The time was approaching 8 PM. Outside, the cold wind was blowing with increasing force. If you were out on the street at this hour, your nose would definitely be running. Inside the apartment, however, it was very warm. Chen Yuan felt a bit hot. 'It must be the room,' he thought. It definitely wasn't because the atmosphere in the softly lit living room was too intimate.
Jiangg Yao was lying on the sofa, her hair slightly disheveled. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and her eyes, fixed on Chen Yuan, were full of life, holding a deep sense of anticipation.
She lay on her side in a captivating pose, gently biting her lip as if everything was left unsaid.
"Are you sure you want me to help you take them off?"
"Yeah. You're willing to, right...?"
"Alright." Chen Yuan coughed twice to ease the awkwardness.
No matter what, this was the first time he'd ever been alone in a room with a girl, this close. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous. And there was no denying that Jiangg Yao was truly beautiful, with a great figure too. His gaze fell to her legs, and he could see just how long they were. Her calves were slender, and the muscles of her thighs were perfectly toned.
She shyly tugged at her short skirt. It wasn't just Chen Yuan; Jiangg Yao's heart was pounding, too.
Chen Yuan sat down next to her and lifted her calf. The instant they made physical contact, they both flinched.
Even though Jiangg Yao was the one who suggested it, her reaction was much bigger than Chen Yuan's. A bashful blush spread rapidly from her neck to her face, and soon even her earlobes were so red they looked like they might bleed. She was suddenly regretting her bold words, but it was too late to back out now.
ZZZIP—
The sound of the zipper echoed in the silent living room.
Chen Yuan's movements were gentle. He pulled off her tall boots, revealing calves as fair as tender lotus roots. With a soft THUD, the boot hit the floor, and a pair of pure white socks appeared before his eyes.
Although her back was to him, Jiangg Yao could feel Chen Yuan's gaze.
Her face burned even hotter. The thought of her feet being watched by Chen Yuan made her flustered. 'What should I do?! It's not right to pull my foot back now.'
"Your feet... are pretty cute," Chen Yuan commented abruptly.
"Don't comment on them!" Jiangg Yao suddenly grew agitated. She snatched her foot back, stepping on him in the process. By the time Chen Yuan turned to look at her, she had already covered her face in mortification, not leaving even the tiniest gap.
Chen Yuan finally understood. Jiangg was the type who was all talk but no game. Looking at her now, she was even less composed than he was.
He deftly unzipped the other boot and helped her into her slippers.
Jiangg Yao's legs were so long that even when resting on his knee, her foot could still touch the coffee table. It was honestly ridiculous.
Chen Yuan very naturally rested his hand on her leg. Her skin was so smooth that if he didn't apply a little pressure, he felt his hand would slide right off.
"How does it feel?" she asked, poking Chen Yuan's shoulder.
"I'm not just feeling it. Aren't you tired? Let me give you a massage. You worked hard all afternoon, you must be exhausted." After speaking, Chen Yuan really did start massaging Jiangg Yao's calves. His hands were very warm.
She watched him in silence, a sweet feeling she couldn't dispel welling up in her heart. From her angle, Jiangg Yao could see Chen Yuan's handsome profile. He looked very attractive when he was focused.
'Mmm... very attractive.'
Jiangg Yao repeated it again in her heart, savoring the warm moment.
Sharing a room like this, she was surprised that Chen Yuan hadn't made any inappropriate moves! As a streamer, she had seen far too many outrageous fans online. Her most direct impression of boys his age was that most of them had their minds full of naughty thoughts.
Never mind a beautiful woman; even with an average-looking one, they couldn't help but have improper ideas.
But Chen Yuan just dutifully massaged her calves, his eyes fixed on her feet, which she held together out of shyness.
'He has that much self-control?'
'Or is it that my little boyfriend is a true gentleman!?'
Jiangg Yao's opinion of Chen Yuan rose even higher. 'This could be called maintaining one's composure in a tempting situation, right?' From the very beginning, she had been the one taking the initiative. He hadn't initiated any contact; the most forward he'd been was shaking her hand.
'Unimaginably pure.'
'It seems Chen Yuan wasn't lying about this being his first love. He's never had a girlfriend.'
'But shouldn't it be even harder to control himself if he's never had one?'
Jiangg Yao couldn't figure it out.
After a while, probably tired from the massage, Chen Yuan stopped. Jiangg Yao moved her legs off him and smiled shyly.
"The sofa is so comfortable. I just flopped down on it as soon as I came in. I haven't even looked at the other rooms yet. My initial impression is that I'm quite satisfied with this apartment."
"Then go take a look. It doesn't matter if you're satisfied or not, as long as I like it." Chen Yuan turned his face away, feigning indifference to hide his shyness.
"It's important that I'm satisfied, too..." She crouched down, scooted a little closer to Chen Yuan, and looked up to meet his gaze, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Maybe I'll have a chance to come and stay here in the future!"
"..."
After she spoke, she clearly saw a blush creep onto Chen Yuan's cold face.
'Oof... this is just too cute.'
Jiangg Yao bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. She absolutely loved seeing Chen Yuan like this—an eighteen-year-old innocent trying to act mature. But the moment she said something even slightly flirty, her little boyfriend couldn't keep up the act.
'How can he be so cute, inside and out?'
"Alright, go take a look around," Chen Yuan said, averting his gaze.
"You come with me."
"I'm tired. I'm going to sit for a bit."
"No way. You won't even walk a few steps? I spent the whole afternoon running all over half of West City in Lanjing. You're young, you should have more energy than me."
"Then just wait. Let me rest for a few minutes before we look."
Chen Yuan's repeated refusals made Jiangg Yao very puzzled, and her curiosity only grew.
She grabbed his hand forcefully and said coaxingly, "Come with me~"
"Hey—"
As he was pulled to his feet, Chen Yuan hunched over slightly. His posture was very strange, and the nonchalant expression he wore earlier was completely gone.
Jiangg Yao stared at him for a moment, her eyes scanning him up and down. Then, she suddenly realized something. Her gaze fixed on a certain spot, and her eyes widened in shock... She knew what Chen Yuan was trying to hide.
"I'll go look by myself then. You just sit there!"
Jiangg Yao said, then walked away with stiff steps, fleeing the living room for the master bedroom as if she were escaping.
She hid in the other room, touching her face and feeling how hot it was. 'So he wasn't completely unaffected after all! I just didn't notice at first!' She looked down at her own little white socks and long legs, studying them for a moment.
'Could it be?'
'Chen Yuan saw this and that's why...'
After she left the living room, Chen Yuan visibly breathed a sigh of relief and flopped back onto the sofa. He frowned, trying to recall why he had just been unable to tear his eyes away from Jiangg Yao's little white socks. He'd actually found them incredibly attractive, and even felt the urge to help her take those off too.
'Shallow!'
Chen Yuan scolded himself internally. 'Our relationship isn't that close yet.'
But the more he thought about it, the more the image of those little white socks and long legs swirled in his mind, more alluring than anything else.
'I never had this kind of fetish before, did I? Or have I awakened some weird new preference?'
He had to admit, being stepped on by Jiangg felt pretty good.
...
"The rent for this apartment can't be cheap, can it?" Jiangg Yao's question came from the bedroom.
"I don't know. I'm not the one paying for it."
"Then your family must be pretty well-off. The bed in this bedroom is even softer than the big sofa in the living room... Oof!" She seemed to have flopped onto it, her voice muffled as if she were buried in the blankets.
"My family is just... ordinary. How should I put it... We can talk about it later, when there's a chance."
「In the master bedroom.」
Jiangg Yao was hiding under the covers, the faint light from her phone illuminating her cheeks. She was replying to a message from her older sister, but no matter how you looked at it, her expression was a bit guilty.
The longer she spent with Chen Yuan, the guiltier she felt. Jiangg Yao knew full well that if her older sister found out she was secretly dating behind her back, the consequences would be severe. And if her family found out, the fallout would be more than either of them could bear.
But the feeling of being in love was gradually going to her head. Every second she spent with Chen Yuan, Jiangg Yao felt happy. She even wanted to break each second into smaller pieces, unwilling for the moment to end so quickly.
'As long as we can keep it a secret...' Jiangg Yao thought, clinging to a sliver of hope, '...then there shouldn't be any problem, right?'
She composed herself, walked out of the bedroom, and said to Chen Yuan with a smile, "Alright, it's about time for me to head home. Should I drop you off at school first?"
"Okay."
The two of them pushed open the door.
Jiangg Yao glanced at the tightly closed door across the hall, then shifted her gaze away.