Early the next morning.
Soft sunlight spilled into the room through the window, resting upon the girl with ice-blue hair lying on the bed.
"Mmm..."
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as her hazy consciousness gradually returned to her body. Ling Luochen slowly opened her eyes.
Confusion flickered in her gray eyes first, followed by a wave of bewilderment and doubt.
Where... am I?
Ling Luochen only remembered waiting outside the room for a certain scumbag to return. She had waited for a long, long time, and when he never showed up, she... fainted?
Ling Luochen slowly sat up, closing her eyes as she rubbed her forehead.
She had a rough idea of what had happened. She knew her own personality well—once she decided on something, no one could pull her back. Since she had resolved to wait at that scumbag's door to clear things up, she had stayed there the entire time.
But why am I here?
In her memory, the last place she had been was on the carpet outside Yuhao's room. Even if she had fainted, shouldn't she still be there? How did she end up in here?
With a strange expression, Ling Luochen looked around, only to realize this wasn't her room at all! The decorations, the style, the scent... this was clearly... Yuhao's room!
Click.
The sound of the door lock turning.
Ling Luochen quickly looked up to see Huo Yuhao walking in slowly, carrying breakfast.
"You're awake?"
Huo Yuhao asked softly.
"Yuhao..."
Ling Luochen's eyes lost focus for a moment before she snapped out of it, hurriedly trying to get out of bed.
However, the moment she moved, Huo Yuhao stopped her.
"Alright, your nerves have been wound tight for a month. Even if your body can handle it, your spirit can't. Just lie down and rest."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao handed over the breakfast and pulled up a chair to sit beside her. "Eat while it's hot. I made it myself."
Ling Luochen blinked. She wasn't quite grasping the situation.
She had fainted, woke up in Yuhao's bed, her body felt slightly sore, and now Yuhao was being this gentle... It gave her a strange sense of déjà vu, like a husband taking care of his wife!
Could it be... my first time has already...?!!
Her hand moved instinctively under the covers to check, but Ling Luochen found nothing unusual. Lacking any experience, she felt a wave of doubt.
Doesn't the book say it's supposed to hurt? Why don't I feel anything? It's not even as messy as waking up after having those dreams about Yuhao...
Ling Luochen felt a sudden, inexplicable urge to pull back the covers and see if there were any red stains on the sheets. After all, the books said that always happened the first time...
"What are you thinking about?"
"I—I'm not thinking about anything!"
Ling Luochen protested too much.
Watching her emotions shift like a flickering LED light, Huo Yuhao had a bizarre expression.
You call that 'nothing'?
Pausing for a moment, Huo Yuhao made a decision. Under the circumstances, he should apologize first:
"I'm sorry. I didn't think you would give me an answer so quickly, so I went to do research. I thought by the time I finished, you'd be ready to talk... I didn't expect that research to last an entire month. I'm sorry."
Huo Yuhao apologized again. He truly felt guilty; making a girl wait like that for a month was the definition of scumbag behavior.
Oh... wait. He was a scumbag.
That made things even worse!
The ending for scumbags was usually having no corpse left to bury!
"No... it's fine..."
Ling Luochen shook her head, taking small, hesitant bites of her breakfast.
As she ate, however, she recalled her original purpose for seeking him out.
After a long silence, she stopped eating. Her hand instinctively clenched over her heart as she summoned her courage to speak:
"Just how many people... do you have out there?"
"Uh..."
Huo Yuhao fell silent.
One figure after another flashed through his mind.
Ice Emperor, Sister Skydream, Qiu'er, Sister Nana, Sister Meng, Sister Ju Zi... and Ling Luochen in front of him. But that was just the current count.
He knew he wouldn't let go of Dong'er either, so that had to be added...
As for how many more there would be in the future...
Huo Yuhao truly didn't know.
"I don't know for now..."
"You!"
Ling Luochen felt an immediate wave of frustration. Don't know?! What does that even mean?! Is it because there are too many to count?! I really want to bite this scumbag to death!
"Can't you just stop being so fickle?! You have Sister Bingbing, Sister Skydream, and—and me... Isn't three enough for you?! Do you really need a different one for every day of the week?!"
Even if we have to play with some of those strange things mentioned in the books, I could accept it!
"It's not for that reason..." Huo Yuhao shook his head gently. "I just don't want to owe any of them..."
Classic scumbag speech! Ling Luochen critiqued internally.
"...In the past, I owed too many people. Now that I have a chance to start over, I don't want to fail anyone."
Huo Yuhao gently took Ling Luochen's hand. His words were soft yet incredibly earnest. "So, I don't want to let go of your hand. Not at all."
His tone was sincere, without a trace of falsehood.
His azure eyes met hers. Ling Luochen felt her heart racing so fast it felt like it would leap out of her chest.
Is this a confession? It has to be a confession!
Just a moment ago, she was mentally condemning this scumbag bastard, but in the next breath, her mind was occupied by only one question...
Do I say yes? Or... say yes? Or... hesitate for a bit and then say yes?
Under Huo Yuhao's gaze, her fair, delicate face slowly turned a deep shade of crimson, like the red swirl atop a strawberry sundae. Just looking at it made one want to take a bite to see how it tasted.
Huo Yuhao... felt the same.
Taking advantage of the girl's dazed state, Huo Yuhao silently moved the small bed-table and the breakfast aside.
At the same time, his gaze drifted down from her beautiful gray eyes to her lips, which were flushed red from her nervous biting.
Exceedingly tempting.
The choice between emotional instinct and logic appeared again.
But before Huo Yuhao could decide which to follow, the girl's figure suddenly zoomed in before him, leaning closer and closer!
Huo Yuhao froze. Looking into those gray eyes, he saw a look of absolute, desperate determination!
The next second, the warm, soft sensation on his lips caused him to cease thinking entirely.
Huo Yuhao has ceased thinking.JPG
The girl's sudden initiative had taken the situation in a very strange direction.
What exactly did she want to do?
It was simple.
Go for it, Yuhao!