The Other Kitten

Yu Qingkong looked at Lin Wanzhao’s message, then glanced at the time, lightly touching her forehead. She knew exactly what Lin Wanzhao meant. She wanted to, as well, but it really was getting a bit late.

After a moment, Yu Qingkong typed: “I have things to do tomorrow, and it’s already 10:00 PM. So, you know, if I come over now, it’ll be too late, won’t it?”

It was true. By the time she changed and drove over there, it would be nearly 11:00 PM. If they stayed up late messing around, what if she messed up her part at the annual meeting tomorrow?

In response, Lin Wanzhao sent a rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emoji: “So, if it were still early, you would’ve wanted to come over?”

Yu Qingkong stared at the question for a few seconds before typing: “What do you think?”

“What a pity. There’s nothing to be done; I guess you won’t get a taste. You’ll just have to suffer, haha.”

Yu Qingkong watched the message appear. She picked up her glass and drained the water in one gulp. She felt that the more Lin Wanzhao spoke like this, the more it made her want to carry out “justice” on the spot—to block that mouth and leave her only able to whimper.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she continued typing: “What would I be suffering from?”

Lin Wanzhao: “Who knows? I certainly don’t~ :)”

Seriously, that tone.

Yu Qingkong swallowed hard, then placed both hands back on the keyboard: “Shouldn’t the one suffering be you? Who was the one who said they were wet?”

On the other side of the network, Lin Wanzhao, who was currently sipping a bottle of Yakult, saw the message. Her legs involuntarily pressed together a little. However, she couldn’t fend off that faint, lingering sense of emptiness. She bit her lip gently and kept typing: “It’s not even that much, just a little bit, really.”

Seeing this, Yu Qingkong’s lips curled into a slight smirk: “A little bit? Isn’t a little bit still something?”

“Yes…”

“So, you’re the one suffering,” Yu Qingkong typed back.

“Stop it…”

“Do you really want to be—” Yu Qingkong looked down, thinking for a moment before finishing the sentence, “—by me right now? You know what I mean.”

“You… please stop. I feel like I’m getting more and more…”

Yu Qingkong’s smirk deepened: “More and more what?”

“Empty.”

Yu Qingkong stared at those two words, her gaze darkening. She swallowed again. “Want it?”

“You… really, truly can’t come?” Lin Wanzhao felt like she was truly losing her grip now.

At this point, Yu Qingkong paused to think, then typed: “And if I can’t?”

“But if that’s the case, then… what should I do?” Originally, Lin Wanzhao had mischievously intended to set a fire on Yu Qingkong’s side and then run away. But it seemed to have backfired. It was clearly Yu Qingkong who was tossing tinder at her through the internet; she could see the fire growing larger, yet she couldn’t put it out. She was genuinely feeling restless now.

“Perhaps you could try resolving it yourself.” After sending the text, Yu Qingkong took another sip of water. Without realizing it, her glass was empty again, yet her throat remained dry.

“I don’t know how. I don’t know how to do it…” Besides, Lin Wanzhao felt it was quite embarrassing.

“I think you’re quite capable when I’m doing those things to you. Aren’t the principles the same?” Yu Qingkong lowered the air conditioning temperature once more.

“But my own hand and yours… they’re different.” Lin Wanzhao really found it difficult to feel anything from her own touch. She wasn’t sure if it was just her technique.

“Then perhaps,” Yu Qingkong’s finger brushed against the corner of her mouth as she typed, “imagine your hand is mine.”

On the other end, Lin Wanzhao looked at the message. Her brow furrowed unconsciously as she endured waves of rising heat. She was biting her lip so hard she thought her teeth might crack.

Finally, she let go of the keyboard and bit her lip hard. With Yu Qingkong’s face in her mind, her hand gradually reached downward. Sure enough, just as she had expected, she was already a complete mess.

A while later, Lin Wanzhao finally… tilted her neck back and let out an involuntary sound. She then bowed her head, gasping for air as she withdrew her hand, her breathing ragged.

She really was… completely hooked by Yu Qingkong. Even though the other woman hadn’t said anything particularly explicit, she had ended up like this anyway.

Except, it still felt like so much was missing. It wasn’t enough at all. Lin Wanzhao slowly turned her head to the side. She felt none of the satisfaction she got when doing it with Yu Qingkong; on the contrary, she felt even emptier now.

After a while, her breathing steadied. She looked at the computer screen and saw that Yu Qingkong had sent two more messages:

“President Lin?”

“Did you take my suggestion?”

Lin Wanzhao was instantly embarrassed and annoyed. She typed: “Yeah, so what? Why so many questions? Do you want a live stream or something?”

On the other end, Yu Qingkong raised an eyebrow: “Is that an option?”

“In your dreams.”

Yu Qingkong’s fingers curled slightly: “Fine. Besides, I don’t need to see it to know what you look like at a time like that.”

“How would you know?”

Yu Qingkong visualized the scene and slowly closed her eyes, her hand clenching. She couldn’t think about it; just a fleeting thought made her entire nervous system jump.

Yu Qingkong opened her eyes and replied.

“You want to see it that badly? If you do, then come over.” Lin Wanzhao sent another reply.

Yu Qingkong stared fixedly at the chat box. She couldn’t keep talking, or she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, and she wouldn’t be able to function tomorrow.

Letting out a soft breath, Yu Qingkong typed: “We have the annual meeting tomorrow. President Lin, go to sleep early.”

“Fine. Then you go to sleep first. Goodnight. I’m not sleepy yet; I’ll sleep in a bit.” Then, Lin Wanzhao sent an emoji of a little person tucking themselves into bed.

“Goodnight,” Yu Qingkong replied.

After sending the message and saying goodnight, Yu Qingkong’s jaw relaxed. She leaned back against the chair and rubbed her forehead.

After telling herself several times to stop thinking about those messy things, Yu Qingkong shut down her computer, walked to the bed, and sat down, smoothing her sleeves.

However, after closing her eyes in contemplation for a moment, she got up again and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the cold water, splashed a handful onto her face, and let out a long breath.

Wiping the droplets from her face, she swallowed, forcing herself to calm down.

‘What exactly is Lin Wanzhao made of? She’s toxic. Why is it she can always ignite my desire so easily? I never thought I’d be someone so easily governed by physical urges.’

She pulled down a towel, wiped her face dry, and returned to the bedroom to lie down. Her breathing was still a bit heavy.

She lay in bed and turned off the lights, but she kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

She managed to drift off for a bit, but her dreams were filled with Lin Wanzhao’s figure—alluring, making all sorts of gestures, giving her various hints, yet she couldn’t catch her.

Yu Qingkong woke up abruptly from the dream. Once her breathing calmed, she checked the time, only to find that although she felt like she had been asleep for ages, it had only been ten minutes.

After that, sleep was impossible. Finally, she unlocked her phone and browsed through her Moments. She saw that Lin Wanzhao had posted a screenshot of a US TV show with the caption: “The busy work has finally come to a pause. I can finally watch a show I like. My kitten is watching with me too, it’s so nice.”

The post had only been up for five minutes, yet five or six “night owl” colleagues from the company had already liked and commented.

Yu Qingkong looked at it, thought for a moment, and opened Lin Wanzhao’s WeChat window: “When do you plan on sleeping?”

A moment later, Lin Wanzhao replied: “I don’t know… I’m surprisingly energetic today. It’s like a student on vacation; I just want to stay up a bit longer. Hey, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“I’m having a bit of trouble sleeping,” Yu Qingkong answered honestly.

“Ah, why?” Lin Wanzhao replied a second later.

“It’s nothing. How has Qiuqiu been getting along with you lately?” Yu Qingkong asked.

“I think it’s fine. Other than the time it scratched me, it’s been quite well-behaved. I feel like I’ve finally won it over.” Lin Wanzhao sent a laughing emoji.

Yu Qingkong squinted at the screen for a moment and kept typing: “That’s good. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen it in quite a while.”

“What, do you miss it?”

“A little. Actually, I promised to help you trim its claws that one time, but I ended up forgetting. Did you ever trim them later?” Yu Qingkong asked next.

“Of course not. If I had, would it have been able to scratch me?” After that message, Lin Wanzhao sent another: “You said you’d help me trim them, so come over then…”

Yu Qingkong looked at the message, closed her eyes briefly, and typed: “I’m coming over now.”

On the other side of WeChat, Lin Wanzhao held her phone, looking at it for a while. She reached out to pet Qiuqiu’s little head, her lips curving as she typed a few words: “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

After replying, Lin Wanzhao sat there for a bit longer. Suddenly remembering something, she chuckled to herself, grabbed her phone, and got up from the beanbag chair. She went to the walk-in closet, picked out a bathrobe, took off her overly formal shirt-style loungewear, and changed into it.

The moment Yu Qingkong finished that sentence, she rolled out of bed, changed her clothes, and headed out.

The weather was clearly freezing everywhere, especially this late at night. However, Yu Qingkong unconsciously ignored the temperature entirely.

She entered the garage, got into the car, and buckled her seatbelt. She backed the car out, turned the wheel, and drove out of the garage.

The winter night was bleak, with no pedestrians and very few cars. However, the lack of traffic was quite comfortable.

In a flash, Yu Qingkong arrived at Lin Wanzhao’s door and rang the bell.

After a short wait, the door finally opened. Yu Qingkong looked up at her.

Lin Wanzhao opened the door and leaned lazily against the frame, her lips curving as she toyed with a lock of hair. “You actually got here that fast?”

“Because there’s no traffic at this hour.” Yu Qingkong stared at her face, her gaze lingering for a moment on the low-cut neckline of the bathrobe before she stepped inside and closed the door.

Clack.

“You missed the cat this much at this hour?” Lin Wanzhao continued to look at her, smiling. “It seems you really are a cat lover.”

Yu Qingkong looked at her. She was wearing a large white bathrobe, which made Lin Wanzhao look incredibly delicate and soft—the kind of look that made one want to bully her. Just then, Qiuqiu ran over obediently and rubbed its head against Yu Qingkong’s leg.

“Is that not allowed?” Yu Qingkong squatted down and placed her hand under the kitten’s chin, gently teasing it. The kitten started purring incessantly, looking thoroughly satisfied.

Lin Wanzhao glanced at them, crossed her arms, and sauntered to the side. “Why don’t the two of you just keep each other company then?”

Lin Wanzhao saw it clearly now. Her feeling that she had won the cat over was just her own imagination. In that stupid cat’s mind, she didn’t even rank as high as Yu Qingkong, who barely ever came here.

Didn’t they say cats have poor memories and would forget a person if they didn’t see them for a few days? Why did that turn out to be false in her case?

At that moment, Yu Qingkong finally let go of Qiuqiu, stood up, and walked over to Lin Wanzhao. “Where are the nail clippers?”

Lin Wanzhao looked at her and smiled. “Wait a second, I’ll go get them.”

“Mhm.” Seeing Qiuqiu still circling her feet, Yu Qingkong chuckled, squatted back down, picked it up gently, and smoothed its fur.

After retrieving the nail clippers, Lin Wanzhao watched her for a moment before handing them over. “Here.”

Then, Lin Wanzhao turned toward the kitchen. “Go ahead and clip them. I’m going to the kitchen to heat up some milk.”

“Okay.” Yu Qingkong nodded, taking the clippers.

Lin Wanzhao gave her one last look over her shoulder and walked into the kitchen.

She took a carton of milk from the fridge and a small saucepan. She let out a sigh and began heating the milk.

A moment later, the milk was ready. She took out two cups and filled them one by one.

Just then, Yu Qingkong walked in, stood by the sink next to her, and turned on the faucet.

Shhh—

“You’re done already?” Lin Wanzhao blinked, holding the hot milk as she looked at Yu Qingkong.

“It’s fast as long as you have the technique. It won’t be able to cause any trouble for a while now.” Yu Qingkong squeezed some soap into her palm, lathered it, and rinsed her hands under the water.

“Oh…” Honestly, Lin Wanzhao didn’t really care if it caused trouble; if it scratched something, she’d just buy a new one. But she nodded anyway and took a sip of milk. “Then be careful on your way back.”

Hearing this, Yu Qingkong’s eyes shifted slightly toward her. “Is President Lin in such a hurry to kick me out today?”

“Am I? I don’t think so. It’s just… didn’t you come here to see Qiuqiu and clip its claws? Now that those things are done, I naturally assumed you were heading back. Is that not the case?” Lin Wanzhao tilted her wrist, placing the cup on the counter. She crossed her arms, her soft silhouette leaning slightly against the edge of the counter. She wore a faint smile, naturally exuding an air of elegance.

“Those things are indeed finished…” Yu Qingkong nodded, drying her hands with a towel.

“Then have a safe drive.” Lin Wanzhao gave a radiant smile and moved to walk past her toward the door.

However, the moment she brushed past, Yu Qingkong grabbed her wrist. In that instant, Lin Wanzhao felt a thin layer of heat spread from her skin in all directions.

“Hey…” Lin Wanzhao turned her head slightly to look at her. She thought she looked cold and aloof, but she didn’t realize how soft her voice sounded.

Yu Qingkong didn’t say a word as she pulled her into her arms, holding her gently. “That kitten has been seen to, but there are still some things to be done with this other kitten that haven’t even started yet.”

Lin Wanzhao, of course, understood the meaning behind those words. Her cheeks flushed inexplicably, and her voice was thin: “What do you want to do…”

“You.” Yu Qingkong leaned close to her ear, her lips parting slightly as she spoke.