The car ride dragged on for a while, and Shen An was so thoroughly pestered by Yu Wen that he couldn’t fall asleep at all.
He had no choice but to keep her company with some chit-chat, covering everything under the sun—from juicy gossip to astronomy and geography.
Shen An was undoubtedly right up Yu Wen’s alley. After all, good conversation needed the perfect vibe.
If the atmosphere soured even slightly, the topic would get the cold shoulder right away, or worse, fizzle out entirely.
About an hour in, Yu Wen was still riding high on the energy, but Shen An’s throat was parched.
He licked his lips and glanced around, but there was nothing to drink in sight. Disappointment washed over him.
Suddenly, a whiff of fragrance wafted over, accompanied by the hard brim of a baseball cap jabbing into him.
Shen An’s shoulder and neck took the hit. He whipped his head around to find that Qi Taili—who had long since drifted off to sleep—had somehow scooted her little head right over while dreaming.
Ouch…
She looked so peacefully out of it that Shen An couldn’t bring himself to wake her. He could only rub his sore neck and silently swallow the injustice.
Compared to the car seat, there was no contest: the warmth and softness of a human body were far more comforting for sleepers.
Not only did Qi Taili fail to stir, she even smacked her lips contentedly. Her little hand inched closer too, turning Shen An into her personal body pillow.
Yu Wen, sitting beside them, covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.
Shen An ignored her schadenfreude for the moment. He slowly reached out, gingerly prodding Qi Taili’s shoulder with his finger in an attempt to nudge her back.
Seeing this, Yu Wen tsked. “Give it up. Unless you shake her awake, she won’t budge an inch.”
Just then, the car hit a bump in the road and jolted.
Before Shen An could even respond, Qi Taili’s cap brim poked his neck again amid the turbulence.
It happened several times in a row, leaving his whole side numb.
Pfft~
Yu Wen struggled to contain her laughter, not wanting to disturb the others in the car.
By now, everyone else besides these two and the driver had either popped in earbuds or found a comfy position. They were all blissfully lost in dreamland.
Staying awake on a long drive was pure torture—boring and exhausting.
Shen An shot her a sidelong glare. “No wonder you handed me the middle seat right away, Senior Sister. So I could play human pillow, huh?”
Yu Wen didn’t deny it. She just griped, “I never want to sit next to her on these trips. Lucky for me, you’ve taken some of the pain off my hands this time.”
She even patted his shoulder solemnly. “I’m entrusting you with this heavy responsibility. Thanks a ton.”
With that, she let out a yawn of her own.
Shen An raised an eyebrow. “Getting sleepy?”
Yu Wen stretched lazily, putting her lithe figure on full display without a hint of restraint. “Nah, just a yawn.”
He scoffed. “I hope you don’t pass out. Last thing I need is to be sandwiched on both sides.”
“Get real. Even if I fall asleep, I wouldn’t lean on you like that.” Yu Wen brimmed with confidence. “I don’t need a head pillow.”
She rubbed her cheeks. “Though… I am feeling kinda drowsy. Weird. I’m usually wide awake on car rides.”
Inwardly, Shen An grumbled, An hour of nonstop yapping—how could you not be tired?
He suspected Yu Wen wasn’t actually hard to knock out. She’d just boarded buzzing with excitement and dragged him into conversation the whole time.
These days, with such convenient transit, short trips rarely lasted over an hour anyway.
Her hype had simply burned out after a bit more than that.
“If you’re tired, catch a nap. I can’t take much more either.”
Shen An yawned too, then shut his eyes, cutting off any chance for more teasing.
Yu Wen rolled her eyes, growing increasingly puzzled.
What was going on?
She rarely got sleepy this easily. Was it from staying up too late last night? Or had chatting with him been that exhilarating?
She mulled it over to herself. As her thoughts wandered, drowsiness crept in stronger…
The dead-quiet atmosphere in the car only egged it on.
Soon, her eyelids grew too heavy to hold up. They drooped, bit by bit.
Ten minutes later, Yu Wen was out cold.
Twenty minutes after that—
Slap!
Shen An, who still hadn’t found sleep, reluctantly cracked his eyes open and turned to the face right in front of him: Yu Wen’s.
That’s right—for all her big talk, once asleep, her body betrayed her instincts and leaned right over.
He glanced left at Qi Taili, right at Yu Wen. He was utterly trapped, sandwiched on both sides.
He didn’t even dare doze off, terrified of waking one of them.
What a nightmare…
Shen An sighed, trying to console himself.
Look on the bright side: at least two gorgeous girls were snuggled up to him. Wasn’t this basically being flanked by beauties?
Yeah, it counted.
But what tormented him wasn’t just the forced wakefulness. It was also Yu Wen’s perfume.
Normally, a girl’s hair carried the strongest scent.
Qi Taili’s cap muffled most of hers, and she didn’t seem to wear any perfume anyway—just a natural fragrance.
But Yu Wen… with those wavy long locks and her polished look, she had to pair it with matching perfume.
And it was intoxicating—one whiff made you crave another, drawing you deeper in.
That alluring perfume, combined with Yu Wen’s radiant face so close by, made it impossible for Shen An not to let his mind wander.
He wasn’t some saint, after all.
If she were awake, he could keep his thoughts in check.
But asleep…
He wasn’t sleazy enough to take advantage. That would be too low.
Still, stealing a few extra glances—or admiring her properly—was a temptation hard to resist.
He was bored anyway. Zoning out like an idiot beat just staring into space. Why not savor the stunning “scenery” right there?
She was asleep; she wouldn’t know.
And with everyone else out cold, no one would see a thing.
Mmm~
Shen An turned his head, studying Yu Wen’s face intently.
Huh…
Up close, he noticed she had a beauty mark too—just tucked at the corner of her eye amid the lashes, easy to miss.
Her skin was flawless. Makeup might obscure things from afar, but this near, it couldn’t hide her natural glow.
No wonder she was president of the Art Troupe’s Model Group.
Shen An mused to himself, then couldn’t help glancing at Qi Taili on his other side.
She and Yu Wen were total opposites. Yu Wen was the glamorous, seductive rose—sultry and vibrant. Qi Taili was petite and cute, the healing type.
A peek left, a peek right…
Shen An’s own drowsiness finally hit.
No matter how hard he fought it, exhaustion won out when it came.
Five minutes later, he conked out too.
With a thud, his head lolled straight onto Yu Wen’s silky hair, his nose enveloped by the fragrant strands.
Breathing in her scent, Shen An slipped into slumber.
From the front, the pair looked like a couple sharing a sweet shoulder lean—if you ignored Qi Taili on the other side.
The bus rumbled on for about three hours before reaching their destination.
Qi Taili woke with eerie precision, like she had an internal alarm. She’d conked out the moment they boarded, and now, without anyone nudging her, she stirred right as they arrived.
She even beat the driver’s announcement, opening her eyes first among the passengers.
She straightened her cap, then turned her head. The first thing she saw was Shen An’s sleeping face.
Qi Taili’s little mouth fell open. She shot a shy, annoyed glare at the equally slumbering Yu Wen!
No words needed—Qi Taili instantly pegged it as Yu Wen’s doing.
But hey, leaning on Shen An did seem comfier than Yu Wen…
She pulled her gaze away and parted the curtains to peer outside.
This was the last bus; people were already disembarking from the ones ahead.
Huh…
Here of all places?
Qi Taili muttered under her breath, but something important nagged at her memory.
She frowned slightly. “What did I forget…?”
Then she glanced back at the two beside her.
Nothing seemed off…
She turned away casually.
Ten seconds passed…
Wait…
Qi Taili whipped her head back again. Only now did she clock that Yu Wen was leaning on Shen An’s shoulder too.
They were pressed so close—their sleeping pose was downright intimate!
Well, well…
Qi Taili clapped a hand over her mouth. Once the shock faded, she whipped out her phone.
That’s right—no waking them yet. She flicked on the camera, aimed it carefully, and snapped a few sneaky shots.
“Hehe, got your leverage now!”
She and Yu Wen had that mischievous bestie vibe, always messing around together.
After saving the pics, Qi Taili scanned the surroundings.
As the driver made his announcement, others began stirring.
Only then did she nudge Shen An and Yu Wen, hoping no one else would notice the scene.
Shen An showed no reaction, but Yu Wen was alert. After a few nudges, she slowly opened her eyes.
Still bleary-eyed, Yu Wen glanced at Qi Taili. Spotting the sly mischief curling at the corners of her mouth, Yu Wen immediately went on guard.
She first touched her face, then checked her clothes.
This smooth, practiced routine suggested she’d been pranked by Qi Taili more than once before.
Finding nothing amiss, Yu Wen breathed a sigh of relief. “What’re you laughing at..?”
Hm?
Why did it feel… a bit hard?
Yu Wen subconsciously reached out and touched it. It had that firm-yet-yielding quality… the feel of muscle.
She shot a sideways glance, and what met her eyes was Shen An’s face.
Yu Wen froze for a moment, nearly crying out.
Why nearly? Because Qi Taili promptly clapped a hand over her mouth. “Shh~”
Yu Wen was utterly dumbfounded.
How had she… ended up leaning on his shoulder while dozing off..?
Seeing that Shen An was still asleep, Qi Taili teased in a soft voice, “You came up with that sneaky idea, and now it’s backfired on you, huh?”
Yu Wen muttered guiltily, “It was him who wanted to sit in the middle.”
Qi Taili chuckled, then pulled out her phone and opened the photo she’d snapped.
Yu Wen’s eyes widened, and she reached out to snatch it.
Qi Taili shushed her again. “Shh~ You want to wake him up?”
Yu Wen resentfully pulled her hand back.
“Let’s get off first~”
Qi Taili pointed out the window.
“Mm.” Yu Wen’s cheeks flushed with an unnatural blush. She didn’t want Shen An finding out about this any more than Qi Taili did.
She hoped she’d only slumped onto his shoulder after he fell asleep. Otherwise… talk about mortifying.
Qi Taili stood up and carefully stepped over Shen An. Yu Wen was already in the outermost seat, so once Qi Taili was out, she followed right behind. The two thus abandoned Shen An and got off the bus first.
“Delete that photo!”
“No way. I took it fair and square—why delete it?”
“You wanna die, Qi Taili?!”
“Huh? Watch your tone with me, or else~”
“Sis Qi, please delete it..”
“Tsk, that’ll depend on your sincerity~” Qi Taili pursed her lips, smug as could be.
Yu Wen gritted her teeth, inwardly cursing her rotten luck.
At that moment, Shen An—the one “forgotten” by the two girls—finally opened his eyes once they were gone.
He had woken up before Yu Wen did. But he kept his eyes closed, pretending to sleep. It wasn’t like they were sharing a bed, but staring at each other across the seat was awkward enough. Better to play dumb and oblivious; that was easiest for everyone.
He rubbed his aching shoulders and slowly got to his feet, ready to disembark.
Meanwhile, Wang Yuqiong and Song Rui—who had been sitting together—had already gotten off the bus. They stood by the roadside, waiting for Shen An.
When the two girls saw Yu Wen and Qi Taili emerge from the bus one after another, Wang Yuqiong was stunned.
“Were those Model Group members on that bus?”
She turned to Song Rui.
Song Rui pursed her lips. “I didn’t check it..”
Wang Yuqiong narrowed her eyes. “Neither did I.”
Both girls felt a ripple of unease. Had they known Model Group members were on that bus, neither would have let Shen An board it. It was a subtle, unspoken accord.
Compared to each other, the Model Group felt like the bigger threat—a veritable spider’s lair. Especially Yu Wen, who was just like a man-eating spider demoness.
Wang Yuqiong was beautiful, no doubt. But Yu Wen was a senior sister~ the mature big-sister type with a natural pull on junior guys. And she had that sultry allure to boot…
In an instant, the pressure weighed a little heavier.
After watching Yu Wen and Qi Taili get off, Wang Yuqiong didn’t wait for Shen An. She grabbed Song Rui’s hand and turned away. “Let’s go join the main group.”
Uncharacteristically, Song Rui didn’t object.
The first thought in both girls’ minds was: He did it on purpose.
Not me, not her—who checked, then? Him!
Hmph!
