Chapter 23: Washing Up

Warm water gurgled steadily into the bathtub.

The bathroom was shrouded in a veil of misty steam. Ye Chengxing felt as though her vision had grown hazy in the humid air, but beneath the vapor, she could faintly make out the delicate, moon-pale glow of skin.

The soup had mostly splashed onto Li Jia’s waist and legs.

After rinsing off with cold water, the oil had turned into a different kind of slick, sticky film. Ye Chengxing fixed her gaze on the areas the omega needed cleaned, her eyes narrowing slightly. After another rinse, she raised her hand to squeeze some body wash into her palm. But as she did, she remembered that Li Jia seemed to prefer the bottle she usually used herself, so she paused and switched to that one.

Ye Chengxing’s expression remained calm and composed, her movements methodical. In truth, she nearly fumbled the bottle and squeezed out nothing at all.

…Close call.

She steadied her mind.

It was just a bath, after all. Li Jia was handling it so nonchalantly—Ye Chengxing absolutely couldn’t let herself show any awkwardness.

She worked the body wash into a lather in her palms and applied it to the omega’s skin.

Once the oily layer was washed away, the skin beneath wasn’t dry at all. If anything, it grew even smoother and more exquisite, like the finest polished jade.

They were already very close. Ye Chengxing bent her head and leaned in carefully to help Li Jia wash, while Li Jia cooperated fully, shifting her posture to make every spot accessible.

Her cooperation was genuine, but… when that impossibly soft part brushed against Ye Chengxing’s cheek yet again, she finally couldn’t hold back. She coughed lightly, struggling for words before managing to say, “Um… hold yourself steady and try not to move. I’ll get you clean.”

Even as the words left her mouth, she felt her tone sounded a bit stiff, so she added softly, “Okay?”

Li Jia blinked at the question, then nodded obediently. The omega lifted her arms to hold her chest in place and stayed perfectly still, letting Ye Chengxing continue.

As if afraid of getting in the way again, Li Jia clutched herself tightly, though a hint of pale softness spilled over from between her arms and fingers.

Ye Chengxing stole a quick glance to confirm she was holding on, then hastily averted her eyes. The bathroom felt hotter by the second, stifling enough to make breathing uneven. In the brief pauses between strokes, she rubbed the back of her hand against her chin to wipe away what might have been sweat or water.

“Is Big Sis feeling hot?” Without warning, Li Jia’s voice broke the quiet.

In that short time, Ye Chengxing had already wiped her chin with the back of her hand at least three times.

Hearing the question, Ye Chengxing didn’t overthink it—she figured her fidgeting must have been noticeable. “The bathroom really is pretty warm,” she admitted.

It was strange, though. She never found it this hot when bathing alone. Why had it gotten warmer with someone else there?

“I feel hot too… What should we do?” Li Jia looked up at her, her voice laced with a soft note of confusion and helplessness.

She was like a pure, innocent lamb—and also a cat skilled at disguise.

The omega’s slender pale fingertips still maintained their grip, while her raven-black hair cascaded down over her chest. The stark contrast of black against white evoked an ink wash painting, though her naturally vivid red lips added a bold splash of color.

Meeting Li Jia’s gaze and hearing her say she felt hot too, Ye Chengxing let out a breath of relief—

So it wasn’t just her imagination.

After a moment’s thought, even though she felt overheated herself, Ye Chengxing turned to reassure Li Jia. “It’s fine. I’ll finish washing you up quickly. It probably feels hot because the air isn’t circulating well, and with two of us breathing, there’s more carbon dioxide and less oxygen. It’ll be better once we’re out.”

Seeing the gentle, earnest look on Ye Chengxing’s face, Li Jia froze for a subtle instant. Two seconds later, she let out a laugh she couldn’t quite suppress. “Big Sis, not surprising at all coming from you.”

Ye Chengxing missed the deeper undertone in her words and took it as a simple compliment, feeling a touch embarrassed. “No, no, not really.”

Li Jia’s lips curved into an even brighter smile at that. The omega was already strikingly beautiful, and now her laugh made her even more captivating, as if the mere lift of her eyes could capture all the world’s breathtaking sights.

Hearing that laugh made Ye Chengxing even more ill at ease. It had to be the heat, she decided—her hands moved a little faster.

As her foam-covered fingertips glided over the omega’s waist, she couldn’t help frowning. Li Jia’s waist was so slender, barely a handful, as if one arm could encircle it entirely. To most, it would seem beautiful, but paired with her height, Ye Chengxing thought it bordered on unhealthy. She resolved inwardly to make sure Li Jia got more nutrition from now on.

For a moment, neither spoke. The bathroom fell into a hushed stillness, broken only by the soft sounds of water being lifted and splashed back down.

The oil on her waist was clean now. Next came the legs.

But the spots needing attention were too far inward.

Ye Chengxing felt unusually hesitant, unsure where even to look.

Still, thinking of the injury on Li Jia’s palm steadied her. She couldn’t very well let Li Jia wash herself with that wounded hand.

Even so, it took her a couple of seconds of mental preparation before she let her gaze drop.

The soup had flowed inward as it soaked in, smearing even further with every step.

Since Ye Chengxing had told her to hold herself earlier, Li Jia had stayed quiet and compliant, her eyes full of trust as she looked at her.

The omega’s porcelain skin gleamed like mutton-fat jade, her legs not quite pressed together, leaving a narrow gap.

To clean the soup smeared into the inner thighs, Ye Chengxing had no choice but to slide her hand through that slim opening.

But the space was so tight that once her hand was in, she could barely move. Every small motion meant her knuckles and the back of her hand grazed the softest skin at the base of the other leg.

Li Jia didn’t look, but as the one doing the washing, Ye Chengxing had to check for any missed spots. The more she looked, the more embarrassed she felt. Her ears burned crimson—she, who had always stayed utterly calm in any situation from childhood, was on the verge of mortification.

…This was truly mortifying.

After a few more careful movements, she lowered her voice. “Li Jia, could you… spread your legs a little more?”

Her tone was soft and tentative, as if the request embarrassed her. A faint flush colored her cheeks.

First she’d asked her to hold her chest; now this…

If she weren’t so sure she was just helping with a bath, Ye Chengxing might have thought her words sounded indecent.

The thought only deepened her embarrassment.

Fortunately, Li Jia didn’t take it the wrong way. The omega obediently parted her legs a bit more, her voice light and earnest as she asked, “Big Sis, is this okay? Can you move your hand freely now?”

Ye Chengxing found the phrasing a little odd, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. Glancing down, she saw she could maneuver now, so with her ears still red, she nodded haphazardly and murmured agreement. As she did, she couldn’t resist wiping her chin again with the back of her hand.

Li Jia took in the scene, feeling the delicate, gentle cleaning motions of Ye Chengxing’s fingers. She tamped down her quickening breath and spoke again. “If it’s really that hot, why don’t you undo the top button of your shirt, Big Sis?”

The omega still held her own chest, her legs spread wide, but her expression was one of utter innocence—as if she were simply offering a sincere suggestion to beat the heat.

Ye Chengxing thought it made sense. Undoing her top wasn’t a big deal anyway, but…

She shook her head. “My hands are still covered in body wash. It’s almost done regardless—no big impact.”

At that, Li Jia nodded lightly. “Then I’ll undo it for you.”

She continued without pause. “My hands aren’t wet, and even with the cut on my palm, unbuttoning a shirt is no problem. You’ve already helped me bathe—this is nothing in return. Not troublesome at all.”

Ye Chengxing considered it and agreed, but before she could respond, Li Jia’s fingers were already brushing the last button.

Li Jia undid it slowly, likely mindful of her injury. As she worked, she murmured softly, “Big Sis, come a little closer.”

Mindful of the body wash on her hands, Ye Chengxing leaned forward while shifting her arms behind Li Jia.

From the outside, it looked almost like an embrace.

A gentle, illusory embrace.

Li Jia’s lashes fluttered, and her fingers slowed even more.

But it was just a few buttons, undone from the bottom up. No matter how slowly, they would eventually come free.

At the first button, the omega raised her hand slightly, but the angle was off. She tried to lift herself a bit.

Perhaps from soaking too long or the tub’s slick surface, Li Jia lost her balance as she rose. She teetered forward—

Ye Chengxing’s pupils contracted in alarm. She reached out instinctively to catch her.

Li Jia had been falling her way but suddenly veered off. “No…”

Ye Chengxing panicked further and half-climbed into the tub, pulling Li Jia into her arms.

Holding her securely now, she exhaled in relief. “Good thing you didn’t fall.”

The omega nestled half-leaning against her, looking equally frantic. “What now?”

Wet and bedraggled like a sodden flower, she lifted her misty eyes to Ye Chengxing. “Now I’ve gotten you wet too.”

Seeing the guilt on Li Jia’s face, Ye Chengxing shook her head. “It’s okay. If I’m wet, I’ll just change. As long as you didn’t hit the hard tub and bruise up tomorrow, it’s fine.”

“You’re so good to me, Big Sis.” The omega, hearing this, leaned even closer into her embrace, visibly touched.

Ye Chengxing saw the touched and grateful expression on Li Jia’s face and felt even more embarrassed. “This is nothing. No one would just stand by and watch someone fall, would they? Even if it were someone else, I’d still help them up…”

As she said this, Li Jia’s fingertips brushed against the front of her partially unbuttoned clothes.

Hearing the content of Ye Chengxing’s words, the Omega’s fingertips tightened unconsciously.

Ye Chengxing felt her clothes being tugged sharply, pulling her whole body forward.

Their soft bodies pressed even closer without warning, and Ye Chengxing felt her back bump against the edge of the bathtub.

Li Jia had straightened her upper body at some point. She looked down at Ye Chengxing, narrowing her eyes slightly with a pure and harmless smile. “Speaking of which, your clothes are so wet too, Sister. You should just take them off.”

Because Li Jia was gripping her collar, Ye Chengxing had to tilt her face up slightly to meet the Omega’s gaze.

Ye Chengxing rubbed at her damp clothes and nodded. “…Yeah, they’re soaked.”

It wasn’t just from getting into the bathtub—most of it was from Li Jia’s drenched body rubbing against her.

She hooked her fingertips into the already-unbuttoned shirt, about to pull it off, when Li Jia grabbed her hand. “You’ve already helped me bathe, Sister. Let me handle taking off your clothes.”

As she spoke, she took hold of Ye Chengxing’s hand and pulled open her clothes.

“Wait,” Ye Chengxing instinctively started to refuse. “Actually, I can do it myself…”

But when she met the Omega’s eyes, tinged with a hint of loneliness, the words caught in her throat. Li Jia’s expression had dimmed in an instant.

So Ye Chengxing swallowed her unfinished objection. Li Jia was probably just feeling awkward about having her help with the bath and wanted to do something in return. She shouldn’t refuse.

With that thought, Ye Chengxing looked into Li Jia’s eyes. Far from refusing, she even spread her arms proactively to make it easier.

The Omega’s fingertips were a little cool, sending a fine shiver of itchiness across her skin where they brushed.

Ye Chengxing instinctively wanted to flinch away but held back the reflex, letting Li Jia remove her thoroughly soaked clothes.

To make it easier, Li Jia straddled her body, peeling the garments off bit by bit.

By the time her clothes were off, Ye Chengxing felt like she was about to sweat from the heat.

Her clothes were gone, yet she only felt hotter.

Ye Chengxing decided the bathroom must be stiflingly warm. Just like that, she steadied Li Jia’s waist with her hands and moved to quickly wash the few remaining spots that weren’t fully clean.

Li Jia’s gaze fell on her body, her fingertips resting on Ye Chengxing’s shoulder.

The distance between them had already been close, but now it was even more intimate—bordering on improper—with their breaths nearly mingling.

Yet one of them seemed utterly oblivious, while the other knew full well but kept up an innocent facade.

Finally, Ye Chengxing rinsed off the last bit. For some reason, she let out a quiet sigh of relief. The longer she stayed in this bathroom, the stranger it felt.

She stepped out first, grabbing two towels. Afraid of a repeat of the earlier slip, she took Li Jia’s hand to keep her from falling on the slick floor.

Perhaps because the bathroom was so hot, a faint flush colored the Omega’s snow-white, delicate skin.

Before Ye Chengxing could hand over one of the towels, Li Jia blinked, her voice sounding a touch shy. “…Thank you so much for today, Sister.”

Hearing this, Ye Chengxing felt a bit embarrassed too. “It’s nothing.”

She hadn’t done much—calling it a small favor would be generous. Li Jia thanking her like this only made her more self-conscious.

Because of that awkwardness, Ye Chengxing decided to wipe the water droplets from Li Jia’s body with the towel herself instead of handing it over. At the end, she draped the other towel around her.

After all, she’d already helped with the bath. Drying her off and wrapping her up shouldn’t be a big deal.

Once she finished, Li Jia seemed even more grateful. She practically melted into Ye Chengxing’s embrace, her soft voice murmuring thanks amid the lingering steam and scent of body wash.