A Night of Mischief

Night fell like velvet steeped in ink, gently draping itself over the city.

Inside the room, a warm yellow floor lamp cast two lazy pools of light. Beyond the window sprawled the glittering city nightscape; within, there was only the low hum of the air conditioner and the gentle trickle of water from the bathtub.

Gu Yue leaned against the sofa, cradling a cup of warm black tea. Its fragrant steam dispelled the fatigue that had built up during the day. She wore a loose, cream-colored knit dress.

Tang Wulin had just finished showering. With his wet black hair still dripping, he strode out without a care.

"Gu Yue, I'm done washing up." Wiping his hair with a towel, he sidled up beside her like a large dog waiting to be fed, staring eagerly at the teacup in her hands.

Gu Yue took a sip of tea and ignored him. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she caught sight of his toned, well-defined abs and skin flushed from the shower. She calmly looked away, but the tips of her ears warmed almost imperceptibly.

"Hey, don't just drink tea." Tang Wulin casually tossed aside the towel and plopped down onto the carpet, looking up at her with an expression full of long-planned anticipation. "We walked so much today, and... you've been tired all day too, haven't you?"

Gu Yue set down her teacup, her long fingers lightly stroking the side of it. Her tone remained calm and even. "So?"

"So," Tang Wulin abruptly sprang to his feet, crossed the room in a few strides, and made an inviting gesture. His face shone with the excited grin of someone about to accomplish something grand. "As your boyfriend, as your most loyal knight, I've decided to serve you personally tonight—by washing your feet!"

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!" Gu Yue nearly sprayed out the half-mouthful of tea she had just drunk. Her eyes reddened from coughing as she stared at him in disbelief, as if he had not just said "wash your feet," but "blow up Soul Beast Forest."

"You... said what?" Gu Yue set down her cup, her voice rising an octave.

"Wash your feet!" Tang Wulin said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, even with a hint of seeking praise.

He spoke with absolute conviction, those shining eyes fixed directly on her, making him impossible to refuse—or rather, making refusal seem like she was making a fuss over nothing.

Seeing his expression that plainly said, "If you don't agree, I'm not leaving," Gu Yue sighed helplessly. She had lived for so long, seen countless storms, and endured partings of life and death, yet she had no way of dealing with this man who always acted like a child around her.

"Suit yourself." She turned her head away, the blush on her ears having already spread to her cheeks. That counted as permission.

"Alright!" Tang Wulin jumped with delight like an overgrown child. He immediately turned around and brought out the enormous footbath from the bathroom, decorated with cute little yellow ducks. He expertly filled it with hot water at just the right temperature, even remembering to sprinkle in a small packet of rose petals. A faint fragrance instantly filled the living room.

"Come on, Your Majesty." Kneeling on one knee, he invited Gu Yue to place her feet in the basin with the ceremony of attending a queen.

Unable to resist him, Gu Yue slowly lowered her slightly cool feet into the warm water.

"Hiss—" The moment warmth enveloped the soles of her feet, Gu Yue let out a faint sigh of relief. A day of running around had left her soles and ankles sore and swollen. The perfectly balanced heat was like a pair of gentle hands, instantly soothing away all her exhaustion.

"Feels good, right? I told you so." Tang Wulin raised his brows smugly. He did not start right away. Instead, imitating what he had seen on television dramas, he sat beside the basin with his hands on his knees and seriously admired the view in the water. "Look at these feet of yours. They're like works of art. The ancients talked about 'three-inch golden lotuses,' but yours are 'nine-inch crystal glass'—translucent and flawless."

Gu Yue's toes curled involuntarily under his gaze, sending small ripples across the surface of the water. She shot him a glare. "Shut your mouth and focus on washing."

"At once, Your Majesty!" Tang Wulin immediately wiped the playful grin off his face. He picked up the towel beside him, soaked it in the water, wrung it out, and carefully draped it over the top of her foot.

At first, his movements were perfectly proper—gentle and meticulous. Through the warm towel, his fingertips massaged her smooth skin in small circles, from her ankle to the arch of her foot, then across every toe. The pads of his fingers gliding over her skin brought an unusual tingling sensation. It was not unpleasant. Instead, it felt as if currents of electricity were racing through her body, making her want to pull her feet back.

"How's the pressure? Too hard?" he asked, watching Gu Yue's expression as he spoke.

"It's fine." Gu Yue closed her eyes and leaned back against the sofa, her body unconsciously relaxing. Being cared for so attentively felt like suddenly being tucked into a warm embrace on a freezing winter night. She could even hear her steadily calming heartbeat mingling with Tang Wulin's focused, slightly heavy breathing.

This damned, irresistible comfort was her greatest weakness.

At an angle Gu Yue could not see, the corner of Tang Wulin's mouth slowly curled into a sly, triumphant smile.

"Then... I'll use a little more pressure, okay?" He lowered his voice like a mischievous child preparing a prank.

"Mhm." Gu Yue answered drowsily, completely unaware that danger was approaching.

The next second, everything changed.

Tang Wulin's thumb, which had been giving the arch of her foot a proper massage, suddenly changed course. Like a slick loach, it swept sharply upward from the softest, most ticklish spot on the sole of her foot!

"Ah—!" Gu Yue jerked like she had been struck by lightning, springing off the sofa before falling heavily back down and splashing water everywhere. It was a completely uncontrollable physical reaction. The ticklish sensation instantly overwhelmed her reason like a tidal wave, transforming her from a "lazy cat" into a "startled rabbit."

"Y-you... what are you doing?!" Embarrassed and furious, she tried to pull back her foot, only for Tang Wulin to seize it as though he had planned it all along.

"Hehe, don't move. I'm not done yet." Tang Wulin grinned wickedly. Rather than stopping, he only escalated things. He stretched out two fingers and launched a storm-like "attack" on her round, adorable toes.

"Ah! Tang Wulin! Stop! Hahahaha... Don't touch there! Please! Hahahaha..."

Gu Yue had always been cool and composed. When had she ever lost control like this? Yet beneath the torment of Tang Wulin's "demonic claws," she could only curl up on the sofa like a cat grabbed by the scruff, laughing so hard she could barely breathe, tears nearly flying from her eyes.

"I can't... hahahaha... Stop... stop it! I order you to stop! Tang Wulin! You bastard! Hahahaha..."

"I won't stop! Who told you to enjoy it so much earlier? You even praised my technique!" Tang Wulin dodged her wildly flailing hands while increasing the intensity and speed of his "attack." His fingertips precisely found every ticklish spot, sometimes scratching, sometimes lightly teasing, sometimes pressing the acupoints on the soles of her feet with his knuckles. He brought the word "torment" to life in the most extreme way possible.

Gu Yue's laughter rang through the spacious room, sweet and alluring, with none of her usual coolness remaining. She felt as if she were about to laugh her insides apart. Each spasm squeezed the air from her lungs, leaving her weakly sprawled on the sofa. Only her violet eyes, brimming with tears from laughter, were left to glare accusingly at him.

"Tang Wulin... I-I'm not talking to you anymore... I'll never talk to you again... sob... hahahaha... Help..."

Her threats came out in broken fragments, but her trembling voice and flushed face completely betrayed how she truly felt.

"You really won't talk to me anymore?" Seeing her unprecedentedly adorable appearance, Tang Wulin's heart burned, and his urge to tease her grew even stronger. Suddenly, an idea came to him, and he made an even more "deranged" decision.

He stopped tormenting the soles of her feet and instead held her ankles with both hands. With a solemn expression, he said, "Since you're not talking to me anymore, I can only apologize in the most sincere way possible."

"Look at you, scolding me again." Tang Wulin looked aggrieved, then abruptly changed his tone, a cunning light flashing in his eyes. "But to prove just how deep my love for you is, what does a little sacrifice matter?"

Before he had even finished speaking, he took advantage of Gu Yue's lingering shock to abruptly lift her right foot, making as if to shove it into the water.

"No! Tang Wulin! Are you crazy?!" Gu Yue was terrified out of her wits. She clutched his arm tightly with both hands, her nails nearly digging into his flesh. "Believe it or not, I won't talk to you for a month!"

"A month is too long, isn't it?" Tang Wulin blinked, wearing an expression that said, "This is difficult for me, but I'm doing it anyway." "How about... you kiss me once, and I'll consider not drinking it?"

"You...!" Gu Yue was speechless with anger, yet she had no way to deal with him. Looking at his shameless face that practically said, "What can you do about it?" she felt both annoyed and amused. This guy clearly knew she could never truly do anything to him.

In the end, the farce concluded with Tang Wulin giving her a bear hug and Gu Yue symbolically pounding on him a few times. He did not actually shove her foot into the water. He merely dried both her feet and carried her to bed.

"Alright, your feet are washed. Time to sleep!" He tucked her under the blankets, then burrowed in after her, clinging to her like an octopus. Burying his face in the hollow of her neck, he took a deep breath. "Mmm, now you're full of my scent—takoyaki scent."

Gu Yue's whole body stiffened from his antics. Just as she was about to kick him off the bed, he suddenly spoke in a muffled voice, carrying a trace of barely noticeable nervousness and probing. "Gu Yue, just now... did it feel pretty good?"

Gu Yue rolled her eyes at him. "Good? That was torture! It was cruel punishment!"

"Oh..." Tang Wulin dragged out the word, clearly unconvinced. After a while, he stubbornly asked again, "Then... did you like it even a little? Just a little?"

Gu Yue fell silent. The room quieted, leaving only their mingled breaths. She could feel the warmth of his body and hear the restless beat of his heart within his chest.

She sighed, her body softening in his embrace. Forget it. Why argue with this fool?

She raised a hand and gently poked his solid chest with her fingertip. Her voice was still mild, but it carried a trace of indulgence even she had not noticed. "Idiot. It was only a foot wash. Why are you asking so many questions?"

Tang Wulin froze. Then immense joy exploded in his heart like fireworks. He abruptly raised his head and, in the dim light, accurately caught Gu Yue's violet eyes, curved into crescents.

"You smiled! You admitted it! You smiled!" Like Columbus discovering a new continent, he excitedly pointed at the corner of her mouth, babbling incoherently. "Gu Yue, you smiled! Were you smiling just now? I saw it! Your smile is so beautiful! More beautiful than takoyaki! No, more beautiful than all the takoyaki in the world put together!"

"Shut up!" Gu Yue was getting a headache from all his noise. She reached out to cover his mouth, only for him to kiss her palm.

"Mmph!" Tang Wulin planted a loud kiss in her palm, then shamelessly leaned closer and rubbed his face against it like a big dog that had finally earned its candy.

Feeling the damp warmth against her palm and his stubborn clinginess, Gu Yue finally gave in. She gently pulled her hand back and turned off the bedside lamp.

Completely satisfied, he held her tighter, his chin resting atop her head as he breathed in the faint, cool fragrance of her hair, along with the lingering scent of roses and tea in the air.

Outside the window, the night was deep and the stars glittered brightly.

As for whether, when sunlight pierced the curtains like blades again tomorrow morning, this "big dog" would treat her as some rare delicacy once more—Gu Yue thought that would probably be another story.

She closed her eyes, the corners of her lips lifting unconsciously as she allowed that familiar, reassuring drowsiness to envelop her completely.