The studio had few employees, and the restroom was impeccably maintained—clean, odorless, and dominated by a large, high-tech smart toilet. In the cramped, claustrophobic stall, there was hardly any room to stand, and Ji Yan refused to yield even an inch.
She pinned Xu Yinian against the door, leaving her no way to escape.
The proximity was so intense that Yinian could feel the protrusion of the other woman’s bones—they felt remarkably hard—and their breaths mingled until she couldn’t tell whose was whose. Ji Yan’s overbearing presence clouded Yinian’s mind, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.
The sound of Qin Jiashu entering the restroom finally jolted Yinian back to reality.
Terror-stricken, she looked up at the cold woman before her. She tried to read those indifferent eyes, searching for any hint of her intent—would Ji Yan actually expose their situation to Qin Jiashu?
Ji Yan’s long, thick lashes were lowered, her dark, icy gaze fixed on Yinian for a long time. It was the look of a predator watching its prey: silent, dangerous, and utterly undisguised.
Yinian recoiled the moment their eyes met, her heart hammering against her ribs. Yet, she couldn’t sense any corresponding rhythm from Ji Yan. It was as if she were facing a cold-blooded creature.
Yinian knew all too well that she had never been able to escape this woman. Now, locked in this tiny space, Ji Yan held all the cards. Whether she chose to let Qin Jiashu discover this silent transgression or to simply toy with Yinian as she pleased, everything was within her grasp.
Since she dragged me into the stall, does that mean… she doesn’t want to be seen with me in front of Qin Jiashu?
A long silence followed Qin Jiashu’s entrance. Then, a familiar, alluring voice rang out:
“Senior? Are you in the stall?”
Yinian froze. Her Senior Sister had come looking for her specifically. She did the only thing she could: she remained absolutely silent.
Ji Yan caught that momentary lapse in focus. She despised the attention Yinian gave to Qin Jiashu. Her hand, which was pinning Yinian’s palm against the cold wall, tightened—a sharp reminder to stay focused.
The sound of the movement terrified Yinian. Fearing the person outside would hear, she tried to shift away uneasily.
Ji Yan felt Yinian’s struggle—the way she tried to hide but found no path, the way she didn’t dare make a sound and could only tremble in secret. Ji Yan took a singular pleasure in this kind of weak submissiveness. She loved that Yinian wouldn’t and didn’t dare resist, that she could only endure being toyed with piece by piece amidst her fear.
What is Ji Yan doing…?
Her girlfriend was right outside, yet she was doing this with only a door between them. A powerful sense of morality only served to make the feeling more overwhelming, like a looming disaster.
If she stayed quiet, at least she would be the only one who knew the secret of this infidelity. But if they were caught… Yinian knew exactly what role she would be playing. Even if it wasn’t voluntary, at this moment, she was acting as the “other woman”—engaged in an affair with someone’s partner right in front of them.
Yinian could only guess that Ji Yan had misunderstood her earlier interaction with Qin Jiashu and was now retaliating in this manner. But with Qin Jiashu right there, she couldn’t ask. She could only grit her teeth and swallow the humiliation in silence.
Getting no response, Qin Jiashu’s suspicion didn’t fade. The last stall was clearly occupied; even if it wasn’t Xu Yinian, whoever was inside should have said something. To Qin Jiashu, it felt more like Yinian was in there but refusing to speak.
Is she hiding because she’s afraid of me?
This aligned with Qin Jiashu’s earlier worry that she might have gone too far during the recording session. Panicked, she stepped closer.
In the dim, enclosed environment, all of Yinian’s senses were magnified. She was hyper-aware of everything. She instantly tracked the sound of Qin Jiashu’s approaching footsteps.
Qin Jiashu… had noticed something was wrong!
Yinian felt her presence stop right at the door. There was only a thin piece of wood between them. Her body, practically nailed to the stall door, grew even stiffer. Cold sweat began to seep from her forehead and palms.
In the midst of this overwhelming dread, Ji Yan decided to add fuel to the fire.
Sensing Ji Yan suddenly lowering her head toward her cheek, Yinian’s focus snapped from the threat outside to the immediate danger within. If Ji Yan did anything now, Qin Jiashu—less than a meter away—would definitely hear it!
Ji Yan had to know that. Or rather, she didn’t care about hiding it from her girlfriend at all. She simply wanted to torture Yinian until she was forced to make a sound and be discovered.
It was pure revenge. She was punishing both Yinian and Qin Jiashu at the same time.
While Yinian’s mind raced, Ji Yan’s dark gaze settled on that small earlobe she hadn’t seen clearly through the monitor earlier. The flush caused by Qin Jiashu had faded, leaving behind pale skin covered in a layer of fine, soft down.
It looked much more pleasing to the eye than it had a moment ago.
Ji Yan’s lips drew close to the ear, possessed by an impulse to devour it. But that didn’t change the fact that Qin Jiashu had just touched it.
At an intimate distance, she suddenly stopped moving. Instead, she merely parted her lips and slowly blew a puff of air against the trembling earlobe.
The moment Ji Yan’s gaze had locked onto her ear, Yinian’s heart had already begun to sink. Her most shameful secret, the one Qin Jiashu had discovered today, seemed to have been easily seen through by another person as well. And it was the person she feared most.
She already had enough weaknesses, but she couldn’t imagine what kind of abyss she would fall into if Ji Yan gained control over this one.
As she clung to a final shred of hope, Ji Yan’s lips drawing near shattered her delusions. Yinian instinctively closed her eyes in fear and discomfort, but the expected kiss never came.
Instead, a gentle, slow breath brushed against her ear. It was the first time she had experienced such a light sensation, yet it felt deeper than Qin Jiashu’s touch. It was as if every tiny nerve ending being brushed was exploding in her heart.
Yinian couldn’t control herself. A despicable thought surfaced in her mind. She actually wished… that Ji Yan would just use her hand to touch her ear instead, to help soothe the empty ache in her chest.
Just then, Qin Jiashu knocked on the stall door.
“Senior…?”
The knock wasn’t heavy, just a few brief vibrations. But the sudden, clear sound right behind her back, combined with her already muddled senses, was too much. Under the dual pressure of sensory overload and emotional stress, Yinian’s defenses finally crumbled. Her clenched jaw loosened, and a soft, tearful “Mng—” escaped her lips.
Throughout the entire process, neither woman—inside or outside the door—had actually touched her.
Outside, Qin Jiashu’s eyes instantly sharpened. It was definitely Xu Yinian… but why did her voice sound so close, as if she were right against the door?
Knowing she had been discovered, Yinian’s resolve snapped. Her strength failed her, and she slid downward, her entire weight supported by Ji Yan.
Ji Yan felt the sudden weight on her shoulder. She hadn’t expected Yinian, who was so terrified of her, to lean into her as if she were a final lifeline. She looked down and finally saw Yinian’s eyes clearly: they were shimmering with tears, and the corners were flushed a deep red.
It was devastatingly beautiful.
