Chapter 28 Part 2

It said: Coward. If you dare, don’t use the umbrella. Say to my face that you don’t like me.

To her face?

Yun Chun didn’t even dare to look at Lu Qingxue.

How could she say anything to her face? Fresh and vivid—

No, wait. Wasn’t she supposed to confront the moderate rain? How had it become Lu Qingxue?

Was moderate rain Lu Qingxue?

Did she dislike Lu Qingxue?

Impossible.

Lu Qingxue was the person she had idolized since childhood.

How could she dislike her?

Then why had she answered “no”?

Yun Chun fell into thought.

She began to think.

About Lu Qingxue.

~~~

When it came to emotions, Lu Qingxue knew not to rush.

But when Yun Chun uttered that resolute “no,” the laughter in Lu Qingxue’s eyes froze for an instant.

She stared blankly at Yun Chun for a long while, unable to recover.

The light in her eyes, beneath her lashes, flickered with disbelief.

A few seconds later, the first part of Lu Qingxue’s face to move was her eyes. She blinked, reining in the emotions there.

Next was her nose.

Lu Qingxue hadn’t been able to smell anything before, but thanks to Yun Chun’s daily incense offerings these past few days, she could now detect scents.

At this moment, she sniffed, trying to catch any hint of a lie on Yun Chun.

What did a lie smell like? Oranges.

The peeled oranges on the nearby table filled the air between them with their fragrance. That was all Lu Qingxue could smell.

Tart and bitter.

But perhaps it wasn’t the scent of deceit—maybe honesty smelled like oranges too.

Yun Chun hadn’t lied, after all. Wasn’t that honesty?

Breathing in the sour tang of oranges, Lu Qingxue wondered if she shouldn’t have asked that childish question just minutes ago.

She knew full well how childish the question was, and how childish she seemed in pressing for an answer.

She had only asked because she wanted to hear those three words—”you’re important”—from Yun Chun’s lips.

Especially after seeing Yun Chun surrounded by the crowd earlier, all those bright, attractive, vibrant people calling her Sister Yun one after another. Lu Qingxue had thought, her Little Darling was so well-liked, with so many friends. It seemed like she didn’t lack for one more… ghost companion.

When Little Darling called her a friend, was it as an ordinary friend, or an important one?

Wanting to hear “you’re important” wasn’t just about the bow tie at Yun Chun’s neck. She could have picked any object and held it before Yun Chun—like the orange peels on the table.

She could have asked, “Which is more important, me or the orange peel?”

Or the painting on the wall: “Which is more important, the painting or me?”

But the orange peels had nothing to do with Yun Chun, nor did the painting on the wall. Answers to such questions would lack weight.

She could have asked, “Which is more important, me or those people from earlier?”

But she didn’t dare.

All she could do was tug at something on Yun Chun’s person and ask which mattered more between herself and it.

When Lu Qingxue asked, she brimmed with confidence, imagining Yun Chun’s expression upon saying she was important. She had chosen Yun Chun’s least significant accessory—that cheap staff bow tie, with bags of spares in the supply room.

Utterly worthless.

She had lowered herself completely, comparing herself to something utterly insignificant.

And Yun Chun’s answer was that she mattered less than the bow tie.

Lu Qingxue couldn’t feel pain or the sharp ache of a breaking heart—sensations unique to the living, long lost to her.

All her emotions flooded in, not branching into a hundred flavors, but plunging into a bottomless pit to be devoured whole.

So Lu Qingxue could only let her gaze freeze for a moment before smiling. “Little Darling is so good at playing hard to get. If I’m not important, why haven’t you pushed me away?”

Though she felt no pain, she still wanted to console herself.

She was so pitiful.

Not even worth a bow tie.

Yun Chun froze.

Right—why hadn’t she pushed Lu Qingxue away? From the moment Lu Qingxue sat on her lap to now, sprawled against her, why hadn’t the thought even crossed her mind?

But on second thought, could she push Lu Qingxue away just because she wanted to?

Yun Chun finally lowered her head.

But not to look at Lu Qingxue’s face. She tilted it slightly, gazing instead at Lu Qingxue’s back.

Lu Qingxue’s waist and back were soft and boneless as a snake’s, draped over her like a seductive sprite. All Yun Chun saw was the narrow back and slender waist beneath the red dress… and the pert, rounded hips like ripe peaches.

Only then did Yun Chun realize her gaze couldn’t linger anywhere on Lu Qingxue’s body.

Every inch of this woman was beautiful.

Beautiful enough to captivate the soul.

One extra glance, and one’s spirit might be stolen away.

Yun Chun averted her eyes, landing on the hand resting on the edge of the chair.

Under Yun Chun’s gaze, that hand slowly pressed against Lu Qingxue’s back. At the same moment, Yun Chun lowered the leg she had propped on the opposite chair.

Though Lu Qingxue weighed nothing in her lap at that moment, Yun Chun’s legs tensed instinctively.

Lu Qingxue didn’t notice.

She only felt the sudden warmth of that hand against her back.

Feeling the heat of Yun Chun’s palm, Lu Qingxue’s eyelashes trembled.

Suddenly, she was afraid.

Since dying, Lu Qingxue hadn’t felt fear in a very, very long time.

But being near Yun Chun changed that.

She feared Yun Chun would fear her, so they met only in dreams; she feared Yun Chun wouldn’t recognize her face even upon seeing it, so she covered Yun Chun’s eyes; she feared Yun Chun wouldn’t recognize her voice, so she barely spoke a word—and indeed, Yun Chun hadn’t recognized it. She feared Yun Chun would sever ties and end their months of connection, so she hinted and outright pleaded for Yun Chun not to abandon her…

All her fears revolved around Yun Chun.

Now, she feared Yun Chun would push her away.

“Little Darling…” Lu Qingxue’s voice came out hoarse.

The hand on her back was so hot, so scorching… Yun Chun’s heartbeat in her ear was steady now, devoid of its earlier panic.

It seemed Yun Chun had made her decision.

Lu Qingxue closed her eyes in resignation and whispered,

“Could you…

not push me away?

Hold me…

please?”

~~~

In the end, Yun Chun neither held Lu Qingxue nor pushed her away.

As Lu Qingxue’s words hung in the air, leaving Yun Chun stunned by the soft plea, Wenwen pushed open the door, shattering the tense, oppressive atmosphere in the break room.

The hand Yun Chun had placed on Lu Qingxue’s back dropped instantly at the sound of the door, lest anyone see her caressing thin air.

Wenwen didn’t even close the door behind her, grinning as she said to Yun Chun, “Sister Yun, guess who that lunatic in the bathroom was?”

Used to hearing it, Yun Chun barely reacted to the Sister Yun. She glanced faintly at Wenwen and asked, “Who?”

Wenwen sidled up to Yun Chun, covering her mouth as she giggled. “That guy from earlier—the one you called President Li.”

Yun Chun raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Him?”

Wenwen cupped a hand by her mouth and whispered, “Yeah! They said he kept yelling about ghosts, scared so bad he wet himself.”

The word “ghost” had become a trigger for Yun Chun now.

She instinctively looked toward Lu Qingxue.

Lu Qingxue had already left her lap and was seated in the chair opposite.

Meeting Yun Chun’s gaze, she offered a gentle smile.

Wenwen lowered her voice, hoping to see if Yun Chun would be startled or mock President Li.

She never expected Yun Chun’s reaction to be staring fixedly at the opposite chair.

Wenwen followed her gaze. The chair sat empty. “Sister Yun, what’s wrong?”

Yun Chun shook her head, saying it was nothing, and asked, “What happened next?”

“He was taken back to the private room by his companions. By the time I got back, he had calmed down, but he kept yelling that there was a ghost here and demanding compensation for his mental anguish.”

Yun Chun stood up and started toward the door, but Wenwen spoke up. “The manager is already handling it, though… and the Big Boss went over there too.”

At those words, Yun Chun lowered her raised foot. With the manager and Mo Yue there, she didn’t need to go herself.

She had more important things to attend to right now.

Yun Chun turned to Wenwen. “I understand. You go back to work. I’ll be out in a bit.”

The club wasn’t just occupied by Li Gaoxuan’s private room—there were other guests as well.

Wenwen remembered that Yun Chun had a grudge against the man, so she had come specifically to report this. Having said her piece, she was about to leave. She nodded at Yun Chun’s words. “Mm-hmm.”

Once Wenwen had gone, Yun Chun walked to the door and locked the lounge from the inside. Then she turned to look at the chair.

Lu Qingxue was sitting there, peeling an orange.

Green oranges, with just a hint of yellow on the peel, tasted sour.

That last bit was Lu Qingxue’s guess. She handed a peeled segment to Yun Chun. Under her watchful gaze, Yun Chun popped it into her mouth, and Lu Qingxue immediately saw the smooth brows above those even features furrow.

Smiling, Lu Qingxue voiced her guess. “Sour?”

Yun Chun shook her head. “Pretty sweet.” Her frown had been for another reason.

“Oh,” Lu Qingxue said. Her fingers moved nimbly, plucking away the more prominent white strings from the orange before handing the rest to Yun Chun. “If it’s sweet, have some more?”

Yun Chun took the orange and ate two segments.

Catching Lu Qingxue’s gaze on her, Yun Chun bit her lip discreetly. The orange’s sweetness lingered between her teeth and on her lips. After a two-second hesitation, she asked, “Was that you?”

“What?”

“The bathroom ghost.”

Lu Qingxue’s brows curved into a grin. “Yep.”

Yun Chun pursed her lips. “Why?”

Lu Qingxue brushed the back of her hand over her knees twice, as if flicking away nonexistent dust from her skirt, and replied offhandedly, “Bored. Just scaring someone for kicks.”

Yun Chun: “…”

She didn’t buy it for a second.

Why Li Gaoxuan, of all people?

Yun Chun fell silent for a moment, then popped two more segments into her mouth.

The orange was incredibly fresh. Biting through that thin membrane released a flood of tender juice into her mouth. The flesh was soft, bursting with sweetness in every bite. Not sour at all. Whether it was the orange juice working its magic or not, a sweetness welled up in Yun Chun’s chest.

She ate the last segment, and in the instant the juice burst between her teeth, she looked at Lu Qingxue sitting across from her and said, “Thank you.”

Lu Qingxue watched Yun Chun devour the entire orange. When the thanks came, Lu Qingxue lowered her eyes.

She glanced at her fingers, still scented from peeling the fruit, and smiled faintly. “It’s just an orange. No need to thank me.”

She had figured it would be sour, but Yun Chun insisted it was sweet.

See? She had even gotten something this simple wrong.

It was only natural that she’d guessed wrong on the earlier question too, wasn’t it?

And her sudden appearance seemed to have thrown off Yun Chun’s routine… Otherwise, Yun Chun would be out working right now, instead of sitting in the lounge eating an orange she’d peeled.

Oranges really do taste so sour…

Lu Qingxue eyed the peels scattered on the table and suddenly thought of herself.

She wasn’t some important character either. So why was she still hanging around?

Lu Qingxue rose to her feet and gave Yun Chun a soft smile. “I won’t keep Little Darling from her work. Nothing else to do here, so I’ll take off.”