Chapter 480 - 221: Liking You, How Could Saying It Once Be Enough?
Chapter 480: Chapter 221: Liking You, How Could Saying It Once Be Enough?
The moment Shen Yuan heard the two words "boyfriend," he froze as if someone had hit pause.
The tops of his ears turned a vibrant red, the blush spreading visibly down his neck.
A powerful urge washed over him—he wanted to pull her into a tight embrace and hear her say that wonderful word a thousand times over.
He practically held his breath, feeling as if every vein in his body was thrumming in celebration of those two words.
Full of a slightly foolish joy and at a loss for what to do, Shen Yuan stammered out a reply, "Oh... oh!"
Li Zhi held the ice cream, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Shen Yuan.
Under her gaze, Shen Yuan cautiously sat down in the spot Li Zhi had just patted.
The mattress sank with his weight.
Just as Li Zhi expected him to settle in beside her, a wet wipe appeared in his hand.
"Always with the ice cream," Shen Yuan said, his voice a little raspy, but his eyes were brimming with a teasing smile.
He looked at the girl before him, still taking small bites of her ice cream, and raised the wet wipe pinched between his fingers.
"You’ve cried yourself into a messy kitten, and you don’t even know it?"
Li Zhi paused, the small wooden spoon of the ice cream between her teeth. She blinked her still-damp lashes, obviously oblivious to his "messy kitten" description.
She mumbled a response, "Hm? Have I?"
"Of course you have!"
Shen Yuan leaned closer, his fingers, which held the wipe, curling slightly. With painstaking care, he gently touched the wipe to her cheek, where clear tear tracks remained.
"See, here... and here..."
The wipe under his fingers was cool, but his movements were gentle, as if he were cleaning a priceless piece of porcelain, carefully dabbing away the dried, salty marks.
She instinctively flinched, turning her head to dodge. "...Cold! You jerk, Shen Yuan! I can do it myself..."
"Don’t move." Shen Yuan’s tone became even softer as his fingertip, under the wipe, brushed across the particularly damp skin beneath her eye.
"Tsk, you really put your all into crying, didn’t you? There are tear streaks everywhere..."
The coolness of the wipe and the warmth of his fingers, transmitted through the thin cloth, created a curious contrast that sent an uncontrollable flush of heat to Li Zhi’s ears again.
"It’s still your fault!" Li Zhi lifted her chin, mumbling her accusation as she glared at him.
"You’re the one who scared me!"
With that, she took a large, retaliatory bite of her ice cream, her cheeks puffing out slightly as he continued to dab at her face.
Shen Yuan smiled and changed his angle, using a clean corner of the wipe to gently and slowly clean her other cheek.
When the last trace of tears had vanished beneath the wipe and his fingertips, Shen Yuan’s gaze rested heavily on her finally clean and flawless face.
The patch of skin he’d dried revealed a healthy, pinkish glow under the light.
’Tsk. I really want to kiss her.’
"There," he murmured, his fingertip gently tapping the end of her pert nose, the smile in his eyes practically overflowing. "Not a messy kitten anymore."
"Hmph!"
The girl glared at him and, with a SMACK, slapped away the "paw" that had just left her nose.
Shen Yuan wasn’t annoyed; on the contrary, he was even more delighted watching her pouting face.
With a flick of his fingers, he casually and accurately tossed the now-warm wet wipe into a nearby trash can.
With that done, he finally relaxed, letting his body sink down and settle properly into the spot Li Zhi had patted.
The soft mattress sighed again, faithfully bearing his weight.
The distance between them instantly shrank.
The young man’s broad shoulders sank slightly, his body heat radiating faintly through his sweater, once again bringing his clean, fresh scent clearly to Li Zhi’s senses.
He turned his head, gazing at the girl beside him from up close. In his eyes, besides the lingering, doting smile, there was something else—something heavier, deeper.
Shen Yuan’s fingers unconsciously toyed with the fine fuzz of the bedsheets, his gaze fixed on the sight of her taking small bites of ice cream.
The cool, sweet fragrance permeated the warm room.
"Is it sweet?"
Li Zhi licked a bit of ice cream from her lips, nodded, and offered the wooden spoon to him, the gesture perfectly natural. "Here, try it yourself?"
Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed again.
He didn’t take the spoon. Instead, he leaned in slightly, drawing close to the hand holding the spoon, and gently touched his lips to the very edge of its tip where a little ice cream remained.
Shen Yuan’s movement was swift, almost like a sneak attack.
The tip of his tongue touched the cold sweetness, but what was more searing was the mingling of their breaths as the distance between them vanished, and the way his gaze bored straight into her eyes.
Li Zhi’s hand hung in mid-air. Her fingertips, brushed by his warm breath, trembled violently.
She pulled her hand back as if shocked. As a reflex, her other leg, wrapped in thick black tights, kicked out toward him.
She snapped playfully, "Jerk! If you wanted a bite, you should’ve just taken it! Who... who said you could taste it like that..."
Shen Yuan chuckled. "Want to watch something else? Those two seem to have gotten tired of watching, so now it’s our turn to watch them."
Li Zhi looked at the two little cats that had already jumped onto the bed. The images from the projector no longer interested them.
The two humans on the bed, on the other hand, were probably far more interesting.
Especially San Geng, who had already snuggled up to Li Zhi’s leg.
The thick black tights and the white cat formed a stark contrast.
Shen Yuan gestured toward the ice cream in Li Zhi’s hand, his eyes filled with a mischievous smile. "Gengzi wants some of your ice cream."
Li Zhi was just putting a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. Hearing this, she paused and subconsciously followed Shen Yuan’s gaze to San Geng, who was crouching by her leg.