What Dong Yin said was really asking for it.
Xie Mingjun’s fingers tightened on her clothes. She stared at Dong Yin, the pad of her finger brushing against bare skin, eyes burning.
“Say that again.”
Her brows were drawn tight as she looked at Dong Yin, and the fear in her eyes made it impossible for Dong Yin to hide.
Dong Yin mumbled, “Say what.”
Xie Mingjun’s nails scraped lightly over the skin at her waist, itchy and a little painful. Dong Yin shrank back, trying to tug her hem free.
Suddenly, Xie Mingjun’s fingers clenched with more force. She twisted the fabric in her hand and refused to let go, crumpling the pink cloth.
Dong Yin whispered, “I… was too embarrassed to change.”
She really was. Those were Xie Mingjun’s intimate clothes. Looking at them was one thing; actually putting them on made her feel mortified, so she hadn’t.
But being naked like this was also mortifying.
She hadn’t had time to explain why she hadn’t put them on.
Before she could, Xie Mingjun said, “You’re too embarrassed to wear my clothes, but you’re not embarrassed to run around naked in my house?”
Hearing it said out loud, Dong Yin’s face flushed hot. She’d thought about that herself, and she’d even wanted to explain earlier, but now she couldn’t get the words out. After holding it in for a while, she finally said,
“Anyway, I’m pretty small. Even if I wear something, nobody can see.”
Xie Mingjun paused for a beat.
She stared at her face for a while, then glanced down and said,
“You mean you’re just looking at yourself, right?”
“Huh?” Dong Yin didn’t get what she meant.
“Forget it,” Xie Mingjun said. “I’m too lazy to argue with you.”
Dong Yin hummed in reply and smoothed out her clothes.
Xie Mingjun’s fingers slid up to her chin, rubbing lightly.
Again and again, like she was teasing a pet, but also like she was thinking about something. Dong Yin asked softly,
“So… are we still kissing or not?”
Just then, the doorbell rang. Xie Mingjun’s hand stilled and she turned to go answer the door. Panic shot through Dong Yin. Afraid she’d run off, she reached out and hooked an arm around her neck, still kneeling on her lap.
Xie Mingjun pinched her waist when she tried to get up.
“You want me to go open the door holding you like this?”
Dong Yin’s face burned. Her mind involuntarily supplied that mental image. She stammered,
“You… you can’t carry me, right?”
Xie Mingjun let out a short laugh. She gripped Dong Yin’s waist, planted her feet on the ground with a muffled grunt, and then simply picked Dong Yin up.
Dong Yin yelped in surprise and hurriedly wrapped her arms around her neck.
Unhurried, Xie Mingjun said, “If I’m not wrong, that should be Zou Yuxi…”
“I—I…” Dong Yin panicked, trying to jump down from her arms.
But Xie Mingjun didn’t let go.
“Aren’t you supposed to be so fearless? When he comes in later, will you still dare to sit on my lap like this?”
Dong Yin had no answer. Xie Mingjun, on the other hand, was being deliberately nasty. Her fingers dug hard into Dong Yin’s waist.
“You only dare to act wild in front of me, huh?”
These last few days, Dong Yin’s courage had been swelling; she really was climbing up the pole as far as it would go.
“I dare,” Dong Yin muttered. “But what about my clothes? I’m still naked. Completely naked.”
Xie Mingjun glanced down, bit her lip, and said,
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“No.” Dong Yin also wanted to sit on her lap, but she couldn’t go see Zou Yuxi like this. She’d die of disgust.
She hesitated for a long while. The knocking on the door grew louder, thumping dully against the wood. Finally, Xie Mingjun let go and set her down. Dong Yin bolted for the bedroom.
Rubbing her wrist, Xie Mingjun muttered,
“Just a bag of bones…”
Dong Yin grabbed the little bag in the room and went into the bathroom to change. She changed agonizingly slowly. Part of it was embarrassment, but more than that it was… shyness.
It was a hard feeling to put into words.
From head to toe, she was wearing Xie Mingjun’s things. Inside and out, she was wrapped in the same scent as her.
Dong Yin quietly pinched the hem of the clothes and brought it to her nose.
So good.
Just the body wash alone wasn’t anything special, but mixed with someone’s body scent, it turned intoxicating, something you could get addicted to.
Was Xie Mingjun really waiting for her to finish changing just so she could open the door for her boyfriend?
Normally, Dong Yin wouldn’t call Zou Yuxi her boyfriend. She’d very seriously say “ex-boyfriend.” They hadn’t gotten back together yet.
But calling him “boyfriend” now had a kind of thrill to it, like she was humiliating him, and at the same time highlighting her relationship with Xie Mingjun.
While she was changing, Dong Yin glanced at herself in the mirror. She rarely used to do that. Maybe she’d kept her head down too long, gotten used to hiding herself. She’d never felt confident about her figure.
She straightened up, checking her waist, then her chest.
It… really wasn’t that small.
She hurried to pull the pajama top on, wondering if, when Xie Mingjun was gripping her clothes earlier, she’d felt her abs. All that yoga had given her a faint line of muscle.
Once she was done adjusting everything, she called out,
“I’m ready.”
Xie Mingjun opened the door. Just as expected, it was Zou Yuxi standing outside. She flicked a glance toward the bathroom, then drew it back. Zou Yuxi followed her gaze, sharp as ever, and frowned.
“Who’s that?”
“Mingjun…”
Before Xie Mingjun could answer, the bathroom door opened. Dong Yin stepped out, wearing Xie Mingjun’s pajamas, long hair loose down her back.
“So it’s Dong Yin…”
Zou Yuxi let out an awkward laugh, unable to name the feeling in his chest.
Knowing it was her should have been reassuring, yet it still felt off.
Maybe it was because she was wearing Xie Mingjun’s clothes. It made her seem… a little unlike herself.
He came in, his hands full of stuff.
Dong Yin gave it all a quick glance and caught sight of Xie Mingjun’s gaze. Xie Mingjun didn’t look at Zou Yuxi or show any interest in what he’d brought. She just kept inspecting Dong Yin.
She was more curious about how Dong Yin would react, now that Zou Yuxi was here.
Dong Yin didn’t go over to him. She walked to the table instead, slowly started gathering the books scattered on it, and shoved them into her backpack one by one.
The air went stiff for a few seconds. Zou Yuxi was the first to speak.
“Have you two eaten? I brought some cream puffs.”
“We’ve eaten,” Xie Mingjun said coldly. “Dong Yin made something this morning. Some kind of… hot rice.”
Zou Yuxi smiled.
“Dong Yin, thanks. It must be tiring taking care of Mingjun.”
Dong Yin nodded.
“Really tiring.”
Then she turned to look at Xie Mingjun.
“I’ve been taking care of her for a long time. All on my own.”
Zou Yuxi stared at the two of them for a while. Since Xie Mingjun didn’t respond to that, he assumed they were having a disagreement. After all, Dong Yin had spent the whole day complaining to him yesterday that Xie Mingjun wouldn’t let her leave.
Honestly, he felt pretty sour about it. Mingjun had told him to get lost, but kept Dong Yin here. He knew she was just throwing a tantrum, and he badly wanted to switch places with her. But he couldn’t say that out loud; it’d be too pathetic. He could only keep comforting Dong Yin, telling her it was fine, living with Mingjun was fine, nothing to be nervous about. It was just wearing her clothes, sleeping in her bed, right?
Zou Yuxi set the stuff down on the coffee table, then went over to talk to Mingjun. At first, she ignored him. Only when he brought up their videos did she finally give him a few minutes and listen quietly.
It was mostly about how Mingjun hadn’t appeared on camera in a long time, how the fans missed her. Plenty of them had been following her for years. Even if she was retiring, she should at least say goodbye.
Dong Yin perked up her ears too, planning to find a chance to drive a wedge between them, but after listening for so long, she couldn’t find a single opening to cut in.
Whenever they filmed, she was just the gofer. She didn’t really understand how they managed their channel.
“Let’s shoot another video during the National Day holiday,” Zou Yuxi said. “As a farewell. After that, if you want to retire, you can. Just… do it for your two million fans, okay?”
Xie Mingjun said nothing, only letting her eyes drift away.
They kept talking, one topic after another. Dong Yin watched Zou Yuxi poke at all of Mingjun’s bottom lines, edging closer and closer to her.
So annoying.
So, so annoying.
Dong Yin cut in.
“Xie Mingjun, come here a sec. I can’t find something.”
“Hm?” Mingjun glanced over.
Dong Yin was lying. She hadn’t brought anything with her when she came over. She was wearing Mingjun’s clothes, sleeping in Mingjun’s bed—everything on her belonged to Mingjun.
Even so, Mingjun went to the other room. She pushed the door mostly closed, letting it hang half-shut.
“What did you lose?”
Right in that blind spot behind the half-open door, Dong Yin was standing there quietly, eyes bright and shimmering like she was about to cry. It tugged at the softest part of a person. In the next second, she hooked an arm around Mingjun’s neck and pulled her into that shadowed corner.
With her back to the wall, Mingjun let her gaze roam over Dong Yin’s face.
“What are you trying to do now?”
Dong Yin pressed a kiss to her cheek. Mingjun didn’t move. Her lips slid from her cheek to the corner of her mouth. Dong Yin had wanted to kiss her for so long. She just wanted to kiss her.
Her tongue traced along the line of Mingjun’s lips.
When Mingjun didn’t part them, she tried to push her tongue in anyway. Mingjun gave her shoulder a light squeeze.
Dong Yin leaned in closer. The door creaked softly, swaying, threatening to either swing shut or swing wide open. She couldn’t spare any attention for that, just kept sucking at Mingjun’s lips.
They started really kissing. Wet sounds filled the tiny space, messy and reluctant to part. Dong Yin had only been kissed once before. She had no real experience, just raw instinct.
With the door not fully closed, in that cramped little corner, the slightest bigger movement would push them past the line, out into the open.
From outside, Zou Yuxi called, “You two done yet?”
When their lips finally broke apart, Mingjun’s mouth brushed past Dong Yin’s ear as she repeated in a low voice,
“Dong Yin, you done yet?”
Breathing lightly, Dong Yin answered,
“I’m still missing just a little bit.”
She leaned in again, ready to press their mouths together.
Mingjun still didn’t dodge. Her lips were slick with spit, vivid red even without lipstick, now bitten even brighter by Dong Yin.
She almost looked like she was waiting for another kiss.
And in that instant, a nasty thought bloomed in Dong Yin’s heart. Something from deep down.
If Mingjun wasn’t rejecting her, did that mean she was restless too? That somewhere inside, she was looking forward to this just as much?
What if Mingjun wanted her to take the initiative, wanted to try her taste?
If… if she deliberately held back, would Mingjun be the one to kiss her first?
One kiss wasn’t nearly enough. It was just an appetizer, just enough to nudge open the valve on desire. Their breathing was already getting heavier.
Dong Yin lifted her gaze. Her face loomed large in Mingjun’s vision: clean, bright, lips dewy-wet.
She blinked, dropped her eyes to Mingjun’s mouth. Their noses brushed, and Dong Yin exhaled softly, stirring the fine hairs on her skin.
Mingjun’s hands tightened, one on her waist, one pressing down on her shoulder, just about to pull her in and really kiss her back. When Mingjun kissed back, she’d be fierce. She’d bite her lips, kiss her until she cried.
See? Mingjun couldn’t hold back either.
A rush of satisfaction surged through Dong Yin, but she didn’t rush to close the distance.
With just a paper-thin sliver of space between them, she suddenly retreated, drawing away just as Mingjun was about to return the kiss, stepping back out of reach.
Only half the sweetness given, the tingle still lingering on her lips.
Mingjun’s breathing was rough. She looked like she was furious, all those unspent emotions backing up into flame.
Dong Yin pretended not to notice. She picked up the bag on the bed, walked out, and stuffed it into her backpack. Hand on the door, she said to Zou Yuxi,
“I’m done. I’m heading back.”
Then she turned her head to look at Mingjun, her voice going very soft.
“Let’s kiss again next time… when Zou Yuxi isn’t here.”
She acted terribly shy, terribly bashful, but they were both adults. There was no way he wouldn’t understand. She was seducing her, setting a hook, just waiting for this cold, aloof fish called Xie Mingjun to bite down.
“Huh?” Zou Yuxi was completely lost.
Then he saw Mingjun come out of the bedroom, face dark as a storm cloud. She only said one thing to him.
“What are you still standing there for?”
“Ah— I’m going too. About National Day, what do you think?” he hurried to ask.
By the entryway, Dong Yin was changing her shoes. They were just simple sneakers, only needed to be laced. Her fingers moved quickly, tugging at the laces and tying them into a neat bow.
“I’ll think about it,” Mingjun replied.
Done with her shoes, Dong Yin looked up at her. Mingjun looked back and accepted the signal in her eyes.
Their gazes met for a few brief seconds. Lashes trembled. Then their lids dropped, ending the moment.
Their breaths felt too warm, the skin between lip and chin almost scalding.
Why?
She couldn’t put it into words.
It was like there was something dirty between them.
That look they’d shared was too filthy, sending a tremor through every nerve. Even the oxygen molecules in the air felt like they were bumping and grinding against each other.
Zou Yuxi stood right there and noticed nothing. He didn’t even feel how long that moment had stretched.
Dong Yin pinched the strap of her backpack.
“I’m going.”
Mingjun grunted in acknowledgment. Dong Yin stepped out first without closing the door. Mingjun followed her out and pulled it shut from the inside. Only once she saw the door firmly closed did Dong Yin turn and head for the elevator.
On the way, she said to Zou Yuxi, guilty,
“I think I might have made Mingjun upset these last few days. I’m really sorry.”
He sighed.
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault.”
As he pressed the elevator button, Dong Yin snuck a glance back.
The steel security door, which had just closed, was now pushed open again.
Mingjun stood in the doorway, straight-backed, arms folded, her teeth sunk into her lower lip. With that furious look on her face, she seemed like she wanted to march over and hit Dong Yin.
