In the morning, Nan Qi was roused right on time by her alarm clock.
She squinted her eyes and fumbled for the phone she’d left on the pillow before sleep. As her arm stretched out, she felt a powerful sense of restraint, accompanied by warmth. Turning her head, she discovered Tang Lian wrapped around her like a pretzel, clinging to her possessively with no room to escape. The slightest movement only made Tang Lian pull her even closer, molding their bodies together more tightly.
Too clingy, Nan Qi thought, giving up on her efforts. She lay there quietly, gazing at Tang Lian’s serene sleeping face.
Perhaps it was the unspoken understanding between lovers. Not long after Nan Qi settled into her wife-staring pose, Tang Lian let out a soft whimper and woke up. Her fluffy head nuzzled against Nan Qi’s neck like a kitten marking its territory with its scent. With a contented sigh, she finally pulled away, giving Nan Qi some space to move.
Nan Qi grabbed her phone and silenced the alarm.
Tang Lian sprawled beside her, watching every tap of her fingers. Once she was done, Tang Lian pounced again, wrapping her arms around Nan Qi’s neck in a muffled voice. “Big Sister, get me a gift when we get back home.”
Nan Qi naturally pulled Tang Lian’s waist into her embrace. Memories of the previous night came flooding back, and her hand traced inch by inch over her girlfriend’s smooth, silky back. Savoring the moment of tenderness, she played along with Tang Lian’s whimsical topic. “What kind of gift do you want?”
Tang Lian leaned in and whispered into her ear.
The warm, soft voice sent shivers rolling down Nan Qi’s ear. She knew instantly what it was and agreed without hesitation.
It turned out Tang Lian wanted them to have a custom qipao made together—a romantic love ritual that was uniquely theirs. How could Nan Qi refuse such an adorable wish?
At the same time, Nan Qi couldn’t help but think back to last New Year’s, when Tang Lian had watched that old video at home of Nan Qi performing on stage with Bo Ranying during middle school. They had both worn qipaos from the same series.
Tang Lian had stared at the tape in silence for a long time.
Was she jealous again?
What a little jealous one.
The more Nan Qi thought about it, the cuter it seemed. Unable to resist, she reached out and pinched Tang Lian’s nose, delighting in her surprised pout.
It was like downing a sip of sweet, fizzy soda.
A single shared glance between lovers ignited their playful passion. The two tumbled around under the covers for a good while longer before finally separating to pack their luggage. They returned to Monaco right on schedule.
Stepping back into the hospital cast a heavy shadow over their moods. Gone was the leisurely ease they’d enjoyed in Milan.
The elevator descended to the first-floor lobby and dinged open. Nan Qi stayed silent as Tang Lian followed her inside. Before they could even press the floor button, a rush of people flooded in, separating them in the crowd.
The hospital was always teeming with people, and the elevators were perpetually packed to the brim.
The familiar presence at Tang Lian’s side suddenly turned into the scent of strangers.
She glanced back over her shoulder. Through the press of bodies, she caught sight of that face she’d longed for day and night. Nan Qi had been shoved into a corner, but she gazed back with gentle warmth—like the perfect autumn sunlight, warm and transparent and flawless. It was right there in front of her, yet separated by mountains and seas, impossible to touch.
For a fleeting moment, Tang Lian’s heart felt hollow. As her nose began to sting, she looked away and jabbed the button for their floor.
Amid the clamor filling the elevator, she took a deep breath and swallowed down the sour ache.
Pretending nothing had happened, she linked arms with Nan Qi and walked into Bo Ranying’s room.
The sound at the door interrupted Bo Ranying’s conversation with her mother.
Snatches of their talk drifted into Nan Qi’s ears.
“How many days have Little Qi and the others been gone?”
“It should be four days.”
“No, it’s four days and seventeen hours.”
“She should be back by now.”
Longing laced the words.
From the moment Nan Qi had left, Bo Ranying had started counting every passing second, aching for her return. Each minute dragged unbearably.
Without medication to control her or Nan Qi by her side, she’d fallen back into her old patterns: insomnia, irritability, anxiety that made her want to scream, to lose her mind, even to bolt from the hospital and chase after Nan Qi no matter the cost.
But every time her rationality frayed to the breaking point, she remembered the promise Nan Qi had made her before saying goodbye.
That pulled her shattered thoughts back into line.
She had to report to Little Qi every day about what she’d done.
She had to be the good girl who followed the doctors’ orders and cooperated with treatment. She couldn’t let Nan Qi see her in those ugly, out-of-control moments…
Otherwise, Nan Qi would hate her.
It would hurt worse than death.
As her words trailed off, Bo Ranying sensed something and glanced toward the door. Her eyes lit on the person she’d missed for so long.
In an instant, it was like dead wood meeting spring. Endless joy flooded her heart.
She broke into a bright smile and beckoned Nan Qi over eagerly.
She had so much to tell her—how she’d missed her during this time away.
She could barely eat; nothing tasted good.
To honor her promise to Little Qi, she’d endured the impatience and fully supported the doctors’ treatment plan, content to be a well-tethered baby.
“Little Qi, quick, look—I missed you so mu—”
Her cheerful voice caught in her throat as Nan Qi drew near. Her gaze locked onto the deep red mark on Nan Qi’s neck, surrounded by unmistakable bite marks that screamed of human passion. After half a day, the color had deepened even further.
Bo Ranying’s brows furrowed unconsciously as countless thoughts flashed through her mind.
The only one who could get that close to Nan Qi, share such intimate contact, and leave an ambiguous mark like that on her neck was Tang Lian.
They must have had a blast in Milan. Without her around, they’d indulged in their two-person world to their hearts’ content, giving in to impulse… leaving behind the kind of evidence adults understood all too well.
Maybe it was Tang Lian’s way of asserting her place in front of Bo Ranying?
Tang Lian was Little Qi’s girlfriend, after all. And Bo Ranying? Just Little Qi’s friend.
One word’s difference, yet a gulf like heaven and earth.
In that brief moment, Bo Ranying’s emotions plummeted like a rollercoaster—from the peak straight down to the plains, and still falling, burying itself in the dirt, never to surface again.
The coquettish words of praise she’d been ready to spill died on her tongue.
Listlessly, she asked her mother to fetch the scarf from the cabinet. She pinched the ends—not gently—and looped it around Nan Qi’s neck, tying a quick knot. After a few adjustments to ensure it covered the glaring mark, she let go. “It’s so cold out—you should bundle up more.”
Cold weather made a scarf perfectly reasonable.
The soft gauze brushed against Nan Qi’s neck, bringing a chill along with an unexpected sense of confinement. Nan Qi frowned, not understanding the sudden gesture.
Her eyes flickered as she glanced at the elaborate knot dangling from the end of the scarf. In the end, she didn’t reach to untie it.
It was just a scarf. If Bo Ranying wanted to tie it on, so be it.
Seeing no resistance, the disappointment that had plunged Bo Ranying to her lowest warmed just a fraction.
Out of sight of the others, her gaze darted to Tang Lian, who had stayed glued to Nan Qi’s side the whole time. Stubborn and unwilling to yield, she tried to read Tang Lian’s expression—like a defeated little beast propping up its battered body in a hopeless battle, refusing to give up.
Nan Qi didn’t grasp the purpose of the scarf, but Tang Lian did.
From the moment their plane touched down in Monaco, Tang Lian had known she and Nan Qi could never return to the intimacy of Milan. It was like their relationship, plummeting downward.
She raised her eyes calmly, meeting Bo Ranying’s gaze head-on and looking deeply into the soft, pale face of the girl before her.
Trying to set aside her feelings for Nan Qi, Tang Lian viewed her as an outsider might.
After just a few days apart, Bo Ranying looked much thinner than before—frail enough that a stiff breeze might knock her over. Beneath the faint flicker of hostility in her eyes lingered a layer of dark circles, the telltale sign of sleepless nights. Anyone could see her exhaustion, yet here she was, nervously declaring war with a resilient spark in her eyes, barely holding up her weary frame.
It reminded Tang Lian of Niannian in those early days back home—ears perpetually pricked, alert to every rustle and whisper around her. Any unfamiliar sound would make her bristle and arch her back, tail shooting straight up in a defensive, aggressive stance, ready to lash out with fierce scratches as a warning: stay back, or else.
In truth, beneath all that puffed-up fur was a trembling body, bluffing for all it was worth—one good shove and she’d topple.
It fit Bo Ranying’s current state perfectly.
She cared deeply—agonizingly—about the love mark Tang Lian had left on Nan Qi’s neck.
Meeting Tang Lian’s steady gaze felt like facing a formidable foe.
By contrast, Tang Lian seemed far too composed, too indifferent, as if such a tiny detail wasn’t worth a second thought.
It only made Bo Ranying look more ridiculous, fussing over nothing.
Bo Ranying clenched her fists without realizing it, her pale nails digging into her palms with a sharp sting.
The armor she’d barely managed to hold up wavered, crumbling under Tang Lian’s tranquil stare.
She couldn’t stand it—how could Tang Lian be so unflappable?
Bo Ranying was easy to read; every thought was written plain on her face. Tang Lian understood exactly what was going through her mind.
She’d clearly misunderstood the meaning of the bite mark.
And from that very morning, a countdown had begun ticking in Tang Lian’s heart—for her and Nan Qi.
Like a wind-up alarm clock ticking insistently toward its deadline, its beeping grated on her nerves. All along the way, her mood had been low, indifferent to everything around her. Then, in a moment of inexplicable impulse that overrode her reason, she left a bite mark on Nan Qi’s neck.
Reluctant to part with Nan Qi, she had wanted to leave at least something behind—a proof that this time they had shared wouldn’t dissolve into a mere romantic dream in her future memories, but would remain a tangible reality.
She remembered that Nan Qi had acknowledged it too.
After that, she had only wanted to quietly spend their final moments together with Nan Qi, savoring every second wholeheartedly.
But when she caught the trembling, defiant glare Bo Ranying directed at her, some inexplicable emotion surged within her, prompting her to abruptly change her mind.
At that moment, she could fully empathize with Bo Ranying’s feelings.
Because in the past, when she herself had faced Bo Ranying, it had felt exactly the same.
Sensitive. Nervous. Jealous. Irritated.
She could even predict precisely how Bo Ranying would react to her next move.
Yes, it was childish. Pointless.
And yet, despite knowing better, Tang Lian couldn’t resist the mischievous impulse that arose at the worst possible time.
She flashed Bo Ranying a smile—gently curved, but utterly wicked.
Then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Nan Qi from behind, pressing her cheek against the delicate ridge of Nan Qi’s shoulder blade. “Big Sister, give me a hug. It’s so warm.”
It was a polite echo of Bo Ranying’s earlier gift of the silk scarf, repaying courtesy with courtesy.
The instant Tang Lian pressed close, Nan Qi instinctively leaned back into her until their bodies fit together seamlessly.
Tang Lian had been so clingy the night before at the hotel, then somewhat distant during the day—Nan Qi had been surprised by the shift. Now, enveloped in that warm embrace from behind, her faint unease finally settled.
Perhaps this was the delayed surge of her girlfriend’s clinginess finally catching up.
Tang Lian peeked out from behind Nan Qi and, sure enough, spotted the blaze of fury igniting in Bo Ranying’s eyes. Bo Ranying’s nose even twitched in outrage, like a cat whose tail had been yanked.
Exactly as Tang Lian had anticipated.
Her smile grew even more wicked.
It was a bad thing to do, but oh, it felt so incredibly satisfying.
In these final moments, she had “won” against Bo Ranying.
