Chapter 33: 33 Extra

◎A First Kiss, Twelve Years Too Late◎

Stepping into the bookstore, the familiar smell of dust hit her nose.

Xu Jinyao didn’t stop for a moment, heading straight for the second floor.

The front door was wide open. She stormed in angrily, and a black shadow flashed in her peripheral vision. Before she could react, Xia Xun had already trapped her in an embrace.

“Let go.” Xu Jinyao’s teeth were gritted, her fists already tensing, ready to swing.

Xia Xun withdrew her hands and stepped back. “Don’t hit me. I’m a wounded soldier, you know.”

Xu Jinyao unclenched her fists and forced a smile. “I won’t hit you.”

Xia Xun blinked a few times, a touch surprised.

Just a moment ago, she’d been spitting mad.

“Tell me honestly, do you have some kind of masochistic streak?” Xu Jinyao walked around and sat down on the sofa.

Her gaze landed on the thermos on the coffee table. “Using a thermos in this heat…”

She was genuinely starting to fail to understand what was wrong with this person.

She craned her neck to look, frowning again. “And red dates and goji berries? Seriously?”

“Of course not, Officer,” Xia Xun strolled over. She placed one hand on the back of the sofa, leaning against it but not sitting down. “That… is for you.”

Xu Jinyao’s face was a giant question mark.

Xia Xun sat down next to her, picked up the cup, and held it out to Xu Jinyao. “Careful, it’s hot.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” Despite her question, Xu Jinyao still took it.

The cup itself was cool, but the steam wafting from it was warm.

Xia Xun gently tapped her own wounded shoulder. “To replenish your blood and qi.”

Xu Jinyao looked down at the red dates and goji berries floating inside, thinking the doctors and nurses really were big mouths. She remembered specifically telling them not to mention the blood transfusion before leaving. She never thought Xia Xun would find out anyway.

Gazing at the overabundance of ingredients floating on top, she couldn’t help but picture the scene of Xia Xun after she was shot, the blood flowing without stopping.

Just as red, just as sickly.

She pulled her thoughts back, looked up at Xia Xun, her tone a bit odd. “Are you making tea, or are you cooking porridge?”

Xia Xun raised her hand for the second time. “I’m a wounded soldier, Officer.”

Right.

The knife wound was so deep. Even things like turning on the gas stove would be difficult. It was only natural the consistency was off.

Xu Jinyao took a sip. No, she should say, she swallowed a mouthful.

The sickly sweet red date and goji berry sludge was enough to make one’s blood shoot straight to the top of their head.

The cup hadn’t even been placed down steadily before Xu Jinyao lunged.

Xia Xun had no time to react whatsoever and was pinned down onto the sofa.

The sofa was a second-hand find. The base was solid wood, and the sponge filling had long since lost its elasticity after years of wear.

The second she went down, she’d already braced for the impact her skull was about to endure. But when she fully landed, she just felt it was strange: Why was it so soft?

In the span of just two seconds, Xu Jinyao had tackled Xia Xun onto the sofa, simultaneously grabbing a throw pillow and cushioning it under her head.

The distance closed suddenly. In the space where their breaths mingled, Xia Xun frowned, about to cry out in pain.

But Xu Jinyao covered her mouth first, a low warning. “I didn’t touch your wound. Don’t pretend.”

Xia Xun: “…”

She immediately launched a mental brainstorm, trying to decipher what this ambiguous position meant.

Swoosh. Xu Jinyao had pulled something out and bound her wrists.

The material… quite rough. Probably hemp rope.

Right, hemp rope. She remembered there was hemp rope in the shop downstairs.

Originally for tying up books. Now used to tie her.

One item, two uses. Great.

Xu Jinyao straightened up, straddling right on top of her. “Untie this again.”

The alluring scent retreated. Her breathing became clearer. Her mind sobered up considerably.

Xia Xun: “Huh?”

Xu Jinyao patted the rope. “Go on. Untie it. Let me see.”

Untie what?

Xia Xun slowly pushed herself up using her core strength, propping her upper body on her elbows. Her gaze darted back and forth between the rope and Xu Jinyao.

Xu Jinyao frowned. “What’s with that look?”

Xia Xun answered honestly. “I didn’t know you had this kind of kink.”

“Tch.” Xu Jinyao’s frown deepened. “Just untie it, I said.”

“Fine.” Xia Xun gave it a try but failed quickly. “Can’t untie it.”

Xu Jinyao stared at her, her expression deadly serious.

Back at the casino, Xia Xun had untied it so easily. The knot Vesper used was a special knot taught during the Syndicate’s training. At first glance, it looked like a slipknot, but if anyone tried to untie it using common methods, it would become a dead knot.

At that time, Xia Xun had already been losing strength, yet she still managed to undo the rope in so short a time. It was hard not to suspect this person might have seen it before, maybe even had contact with it.

But now, this person was pretending she couldn’t untie it.

After two seconds of brief thought, Xu Jinyao suddenly leaned down, bracing herself on either side of Xia Xun. “Then beg me, and I’ll help you…”

“I beg you.” Xia Xun was utterly decisive.

“Beg me for what?” Xu Jinyao asked.

Xia Xun lifted her hands slightly. “Help me untie it.”

Xu Jinyao’s gaze roamed restlessly over her face, finally settling on her lips. Xia Xun also noticed where she was looking and nervously licked her lips.

The dried rose instantly became crystal jelly.

Xu Jinyao’s throat bobbed with a swallow.

“Help you untie it? What’s in it for me?”

The corners of the crystal jelly curved into a small smile. “What do you want?”

“You.”

One word.

Xia Xun’s hearing was perfectly fine.

She’d said “You.”

Xia Xun swallowed a mouthful of saliva. “Me?”

Xu Jinyao nodded gravely. “Yes. You.”

No head, no tail. What did that mean?

Was it the meaning she was thinking? And if it wasn’t, would she be beaten into a cripple?

Probably…

Just the thought alone was making her whole body ache in anticipation. For the first time in her life, she felt a word puzzle was this impossible.

She stammered for a long while before forcing out a sentence. “But Officer… I only sleep with my girlfriend. Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

Xu Jinyao abruptly scrambled off the sofa. “Xia Xun, are you sick?!”

“Is being a clean freak a sickness?” Xia Xun sat up, correcting her. “Strictly speaking, this is called keeping myself clean.”

Xu Jinyao gritted her teeth and jabbed her index finger around the entire living room. “Could you kindly point out exactly where this cleanliness of yours is?”

Xia Xun lifted her hand and clumsily tapped her head. “In here.”

How could mental cleanliness not count as being clean?

Xu Jinyao took a deep breath, too tired to argue with her twisted logic. “What I meant just now was for you to continue being my informant.”

She added, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not interested in you.”

As Xu Jinyao said this, she’d been observing Xia Xun’s expression. Noticing the other’s look of relief, she felt another wave of anger. “What’s with that face?”

Xia Xun looked perfectly innocent. “It’s a very ordinary face.”

Xu Jinyao pressed, “You looked relieved.”

Xia Xun blinked. “I was just thinking… my hand is injured, you know. If you wanted that, how would I even give?”

The words were too blunt.

Xu Jinyao wanted to slap her own mouth. When would she ever drop this horrible habit of demanding answers no matter what?

“But it’s fine. Officer Xu isn’t interested in me, so my hand being injured or not doesn’t matter.”

Blunt and frivolous.

Xu Jinyao’s face visibly reddened.

“As for the informant thing, I’m not interested either, because it seems like I…”

Xu Jinyao’s gaze dropped to her hands.

Xia Xun had already untied the rope. She dangled it, shaking it slightly, and smiled. “Can untie it myself, you see.”

Almost the instant the words fell, Xu Jinyao grabbed the rope, twisted Xia Xun’s hands back behind her, and re-bound her. “Untie it again.”

Xia Xun sighed helplessly. She was about to start untying it when she realized this knot was even more complex than the last.

Because her hands were twisted behind her, she couldn’t see what she was doing. She could only rely on her imagination to work through the solution.

This was another special knot, even harder to undo than the previous one. Xu Jinyao wanted to test if Xia Xun could really figure it out.

After several minutes, Xia Xun was sweating, but she still hadn’t untied it.

She’d thought about using the hidden weapon in her ring to cut the rope, but Xu Jinyao caught on and stopped her just in time.

Left with no choice, she had to beg for mercy. “About being an informant… I’ll think about it. Please, Captain Xu, just untie me quickly.”

Xu Jinyao didn’t say a word. She picked up another length of rope and walked over to face Xia Xun. “Is this all you’ve got? Xia Xun, since you want to investigate some criminal syndicate, you should be fully prepared. This time, I was able to save you and get you to the hospital in time. What about next time? Do you really plan on mutual destruction?”

“You need to understand, when investigating cases, you’re facing countless criminals. You might not be afraid to die, but there will always be people even less afraid of death than you. You won’t always have this kind of luck to escape. Do you understand?”

Xia Xun was momentarily stunned. She never expected to hear such words from Xu Jinyao.

Xu Jinyao turned her back, her fingers nimbly working the rope, and continued. “It’s not hard to untie a knot like this. Watch closely how I tie it. Aren’t you best at reverse deduction? Watch closely how I bind it, and then reverse-engineer how to unbind it.”

She had practiced this type of knot countless times. She could tie it without looking, let alone untie it. But she didn’t want to teach it in such a simple way; that wouldn’t leave a deep enough impression.

She wanted Xia Xun to truly learn how to untie it.

According to Shadow, the Syndicate already had its eyes on Xia Xun. They’d failed this time, but the next attempt would come soon.

She wouldn’t let Xia Xun fall into the hands of those people. She wouldn’t let her collapse so easily either. A fight on equal footing was what she desired most.

If Xia Xun fell into the abyss from the very start, then her revenge would be far too dull.

Just as Xu Jinyao’s nimble fingers finished tying the knot, Xia Xun untied it.

This time, she wasn’t grinning or joking. She looked at Xu Jinyao seriously. “Thank you, Officer. I understand.”

–

From the time she left the bookstore and returned home, Xu Jinyao didn’t sleep a wink that night.

Shadow stood silently by the window.

Clearly, she had done something superfluous again today.

Xu Jinyao closed her eyes, unwilling to listen to any talk about rules or taboos. She lay motionless in bed, pretending to be asleep.

Sometime deep in the night, she received a phone call from Xia Xun.

“I want to take a bath.”

Any further would be crossing the line.

Xu Jinyao coldly refused. “I thought we made it clear at the hospital last time. We’re even. You don’t need to report anything you do to me.”

“But I’m injured. The wound can’t get wet. You know that. If it gets wet, it’ll get infected,” the voice grew smaller and smaller, more and more pitiful. “I also know the officer is very busy with work. Forget it, I’ll just find someone else…”

Xu Jinyao’s eyes opened in the darkness. “Find who?”

“I’ll ask Xiao Zhu to come help. She’s already on summer break anyw…”

Xu Jinyao cut her off. “Wait there. I’m coming over now.”

Four in the morning. Open the door, head upstairs.

As soon as she entered, Xia Xun poked her head out from the bathroom. Her hair, wrapped in a towel, was still dripping water. She looked very apologetic, a smile at the corner of her mouth. “Sorry to trouble you, Captain Xu.”

Xu Jinyao: Fists hardened.

Four in the morning, called over to help her bathe. She really, really wanted to shove this person’s head into the bathtub and make her drink her fill.

She truly couldn’t tell who the real creditor was here anymore.

Forget it.

She resigned herself and walked into the bathroom.

“If you could wash your own hair, why can’t you wash yourself?” Xu Jinyao was extremely puzzled.

Xia Xun slowly unbuttoned her pajama top, sliding it off one sleeve. “I didn’t wash it. It just got wet by accident. Having no use of a hand really is inconvenient.”

She finished with a sigh, removing the other sleeve. She was left only in a thin tank top.

Form-fitting, difficult to take off. Easy to aggravate the wound.

She raised her hand and said to Xu Jinyao, “Help me.”

“Tch.” Xu Jinyao’s impatience was written all over her face. “Just leave it on. Don’t catch a cold while washing.”

Xia Xun’s brow furrowed. “It’s thirty degrees today.”

“Tch.” Xu Jinyao planted her hands on her hips. “So much nagging. Are we washing or not?”

Xia Xun’s shoulders slumped. She raised her hand and sat down in the bathtub.

She could tell Xu Jinyao was deliberately avoiding her gaze, refusing to look at her.

The water temperature was a bit hot. Soon, the steam turned her face red. When her arm grew tired and she was about to lower it, Xu Jinyao grabbed it and placed it over her own shoulder.

The lines of Xu Jinyao’s shoulders and neck were very beautiful. Her skin was a healthy wheat color. She could see the skin on the back of her neck was often exposed to the sun, so it was a shade darker than the rest.

A thick layer of foam floated on the water’s surface. To avoid getting the wound on her shoulder wet, Xu Jinyao had only drawn the water up to her waist.

Xia Xun’s hand rested on her shoulder. Just resting there. No extra movements.

Even so, her heartbeat showed no sign of slowing down.

“Your face is so red,” Xia Xun punctured the silence softly. “Nervous?”

Xu Jinyao’s frown tightened. “Why would I be nervous?”

Xia Xun’s lips curled. Slowly, her two hands intertwined behind Xu Jinyao’s neck. “Didn’t you say you had no interest in me? Looking at it now… it seems that’s not quite the case.”

The distance suddenly closed. Their noses were almost touching.

Xu Jinyao grabbed her hands and flung them away, shooting to her feet in a splash. “Can you just behave?”

Xia Xun looked up at her.

The bathroom wall light was blocked by her, warm light spilling all into her eyes, revealing amber-colored irises.

“Do you really want me to behave?”

Her gauze-wrapped fingers rested on the edge of the bathtub, lightly pinching the rolled-up hem of Xu Jinyao’s pants.

Perhaps the bathroom was too small, or perhaps Xia Xun’s voice was too soft. Xu Jinyao clearly heard it, but acted as if she hadn’t, standing still, frowning down at her.

After a long moment, Xu Jinyao’s frown finally loosened.

“Tch.” She’d lost count of how many times she’d been impatient tonight. “Are you using me as a substitute?”

The fingers that had been toying with the fabric suddenly froze and then curled back. Xia Xun lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Xu Jinyao gave a cold laugh. “Don’t play pitiful. Xia Xun, that act doesn’t work on me.”

One by one, the soft soap bubbles popped, dissolving into the cloudy water and disappearing.

Xu Jinyao brushed the stray hairs that had fallen into her face away with the back of her hand. A smear of suds clung to her brow. She sighed, crouched down, and pinched Xia Xun’s chin, forcing her to meet her eyes.

“Speak,” she blinked slowly, her tone leaving no room for evasion. “Sorry for what?”

Xia Xun was very pale, but not the peachy kind of pale.

This person, who always looked sickly and weak in everyday life, now—in this moment, under the soaking hot water—had a touch more color in her cheeks.

Her chin was pinched red, but she didn’t pull away. Only her lowered lashes fluttered a few times, a rare betrayal of her own panic.

“Absolutely everything,” she answered.

Xu Jinyao let out a short laugh, as if she’d just heard a joke.

“So you really are using me as a substitute.” This time it wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

“I— Mmmph!”

The kiss came without any warning.

It wasn’t gentle, or urgent, or indulgent.

It was more like a punishment.

A harsh, crushing press. The hard-won color in her cheeks was easily stolen away.

Xia Xun stared blankly at the person before her, forgetting to respond. There was no time to respond.

Because the next second after Xu Jinyao’s lips had touched hers, she had already pulled away.

Her mind was completely blank. She heard Xu Jinyao’s cold voice sound again. “Xia Xun, I can be your substitute. But being an informant… will you do it or not?”

“I will.”

As unequivocal as that kiss, with no hesitation whatsoever.

“Good,” Xu Jinyao loosened her fingers. Her thumb lightly brushed the tiny bead of blood that had seeped from Xia Xun’s lower lip. “When you don’t want to do it anymore… tell me.”

Xia Xun swallowed, carefully feeling the rough pad of the thumb grazing the corner of her mouth, bringing a slight sting.

“Okay.”

Xu Jinyao’s movement was very slow, as if deliberately prolonging the pain.

She was very satisfied with this restrained, repressed expression on Xia Xun’s face. She hadn’t realized a kiss could also be a weapon.

Before this, she hadn’t known how to exact her revenge. It was only in that moment just now, when she’d clearly seen the desire in Xia Xun’s eyes, that she suddenly understood. Perhaps this was the best way.

Back then, Xia Xun had abandoned her on the ship. So now, she would return the favor.

She would make Xia Xun fall in love with her again, and when those feelings were at their most intense, she would throw her away. She would watch Xia Xun kneel before her, crying bitter tears, begging for forgiveness. At her moment of greatest happiness, she would shove her into hell, making her personally experience what it meant to wish for death.

“Does it hurt?” Xu Jinyao asked.

Xia Xun shook her head numbly. “No.”

“Do you want more?”

“Mm.”

【📢 Author’s Note】

Not sure if everyone likes reading slice-of-life bits like this [dog head]