Things didn’t go as she wished, and Fang Run still had to face it herself.
Her lashes fluttered reluctantly before she slowly lifted her eyelids, looking at Pei Luo with a pitiful, innocent gaze.
The bathroom light was just right, and the girl’s lovely fox eyes showed a trace of meekness.
Pei Luo’s hand still held her slender, willow-branch waist. They had both just showered, and the dampness clung to them like persistent vines, wrapping them tightly together.
Subtle fragrances intertwined, giving rise to a hint of intimate ambiguity.
Fang Run’s lips were a little dry. She couldn’t help but run the tip of her tongue over them, making that crimson even more vivid.
“Sister Pei Luo,” she murmured softly, as if coaxing, “don’t make fun of me.”
Pei Luo’s smile, which had been playing at the corner of her lips, faltered slightly, and her fingertips curled up almost imperceptibly.
Fang Run didn’t notice. She blinked, staring unblinkingly at the person before her. “It’s not my fault I tripped on flat ground. The floor was too slippery.”
Those eyes seemed able to capture one’s very soul. A warm, fragrant beauty was in her arms, exuding every strand of delicate charm.
Pei Luo’s gaze inadvertently swept downward, and she suddenly realized that the distance between them seemed far too intimate.
Moreover, Fang Run’s nightgown was already light and cool. During their earlier movement, it had shifted a little, faintly outlining suggestive contours.
Thanks to the awkward encounter on their first day, Fang Run now dutifully wore her underwear after showering, but the nightgown really couldn’t hide much. Instead, it made her skin look even more like creamy jade, with curves rising and falling elegantly.
Like a ripe peach, giving off a fresh fragrance.
Pei Luo’s throat felt parched, tightening, and a strange emotion welled up from deep inside her.
As if holding a hot potato, she abruptly and hastily straightened Fang Run up and withdrew her hand.
Fang Run pursed her lips, tucking her curly hair back and unhurriedly adjusting her collar.
When she looked up again, she just happened to catch the slight redness at the tips of Pei Luo’s ears.
Fang Run raised an eyebrow, thought of something, and felt a little embarrassed too.
For a moment, the two of them were each lost in their own thoughts, and neither spoke.
The atmosphere grew quiet. Moisture floated lazily in the air, and the scent of shower gel filled the small space.
“You—”
“I—”
They both spoke at the same time.
Their eyes met, and silence fell again.
Fang Run pinched her fingertips. “I have class tomorrow, so I’ll go back to sleep now. Goodnight, Sister Pei Luo.”
Pei Luo nodded. “Mm, goodnight.”
Her expression was calm and unreadable, as if that brief loss of control a moment ago had only been an illusion.
Fang Run pressed her lips together, gave her a look, then turned and left.
Back in her room, Fang Run leaned her back against the door and slowly let out a breath.
Recalling Pei Luo’s interesting reaction, she couldn’t help but reveal a sweet yet sly smile.
It seemed now that the other party wasn’t as otherworldly and aloof as she had imagined.
Fang Run’s mood improved, and her gloominess vanished completely.
“I told you, no one can resist the charm of Department Beauty Fang.” Wen Ran wore a knowing expression.
The lecturer on the podium was switching PPT slides. Fang Run was resting her chin on the end of her pen cap. Hearing this, she narrowed her eyes slightly.
That wasn’t entirely true.
However, Fang Run’s curiosity about Pei Luo’s sexual orientation suddenly grew a little more.
What straight woman’s first reaction upon seeing another woman’s body would be to feel shy, right?
But jumping to conclusions was too absolute. She needed to probe a little more.
Fang Run was pondering this absently when her arm was suddenly nudged.
Wen Ran leaned over. “Guess what? I just found out that the princess also signed up for this competition, but her group is so trash that I didn’t even notice before.”
These words pulled Fang Run’s thoughts back.
She let out an “Ah,” and almost couldn’t remember what the princess’s real name was.
Ever since moving out, Fang Run had hardly seen Sun Zhu. Those times when the other girl used to pick on her now seemed as if they were behind a pane of frosted glass—vague and indistinct.
More and more images were taken over by Pei Luo. Their figures were gradually overlaying those bad memories, filling up her mind.
Fang Run paused for a moment, then responded indifferently with an “Oh.” “No need to bother with her.”
Sun Zhu had indeed been detestable before, but Wen Ran had always helped her snap back. Fang Run didn’t want to get entangled with someone like that again.
It was better to let sleeping dogs lie, and besides, she’d never wanted to invite trouble to begin with.
And if not for the spark Sun Zhu provided, she wouldn’t have wound up living in Pei Luo’s house by a twist of fate, nor could she have progressed this far with her.
Making up for past wrongs with a good deed, Fang Run didn’t want any further dealings with Sun Zhu from any angle.
Peaceful days like this were just fine.
But the very next second, the conversation she had accidentally overheard that day suddenly rang in Fang Run’s ears again, and a sense of unease without reason resurfaced in her heart.
Fang Run suppressed it and, frowning, added, “If she shows any strange signs, remember to tell me.”
She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen.
Wen Ran murmured a confused “Ah,” but seeing Fang Run’s unhappy expression, didn’t ask further.
Morning classes ended, and in the afternoon, the four of them went to Pei Luo’s company again.
Hurrying as fast as they could, they compressed the time to finish filming the workplace segments. The remaining campus scenes could be filmed back at school.
Wen Ran waved her hand grandly and announced that evening that they were all going to the shopping mall for skewers.
After spending time together over this period, their friendships had deepened considerably. They chatted and laughed, without the stiffness from their first group dinner.
The topic somehow landed on Fang Run. Wen Ran had drunk a little wine. With narrowed eyes, she patted her friend’s shoulder. “All thanks to our Department Beauty Fang. If it weren’t for her help, we probably wouldn’t have found such a great filming location so quickly.”
Fang Run had failed to refuse. The wine glass in front of her was half full, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Hearing this, she shook her head and said somewhat slowly, “If you want to thank someone for that, you should thank President Pei.”
When they were outside, Fang Run addressed Pei Luo more formally, not wanting to draw attention.
But everyone at the table knew very well, and seeing her address her that way, they didn’t expose it.
The topic quickly shifted, and soon they were playing little games.
Fang Run had bad luck, lost several rounds, and helplessly drank the wine in her glass.
Her alcohol tolerance was average. By the end of it all, her cheeks were scarlet, and her eyes glistened with a hazy mist—clear and limpid, yet laced with an understated allure.
Wen Ran was still playing a guessing game with the Zheng siblings. Fang Run propped her forehead in her hand, staring fixedly at the plate before her without moving.
The beauty’s black hair cascaded like a waterfall over her shoulders and neck. Even just from the back, she was strikingly pretty.
Fang Run felt her head was heavy, threatening to droop down uncontrollably.
She touched her cheek. It was hot.
The tipsy feeling was very comfortable, like soaking in a bathtub at just the right temperature, her whole body relaxing and stretching out.
The surrounding noise seemed to gradually recede, like a rising tide, bringing her peace and quiet.
Fang Run loved such relaxed moments. She indulged herself and sank into it.
Until at one point, Wen Ran tugged at her, her lips moving as if saying something.
Fang Run narrowed her eyes to look, and it took her a good while to come back to her senses.
The lively sounds returned to her ears, the tide receding with a hush.
Wen Ran’s voice came through smoothly: “Department Beauty Fang, is that your President Pei?”
Alcohol interfered with her thinking. Fang Run took a moment to digest this short question before slowly turning around.
Beyond the glass, out in the corridor, was a figure.
Fang Run’s eyes looked as though full of water, glistening.
She focused her gaze, and finally met the eyes of the person outside.
—It was a familiar face.
For some reason, Fang Run felt happy. The corners of her lips lifted into a somewhat silly smile.
Pei Luo seemed a little helpless. She pushed up her glasses and nodded slightly at her.
Stubbornly, Fang Run turned her head and waved at her in that same silly way.
This time the other party didn’t nod.
Just then, someone passed by the skewer shop, and the glass was blocked by a bustling crowd.
Fang Run couldn’t see Pei Luo anymore.
“Ah, she’s gone.” Fang Run turned back and poked Wen Ran, asking indistinctly.
Wen Ran hadn’t noticed what she’d been doing just now. Hearing this, she leaned in to listen, but didn’t understand. “Who’s gone?”
But Fang Run was unwilling to repeat it.
She rubbed her eyes, feeling sleepy.
The scene just now felt like the moon in a lake, flowers in a mirror—fleeting, leaving no trace behind.
Fang Run began to doubt it had been a hallucination. She pouted and blew at the curls drooping beside her cheek.
She kind of missed Pei Luo.
She wanted to see Pei Luo right now.
Fang Run lowered her head, silently fiddling with her wine glass, thinking quietly.
Yet she belatedly realized that this wish probably couldn’t be fulfilled.
Somewhat dejected, Fang Run loosened her hold on the glass and blew at her curls again.
The next second, someone grasped her wrist.
A familiar female voice rang out: “It’s late. I’ll take her home first.”
Fang Run paused, then looked up with bright eyes.
Pei Luo seemed to have descended from the sky, standing right beside her.
In less than a minute of disappointment, Little Sister Run was fine again.
Their eyes met. The other woman, with a touch of resignation, tousled her hair. Her lips parted slightly, as if silently saying something.
On the way back, Fang Run curled up deftly. Half asleep, half awake, she thought hazily.
That word… it seemed to be “good girl.”
