“Turn over,” Ming Siyu said.
Liu Ran did not want to turn. She found an excuse: “Isn’t this more convenient for you to touch my tail?”
“Not convenient. The bed is too small. Turn over and face me so I can drape my arm over your hip to reach your tail just right.”
Liu Ran dawdled, refusing to move. She could not imagine how awkward it would be to sleep face-to-face with Ming Siyu. On such a small bed, what difference was there between facing each other and entwining necks?
Ming Siyu deliberately blew air on her neck. “We haven’t tried making you go into heat on a hospital bed yet…”
Liu Ran’s breathing hitched instantly. “Don’t mess around. This is a hospital.”
There were other patients and medical staff outside. She really did not want to be toyed with by Ming Siyu in front of so many people.
“We can lock the door,” Ming Siyu continued.
Liu Ran was truly scared of her now. She sat up abruptly. “How is your mind so impure? Is making an Alpha go into heat your hobby?”
In the dim light from the hospital bed’s headlamp, Liu Ran saw a flash of pain cross Ming Siyu’s face. Immediately after, the hand gripping her arm tightened. “You bumped my foot.”
Liu Ran quickly shifted her leg aside. “Is it okay? Does it still hurt?”
Ming Siyu had originally planned to say it hurt terribly and use that to coerce Liu Ran into lying back down obediently. But meeting Liu Ran’s concerned gaze, the words caught in her throat, and she swallowed them.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m sleepy. Can you let me get some sleep?”
She added, “I woke up at dawn and haven’t slept since.”
Her fatigued voice carried a hint of pitifulness. Liu Ran believed her; after all, Ming Siyu could not sleep without holding her tail. The tail was more effective than any sleeping pill.
“But that position is really awkward…”
Ming Siyu’s lips moved, and she lowered her eyes. “Fine, then. Back against me.”
Liu Ran was somewhat surprised. Ming Siyu had become so agreeable? She had thought Ming Siyu would find all sorts of reasons and excuses to make her lie face-to-face.
She clearly sensed once again that Ming Siyu’s attitude toward her had softened considerably. It seemed her act of saving her had indeed touched Ming Siyu.
After lying back down, Ming Siyu fumbled under the covers and grasped the fluffy tip of her tail. She no longer mischievously blew air on Liu Ran but lay quietly facing her back, motionless.
Liu Ran also stayed still. She had slept a bit too much during the day, so even closing her eyes and counting sheep failed to brew any drowsiness. The darkness amplified her hearing several times over. Ming Siyu’s rhythmic breathing came clearly into her ears—like sweeping fallen leaves in autumn, or a bit like the wind dancing by the window all night during monsoon season.
Liu Ran thought Ming Siyu had fallen asleep and pretended to be asleep herself.
After an unknown time—perhaps half an hour, an hour, even longer, or maybe just ten minutes—Ming Siyu suddenly spoke: “Liu Ran, if I died in the hospital, would you be happy?”
Liu Ran realized Ming Siyu had not slept. And Ming Siyu knew she had not either.
Ming Siyu kept bringing up topics of life and death today, making things quite heavy. It was probably a lingering effect of surviving a brush with death.
She pondered her answer as Ming Siyu rested her forehead against her back and said faintly, “I want to hear the truth. Say whatever you want. I won’t get angry or blame you.”
Liu Ran cleared her throat lightly.
“I wouldn’t be happy. No lie.”
After a pause, she added, “I wouldn’t be happy no matter who died.”
In her idle moments, she had thought it over carefully again. Saving Ming Siyu had not been entirely impulsive. She truly could not bear to watch someone die right in front of her.
“I see,” Ming Siyu responded, then fell silent.
Liu Ran waited quietly for more. After a long wait with nothing coming, she sneaked a glance back and found that Ming Siyu had fallen asleep at some point. Her turning did not wake Ming Siyu, who merely frowned slightly and hugged the tail closer to her chest. Liu Ran lay back down.
When dawn was near, Liu Ran woke up needing to pee. She carefully and quietly extracted her tail from Ming Siyu’s grasp. When she returned from the bathroom, Ming Siyu lay on the pillow, staring at her with bright black eyes. Liu Ran jumped in fright and involuntarily explained, “I, I went to the bathroom…”
“Mmm.” Ming Siyu, still groggy and not fully awake, patted the pillow impatiently. “Hurry up. I want you.”
Liu Ran climbed onto the bed slowly, carefully avoiding Ming Siyu’s foot. Ming Siyu habitually slept on her side and had already lifted half her body by the time Liu Ran got on. Before Liu Ran could fully settle, Ming Siyu eagerly pulled her into an embrace.
Slender arms wrapped around her waist, her face pressed to Liu Ran’s chest, and one leg draped over Liu Ran’s.
With her eyes closed, she mumbled indistinctly, “Don’t move… If you move, I won’t like it…”
Who wants your like? Liu Ran grumbled inwardly.
Sigh, but being liked was better than being hated. When Ming Siyu hated her, every day had been a living hell. Now it was so much better than before.
This time, Ming Siyu fell asleep quickly. Once asleep, she lay utterly still like a zombie. Liu Ran, half-pinned down, could not lie fully flat and helplessly stared at the ceiling. Eventually, she lost consciousness—not falling asleep, but passing out under Ming Siyu’s weight.
He Qiange could not find Ming Siyu and pushed at the locked door. The noise woke Liu Ran. She got out of bed to open it, and He Qiange shoved the door hard, nearly smacking it into Liu Ran’s face.
He Qiange looked Liu Ran up and down outside the door. “Where’s Si Si?”
Without waiting for an answer, she strode in. Ming Siyu had woken too and rubbed her sleepy eyes from the bed, asking what urgent matter brought He Qiange.
He Qiange’s expression was shocked yet exasperated. “I mean, if you two wanted to do it, did you have to rush in the hospital? Does this bed even have room?”
“We didn’t do it!”
“The bed’s small? So what? The point is it’s a hospital—super thrilling in a hospital.”
Liu Ran and Ming Siyu spoke at the same time. Liu Ran’s eyes widened. This was slander! She and Ming Siyu were perfectly innocent!
Well, not entirely innocent, but last night they had been as pure as could be.
Catching her embarrassed gaze, Ming Siyu corrected herself: “I came to sleep. You know I have trouble falling asleep.”
He Qiange stroked her chin with her good arm, her gaze probing the hospital bed. “That’s what I thought. Her hand’s all bandaged up—no function left. But Si Si, you’re right about one thing. It should be pretty thrilling in a hospital. We should try it sometime.”
No wonder He Qiange and Ming Siyu were good friends; they clicked perfectly in certain ways. Liu Ran’s ears burned as she listened. He Qiange’s words involuntarily reminded her of many intimate moments with Ming Siyu.
Liu Ran headed to the ward’s bathroom to freshen up.
He Qiange suddenly turned to her. “Liu Ran, get out. I need to talk to Si Si alone.”
Liu Ran left and thoughtfully closed the ward door behind them. The hallway was not crowded then. After a few minutes, He Qiange finished and called her back in.
Hospital life was quite dull. While changing her dressing, Liu Ran examined her wolf ears in the mirror. They were bald, with dried blood at the edges mixed with glossy ointment—ugly and a bit pitiful. But the worst was her hand, wrapped in gauze, making everything inconvenient. Even playing mobile games required poking slowly with the exposed fingertips.
Ming Siyu disliked how messy her hair was from sleep and took a comb to brush it. Liu Ran had not washed her hair in two or three days and felt it unclean, not wanting anyone to touch it. Ming Siyu held her shoulders down, preventing movement, and leaned in to sniff. “Not smelly. Just a bit of alcohol scent.”
The comb passed through her strands, scratching her scalp. Liu Ran’s entire back tingled with numbness. Her hair had not been cut in a while and fell past her chest when loose. After brushing, Ming Siyu braided it into a fishtail.
Only after finishing did she realize the hair tie was not nearby—it was by the bathroom sink. With one having a bad hand and the other a bad leg, Ming Siyu insisted on tying it off. In the end, like the “mutual aid among the disabled” from elementary textbooks, Liu Ran piggybacked Ming Siyu. Ming Siyu grabbed the braid from her back, fetched the hair tie from the bathroom, and tied a crooked braid for Liu Ran.
Just like how Ming Siyu had kept sneaking from her own room to Liu Ran’s at the hotel, now she occupied her ward. Sharing a room always made Liu Ran feel awkward, so she asked when Ming Siyu would return to the country.
Ming Siyu leisurely ate fruit. She peeled a grape, popped it into her mouth, chewed, and her lips stained with faint purple juice.
“No rush. We’ll see after the injuries heal. By the way, want to check out that apartment of yours? We’re both still in Country B anyway.”
At her words, Liu Ran grew a bit expectant too. She wondered what the sea view from the living room would look like—whether it matched the one from the hotel.
But beyond anticipation, Liu Ran’s heart felt bumpy. Something seemed off, though she could not pinpoint it. The apartment was too valuable for her; she felt unable to accept it. Yet reason told her why refuse something Ming Siyu gave? Refusing would make her seem pretentious. Besides, with tens of millions in assets in hand—even if unsellable, she could rent or mortgage it—providing her security and backing.
Thus, she felt both eager and resistant.
“Let’s do it after discharge.”
No sooner had she spoken than a peeled grape appeared at her lips. Ming Siyu’s fingertip glistened with translucent juice as she explained, “I peeled it because you looked pitiful.”
Liu Ran was a bit flattered.
Ming Siyu waited only a second before popping the grape into her own mouth.
“Dogs can’t eat grapes, and neither can you? I served you for once, and you don’t want it. Looks like you’re not destined for luxury.”
Liu Ran thought it was not about grapes. Ming Siyu’s behavior was so out of character that her surprise was warranted.
Afterward, Ming Siyu peeled no more grapes for her. Miss Ming was not fated to serve others.
He Qiange could not stand hospital life. She returned to the hotel and hired two medical staff to attend her. Ming Siyu and Liu Ran continued staying put obediently. That evening, as they prepared to squeeze onto the small bed again, Ming Siyu received a call.
She was brushing her teeth at the time, balancing on one foot against the wall. Liu Ran awkwardly pinched the phone with her fingertips and brought it over.
