Yi Qingzhuo consciously kept her distance from the door, making no move to approach.
When Shen Chaoyi said she was changing clothes, she merely took off her white coat and slipped on her own clothes.
Today she was dressed casually—a pink-and-white striped shirt on top, paired with black casual pants.
Finally, she shrugged on her coat, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked out.
It took no more than five minutes.
Yi Qingzhuo stood rooted to the spot, her originally dim eyes suddenly brightening.
Slightly wavy long hair, a coat that accentuated her figure—Shen Chaoyi moved with an effortless grace.
Every fleeting glimpse of Shen Chaoyi possessed a charm that made one’s eyes light up.
“Don’t worry, we’re going the same way.” Shen Chaoyi passed by Yi Qingzhuo, as if to soothe her nerves.
Those light, airy words struck Yi Qingzhuo’s heart like a hammer.
Yi Qingzhuo followed behind Shen Chaoyi without refusing.
And Shen Chaoyi deliberately softened her steps. “If you need to find me in the future, just send me a message directly. I’m not always in my office, and you’d end up waiting there a long time.”
“Oh.” Yi Qingzhuo nodded.
“Did the Medical Department people come looking for you?” Shen Chaoyi pressed the elevator button, tilting her head slightly to look at her.
Yi Qingzhuo replied in a low voice, “They did.”
“What did they say? They didn’t give you a hard time, did they?” Shen Chaoyi’s eyes held a hint of a smile as she looked at Yi Qingzhuo, a faint, elusive smile always playing at the corners of her lips.
“No.”
It was the answer she expected, and Shen Chaoyi was quite satisfied.
Just then, the elevator arrived, so Shen Chaoyi stopped asking further.
She turned to step into the elevator, but suddenly a cool hand grasped her wrist, pulling her back with a gentle force.
The ends of her hair traced a slight arc through the air as Shen Chaoyi turned and collided with an embrace that carried a faint, bitter medicinal scent.
“Careful.” Yi Qingzhuo waited until the group pushing a wheelchair had exited the elevator before speaking.
With her chin resting against Shen Chaoyi’s forehead, Yi Qingzhuo’s heart suddenly began to race.
She hadn’t thought much about it—she just saw that Shen Chaoyi was about to bump into them, and her quick reflexes and subconscious mind made her reach out and pull her back.
Only she hadn’t managed to control her strength, and Shen Chaoyi, carried by inertia, fell into her arms.
Yi Qingzhuo’s face couldn’t help but heat up slightly. She watched as the people around them emptied out and the elevator doors were about to close.
So, clenching her teeth, before Shen Chaoyi could react, she wrapped one arm around her waist, and then Shen Chaoyi felt herself being pulled into the elevator by a considerable force.
Still in shock and not yet recovered, Shen Chaoyi could only watch as the elevator doors closed, the metal doors reflecting the two figures.
Her dilated pupils hadn’t had time to contract before Yi Qingzhuo had already withdrawn her hand.
Although they were still shoulder to shoulder, at least there was no more physical contact now.
A flush of red crept onto her cheeks. Shen Chaoyi cast an ambiguous glance at Yi Qingzhuo, whose expression remained unchanged.
Opening her mouth, she managed, “Thank you.”
Had she just been lifted with one arm?
Yi Qingzhuo clenched her fist, raised it to her mouth, and gave a soft cough. “It’s nothing.”
Perhaps because the elevator was an enclosed space, or maybe because they were standing so close.
Besides that faint medicinal scent, Shen Chaoyi’s nostrils caught another fragrance—a clear, crisp, pleasant scent, nothing like the deliberate smell of perfume.
She lifted her chin slightly, recalling the scene from just a moment ago. Her gaze wandered, and she seemed to notice Yi Qingzhuo’s ear, which had turned completely red.
Following down, she saw Yi Qingzhuo’s neck, tinged with a faint pink.
She was embarrassed?
How could someone turn pink when they’re embarrassed?
“Are you okay after using that much force on your wound just now?” Shen Chaoyi suppressed her smile and asked softly.
Shen Chaoyi knew that as an adult, she wasn’t particularly heavy, but for an injured Yi Qingzhuo, lifting her with one hand would still be somewhat difficult.
Their eyes met. Yi Qingzhuo had her hands in her pockets, as if her gaze had been scalded by Shen Chaoyi’s.
Then she quickly, stiffly averted her eyes and stubbornly said, “I’m fine.”
No sooner had she spoken than the pain of the wound tearing caused Yi Qingzhuo to press her lips firmly together.
Although she had a fixator on, Yi Qingzhuo hadn’t thought about it in the heat of the moment. The movement, which looked clean and effortless, was too much for her chest wound, which hadn’t fully healed yet.
Yi Qingzhuo endured the pain, her expression unchanged. “You’re very light. I hardly felt it.”
“Are you sure it’s fine? Do you want me to take a look?” Shen Chaoyi didn’t quite believe her.
The baseball cap hid Yi Qingzhuo’s expression, but Shen Chaoyi could feel that the breathing of the woman in front of her had become heavier.
Yi Qingzhuo shifted slightly to the side. “Really, I’m fine.”
They had taken the passenger elevator this time. As the doors opened and closed, several more people came in.
Yi Qingzhuo and Shen Chaoyi, who had entered first, were naturally pushed to the very back. Yi Qingzhuo leaned against the farthest corner.
The aura of “not to be trifled with” she exuded kept a little space around her, but as the elevator descended floor by floor, the space around Shen Chaoyi became increasingly cramped, eventually squeezing her to the back as well.
Yi Qingzhuo noticed.
Shen Chaoyi could have just used the medical staff exclusive elevator.
Imperceptibly scanning the people pressing towards her side, Yi Qingzhuo reached out and clasped Shen Chaoyi’s wrist.
She pulled her in front of her. “Stay close to me. We’re almost there.”
There were too many people, so Shen Chaoyi didn’t catch the last half of Yi Qingzhuo’s sentence.
She only caught the gist of it vaguely.
The clearest part was “Stay close to me.”
Stay close to me. Closer to me.
Yi Qingzhuo was right there. Shen Chaoyi raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t catch that.”
She was pressed against Yi Qingzhuo’s side, and the warm breath from her words sprayed onto Yi Qingzhuo’s neck.
Yi Qingzhuo saw the amusement in Shen Chaoyi’s eyes. She gritted her molars and said nothing.
No response. Selective deafness.
“Say it again, Yi Qingzhuo.” Shen Chaoyi’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink, and she felt no aversion to being in such close, socially transgressive contact with Yi Qingzhuo.
Yi Qingzhuo swallowed, her brows slightly furrowed.
Finally, she complied with Shen Chaoyi’s request. “We’re almost there.”
“The first part.” Shen Chaoyi tilted her head gently, her graceful, tender aura seeping into Yi Qingzhuo like it was etched into her bones.
She was deliberately teasing the usually calm and unflappable Yi Qingzhuo.
She wanted to see Yi Qingzhuo flustered.
With Shen Chaoyi’s gentle movements, the fire in Yi Qingzhuo’s chest roared even hotter.
She turned her head away, just as the elevator reached Basement 1.
With only a few people left in the elevator, Yi Qingzhuo jerked back half a step as if electrocuted.
The hand that had just pulled Shen Chaoyi trembled uncontrollably. Yi Qingzhuo looked down at that traitorous hand.
Finally, she held her breath and shoved it into her pocket, determined not to let Shen Chaoyi set the pace.
“If Doctor Shen has hearing problems, I recall the ENT Department is on the tenth floor. You should see a doctor early and not avoid treatment out of fear.” Yi Qingzhuo smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Shen Chaoyi leaned against the wall, her voice soft and melodious. “Thank you for the reminder, but I’m quite sure there’s nothing wrong with my hearing. The first part was…”
“Stay close to me.”
As soon as she said it, a low laugh escaped Shen Chaoyi’s throat.
The elevator doors opened, and Shen Chaoyi stepped out unhurriedly.
Yi Qingzhuo knew full well that Shen Chaoyi had heard her, but she had deliberately asked anyway.
And now saying it like that—was she clearly just trying to mess with her for fun?
Yi Qingzhuo’s face darkened. “You heard wrong.”
She strode quickly out of the elevator, brushing past Shen Chaoyi.
Her voice had an ethereal, smoke-like quality. Shen Chaoyi turned her head sideways, but Yi Qingzhuo had already walked straight ahead.
