Reality proved that Exusiai really was the type with a dirty mind and no nerve.
Walking out of the cinema, Chen Mo yawned sleepily. Seeing Exusiai still hesitating over whether she should hold his hand, he couldn't help finding it amusing.
For a full three hours, she'd spent the entire movie fighting with herself—her face twisted in indecision as she debated whether to "accidentally" slip her fingers into his palm.
It was so distracting that Chen Mo barely watched the film at all. What was happening on the screen had nothing on Exusiai's internal drama.
Ignoring the way she kept inching closer, Chen Mo lifted his gaze to the fully darkened night and said casually, "You should be taking me back about now, shouldn't you, Exusiai? Or are you planning to keep me out overnight?"
"Huh? Oh—yeah, sure. No problem."
What a shame… I was this close. This close to grabbing his hand…
Chen Mo had said before that she could hold hands whenever she wanted, but so much time had passed that Exusiai couldn't be sure he hadn't changed his mind.
TV always said men were fickle. She didn't want to lunge in like before and end up lowering his opinion of her.
With a sigh, she started the motorcycle's engine, deflated. The whole plan—sacrificing Croissant just to get a "date" with Chen Mo—hadn't produced a single tangible result.
Then Chen Mo's phone vibrated.
Both of them froze for a beat. Under Exusiai's curious gaze, Chen Mo pulled out his phone and unlocked it.
"Chen Mo? What is it?" Exusiai asked. "Did something happen?"
His handsome face tightened. After a moment, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and let out a long, resigned breath.
"Let's go, Exusiai," he said. "Find a hotel. We'll stay the night somewhere."
"…Huh?!"
Was she dreaming?
Pink walls. Suggestive lighting. A bed that looked like it belonged in a romance-themed brochure.
Exusiai sat bolt upright on the mattress, swallowing hard.
This wasn't a dream. She and her idol were really alone in a room, staying the night.
Lord… is today my lucky day?
Every hotel and inn in the area had shut their doors, but this couple's hotel was still open—and by some absurd stroke of fate, they had exactly one room left.
Exusiai was sweating buckets. She clutched her chest, feeling her heart hammer like an overclocked engine, still unable to believe it.
Is this Your test, Lord? A test of whether my feelings for Chen Mo are sincere?
The thought made her sneak a glance at the half-transparent bathroom, blurred by mist—then whip her head away immediately, too embarrassed to look any longer.
Her mouth watered uncontrollably. The halo above her head flickered with nervous intensity.
Click.
The bathroom door slid open. Steam drifted out and thinned, and the clean, seductive scent of body wash filled the room.
Exusiai had already squeezed her eyes shut. Chen Mo, wrapped in a bathrobe, walked out and sat on the sofa, towel-drying his hair. Seeing her rigid, eyes-clamped-shut posture, he laughed.
"Since when did you get this innocent?" he teased. "Don't tell me you've never fantasized about me."
"Ugh…"
Exusiai's ears burned red. She wanted to argue—but opening her eyes meant seeing Chen Mo in a bathrobe, and her brain turned to mush. All she managed was a weak, strangled sound.
That only made Chen Mo more entertained.
Completely got you under my thumb, you dumb angel with a dirty mind and no courage.
If it were Texas, or Shiho—that tiger of a woman—either one of them would've snapped long ago and pounced on him after being provoked like this.
But it was precisely because it was Exusiai that Chen Mo dared to tease so freely.
Still…
He took out his phone and glanced at the screen—nearly a hundred messages stacked up.
Chen Mo shuddered and rubbed his arms, goosebumps rising.
Ch'en looked furious. And he had no idea how Croissant was doing—whether that enraged little dragon officer had already caught her.
Hopefully she'll cool off after tonight…
He set the phone down on the table, then looked at Exusiai sitting stiffly on the heart-shaped bed and walked over, sitting beside her.
The scent of him—warm and clean—washed over Exusiai. After a long, brutal internal struggle, she finally couldn't suppress the restless impulse inside. Gathering every ounce of courage she had, she whispered, "Chen Mo… maybe tonight we could—"
Thump!
Before she could finish, Chen Mo kicked her off the bed.
Pillows and fragrant blankets cascaded down and swallowed her whole.
Still struggling in the darkness, trying to shove the bedding aside, Exusiai heard Chen Mo's voice above her—full of laughter.
"You shameless angel, you've got big dreams," he said. "You're sleeping on the floor tonight. Be good."
"Of course," he added lazily, "you're welcome to try climbing up here and sleeping with me."
Exusiai finally wriggled free enough to look up—only to see Chen Mo raising his chin smugly.
"As long as you've got the guts and the strength," he said, "you can force your way into it. Right now. If you can."
As if that was even remotely possible!
Exusiai's face crumpled. The fluttering excitement from seconds ago vanished without a trace—replaced by full-on panic.
What if he hates me now? What if he thinks I'm just some woman who only thinks about that kind of thing?
Chen Mo still looked as unconcerned as ever, the same as he always did. But Exusiai couldn't steady her heart.
She scrambled up onto her knees in front of him and apologized loudly, urgently, like her life depended on it.
"I'm sorry, Chen Mo! I—I—my brain just short-circuited. I said something unbelievably rude!"
"It's fine, it's fine," Chen Mo said, tail swaying as he yawned and wiped at the corner of his eye. "I get it."
"You're a woman. Having thoughts like that is normal. Honestly, if you acted like some spotless, desireless angel, that'd be the weird part."
Sleep was already dragging him under. He climbed to the middle of the bed, leaned over to switch off the light, and then bundled himself up in the covers, face-down.
"Go to sleep, Exusiai," he mumbled. "You'll need to check on Croissant tomorrow. Hopefully Ch'en didn't catch her and dump her in a river."
The moment the words left his mouth, Chen Mo felt something was off. He lifted his head and found Exusiai staring at him—halo blazing like a miniature spotlight.
"Can you turn that thing off?" he asked.
"Uh… Chen Mo, how about you wear an eye mask and make do?"
She offered him a novelty eye mask.
Chen Mo's eye twitched. Then, with a muffled pfft, he flopped back down again.
"Forget it. I'm face-down—doesn't affect me much. You use it."
"Oh. Okay."
A little way off, Exusiai made soft rustling sounds as she arranged her bedding on the floor.
In the brief silence afterward, Chen Mo closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind.
But as he drifted toward sleep, he kept hearing wet, rhythmic slap-slap sounds in the darkness.
…Bathroom leak, maybe?
Half-asleep, Chen Mo made that lazy assumption—then, with his body fully relaxed, slipped into dreams.
....
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