Overbearing and Lingering

Nan Xingyu was so frightened she nearly cried out.

The next second, the shadow engulfed her completely.

The man pushed his way forcefully through the door and pressed it shut behind him with a bang.

The impact seemed to make the walls tremble.

The motion-sensor light came on, its ghastly white glow piercing the darkness and illuminating Xi Jin's possessive eyes.

Like a sinister venomous snake, he coiled tightly around her.

Nan Xingyu pressed her back against the door, her shoulders hunched. "W-w-w-what are you doing?"

"I should be asking you that."

There was a smile in Xi Jin's voice, but the smile in his eyes was cold. Bracing one hand against the door, he leaned in, closing the distance between them.

"Why are you playing hide-and-seek with your big brother again? Hmm?"

Nan Xingyu didn't know why she had hidden at the sight of him, either.

Perhaps because he had dared to treat her like that in the restaurant, there was no telling what he would do in the less crowded restroom.

But her situation now didn't seem any better than being caught in the restroom.

Help.

Boo-hoo.

"I-I-I-I just wanted to come in and get some air."

Nan Xingyu came up with an excuse on the spot.

Xi Jin moved even closer and said into her ear, enunciating each word, "What? Did what I did to you just now... make you want it?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu pushed against him. "No, it didn't."

"Really?"

The motion-sensor light went out, and darkness swallowed them both in an instant.

The sound of his breathing became especially clear beside her ear. "Let big brother check."

"..."

Nan Xingyu whimpered and shoved him hard. He caught her flailing hands with ease and pinned them above her head.

He leaned close and whispered in her ear, "A little..."

"..."

A tingling numbness spread through Nan Xingyu's body.

His lips brushed lightly over the curve of her ear, his teeth grazing it as his scorching breath slipped inside.

"And you still say you don't want it? Little liar."

"..."

Nan Xingyu bit her lower lip. If she insisted on meeting him head-on now, he would only suppress her more forcefully.

She could only stroke his fur the right way. "Big brother, please don't do this, okay?"

Her voice was soft and a little aggrieved. "Can we play when we get home tonight? I don't want to do it here."

There were a few seconds of silence.

"All right."

She heard him say it in the dark.

Nan Xingyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she heard him say, "Give me a kiss first."

"...Huh?"

Before she could react, his lips covered hers.

In the dim stairwell, only the intimate sounds of kissing echoed.

The two returned to their seats in the restaurant one after the other.

Lin Piaopiao asked curiously, "Xingyu, what took you so long? I thought you'd left."

Nan Xingyu forced a smile. "Diarrhea."

Jiang Yu asked, "Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Nan Xingyu didn't dare look at him and simply shook her head.

Jiang Yu turned his gaze to the other person. "Xi Jin, did your girlfriend say she was coming? We're still waiting to meet her."

Xi Jin smiled inscrutably and said casually, "I coaxed her for ages, but she wouldn't come."

Jiang Yu laughed. "What's wrong? Is she shy?"

Xi Jin picked up his knife and fork and cut his steak with elegant composure, looking very pleased. "Maybe."

Nan Xingyu cut into her steak forcefully, her teeth itching with hatred.

Damn man.

What a poser.

Partway through the latter half of the meal, Lin Piaopiao suggested, "It's still early. I suggested to Senior Jiang earlier that we all go see a movie after dinner."

"Sure."

"No."

The two across from them spoke at the same time.

Lin Piaopiao said, "Oh, come on, Xingyu. What's wrong? It's rare enough for the great Xi Jin to agree, and you won't even give him that much face?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu rolled her eyes inwardly.

Face?

She wanted nothing more than to smack him with her steak.

What do you think?

As though he hadn't heard her reluctance, Xi Jin leisurely picked up his phone and swiped the screen.

"Since she's busy, I'll ask my girlfriend if she wants to see it."

"I'm free!"

Nan Xingyu spoke at once.

She was afraid he would pull something again.

Xi Jin put his phone down, just the right amount of regret on his face.

"Oh, I just remembered. My girlfriend said she didn't want to go out tonight."

"..."

Nan Xingyu was tearing her hair out inside. She just wanted the evening to end sooner.

The four of them arrived at the cinema.

Lin Piaopiao went to collect the tickets and deliberately picked out two seats for couples, intending to give them to Nan Xingyu and Jiang Yu.

"We bought the tickets a little late, so there weren't four seats in a row. There were only two next to each other, and the other two were single seats, so we'll have to watch separately."

With that, she handed out the tickets.

Xi Jin glanced at his own ticket stub, then at Nan Xingyu's out of the corner of his eye.

They weren't in the same row.

Lin Piaopiao said, "Let's go. They're already checking tickets. Let's find our own seats according to the tickets."

They entered the screening room one after another.

Nan Xingyu walked at the front.

Xi Jin followed behind her, his gaze glued to her the whole time.

He watched until she sat down in a couples' seat in the last row.

He quickly realized that the "two tickets next to each other" Lin Piaopiao had mentioned were obviously for the pair of couples' seats.

Since it wasn't him, it had to be Jiang Yu.

Xi Jin didn't stop at his own seat and continued up the stairs.

Nan Xingyu sat in her seat and watched as Xi Jin walked toward her, then sat down beside her.

He did it so naturally, as though that had been his seat all along.

She had clearly glimpsed his ticket stub earlier, and this wasn't his seat at all!!

After Xi Jin sat down, he seemed to notice her gaze.

He turned his head and gave her a smile that was both faint and fake.

It carried a trace of a domineering, Who else did you think you were going to sit with?

Lin Piaopiao, who had followed close behind, saw the two sitting together in the back row and her mouth fell slightly open.

She didn't know whether she should say something.

Jiang Yu followed the seat numbers toward the back with his ticket in hand and soon found his seat, only to see Xi Jin sitting in it.

Normally, he might have just found another seat, but he glanced at Nan Xingyu and walked over.

"Xi Jin, that's my seat."

Xi Jin slowly looked up. "Is it?"

Jiang Yu showed him his ticket stub. Afraid of embarrassing him, he added, "Where's your ticket? I'll help you find your seat."

Xi Jin said, "I lost it."

Nan Xingyu pressed a hand to her forehead. "..."

Yeah, right.

She was about to stand. "Lawyer Jiang, why don't you sit here? I'll find an empty seat up front."

The moment the words left her mouth, an icy gaze fell on her.

Nan Xingyu ignored it.

How could Jiang Yu let a girl give up her seat for him? "It's fine, it's fine."

He raised a hand, motioning for her to sit. "I'll go see if there's an empty seat up front."

With that, he walked down the stairs, a little regretful.

Once he was out of earshot, Xi Jin said in a low voice, "What? You don't want to sit with me?"

Nan Xingyu leaned back in her seat and folded her arms, her tone equally unfriendly. "If that's how you want to see it, there's nothing I can do."

The lights gradually dimmed.

The movie was about to start.

Xi Jin reached over and naturally clasped her hand in his.

He gently squeezed her fingertips, as though playing with some little trinket he liked.

Nan Xingyu glanced sideways at him.

The light from the screen fell on his face. He was staring at the picture, but his fingers hadn't stopped moving.

There was a touch of casual possession in the gesture.

She knew any resistance was futile with him.

She could only let him be.

The movie was more than halfway through.

In the story, the male and female leads reunited at a gathering of friends after a long separation. After some flirtatious push and pull, the male lead finally couldn't resist kissing the female lead.

Xi Jin seemed to have tired of playing with her hand and suddenly called her name. "Nan Xingyu."

Nan Xingyu was engrossed in the movie and responded impatiently, "What?"

"Come here. I want to kiss you."

"..."

Without moving her head, Nan Xingyu glanced at him and lowered her voice. "Do you think people can't see what you're doing just because the lights are off? There are security cameras here."

Xi Jin didn't care. He cupped the back of her neck, turned her toward him, and moved in.

"..."

Nan Xingyu had just begun to push him away when the hand pressing against her lower back drew her into his arms.

His kiss.

Overbearing and lingering.

The intimate sounds of panting from the movie filled her ears.

Nan Xingyu half resisted and half yielded.

Little did she know.

Jiang Yu, who had already turned around, saw the scene.