Ten-second kiss

Jiang Yuexi held up her phone. "Uncle, I got that on video."

Only then did Song Shuchen turn to look. "Stop filming."

He knew the girl was already unbearably embarrassed.

Nan Xingyu covered her face and sat down.

She deliberately used her hand to block the gaze coming from her right.

She didn't need to look to know it must be as cold as ice right now.

A muffled thud suddenly came from beside her.

It was the sound of a bottle being slammed heavily onto the table.

The noise of the crowd drowned it out, but it pierced Nan Xingyu's ears all the same.

Her heart trembled.

The game continued.

The turns went around more than half the circle.

Laughter and teasing rose and fell.

But Nan Xingyu couldn't spare the game a thought.

Her attention was fixed entirely on her right.

Xi Jin had already finished his second bottle of alcohol.

Jiang Yuexi couldn't help asking, "Didn't you just say you weren't drinking?"

Xi Jin lifted his eyelids, his voice so light it sounded dismissive. "So this is alcohol."

Xi Jin was picked in the next round.

Lin Piaopiao asked, "Great god Xi Jin, truth or dare?"

Xi Jin smiled lazily. "Dare."

"All right!"

Lin Piaopiao drew a card, and her eyes lit up at once. "Oh my, this is something. Listen up: choose a girl here and kiss her for ten seconds..."

The crowd erupted again.

Jiang Yuexi's heart leaped into her throat, and she watched the person beside her out of the corner of her eye.

Nan Xingyu had a feeling that something terrible was coming, and nothing good would come of it.

She had just started to get up and run when a force pulled her back down.

The next second, someone gripped the back of her neck and forced her head up. Before she could react, warm lips carrying the scent of alcohol pressed down on hers.

Under everyone's gaze.

Xi Jin's kiss.

Fell without warning.

She stared wide-eyed at his lowered lashes.

She stopped breathing.

Lin Piaopiao still hadn't found the safety paper. When she saw what was happening, she froze on the spot.

Everyone stared at the explosive scene, even falling half a beat behind in their counting.

Someone even saw Xi Jin's Adam's apple bob.

He parted his lips slightly and adjusted the angle, the tip of his tongue brushing lightly across her lips.

This was no game.

They were really kissing.

Nan Xingyu finally came to her senses and pushed him away with all her strength, a mist of tears clouding her panicked eyes.

Xi Jin's previously icy gaze had visibly changed.

It was scorching, filled with a lingering light.

Anyone who had ever been in love would know.

That was how a person looked at someone they liked.

Under the scrutiny of everyone around her, Nan Xingyu felt as though she were being put to death by a thousand cuts.

She scrambled to her feet. "I'm sorry, I... something's come up at home. I want to go home."

The others were already guessing at the relationship between the two.

Xi Jin regained some of his aloofness and picked up his phone from the table. "Sorry, I'll be leaving first."

After the two left one after the other.

Lin Piaopiao, finally catching up, said, "Holy crap?! What was that just now?"

Li Ziyan said quietly, "Could Xi Jin's girlfriend be Xingyu?"

"What?"

Lin Piaopiao still found it hard to believe. "How is that possible?"

Jiang Yuexi's fingers had long since been squeezed red, but she remained composed on the surface. "It was just a game. Don't take it seriously, everyone. Maybe they just got too into it."

Inside, however, her heart was churning like a storm-tossed sea.

Amid the eerie silence, Song Shuchen spoke. "You all carry on playing."

Nan Xingyu ran to the lakeside.

She paused to catch her breath.

Moonlight spilled across the rippling lake. The scenery was beautiful, but it couldn't ease the tension in her heart.

She knew he had followed her.

"Xi Jin, why did you do that just now?"

Xi Jin looked at her slender back. "You can play games with him, but we can't?"

"That's not it at all!"

Nan Xingyu turned to look straight at him, her voice trembling slightly.

"You did that on purpose to embarrass me."

"Kissing me..."

Xi Jin took a step forward, closing the distance between them. "Embarrassed you that much, did it? What if it had been Song Shuchen instead?"

Nan Xingyu was forced to retreat again and again until her back pressed against a cold tree trunk.

She knew that no matter how she explained, he had already made up his own mind.

Just like when they were growing up: whenever he saw a boy approach her, he considered the boy a rival in love.

Even if she did nothing, as long as she attracted a boy who came close to her, it was her fault.

"Xi Jin, you haven't changed at all."

She said, "I don't like you. Let me go."

Xi Jin gave a soft laugh, but his eyes were icy.

"Baby, have you forgotten what you promised me last time?"

He bent down slightly, staring into her eyes.

"There's a lake here. Does baby want to do it again?"

"..."

A cold wind brushed past, and Nan Xingyu shivered.

"Cold?"

Noticing her reaction, Xi Jin took her hand with an insistent force that brooked no refusal, cupped it in his palms, and breathed on it.

"Big brother will warm you up..."

He paused. "Baby is so afraid of the cold. When we jump into the lake together later, you'd better hold on tight to big brother."

"..."

Nan Xingyu yanked her hand back, tears in her eyes. "Will you only let me go if I die?"

"..."

At her words, Xi Jin lifted his lowered gaze slightly.

The cold moonlight illuminated a streak of scarlet at the corner of his eye. His lips curved into a smile.

"You'd rather die than be with me?"

Tears welled in Nan Xingyu's eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"Yes."

Through gritted teeth, she said each word deliberately. "I'd rather die than be controlled by you again."

Xi Jin's gaze froze.

The scarlet in his eyes became even more pronounced in the moonlight.

He suddenly reached out, clamping his hand around her chin and holding her gaze.

"You think dying will set you free?"

His voice was as cold as ice. "Nan Xingyu, even if you die, I'll go with you."

He smiled without a sound. "In life, you're mine; in death, you'll be my ghost. Don't even think about escaping me in this lifetime."

His grip hurt Nan Xingyu terribly.

Xi Jin was already on the verge of losing control. If this continued, no one knew what extreme thing he might do.

At that critical moment.

A voice suddenly rang out:

"Young master Xi, please let her go."

Both turned to look.

Song Shuchen stood not far away, the moonlight stretching his shadow long.

Xi Jin narrowed his eyes and gave a cold snort. "Mr. Song, this is a private conversation. Is it polite to barge in like this?"

"She's my niece's friend. I have a responsibility to protect her."

Song Shuchen took a few steps forward, keeping a safe distance from Xi Jin. "Besides, no reasonable person would approve of the way you're acting right now."

A mocking smile curved Xi Jin's lips. "Protect her? Are you trying to play the hero and save the beauty, Mr. Song? Unfortunately, she doesn't need that."

As he spoke, not only did he refuse to let Nan Xingyu go, he pulled her even harder into his arms.

As if staking his claim in front of Song Shuchen.

"I'm sure you've figured out what our relationship is, Mr. Song."

Nan Xingyu could hardly breathe from his grip. She struggled with all her strength.

"Xi Jin, let go of me!"

Song Shuchen's frown deepened.

He finally knew who had installed a listening device on Nan Xingyu's phone.

He also understood why she wanted to hide it.

Xi Jin was extremely unstable, and meeting force with force would only make things worse.

He took a deep breath and softened his tone.

"Young master Xi, I know you care about her very much, but what you're doing now will only make her more afraid of you and make her want to leave you even more. Is that really the outcome you want?"