Inside the laboratory, the cold, white light shone down.
It was already cold outside, and the laboratory was just as frigid. All the scientific instruments radiated an icy chill.
After Jiang You snatched the test tube Xi Cheng was reaching for, she clutched it in her palm, and her hand trembled from the cold.
Her eye twitched. ’All the equipment in here is freezing to the touch.’
Xi Cheng reached for another test tube. Jiang You’s pink eyes darted as she realized what he was doing, and her hand shot out to snatch it away from him.
Xi Cheng’s hand was left hanging in mid-air. He didn’t retract it. Lowering his gaze, his silver eyes shifted, and he deliberately reached to the side. With lightning speed, Jiang You snatched away yet another test tube.
He continued to deliberately reach out, always stopping partway to let Jiang You grab the test tube before he could.
And so it went: Xi Cheng would deliberately reach for a test tube, and Jiang You would snatch it away.
He was simply teasing her, completely nonchalant. He wasn’t actually trying to get any reagents; he just wanted to have a little fun with her, that’s all.
Before long, Jiang You found her arms overflowing with so many test tubes she could barely hold them all. And yet, surprisingly, Xi Cheng hadn’t gotten angry.
She furrowed her brow. ’I’m completely disrupting his experiment. Why isn’t he angry?’
Jiang You looked up at him and saw that he had stopped reaching for lab equipment. Instead, he was gazing down at her quietly, his silver eyes both gentle and calm, as if they could see through everything.
"Done grabbing them?" Xi Cheng watched her, a barely perceptible smile flashing in his silver eyes. He spoke softly, his cool voice laced with a casual, teasing tone.
Jiang You cringed internally.
She recovered quickly, giving him a haughty look. "I just won’t let you do your experiment."
’Pretty childish, right?’
"Do you know what you look like right now?" Xi Cheng drawled.
Jiang You paused. "Like what?"
Xi Cheng reached out and patted her on the head. An incredibly faint smile, almost imperceptible, flashed in his silver eyes. To Jiang You, he still seemed perfectly calm and composed. His voice drifted down to her. "You look like a little kid throwing a tantrum for attention."
The expression on Jiang You’s face froze for an instant.
’According to the script, Xi Cheng is supposed to give me the cold shoulder. That’s why I came here to bother him and stop his experiment—to make him pay attention to me.’
’When I act this childish, Xi Cheng is supposed to get annoyed and disgusted with me.’
’The atmosphere between us should be tense and frigid.’
’But why does the atmosphere feel so strange now? It’s not tense or frigid at all.’
’He’s not annoyed, and he’s not disgusted...’
’It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m already used to the plot going off the rails.’
’It’s been off the rails from the very beginning.’
"Hah! Don’t flatter yourself." Jiang You snatched the last test tube from his hand and gave him a defiant look. "I just won’t let you do your experiment."
[Mission Complete.]
Jiang You breathed a sigh of relief. ’Next, Xi Cheng is supposed to kick me out and call security to drag me away.’
’But with the way things are going, he probably won’t do that. Now I don’t know what excuse I can use to leave...’
Xi Cheng’s silver eyes shifted slightly. He had, of course, heard the "Mission Complete" notification as well.
He looked at Jiang You, who was still clutching an armful of cold glassware.
"Are your hands cold?" Xi Cheng asked, watching her.
Jiang You froze, her hands clutching the icy test tubes flinching slightly.
"Put them down." Xi Cheng’s gaze fell on the glassware she was hugging to her chest. He reached over and gently started taking the test tubes from her.
Jiang You hesitated for a moment but didn’t resist, allowing him to take the test tubes away.
After taking the test tubes from her, Xi Cheng cupped her hands in his, as if trying to warm them up.
His action made Jiang You look up at him.
Xi Cheng’s eyes flickered, and he explained, "Just wanted to warm up my girlfriend’s hands."
"But your hands are cold too," Jiang You stated bluntly.
Xi Cheng had been working in the lab, his hands exposed to the chilly air, so of course they were cold.
He blinked slowly. "Then shall we warm them up somewhere else?"
Before Jiang You could react, Xi Cheng took her hands and guided them under the hem of his shirt.
His long fingers covered her own, pressing her palms against the warmth of his abdomen.
"This should warm your hands up faster," Xi Cheng said, looking down at her, his gaze gentle and calm.
His tone was so calm it made the action feel completely natural, as if there was nothing strange about it at all.
Jiang You’s fingers were pressed against his abs, feeling the subtle rise and fall of lean muscle with each breath he took.
’I’ve never seen them before. Now that I’m touching them, I really want to take a look.’
’Lean muscle is pretty nice, too...’
Jiang You hurriedly reined in her wandering thoughts.
"Hmph. You’ve been plotting for me to touch your abs all along, haven’t you?" Jiang You looked up at him, stating it like a conclusion. "You’re doing this on purpose to seduce me."
"Seducing you?" Xi Cheng looked at her, his silver eyes radiating calm composure. "I thought this was just something a boyfriend should do. Isn’t it?"
He continued, "Of course, if my girlfriend would be happier calling it seduction, then seduction it is."
’The way he said that made it seem like I was the one overthinking things.’
’He was just fulfilling his duties as a boyfriend, nothing more.’
’Me calling it seduction just proved I was the one reading too much into it—like I was the one who felt seduced, so I tried to pin it on him instead.’
Jiang You: "..."
"Oh? Scared to admit it?" As a proper ’young lady,’ Jiang You could never be the one to back down!
Xi Cheng watched her for a moment before slowly speaking. "Alright. I admit it."
His tone made it sound like he was just compromising so she would stop her childish antics.
He admitted it so calmly that it didn’t sound the least bit fawning.
He seemed completely unruffled.
With her mission complete, Jiang You naturally had no desire to keep up the act. She just wanted to slip away.
Even though she had agreed to be his girlfriend, Jiang You had only done so because of her assigned persona. In reality, she didn’t care about the relationship at all and didn’t see him as a real boyfriend—just a mission target.
"As long as you admit it," Jiang You said coolly, pulling her hands back. "Alright, I’m exhausted. I’m leaving."
She made up an excuse, wanting to get away.
But Xi Cheng grabbed her hand. "Since you’re here, stay with me a little longer," he said, looking at her.
Jiang You paused. "Aren’t you going to do your experiment?"
"I am," Xi Cheng replied, his hand still gripping her wrist.
"If you’re busy with your experiment, you won’t have time for me. Why should I stay?" Jiang You was feeling a little dispirited. In truth, she just wanted to go.
"Don’t you like me?" Xi Cheng said slowly, the words serving as a subtle reminder to Jiang You. "If you liked me, you wouldn’t be in such a hurry to leave."
’Are you going to go against your persona of being in love with me?’
[OOC...]
Hearing that, Jiang You’s heart skipped a beat. Before the system could finish its warning, she blurted out, "Of course I like you! Hah! I didn’t realize you were so into me! You just can’t bear to see me leave, can you!"