For some reason, the moment Chu Susu saw that huddled figure, a nameless flame sparked in her heart.
“How long have you been waiting?” She frowned and asked in a low voice.
Han Xuan replied softly, “Not long.”
She propped herself against the wall, trying to stand, but her legs were numb from squatting too long, making her unsteady for a moment.
Chu Susu watched coldly, without offering a hand to help.
“Please go back.” Her tone was indifferent. “It’s late. I want to sleep.”
With that, Chu Susu shut the door directly, not caring about the other’s reaction or expression.
Her action of closing the door was straightforward, but right after, she leaned back against it and took a deep breath.
Time to go back to sleep, Chu Susu told herself.
Just ignore her. They’re both adults—would she really wait here all night? She’ll leave on her own.
But even so, another voice kept swirling in her mind—What if?
What if she really foolishly waited at the door all night?
With Han Xuan’s personality, it wasn’t impossible. She might just crouch there silently.
The two thoughts kept intertwining in her mind as she leaned against the cold, hard door, pondering back and forth for a full five minutes.
Chu Susu recalled that rainy, gloomy afternoon when she had crouched at her own doorstep, drenched and bedraggled, like a homeless kitten.
“Fuck.” She muttered a curse under her breath, turning around in self-abandonment and pulling the door open again.
She really couldn’t bring herself to ignore it.
“Come in…”
Before she could finish, the words caught in her throat and wouldn’t come out.
Because Chu Susu saw that the doorway was already empty.
The corridor was cold and deserted, with only the warm yellow light from the ceiling. It was utterly empty, devoid of any sign of life.
As if the world held only her.
Chu Susu let out the breath she’d been holding deeply, unable to tell if it was relief or sarcasm.
Relief that Han Xuan had the sense to go back and not wait foolishly; sarcasm that she’d worried for nothing, opening and closing the door repeatedly like an idiot.
As for that fleeting sense of loss, it slipped away too quickly for her to notice.
By the time Chu Susu set aside her worries and yawned, ready to go back to bed, she looked closely and saw an extra figure on the bed that hadn’t been there before.
She clutched her forehead, nearly thinking she’d seen wrong.
Han Xuan sat quietly on the edge of the bed, hugging her knees, silent as could be. Her porcelain-like face resembled a lifeless doll.
Chu Susu dropped her hand, a faint tremble imperceptible as she felt like a joke from moments ago.
“Han Xuan.”
Her emotions were stirred up again tonight—who knew how many times—as she forced herself to stay calm. “What are you doing? If I don’t open the door, you’ll just let yourself in?”
“I said, I don’t want to see you tonight. Please leave.”
No matter what Chu Susu said, Han Xuan didn’t argue back once, only repeating those same two words as always:
“Susu…”
“Don’t call me!”
It was fine if she didn’t, but the call only made Chu Susu angrier.
When Han Xuan had toyed with her until her mind was hazy and the sheets soaked, she’d whispered her name in her ear too.
So much so that hearing it made her uncontrollably recall it all.
Han Xuan rested her head on her knees, burying it low. “Sorry. Don’t be mad, okay?”
“Is that all you know how to say, over and over?”
“I…” Han Xuan pursed her lips, apologizing cautiously. “Sorry, I’m no good with words.”
That clumsy, fawning, inarticulate look was like a dumb little bird, only knowing to lick its wounds silently when hurt.
Thinking this way, Chu Susu suddenly curled her lips into a self-mocking smile.
Bullshit! What inarticulate? She’d just had too much overflowing sympathy before to think that.
On the bed, hadn’t she been quite eloquent? Now it was just “sorry.”
Besides, with her abilities beyond the ordinary, why would she need sympathy from an average person like her?
Chu Susu was just about to tell her to leave when she heard Han Xuan speak again. “Can I… stay?”
She quickly added, “I won’t do anything, I promise.”
“Is that so?” Chu Susu still kept her distance, standing in the corner and glaring coldly at her. “Then what were you doing a few hours ago?”
She’d said either she tops or nothing at all. But Han Xuan still…
This time, Han Xuan didn’t speak. She just lifted her gaze and glanced at her.
Saying nothing, yet seeming to say everything.
Chu Susu quickly understood, her neatly trimmed nails digging harshly into her palm as she flushed with shame and fury, nearly exploding.
Right, when she’d said no, Han Xuan had indeed stopped as instructed.
And it was she who couldn’t hold back, taking the initiative to say those two words—
“Please.”
Then letting her have her way.
Heh.
What was the point of staying in this world? Let it end.
“I really won’t do anything.” Han Xuan said timidly. “It’s so late. I just want… to sleep with you. Like the first night I stayed over at your place.”
She shifted her gaze away awkwardly. “If you don’t believe me, you can tie me up.”
“Tying you up wouldn’t help.” Chu Susu said. “You have plenty of ways to break free.”
The current situation still left her with very little sense of security. The other had extraordinary abilities, while she was just a defenseless ordinary person.
She didn’t trust her that much.
Han Xuan was silent for a moment. “What if I tell you a way to temporarily turn me back into an ordinary person?”
“What?”
“My eyes.”
Han Xuan raised her hand, pointing to her eyes shimmering with a faint purple mist.
“Everything I do is through eye contact.”
Her left eye was like a deep purple ocean, swirling with vortices, locking perfectly with Chu Susu’s gaze.
Uncontrollably, her soul seemed to leave her body as she was drawn in, walking step by step toward the bed without knowing what she was doing.
It wasn’t until Han Xuan covered her own eyes with her hand that Chu Susu snapped back, realizing she’d unknowingly come over.
“See?” Han Xuan said. “As long as you don’t meet my eyes, nothing will happen. If you’re still worried, you can put an eyemask on me. There’s one in the hotel drawer.”
They’d been so far apart before, but now they were just a step away.
Chu Susu looked down at her toes, silent for a moment before finally speaking again.
“No need.” She said. “Let’s… just sleep.”
Not only had Han Xuan just proven that her eyes were the medium for her abilities, but also another point: if she wanted to do something, Chu Susu had no way to stop her.
To put it bluntly, if Han Xuan really wanted to, she could force herself right now… Anyway, one look and she’d be dazed, at her mercy.
For her to apologize calmly here and seek reconciliation already showed enough sincerity.
Han Xuan’s face instantly lit up with joyful delight, her eyes brightening in a flash, though she quickly restrained it for fear of upsetting Chu Susu.
Chu Susu took it all in, her expression blank. “Did you brush your teeth?”
“I did.”
“Then let’s sleep.”
“I’ll turn off the light.”
She’d booked a king room, plenty of space for two, but Chu Susu deliberately scooted to the edge, leaving a gap between her and the person beside her.
Exhaustion had long since washed over her, but how could she sleep like this?
Chu Susu buried her head under the covers, suddenly realizing a very important issue.
Assuming Han Xuan was telling the truth, she controlled people through her eyes, but…
When she’d done those excessive things earlier, she’d been behind her!
They hadn’t even made eye contact.
So, she hadn’t been manipulated. Everything that happened was of her own volition.
Fuck!
Countless curses in Chinese and English echoed in Chu Susu’s mind, her heart feeling like a vast green prairie with endless herds of grass-mud horses thundering across it.
As she was lost in chaotic thoughts, a warm body suddenly pressed against her back from behind, making Chu Susu jolt. She instinctively wanted to push away, asking coldly, “What are you doing?”
“I want to hold you, okay?”
Han Xuan’s voice was nasal, probably from sleepiness, thick with fatigue and a hint of coquetry, like milk with sugar.
As she spoke, she even nuzzled Chu Susu’s nape.
So soft, so fragrant.
Seeing she truly meant nothing else, Chu Susu’s rigid body finally relaxed. Unable to resist the drowsiness any longer, she soon fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, Han Xuan beside her took a long time before drifting off.
Leaning against Chu Susu, her fingers imperceptibly touched the spot on the back of her head where it had been injured, tracing the swelling that had long since faded.
“Sorry.” Han Xuan murmured the words, closing her eyes sadly. “Sorry.”
She’d come too late.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been any injury.
“I thought you’d chase me away, but you softened after all.” She sighed. “Don’t always forgive people so easily, okay? Before, too…”
Before…
It seemed like something similar had happened.
Han Xuan suddenly recalled an early spring day with snowflakes drifting. A girl bundled in a down jacket held an umbrella, shouting at her in a huff—
…
“Han! Xuan!”
The girl had delicate features, a clear voice, cheeks puffed up in anger:
“I told you, didn’t I? If someone bullies you, just come find me. My sister is a police officer! Why don’t you believe me? Why do you insist on handling it yourself!”
“Sorry, I…”
“Do you know how much trouble there would be if they discovered your ability?!” The girl’s scolding voice gradually softened as her finger poked Han Xuan’s cheek. “You impulsive little brat.”
Han Xuan listened to this utterly adorable nagging, feeling like she had just eaten a huge mouthful of honey—her entire body tinged with sweetness.
She blinked. “Susu.”
“Susu, Susu, Susu—all you know how to do is call ‘Susu.’” The girl bared her teeth and pinched her cheek, then stroked her head. “No, wait—you also know how to make me mad.”
“Sorry.”
The girl didn’t let up with her words, but she tilted the umbrella toward Han Xuan to shield her from the snow. “As if sorry fixes anything!”
“I was wrong, okay?”
“…Fine, fine, you’re forgiven. But no next times, got it?”
“Mm, definitely.”
A moment later, Han Xuan asked softly, “I’m so dumb. What if I make you mad again over something else in the future?”
“That depends on what it is.”
“Like… if I don’t listen to you again?”
“Then I’ll beat you up.” The girl pulled a goofy face. “I’ll spank your butt till it’s swollen.”
Han Xuan spoke honestly. “You can’t beat me.”
“Han! Xuan! I’ll beat you right now—believe it or not?!”
The girl scooped up a handful of snow and stuffed it down her clothes. The two horsed around in the snow, soon tumbling into a heap.
No one around—just their laughter ringing in each other’s ears.
Exhausted from playing, they saw their down jackets were filthy beyond saving. So they lay shoulder-to-shoulder under the eaves, watching snowflakes drift down.
“What if I really make you mad? Like, something super serious that crosses your bottom line.” Han Xuan said. “Would you… still forgive me?”
The girl pretended to ponder seriously. “I’d beat you senseless, then ignore you forever.”
Han Xuan let out an “ah,” her eyelids drooping sadly.
“I don’t want you ignoring me,” she said, sounding forlorn.
“Then don’t cross my bottom line.”
“…Mm, I definitely won’t.”
The mood suddenly grew heavy and stifling—until the girl burst into clear, bright laughter.
“Hehehe, gotcha! What a little brat—so easy to fool.” She tilted up Han Xuan’s chin, grinning from ear to ear. “Okay, okay, just messing with you.”
Han Xuan froze.
The girl gently cupped her face. “No matter what you do, I’ll forgive you.”
She said it slowly, word by word, dead serious.
“In front of you, I have no bottom line.”
… …
Those eyes were like the moon in the sky, glowing with gentle light—overlapping now with this very scene.
Her girl, calling her name just like back then.
And forgiving her once again.
