I Want to Kiss You

By the time she reached the Overpass.

She was gasping for breath.

Xi Jin turned his head to look at her. The wind blew the stray locks over his forehead into disarray, hiding the emotion in his eyes. In a flat tone, he said:

"Jump off what..."

Before he could finish, Nan Xingyu had already rushed forward, wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, and pulled him back with all her strength.

She was afraid that if she was a second too slow, he would fall off the railing.

"Nan Xingyu—"

Alarm flashed in Xi Jin's eyes. Before he could react, she pulled him off balance, and he fell backward.

Just as Nan Xingyu was about to serve as a human cushion for him.

His arm suddenly hooked around her waist.

Bang.

Xi Jin's back slammed hard against the ground, and Nan Xingyu stumbled into his arms.

The tip of her nose hit his chest, leaving it aching and numb, but she still remembered to urge him:

"Xi Jin, don't do anything foolish. You're still so young..."

Nan Xingyu wept like pear blossoms drenched in rain.

She was terrified that a living, breathing life would vanish right before her eyes.

It might leave a shadow over her for the rest of her life.

The fall left Xi Jin dizzy and seeing stars. It took him a while to recover.

He shoved the person in his arms away and wiped the snot she had dripped onto his face off.

"Nan Xingyu, are you asking for death?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu's sobs stopped abruptly. Only then did she realize her actions had made him take a hard fall.

She had caused trouble.

Nan Xingyu immediately scrambled up from the ground, clutching the hem of her clothes and not daring to look at him.

Xi Jin rubbed his waist and struggled into a sitting position. "What did you just call me?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu froze for a moment, then answered instinctively, "Young Master Brother."

She had always called him that.

It had long since become a habit.

"No."

Xi Jin held out his hand, gesturing for her to help him up.

His fingers had prominent knuckles, his skin was cool and pale, and his nails were neatly trimmed.

Nan Xingyu stared at that hand for two seconds.

Just as she was about to reach out, Xi Jin grabbed her hand and used it to pull himself up.

He dusted off his clothes with his other hand and asked again:

"What did you just call me?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu was about to answer when she noticed he was still holding her hand.

Her face instantly grew hot.

She lowered her head.

And tugged at her hand.

But he gripped it even tighter.

Xi Jin pressed her again. "Speak. What did you just call me?"

Seeing that she couldn't pull free, Nan Xingyu blushed and said, "Young Master Brother."

The next second, his fingertips caught her chin and forced it up, and she found herself looking into his deep, beautiful eyes.

The darkness of night spread through his eyes, as though a tranquil sea lay hidden within them.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"No."

His fingertips were slightly cool as they brushed her chin.

"..."

Nan Xingyu swallowed, her eyelashes trembling. "Then... then what... what did I call you?"

"You called me..."

Xi Jin paused, looked at her, and said each word distinctly: "Xi Jin."

"..."

Nan Xingyu mumbled, "I won't dare do it again."

Xi Jin released her chin and asked, "You came out this late... to find me?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu thought, Isn't that obvious?

She nodded blankly, looking obedient.

The corners of Xi Jin's lips curved up almost imperceptibly.

"You thought I was going to kill myself?"

"Mm."

Xi Jin gave a cold snort. "The Xi Family's people wouldn't be so spineless."

The early autumn night breeze was slightly cool.

Yet Nan Xingyu felt hot where that strong hand held hers.

Xi Jin said nothing more.

He simply held her hand and walked slowly along the deserted Overpass, beneath the watchful gaze of the streetlights.

Nan Xingyu secretly raised her eyes.

She glanced at his handsome, refined profile, then quickly lowered her head again to look at their joined hands.

It felt strange.

The two returned to where the bicycle had fallen.

Only then did Xi Jin slowly withdraw his hand and slip it into his trouser pocket.

Nan Xingyu rubbed the fingers he had warmed. Afraid he would notice, she hurriedly went to pick up the bicycle.

"Young Master Brother, let's go home."

"Mm."

Xi Jin didn't stand on ceremony. He swung a leg over the rear seat and settled in, ready to go.

"..."

Nan Xingyu blinked in a daze.

Come to think of it, that made sense.

She couldn't very well have a pampered young master like him pedal her home.

By then, he was already nearly 180 centimeters tall.

Nan Xingyu's bicycle was just an ordinary women's bike, and carrying him was a real struggle.

There were quite a few uphill stretches on the way back to the Manor.

Just as she was struggling up a slope, the young master behind her said faintly:

"Nan Xingyu, this bike is as short as you. My legs are sore from holding them up."

"..."

Nan Xingyu was sweating all over from the effort.

And he still had the nerve to say his legs were sore.

She really wanted to kick him off the bike.

Just as she was nearing the top of the slope, she found she couldn't pedal any farther. She looked down.

The person behind her had both feet planted on the ground.

She turned to look at him in confusion and heard him say:

"Get off."

Xi Jin swung his leg down and shooed her onto the rear seat. "Short legs."

"..."

A breath caught in Nan Xingyu's chest.

In the end, she squeezed out a fake smile.

After Xi Jin got on, he gripped the handlebars with both hands, and the wind carried his voice to the back of the bike.

"Hold tight. I'm going to start racing."

"..."

Where he couldn't see her, Nan Xingyu rolled her eyes dramatically.

Race your ass. It's a bicycle.

The next second, her body tipped backward.

Her pupils contracted, and she instinctively reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, her head bumping straight into him.

The pleasant scent on him filled her nose.

Cool.

Mysterious.

When she came to her senses, she was about to let go when his palm pressed her hands in place.

"Hold tight."

"..."

Nan Xingyu felt the firm, slender waist beneath her hands. The wind rushed past, blowing her face red.

When they reached the Manor, they took the Bamboo Grove Path by the back gate, afraid someone might spot them.

Nan Xingyu lowered her voice. "You can go through the front gate. Why are you sneaking around with me?"

Even though she knew no one would be in the bamboo grove by the back gate at this hour, she still looked around.

This was the first time they had walked together "openly" inside the Manor.

Moonlight filtered through the gaps between the bamboo leaves and fell on Xi Jin's face, outlining his sharp jawline.

He held her hand. "I'm afraid of the dark."

"..."

Nan Xingyu's hand tightened, and she stared at him wide-eyed.

"Really?"

"..."

Xi Jin suddenly stopped.

A force pulled Nan Xingyu back, and she nearly bumped into him.

She instinctively took a step back and looked up at him in confusion.

Xi Jin leaned forward, his cold presence enveloping her.

Nan Xingyu drew her neck back.

She sensed him swallow.

At last, a few soft words slipped from his throat:

"I lied."

"..."

Nan Xingyu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found her mind completely blank.

After that day.

Not long afterward, Xi Jin received an offer of special admission from Peking University.

In the end.

He turned it down.

Nan Xingyu and Liu Meili finished eating and spent the afternoon shopping.

The two took a taxi back to the Rented Apartment, carrying bags of all sizes.

The room Nan Xingyu used to stay in at the Manor had become a storage room after she went to university.

She also felt too embarrassed to stay there again.

Though Xi Kun never asked about it.

They hadn't bought a home in Jingzhou. Whenever Liu Meili had time off each week, she would come to the Rented Apartment to spend time with her daughter.

At first, they stayed in hotels.

When Xi Jin found out she had stayed in a budget hotel, he washed her three times and insisted on disinfecting her before she could get into bed.

Later, he gave her a room card for a top luxury hotel and told her she could stay there whenever she liked.

The suite cost at least five figures a night, and she was afraid it would scare her mother into fainting.

She didn't dare accept it.

So every time she came back, Xi Jin would wash her until a layer of skin came off.

Fortunately, her father later said hotels were unhygienic and suggested simply renting an apartment.

Her skin was saved too.

Evening.

Mother and daughter ate a simple meal of noodles with shredded pork.

They chatted about everyday things.

The phone on the table suddenly rang.

Nan Xingyu saw who it was in an instant.

She immediately picked it up.

Liu Meili watched the girl return to her room and couldn't help sending Nan Zhiping a message:

[I think our daughter might be dating someone.]

Inside the bedroom.

Nan Xingyu quietly locked the door before answering the call.

"Hello."

"What took you so long?"

The voice on the other end was impatient.

Nan Xingyu flopped onto the bed and lowered her voice. "My mom's here."

"Have you eaten?"

"I was just eating."

"Do you miss me?"

"...Yes."

They had only been apart for a few hours.

But she still had to say something nice to placate him.

"If you miss me, come back and stay with me."

"..."

So that was what he'd been waiting for.

She rolled over, her eyes darting around as she tried to think of an excuse.

Then she heard him say, "You lied to me again."

"..."

Nan Xingyu pressed her lips together.

Why did she feel the shame of having a lie exposed?

A car horn sounded outside the window.

It overlapped with the sound from the phone.

She sat up and couldn't help looking out the window. "Are you downstairs at my place?"

"Yeah."

Nan Xingyu immediately jumped off the bed and pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window to look down.

Xi Jin, dressed in a black hoodie, stood in the shadow of a streetlamp below.

He was looking up at her window.

Nan Xingyu's first reaction was: "Hurry up and leave! Don't let my mom see you!"

The apartment was on the sixth floor, and her bedroom faced the same direction as the balcony.

Her mom had just said that after dinner, she would wash the new underwear she'd bought.

Nan Xingyu was already getting nervous.

If her mom spotted Xi Jin downstairs and he started talking nonsense again...

Nan Xingyu didn't dare think about it.

There was no sound from the other end of the phone.

The man standing below kept his eyes fixed on her window.

After a moment of silence.

He suddenly spoke. "I want to kiss you."

"..."

Kiss your sister!!!

"Should I come up and kiss you, or will you come down and let me kiss you?"