a response, she feared being disliked by that person, feared being unable to even maintain this seemingly close distance she currently had.
“No… I can’t be like this…” she whispered to herself, her voice tearful and trembling.
She fumbled to immerse the saliva-stained clothes in clean water, rubbing them vigorously, trying to erase the traces of her loss of control. It was as if she also wished to wash away the turbulent, illicit desires churning within her.
Yet, even then, when her fingertips touched the soft fabric, feeling the lingering warmth of Sister Cheng, that deep-seated longing surged back like a tide, intertwining with fear and shame, threatening to tear her apart.
She wanted to draw closer, yet feared it; she wanted to possess, yet feared losing even more.
Finally, she slumped, stopping her movements. She tightly hugged Lan Yucheng’s wet clothes to her chest, pressing her burning cheeks against the cold tiles of the sink, letting hot tears silently stream down, mixing with the cold water.
“Sister Cheng… I truly like you so much…”
****
“Does washing clothes take this long?”
Lan Yucheng had been scrolling on her phone for almost an hour. She hadn’t closed her bedroom door, so she could naturally hear any commotion in the living room.
But now, why was there no sound at all?
She got out of bed and went to the balcony once more. This time, Qing Xinxue noticed her.
“Sister Cheng…” she said, her eyes red and her voice somewhat hoarse.
“Why are you crying again?”
Lan Yucheng felt a little speechless. Hadn’t she already permitted her to do ‘bad things’ with the clothes? What reason did she have to cry?
“Come here.”
Lan Yucheng beckoned to her. The obedient Qing Xinxue naturally put down the clothes, wiped her tears, and walked over.
“Sister Cheng…”
“Good girl. We’ll wash the clothes tomorrow, okay?”
Lan Yucheng gently embraced her, resting her head on Qing Xinxue’s shoulder and whispering into her ear.
Qing Xinxue trembled all over. She shook her head, pushing Lan Yucheng away with surprising force, then ran straight into the bathroom and hid.
“What? Even a hug isn’t working now?”
Lan Yucheng’s eyes narrowed. She pondered if she had made some oversight.
“Huff… huff…”
Qing Xinxue hid in the bathroom, clutching her chest.
‘Too fast.’
Her heart was pounding. She was afraid of Lan Yucheng like this—treating her so gently, forgiving her so magnanimously.
‘But… but Sister Cheng, I’m almost… I’m almost at my breaking point…’