’Explore something else?’
’What else could there be to explore?’
Jiang You’s gaze darted about evasively.
[OOC Warning.]
Her gaze fell upon the sky.
[Warning.]
Her gaze fell upon his fingers.
[Warning.]
Her gaze fell upon his abs.
[Warning.]
And so, her gaze fell upon his lower abdomen...
Finally, the warnings stopped.
’Fine, fine, fine. So this is my persona—confident and bold.’
’No coyness, no pretense. Just straightforward and direct.’
’Alright, alright!’
Jiang You sized him up haughtily. Though the tips of her ears were already red, her tone was still arrogant. "Alright then. What are we exploring?"
Xi Cheng noticed her gaze and heard the system’s voice as well.
For some reason, he let out a soft chuckle.
He reached out with a long, slender hand, its knuckles clearly defined, and covered her eyes. "Don’t look there."
Then he lowered his head to kiss her, answering softly, "The exploration I was talking about... was for you to explore the softness of my lips."
’What else could she have thought it was?’
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Jiang You’s eyes, but she quickly concealed it.
His cool, thin lips met her full, red ones. He suckled them gently, savoring the taste.
He kissed her slowly, so slowly, the lingering tenderness gradually deepening into a passionate embrace.
Jiang You was growing breathless. She struggled to pull away, but a large, slender hand pressed her back into the kiss.
’Am I going to suffocate from this kiss?’ she wondered.
"Am I boring?" Xi Cheng asked, giving her a moment to breathe.
Jiang You was still in a daze when his lips captured hers again.
Once again, she felt like she was on the verge of suffocating from his kiss.
He completely stole her breath away.
"Youyou, am I boring?" Xi Cheng’s chest rose and fell dramatically. His lips brushed against hers as he asked again, his voice gentle and hoarse.
"N—" ’...not boring at all.’
Before she could finish, his lips were on hers again.
Her breathing grew ragged and chaotic.
"Hmm? Youyou, am I boring?" Xi Cheng asked again with a breathless chuckle.
Jiang You had wanted to say he wasn’t boring.
But if she said "no," she would just be kissed even more deeply.
She quickly replied, "You’re interesting!"
Xi Cheng chuckled softly. "Good. Youyou has to keep finding me interesting."
...
When Jiang You left the technology building, her cheeks were hot and her lips were swollen.
’What was that nonsense about exploring the softness of his lips? If you’re going to kiss, just kiss. Why call it exploring?’
She cursed inwardly.
’I should probably provoke him less in the future.’
She had called him a boring person.
And he had just proven to her that he wasn’t.
Kissing her over and over, asking her again and again if he was still boring.
Jiang You cringed at the memory.
’Oh right, I still have a task to do,’ she remembered.
A moment later, she raised her terminal and called Yang Qi.
She had originally planned to call her three little followers, but then she remembered she’d already let them go have fun, so she decided not to bother them.
When Jiang You called Yang Qi, he agreed immediately without a second thought.
So, she headed straight for the school gate.
Yang Qi arrived incredibly quickly; Jiang You spotted him the moment she walked out.
He had two or three cronies with him, and they all swarmed over enthusiastically when they saw her.
"Sister You!" Yang Qi beamed.
"Sister You!" the cronies echoed in unison.
Jiang You gave a slight blink, her posture haughty. "Let’s go."
"Alright!" Yang Qi agreed, his eyes crinkling into a smile.
Jiang You got into Yang Qi’s car, and they headed to the neighboring sports academy to cause trouble for Zhou Jin.
「At the school gate.」
After Jiang You left, two people remained standing not far away.
"Captain, why haven’t you left yet?" Xu Wen had just bought a bag of snacks to give to his girlfriend when he saw Xie Heng still standing at the school gate.
’They had already parted ways to head home. He’d even had time to buy snacks, so why was the captain still standing here?’
Xu Wen followed Xie Heng’s gaze but only saw the taillights of a red sports car disappearing in the distance. There was nothing else.
"Yeah, I’m leaving now." Xie Heng lowered his gaze, his sharp features settling as he turned toward the bus stop.
Xu Wen was baffled for a moment, but then he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly shouted, "Captain, our assessment is coming up! Don’t get into a fight with your fiancée! If she refuses to show up, we’re all screwed for the assessment!"
’If the assessment is a bust, so are our scores.’
Xie Heng’s steps faltered for a second before he continued walking, merely replying with a detached, "I know."
His jet-black eyes darkened, betraying no emotion.
’Normally, she would have come to raise a fuss with him.’
’He’d grabbed her hand hard enough to hurt and had interrupted her. She should be here, acting up about it.’
But Xie Heng hadn’t received any messages from her, nor had he heard her threaten to break off the engagement.
And then he’d seen her leaving with a group of guys.
’She must have had something important to do.’
’So important that she forgot to come and cause a scene for her fiancé.’
Xie Heng’s eyes were dark and brooding as he stood at the bus stop. His entire posture was sharp and angular, radiating a ’stay away’ aura.
The other people waiting for the bus didn’t dare to approach him.
The bus arrived.
Xie Heng started to board, but he stopped at the entrance, his hand gripping the nearby handrail.
His eyes were pitch-black as the image of Jiang You leaving with three or four guys flashed through his mind.
Those guys were dressed like a bunch of thugs.
’Does she have any sense of self-preservation at all?’
’How could she just go off with them like that? What if something happened?’
The more Xie Heng thought about it, the more agitated he became, and the tighter his jaw clenched.
"Hey, you getting on or not!" the driver yelled impatiently, seeing Xie Heng blocking the doorway.
Xie Heng spun around and stepped off the bus, a frigid aura trailing behind him.
The driver muttered, "What a weirdo."
After getting off the bus, Xie Heng immediately used his terminal to call Jiang You.
’If he hadn’t seen it, he could have ignored it. But now that he had, he couldn’t just do nothing.’
’Doesn’t she know how dangerous it is for a girl to go out with such shady characters?’
Jiang You was walking down the street when she saw an incoming call from Xie Heng. She froze for a second. ’I haven’t even gone to cause trouble for him yet, and he’s calling me?’
Indeed, Jiang You and Yang Qi had already entered the sports academy. Since it was right next door, the drive to its front gate had been quick.
She answered the call.
’I wonder what Xie Heng wants.’
"What is it?" Jiang You’s voice was haughty.
"Where are you?" Xie Heng demanded coldly.
Hearing Xie Heng’s harsh tone, Jiang You immediately felt annoyed.
’What’s with that tone!’
’He sounds like he’s interrogating me. Anyone who didn’t know better would think I was a criminal.’
"Why should you care where I am?" Jiang You’s tone was dismissive. "I haven’t even settled the score with you for hurting my hand today, and now you’re trying to boss me around? Xie Heng, since when did you become such a busybody?"
"Jiang You, I have no interest in controlling you. Do whatever you want," Xie Heng’s tone was cold and hard. "Where are you right now?"
"If you’re not trying to control me, then why are you asking where I am?" Jiang You sneered.
Xie Heng’s lips tightened. "I need to talk to you about something."
He was clearly worried about her, but the words that came out were different.
"What is it?" Jiang You asked, confused.
Xie Heng was silent for a moment. "The team assessment is coming up."