Too close…
Tang Wanwan couldn't help turning her head, wanting to say something.
But just as she moved her neck, a warm touch brushed against her cheek.
Both of their breaths caught at the same time.
"Hey! … Don't start showing off your affection here—take our Wanwan little sister home if you want to do that."
At the side, a few people who were waiting for them to play their turn copied Shen Xianyu's tone, teasing with a laugh, "If you want to be lovey-dovey, at least go home first…"
Tang Wanwan had never heard this kind of suggestive remark before. Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson. She stood up abruptly. "I'm going out for some air."
Shen Xianyu didn't stop her. This club was private, and the top floor was their exclusive suite—no one else could come up, so there was no danger.
Besides…
He pressed his lips together, feeling the heat in his own cheeks.
The others at the table watched Tang Wanwan run out the moment she heard those words, and were just wondering about it when they turned and saw their good buddy also looking bashful. Everyone wore the same what the hell expression.
"It was just a kiss on the cheek, you're really reacting like this?"
"Don't tell me you've never touched her all these years."
Touched her…
Shen Xianyu suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
He picked up his wine glass, tilted his head back, Adam's apple bobbing as the cold liquor slid down his throat, finally soothing the feverish thirst that had flared up.
In a husky voice, he said, "She's still young, and delicate. What could I possibly touch?"
She was the girl he held in the palm of his hand—no amount of care or cherishing ever felt enough. How could he be careless and rash with her?
Besides, her body couldn't handle too much emotional turmoil.
The others didn't know the details, and were struck speechless.
Ten years.
From ten years old to twenty.
From eight years old to eighteen.
The prime of youth—a boy and a girl with mutual feelings. Even if they didn't do anything else, how could he be this restrained?
Inside the suite—
Gu Yunyi looked Shen Xianyu up and down for a long moment, then couldn't help saying, "Never would've guessed—you're actually a total vegetarian."
Shen Xianyu: "…"
He downed another glass of wine without saying a word, but the red at the corners of his eyes betrayed a suppressed hunger that was anything but vegetarian.
Gu Yunyi instantly understood.
Patting his friend on the shoulder, he said, "Don't worry, you've lasted this long already. She doesn't seem as frail as you say. She even came to Beijing ahead of time to live with you—I'd say she's already prepared. When it's time to act, don't hold yourself back and suffer…"
"Enough!" Shen Xianyu cut him off, his voice stern, as if reminding himself. "I'm not some beast. I watched her grow up—how could I have any wicked thoughts?"
…
Meanwhile—
When Tang Wanwan stepped out, she immediately saw a man standing by the floor-to-ceiling window.
His back was to her, tall and straight. The sleeves of his dark gray shirt were rolled up, exposing part of his strong forearms.
Hearing her footsteps, he turned his head—and his gaze froze.
The girl in the doorway, her cheeks flushed, seemed caught between going forward or turning back.
Jiang Yanzhi suddenly wanted a cigarette.
He pressed his lips together and looked away.
Standing there before the wide expanse of glass, his tall frame seemed to overlook the world below.
Tang Wanwan paused, then walked over and stopped two or three meters from him, lowering her eyes to look down as well.
This was the top floor—over thirty stories high. From here, the people hurrying along the street looked barely bigger than ants.
In the empty hallway, neither of them spoke.
The air between them carried an indescribable strangeness.
This strangeness shouldn't exist between two people meeting for the first time.
Given Jiang Yanzhi's character, with his friend's girlfriend, he would normally keep a polite distance.
Not stand still and let her approach.
As an adult, he knew that a man and a woman standing silently together like this was hardly proper.
By all rights, he should have left to avoid suspicion.
But he didn't move.
Not only that—he even tilted his head slightly to glance at the girl a short distance away, and asked, "What are you doing out here?"
His voice was cool and steady, just like when he had woken her from sleep on the plane.
Tang Wanwan hesitated, then said, "Getting some air."
That part was true.
But following him out after seeing him leave was also true.
The chill of the air-conditioning blew away the heat in her face.
And she suddenly realized how improper her behavior was.
Shen Xianyu was still inside, and she had chased after his good friend.
And Jiang Yanzhi had… allowed it.
What was he thinking?
Her heart skipped hard. "I'll go back in first."
Whether or not she planned to follow the dream's "instructions," she hadn't yet spoken openly to Shen Xianyu.
She turned to head for the suite door, and Jiang Yanzhi walked back with her.
Just as she was about to push the door open, they both heard Shen Xianyu's voice from inside:
"Watching a girl grow up—how could I have any wicked thoughts…"
Tang Wanwan thought she'd misheard. She blinked and turned her head. "What did he say? Did you hear?"
"…You're not a couple?" Jiang Yanzhi didn't answer, but asked in return, his voice calm and unreadable.
His deep gaze locked on her, as if the answer mattered greatly to him.
Tang Wanwan's eyelashes trembled. She didn't speak.
Her coming-of-age ceremony had only just passed, her college entrance exams had just ended, and she and Shen Xianyu had never truly interacted like a couple before.
But they had long since acknowledged each other's feelings.
She had even traveled alone to Beijing for him.
To say they weren't a couple would be nothing but self-deception.
Jiang Yanzhi's eyes dimmed.
Between intelligent people, much could be left unsaid.
For him, to ask this question of her alone as Shen Xianyu's friend—his thoughts were almost transparent.
And even though she didn't speak… she had still given him an answer.
"…You—" Jiang Yanzhi's lips parted after a moment of silence, as if to say something, when the suite door was suddenly pulled open from inside.
Shen Xianyu stepped out.
Seeing the two of them at the door, he froze. "Why aren't you going in? What are you doing out here?"
"Was just about to," Tang Wanwan said quickly, feeling oddly guilty. But before she could finish, her wrist was caught.
Shen Xianyu pulled her toward him, slid an arm around her waist, and glanced around the hallway.
Finding no one else, he frowned slightly. "What were you two talking about out here?"
"…I came out for some air. I was just going back in—we didn't talk about anything," Tang Wanwan said, swallowing hard.
Shen Xianyu looked at Jiang Yanzhi. "That so?"
Jiang Yanzhi lowered his eyes. "If not that, then what else?"
His gaze swept briefly over Tang Wanwan's waist before he pushed the door open and went inside.
With a quiet click, the door closed.
Silence fell.
"All right, let go of me now," Tang Wanwan said, tugging at the arm around her waist.
Shen Xianyu didn't budge. In fact, he held her even tighter.
"Wanwan…" He pressed his lips to her forehead, his voice low and slightly hoarse. "It's been twenty days. There's no one else here—let me hold you for a while."
(End of chapter)