Xu Yinian froze for a moment when she heard Shen Ruoshuang’s words. It took a several seconds for the realization to sink in: Shen Ruoshuang was coming to this hotel too.
“We… we’re only here because we used Bai Ran’s identification card. Should I ask her for help?”
As she spoke, Xu Yinian turned back toward Bai Ran with a dazed expression, only to find herself looking directly into those amber eyes. They were as soft and deep as a mountain spring, and they had been fixed on her for who knew how long.
Even when caught staring, Bai Ran didn’t look away. Instead, she let the corners of her lips curl into a faint, gentle smile.
For some reason, Xu Yinian’s heart skipped a beat under that focused gaze—a look that seemed to hold no one else in the world but her.
Then, Shen Ruoshuang’s voice pulled her back to reality. Like a reflex, Xu Yinian lowered her gaze back to her phone.
Who is she talking to?
Bai Ran’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
“No need,” Shen Ruoshuang’s voice came through the receiver, cold and detached. “I don’t get along with her, and I have no intention of asking her for favors. Just tell me where you are.”
Shen Ruoshuang had always been like this—cold as frost, keeping everyone at arm’s length. Yet, Xu Yinian could clearly sense a hidden layer of paranoia and gloom beneath that voice, a weight she had glimpsed once before.
It seemed to have started during that long silence…
Xu Yinian couldn’t run from the reason. Shen Ruoshuang had spent the entire night looking for her, only to be repeatedly ignored in favor of Ji Yan or Bai Ran.
But it wasn’t just about the others. Xu Yinian herself was subconsciously avoiding the “impure motives” Shen Ruoshuang had so abruptly mentioned.
The motives behind every approach, every brush of skin… it was an intimacy so heavy she didn’t dare touch it. Even thinking about it sent a wave of heat to her cheeks.
Caught between helplessness and guilt, Xu Yinian whispered the name of the hotel.
She wasn’t sure what Shen Ruoshuang planned to do once she arrived, especially since she didn’t have her ID and refused to ask Bai Ran for help.
“Don’t tell Bai Ran I’m coming.”
Xu Yinian was well aware that the two didn’t get along. She suddenly remembered what Ji Yan had said about her own friction with Shen Ruoshuang, and her chest tightened.
Could it really be such a coincidence? The tension between the three of them was palpable… yet Xu Yinian was completely in the dark as to why. If the school forums knew these three campus idols were at each other’s throats in private, the speculation would be endless.
Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps startled her. Remembering Shen Ruoshuang’s request for secrecy, her fingertips trembled as she hurriedly hung up the call.
A second later, Bai Ran appeared behind her. Her voice was unchanged, carrying that same relaxing, breezy tone. “Niannian, were you chatting with someone?”
Xu Yinian instinctively tightened her grip on the phone, hiding the screen against her palm. She gave a vague, noncommittal hum. “Ah…? Just… just checking some messages.”
She didn’t know why, but this cloak-and-dagger behavior made the secret between her and Shen Ruoshuang feel increasingly suggestive.
Fortunately, Bai Ran didn’t press the issue.
“Because we didn’t book in advance and it’s so late, each VIP is only allowed to book one standard room…” Her gaze flickered with hesitation. After a long pause, she spoke cautiously. “Niannian, you don’t mind sharing a bed with me, do you?”
Beside them, the receptionist’s eyes shifted slightly, but she remained silent. Bai Ran had already given her instructions. Having worked the front desk for so long, the receptionist had developed a keen intuition for these things. She had a vague idea of what was happening, but she knew the value of doing her job and keeping her mouth shut.
Seeing Bai Ran’s hesitant look, Xu Yinian thought something was actually wrong. When she realized it was just about sharing a bed, she let out a small sigh of relief.
“It’s fine, really. As long as you don’t mind, Sister Ran. Before the semester started, I stayed with my cousin, Jiang Ke. We slept in the same bed all the time.”
In truth, aside from her mother and Jiang Ke, Xu Yinian hadn’t shared a bed with anyone since she grew up. The thought of sleeping next to Bai Ran—someone who was still relatively new in her life—brought a mix of nervous fluttery feelings and quiet anticipation.
Even though Sister Ran had never explicitly called them “friends,” their closeness was no different from that of best friends. It felt as though her small, hidden wish to finally have a true friend was about to come true.
Lost in her anticipation, Xu Yinian didn’t notice the way Bai Ran’s expression instantly froze at the mention of Jiang Ke.
She was prepared to spend the night with Ji Yan.
She shared a bed with Jiang Ke countless times without a single thought of self-defense.
…
Everything served to sharpen Bai Ran’s senses, adding fuel to the dangerous fire burning within her tonight. She had always known she was “born bad”; every moral constraint she wore was merely a mask, a fear of what Xu Yinian might see if it slipped.
As long as Xu Yinian didn’t know, anything was permissible—including satisfying the dark, frantic desires and obsessions growing in the depths of her soul. Even if it was just a temporary relief, she needed that medicine to survive.
The room was labeled “standard,” but the moment Xu Yinian saw the high-end interior, she knew it was incredibly expensive.
Just past the entryway was a small walk-in closet and a mini-bar stocked with coffee and wine. The space was cavernous. The design separated the bed from the lounge and workspace, and there were two separate vanities. Most striking of all was the bathtub, positioned right in front of a massive floor-to-ceiling window.
From the twenty-something floor, they could look down at the neon-drenched lights of City A’s most prosperous district. Though the night was late, the flowing lines of traffic below were still visible as ribbons of light.
As Xu Yinian stood at the entrance, observing the room with cautious hesitation, Bai Ran quietly closed the door behind them.
Click.
The sound severed them from the rest of the world. This sensation of silently imprisoning Xu Yinian within her own territory caused a haunting, beautiful flush to spread across Bai Ran’s cheeks. Even her downcast eyes couldn’t entirely suppress the excitement—the hunger to consume her prey whole.
On the way up, Xu Yinian had tried to give her own jacket to Bai Ran, but the older girl had refused. When Bai Ran was set on something, Xu Yinian could never win, so she had eventually given up.
Thinking the central air conditioning was just set to a comfortable temperature, Xu Yinian didn’t suspect a thing when she saw Bai Ran’s face turning a rosy hue.
Knowing she looked a mess and that now wasn’t the time for seduction, Bai Ran suppressed the bone-deep restlessness clawing at her. “I’ll go take a shower first.”
Thinking back to the moment Yinian had been glued to her phone while she was away, a surge of anxious irritability rose in her heart. Yet, her voice remained perfectly masked as she suddenly spoke.
The sheer seriousness in her tone turned what could have been a joke into something colored with possessive obsession. “Niannian, I’m the one who found you. So, your time tonight belongs entirely to me… right?”
Xu Yinian’s sixth sense for danger was, in fact, incredibly sharp. She froze where she stood. She didn’t respond with her usual shy smile; because she was facing the Sister Ran she liked so much, she didn’t know how to flee or hide. She couldn’t even find the words to speak.
“If you don’t want to, then I suppose my night will just have to belong entirely to you instead,” Bai Ran said, letting out a regretful sigh before teasing her, making the previous statement seem like nothing more than a girlish joke.
“Sister Ran, stop teasing me…”
The blush finally climbed up Xu Yinian’s neck to her ears. With eyes full of shy reproach, she spoke in a soft, muffled voice.
Only Bai Ran, who was smiling along with her, knew the truth. When she had seen Xu Yinian standing there with that familiar expression of stunned helplessness, not daring to move an inch, she truly thought her dark secrets had been discovered. Years of reflexively managing her image were the only thing that had saved the situation.
As she turned toward the bathroom, the suppression of her unrequited, pathological obsession finally reached a breaking point.
![I’m Faking, But She’s Really Crazy [Quick Transmigration]](https://i2.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/qui.jpeg?resize=151,215 "I’m Faking, But She’s Really Crazy [Quick Transmigration]")