She, Mai Sakurajima, wanted to see how Lin Ye would make her cry and beg for mercy tonight, beg him to stop.
She kept eating, her cheeks flushed red.
Whether what Lin Ye said was true or just pure bragging, or something that would actually happen, Mai Sakurajima's mind was made up in that moment — she would never beg for mercy.
Time slipped by, minute after minute, until the two of them finally finished lunch.
Lin Ye paid the bill and they left.
Mai Sakurajima had already changed back into her disguise. Naturally, she looped her arm through Lin Ye's, her body leaning lightly against him, pressed close to his side.
Only in that moment
did she finally feel like they were truly a couple.
"Let's go watch a movie!"
"This early?"
"How about in an hour, then?"
"Sure."
Lin Ye agreed.
In the early afternoon,
the two of them strolled along the shopping street.
The weekend streets of Tokyo bustled with young girls everywhere,
and here and there, maids in black-and-white uniforms waved and handed out flyers.
"No looking at other girls."
A sudden, displeased reminder sounded by his ear.
Lin Ye glanced over and noticed the girl's unhappy expression.
He reached out and flicked her lightly on the nose.
"Ow, don't do that, it'll go flat."
But there was no real firmness in her tone, let alone her expression.
In truth, she didn't dislike it — she might even say she liked it.
Still, Lin Ye didn't push it further.
He leaned in close to her ear, lowering his voice. "None of those girls could ever be as cute and pretty as my Mai."
"Mm..."
The soft murmur, the warm breath brushing against her ear, sent a shiver through her,
and some feeling inside her began to spread.
"My Mai is so pretty, and so soft and smooth to touch, so comfortable — why would I ever look at those other girls?"
Lin Ye took Mai Sakurajima's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, expressing his affection.
Mai Sakurajima blushed but let his intimacy pass without pulling away.
Still, her eyes kept drifting to the passersby around them, and the occasional glance thrown their way felt sharp, almost blinding.
Out in public, being caressed by Lin Ye — even just her hand — felt like too much stimulation. If it went on any longer, she feared she wouldn't be able to bear it.
"Who knows if what you're saying is even true!"
Mai Sakurajima still sounded a little doubtful.
Lin Ye laughed the moment he heard it.
The girl clearly believed him — she just needed more proof.
"I'm hurt. Mai doesn't even believe me,"
he said, and let go of her hand. "Guess I'll go find one of those cute girls instead. Wow, that one over there isn't bad — tall, fair skin, pretty face too."
With that, Lin Ye walked off without the slightest hesitation.
Mai Sakurajima hadn't even registered what was happening.
A moment later, she looked up and caught sight of Lin Ye heading toward the girl he'd meant to approach.
Instantly, pressure built up inside her.
She was a big star, with striking looks and a great figure, sure — but plenty of ordinary girls were beautiful too, some rivaling even celebrities.
And that girl was certainly no less than a star.
Could Lin Ye actually be interested in her?
Carrying that worry, Mai Sakurajima followed after him.
But Lin Ye was faster — he'd already stepped in front of the girl.
"Excuse me... may I ask you something?"
The girl was quite pretty.
She looked at the man before her with a puzzled expression.
"Is there something you need?"
"You're very pretty,"
"I have no interest in being an idol,"
she said — though 'idol' wasn't quite the right word, more like that particular kind of idol.
Because of her looks, she sometimes ran into men hitting on her, and occasionally even talent scouts.
But the scouts were usually the kind chasing after adult film prospects.
She hadn't expected this at all, and had been disgusted by it before.
So —
"I'd like to be your friend,"
Lin Ye said straight out.
"Sorry, I don't need more friends.
"I can offer a friendship fee."
The girl: ???
What friendship fee?
Wasn't that basically just... paying her?
"Not interested,"
the girl refused immediately.
"Ten thousand,"
She froze.
Lin Ye immediately raised the number. "Fifty thousand."
Still, the girl didn't answer.
Her mind was a mess; she couldn't make sense of whatever was going on in this man's head.
Did he think she was that kind of woman?!
That was entirely possible.
Her disgust deepened.
"A hundred thousand,"
Six figures now — even in yen, that wasn't a small sum. A typical Japanese university graduate's monthly salary was only around two hundred thousand yen.
A hundred thousand yen was about half a month's income.
"That's my limit,"
Lin Ye said seriously.
"Sorry, sorry,"
Mai Sakurajima cut in at this point — if she hadn't, things were about to go badly.
"My friend's in a bad mood and made a bet with me that he could get a pretty girl to be his friend. I apologize on his behalf, I'm so sorry."
Mai Sakurajima kept apologizing.
With her apologies, the girl nodded and turned to leave, though before she went, she couldn't help but glance back once more at the man.
What a strange man.
But that other girl had such a nice presence! Her face, hidden behind those glasses, must be gorgeous too.
The girl couldn't help but think.
She had that feeling, for sure.
That girl had to be really pretty — otherwise she wouldn't get that impression.
The girl left.
Mai Sakurajima walked up to Lin Ye, exasperated. "Lin-kun, what exactly were you trying to do? Pay for compensated dating?"
"What's compensated dating?"
Lin Ye asked, playing dumb, pretending he had no idea what she meant.
"You really don't know?"
"Why don't you explain it to me, Mai?"
Pressed like that, Mai Sakurajima thought it over and spoke up. "It's when women sleep with men in exchange for money.
There are plenty of girls in Japan doing that kind of compensated dating."
But that girl just now probably wasn't one of them.
Still, Mai Sakurajima had been afraid it might turn out to be true — faced with Lin Ye's offer of a hundred thousand, she'd genuinely worried the girl might actually take the bait and leave Lin Ye with no way to back out.
Mai Sakurajima knew Lin Ye would never actually do something like that.
If he really needed something like that, wouldn't she, or Yukinoshita, or Ai Hoshino, be far better options?
Why would he need to get involved with some unclear, unclean woman like that?
"I see. So it's fine as long as you pay. That's nice to know,"
Mai Sakurajima shot him a glare. "What's nice about that?"
It wasn't nice at all.
Mai Sakurajima disapproved of that kind of thing, though she also knew it was hard to stamp out entirely.
In this world, there would always be women who chose the easy way to trade themselves for money, and men willing to spend money to enjoy a woman's youth and body.
She disapproved, but she wouldn't say much more about it. In the end, it was everyone's own choice.
Even the government didn't crack down hard on it. As an ordinary person, the most she could do was avoid it herself, and mind her own business.
Beyond that, there wasn't much point thinking further about it.
"Fine either way,"
"Hmph, men — all you care about is women's bodies,"
Mai Sakurajima huffed.
"Yeah, I really, really love it. Especially yours, Mai."
"Liar."
What was there to love, if he really loved it? Wouldn't his reaction be different?
Why hadn't he even thought about touching her, even now?
Any normal man would want to lure her into bed, do this and that to her — but Lin Ye had stopped at kisses and light touches, never going any further.
"Tonight, I won't hold back — I'll make you cry and beg me to stop."
The playful words made Mai Sakurajima's face flush red despite herself, an awkward, flustered look crossing her face.
"Hmph,"
She huffed again but didn't say anything more.
She had no idea if Lin Ye was serious or just joking — she'd find out tonight.
If Lin Ye really meant it, she wasn't exactly opposed either.
But making her beg for mercy?
Dream on!
That was never going to happen. Lin Ye could fantasize about it all he wanted.
Mai Sakurajima thought to herself.
A few minutes later,
worried Lin Ye might try to hit on another girl, Mai Sakurajima pulled him toward the movie theater.
They'd promised to watch a movie.
That was something she wouldn't let slip.
Mai Sakurajima had always wanted to watch a movie with a boy she liked.
She used to imagine it sometimes, but that boyfriend had never appeared.
Now that he had, naturally she needed him to help her fulfill this small wish of hers.
She satisfied certain wishes of her boyfriend's; in turn, her boyfriend naturally needed to satisfy some of hers too.
That was what a proper, equal relationship between lovers looked like. As for anything more, that would depend on Lin Ye's performance.
The two of them arrived at the theater.
"Lin-kun, what do you want to watch?"
Mai Sakurajima asked. She didn't really care about the content — what mattered to her was simply watching a movie together with Lin Ye.
"Anything's fine with me,"
Lin Ye said.
He wasn't particularly interested in movies, but he wasn't picky about genre either — sci-fi, fantasy, romance, none of it mattered to him.
"Then let's watch that one!"
Mai Sakurajima pointed to a movie — one she had appeared in before, already released.
She wasn't the female lead, just a supporting actress, but the highest-rated part of the whole film happened to be the supporting role she played.
Lin Ye bought the Movie Tickets, and the two of them made their way to the corresponding theater.
By then,
there wasn't much time left before the screening.
But the theater hall was completely empty — not a single other person in sight.
"Looks like we've got the whole place to ourselves."
"What good luck."
Mai Sakurajima teased with a smile.
"You heard wrong — it's just the two of us, me and Mai. It's like a private theater,"
he said, voice lowered, sending Mai Sakurajima's thoughts spinning.
She caught his meaning immediately.
Was this guy planning to do something, now that they were alone, in this empty room, with no one else around?
Damn it.
That wouldn't do at all.
Mai Sakurajima's heart resisted the idea.
The two of them found their seats and sat down.
Mai Sakurajima deliberately left one empty seat between them and Lin Ye, silently signaling her refusal.
She'd expected Lin Ye to quickly close the distance, but instead she found him just sitting where he was, his eyes fixed on the screen ahead,
as if he wasn't paying her the slightest attention at all.
On purpose.
Mai Sakurajima was certain Lin Ye was doing this deliberately — but... but she couldn't figure out what to do about it!
What could she do to get him to sit closer?
With that thought in mind,
ten minutes into the film, Mai Sakurajima finally moved on her own, taking the seat right next to Lin Ye.
But even then, Lin Ye still didn't pay her any attention, his focus entirely on the movie on screen,
where a pure, innocent-looking female lead was currently on display.
Mai Sakurajima felt a twinge of jealousy.
Watching another woman so intently that he had no attention left for her at all —
how could Mai Sakurajima possibly be happy about that?
With no other option, after some inner struggle, Mai Sakurajima put her hand over Lin Ye's, taking his hand on her own initiative.
Lin Ye didn't pull his hand away, letting Mai Sakurajima hold it.
But the girl still couldn't quite settle her heart.
She kept feeling like Lin Ye was upset, since he showed no reaction at all.
But it was movie time now, and even with no one else around, she still hesitated to speak up.
In the end,
Mai Sakurajima held herself back and could only silently express her feelings through her actions.
Seeing this, Lin Ye understood just how deep the girl's feelings for him ran.
It really was... hard to imagine.
That Mai Sakurajima had fallen this hard — who would even believe it if he told them?
Well, actually, ever since Mai Sakurajima's public announcement, most men already knew she had a boyfriend now.
Countless netizens were paying close attention to Mai Sakurajima's boyfriend situation, eager to dig up any private information they could.
So far, though, the netizens had gotten nowhere, but their curiosity never faded.
They were desperate to know the identity of Mai Sakurajima's boyfriend.
The movie went on,
and the male and female leads shared a kiss on screen.
At that moment, Lin Ye's gaze finally shifted from the screen to the girl beside him.
Mai Sakurajima's senses were sharp, and she quickly noticed Lin Ye's gaze on her.
Then,
reading the meaning in Lin Ye's eyes, Mai Sakurajima slowly closed her own.
A few seconds later,
her lips were claimed,
taken once again by Lin Ye.
Mai Sakurajima kissed him back with warmth.
Completely different from how she'd been at the very start.
Compared to Yukino, Mai Sakurajima had become far more forward — no one could say how much more.
From her initial shyness to her current boldness, it was like she'd become an entirely different person.
Lin Ye was quite pleased.
That shy hesitance had its own charm, but this boldness felt completely different, in its own good way.
At least, right now, Mai Sakurajima was so much better than Yukino had been.
He liked this version of Mai Sakurajima very much.
Time passed,
and Mai Sakurajima wiped her mouth.
"Lin-kun, that's enough, right? As your girlfriend, I've been good enough to you, haven't I?"
On this point, Lin Ye truly had no grounds to argue.
Mai Sakurajima had done more than enough — he was already very satisfied.
"So, Mai, are you saying you want..."
"There's plenty I want."
"Then tonight, I'll make sure she has an unforgettable experience."
Mai Sakurajima's face went red at once.
She felt like Lin Ye's words were dripping with suggestion.
He probably really did have that kind of idea in mind.
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