“Planning to go to sleep?”
It was twelve midnight. Sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the living room, watching a horror movie, Yu Qingxue asked as she finally saw Gao Sijin emerge from his room with great difficulty.
“I wrote twenty thousand words today. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this good writing.”
“Is that girl really that magical?”
“That’s why I said I’m in love. This is the power of love.”
Gao Sijin poured a cup of water from the kettle and downed it in one gulp.
Drinking water before bed had practically become a habit for Gao Sijin.
“Get some sleep early, Sijin.”
“I know.”
“You should also start adjusting your sleep schedule. The semester starts soon, and it won’t do if you keep sleeping until past nine every day.”
“You should sleep early too, and lay off the chips and stuff at night, or you’ll get fat.”
Yu Qingxue idly swung her fair-as-jade feet, looking utterly bored, then resumed eating Häagen-Dazs ice cream, completely doing as she pleased.
Gao Sijin had to admire her. As a girl, she wasn’t the least bit afraid of the bloody, violent images flickering across the television screen.
“Want to watch a bit?”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep.”
“If you’re really scared, I can offer a sleeping companion service, free of charge.”
“Having you as a sleeping companion would make it even harder for me to sleep.”
Gazing at Gao Sijin’s retreating back as he returned to his room, Yu Qingxue sighed. Her bright-red tongue licked a hazelnut chocolate stick with a mushroom-shaped tip, then her snow-white teeth crunched it fiercely.
Changing her reclining posture, she switched the channel from the horror movie.
She had zero interest in horror films. She was only interested in watching them with Gao Sijin, because when couples watched horror movies together, the girl could seize the chance to get handsy.
It was just a pity that Gao Sijin was a blockhead with no sense of romance whatsoever, his mind full of nothing but Eldest Miss Tsukiyuki Rio.
She would really love to see his reaction when he was lured into bed and the Young Miss’s true colors were revealed. It would surely be amusing.
Thirty minutes later, Yu Qingxue walked to the door of Gao Sijin’s room. The kettle from which he had poured water earlier had been laced with medicine powder. By her estimate, Gao Sijin should already be in a drowsy state by now.
“Sijin, are you still awake?”
Yu Qingxue knocked hard on the door. No reply came from the other side of the room.
The drug usually took effect within ten minutes or so, and if Gao Sijin were still awake, he would definitely have responded.
Yu Qingxue boldly placed her hand on the doorknob and gave a light pull. The door to Gao Sijin’s room swung open.
Just then, Yu Qingxue’s phone rang. She put it to her ear, and from the other end came a voice as clear and melodious as a songbird.
“Qingxue, Gao-kun is already asleep, right?”
“Young Miss, haven’t you been watching the surveillance feed all along? Do you really need to ask me again?”
“I’m just worried that Gao-kun is pretending to be asleep.”
Yu Qingxue walked to Gao Sijin’s bedside and lightly pinched his cheek, then flipped open one of his eyelids. Gao Sijin’s breathing remained steady.
“Your worry is unwarranted. Sijin is sleeping soundly now.”
“Then I’ll come in.”
As soon as she finished speaking, noise came from the direction of the foyer. Yu Qingxue immediately headed toward the front door.
“Good evening, Young Lady Tsukiyuki.”
She could tell that Tsukiyuki Rio seemed to be in a good mood today. Her dark-crimson eyes sparkled with delight, and her pretty face was slightly flushed, as if she were still immersed in the afternoon’s encounter at the library.
“I remember you said you wanted to meet the Master by chance under the gingko trees at the University of Tokyo, Young Miss.”
“Mmm, I did say that,” Tsukiyuki Rio replied, elegantly kicking off her geta with her jade feet before walking straight toward Gao Sijin’s room. “But I really couldn’t control my restless desire to see Gao-kun, so I had a brief meeting with him at the library.”
“I honestly didn’t expect that you could restrain the urge to speak to Master and simply sit quietly reading with him.” Yu Qingxue sincerely marveled.
“My love for Gao-kun isn’t just for his body alone. Besides, occasionally sitting across from each other like that was rather enjoyable.”
Tsukiyuki Rio smiled gently, as soft and warm as a saint. It was an expression she had never shown even to her relatives of the Tsukiyuki clan, yet she bestowed it solely upon Gao Sijin.
The two women entered Gao Sijin’s room together.
Yu Qingxue turned on the mood lighting. The cherry-blossom-pink glow was hazy and suggestive, like a thin, wavering veil.
Gao Sijin’s silhouette emerged before Tsukiyuki Rio, like a fruit waiting to be peeled.
Yu Qingxue yawned.
“Young Miss, are you planning to make love again? Call me when you’re done, and I’ll clean you up.”
“Much as I’d love to continue being intimate with Gao-kun, I’ll pass tonight. The University of Tokyo opens in a few days. I want to be pursued by Gao-kun. Let him take the initiative for once.” Tsukiyuki Rio’s slender, fair fingers gently caressed Gao Sijin’s face, and her thoughts involuntarily blurred as she bent down to kiss him.
Their ten fingers interlocked. Tsukiyuki Rio’s tender pink tongue was dexterous and sensitive, easily prying open Gao Sijin’s mouth to rove and stir inside, wanton and wild. Yet the invaded Gao Sijin continued breathing evenly, utterly unaware of what was happening.
“Gao-kun, Gao-kun…”
Tsukiyuki Rio murmured softly, straddling Gao Sijin’s waist as though she wanted to envelop his entire body within her black kimono. Her slender, cool, snow-white arms wrapped directly around his neck, refusing to let go.
She had even started habitually unbuttoning Gao Sijin’s pajama top, but in the end, she gave up on the meal already at hand. Tsukiyuki Rio reluctantly wiped the corners of her lips.
Yu Qingxue watched the defenseless man. A suicidal impulse had also flickered in her heart a moment ago, but rationality ultimately prevailed. She couldn’t put herself in danger for the sake of lust. In truth, being so cautious wasn’t even for the so-called interests of the family; the Yu Family had hardly done a single decent thing since she’d come of age.
She simply wanted to survive and become the one who laughed last.
“Young Miss, I have to say, you truly dazzled Master today. From the moment I met him today, he’s been in a spellbound state, constantly thinking of you.”
“I saw all that from the monitors. I also saw that Gao-kun wrote over twenty thousand words today based on me,” Tsukiyuki Rio said, lying on her side next to Gao Sijin. “Seeing how endearing Gao-kun was today, I’ll give him a break for once. That said, Qingxue, would you be jealous of me?”
“How could I possibly be jealous of you?”
“When you were holding Gao-kun earlier, saying you’re a yandere and such, was that really just teasing? Your behavior just now didn’t look like an act at all.”
Tsukiyuki Rio’s dark-crimson eyes roamed over Yu Qingxue’s face, giving her the eerie feeling of being watched by a terrifying carnivore.
She gulped.
“Of course it was just teasing. Young Miss, don’t you know me well enough by now?”
“I’ve already nagged about this many times, but I’ll say it once more: find a man and get married soon. I don’t want there to come a day when I truly have to make an enemy of you, Qingxue.”
“Young Miss, what exactly am I to you?”
“I suppose I’d call you a friend.”
“Not a servant?”
“When have you ever treated yourself as a servant?”
Tsukiyuki Rio wrapped her arms around Gao Sijin’s limb and snuggled under the covers, seeking warmth.
