Gao Sijin was drifting in a daze, his mind still hovering between sleep and waking.
Suddenly, he heard someone moving around the kitchen.
— Heh, I’ll sleep a little longer.
Soon, Auntie will come in to wake me up, brush my teeth, wash my face, eat breakfast, and then head to school.
Just ten more minutes…
Something’s wrong!
Gao Sijin jolted—he’d graduated high school years ago. So who was making breakfast for him now?
Shocked, he scrambled and rolled off the bed with a thud, rubbing his head where it had bumped against the nightstand. He looked toward the kitchen and saw a tall figure in a maid outfit with a high ponytail and black stockings, standing before the stove.
“Yu Qingxue!!!”
“Good morning, Sijin.” Yu Qingxue lifted the hem of her skirt with an elegant, classical maid’s poise. “Breakfast will be ready soon. You can sleep a little longer, and if you need maid service, I can even help you dress.”
“How did you get into my house?”
Gao Sijin felt a headache coming on and grumbled:
“When I heard the noise, I thought a burglar had broken in. You scared me half to death.”
“Have you ever met a burglar who makes you breakfast?”
“These days, anything can happen. Maybe after stealing stuff, the thief gets hungry and, in a brain-fart moment, whips up a meal for me, leaving a note: ‘Sorry, bro, I robbed your place. Felt bad about your situation, so I made you a four-dish soup. See you around in the jianghu someday.’”
Yu Qingxue couldn’t help but smile at that.
“How did you get into my house?”
“Isn’t it obvious? With a key, of course.”
She pulled a keyring from the large pocket of her maid apron and dangled it in front of Gao Sijin, showing off.
Seeing her smug expression, Gao Sijin felt his blood pressure rising.
“And how did you get a key to my house?”
“Again, obvious. I had a copy made.”
“Don’t you know you can’t just duplicate someone else’s key? That’s illegal.”
“Someone else’s?” Yu Qingxue walked gracefully to his bed and sat down, her eyes crinkling. “Haven’t you already made up your mind to go live with me in Tokyo? Don’t we count as family yet?”
“I…”
“You agreed to be with me, but you won’t even give me a key?” She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “You didn’t hide any dirty magazines, did you?”
“No.”
“What genre?”
Yu Qingxue was already rummaging under his bed with an air that said she wouldn’t stop until she found something.
“I don’t have any dirty magazines!” Gao Sijin was beyond exasperated. “What I mean is, it’s fine for you to have a key, but could you at least have told me? You nearly scared the soul out of me this morning.”
“What a scaredy-cat.”
“Anyway, what time did you come in?”
“Six in the morning.”
He glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand—seven o’clock already.
If a real criminal had broken in while Gao Sijin was sleeping so deeply, someone could have slit his throat.
Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.
“Anyway, from now on, let’s just talk things over with each other, okay?”
“Alright.” Yu Qingxue lowered her head a little, as if genuinely reflecting. “But there’s one thing I’m pretty sure you won’t agree to.”
“What?”
After getting up, Gao Sijin headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.
The next moment, he was terrified by the “monster” in the mirror—his heart nearly stopped.
“Yu Qingxue!!!”
“See? I knew you’d never let me draw a big cat face on you.”
Yu Qingxue’s artistic flair was something else. Gao Sijin’s face was covered in black marker—whiskers, nose hairs, the works—almost a worthy rival of Jigglypuff.
But Gao Sijin wasn’t a narrow-minded person. He bent over to wash his face, yet no matter how hard he scrubbed, Yu Qingxue’s “masterpiece” wouldn’t come off.
“Sorry, Sijin. Use this.”
“If I weren’t so kind-hearted, you’d already be ashes right now.”
He held out his hand, and Yu Qingxue squeezed something like body wash into his palm. He rubbed it briskly between both hands and smeared it over his face, scrubbing.
But it only seemed to make his face darker.
“What the hell, what is this stuff? Hair dye?!”
“I mixed it up, sorry. Ehe~☆”
“You think making Frenda’s expression makes you look cute?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Forget it, forget it. Seeing as you’re about to leave the country, I won’t hold it against you.”
After a quick Baidu search, Gao Sijin learned that permanent marker needs hand cream, eucalyptus oil, or the like to clean off properly. Fortunately, he still had some eucalyptus oil at home. After some hard work, his face was finally free of the marker stains.
The two sat at the table and ate the breakfast Yu Qingxue had prepared. It wasn’t some flashy high-end morning spread—just simple egg drop porridge, pickled vegetables, and buttered toast.
But compared to rich delicacies, Gao Sijin thought this plain simplicity wasn’t bad at all.
They chatted about trivial matters concerning Tokyo. Gao Sijin actually wasn’t completely ignorant about Japan; his cousin had studied there for eight years, and after returning, he often told Gao Sijin all sorts of odd and interesting stories. That was exactly why Gao Sijin’s works often featured characters with a strong Land of the Rising Sun flair.
After chatting with Yu Qingxue for about half an hour, the two got dressed and prepared to leave.
“I’m really going to hate seeing you go,” Gao Sijin suddenly said after they went downstairs.
Yu Qingxue froze at the unexpected words, her cheeks blushing slightly as she lowered her gaze.
“Really?”
“Really. Even though we haven’t known each other long, the time we’ve spent together has been happier than any other time in my life.”
“You sure know how to say cheesy things.”
“Qingxue, what do you think our relationship is right now?”
“Lovers, obviously. Need you even ask?”
Yu Qingxue walked ahead, her back to Gao Sijin.
Her boots crunched against the snow with a creaking sound. Today was a holiday, so the residential area was almost empty. Aside from Yu Qingxue’s footsteps, the whole world seemed to fall silent, setting the stage for Gao Sijin.
She was truly beautiful. Though sometimes crazy and fond of teasing him, Gao Sijin didn’t dislike her. In fact, he found these wild lifestyles incredibly interesting—a treasure of life itself.
“We call ourselves lovers, but we haven’t really done things that lovers do, have we?”
“What do you want to do?” Yu Qingxue asked without turning around.
“Like… kissing, maybe?”
“Spineless.” Yu Qingxue glanced back. “Anyway, is your first kiss still around?”
“Well, I went to school all those years. Lost it back in my student days,” Gao Sijin said, scratching his head. “I guess you lost yours a long time ago too?”
“My first kiss is still here, Sijin. You’re my first love.” Yu Qingxue stepped closer, her black hair like silk, her eyes glimmering with a light somewhere between maturity and innocence.
“I didn’t expect that…” Gao Sijin swallowed. “Do you want to try it?”
“Try what?”
“The feeling of kissing.”
