Chapter 564 - 236: Can I Kiss You Now?
Chapter 564: Chapter 236: Can I Kiss You Now?
"Selaan!!!" The beautiful girl’s voice was full of disgust and indignant anger.
"Shen Yuan! Can your brain think about something else for once?! The break just started and you’re already thinking about *this*! You really can’t wait at all, can you?!"
Huffing, she lifted her foot and feigned a kick at Shen Yuan’s shin, but the motion lacked any real force. It was more a way to vent her mortified anger.
Once finished, Li Zhi shot Shen Yuan a fierce glare, the kind of look one would give a hopeless creep.
But beneath that fierce anger, Shen Yuan caught the fluster and shyness that flashed through her eyes, hidden under her thick lashes.
Looking at Shen Yuan, Li Zhi instinctively hid her burning cheeks deeper into her scarf.
Watching Li Zhi put on this ferocious act despite clearly being nervous out of her mind, Shen Yuan couldn’t keep the corners of his lips from turning up into a wide smile.
’I got an earful, but it seems... I wasn’t totally rejected, was I?’
’After all... Li Bao is a girl of her word.’
Leaning against each other, the two of them made their way back to their front doors.
The moment the elevator DINGED, Shen Yuan instinctively let go.
Even though Old Li had liked Li Zhi’s relationship announcement on her social media, Shen Yuan still felt a little intimidated by his prospective father-in-law.
In short, he was a total wimp about it.
Watching Li Zhi take out her key, Shen Yuan asked on a whim, "Li Bao, um... are you coming over tonight? To do homework together?"
Li Zhi froze, her key stuck in the lock.
She whipped her head around, her eyes wide.
"Huh?"
The girl’s voice shot up an octave, a mixture of mortified anger and disbelief. "Selaan! What are you thinking?! There’s no way I’m coming over!"
She yanked her front door open, as if to cut off the idiot’s attempt to push his luck, and quickly added a parting shot, "Go back and do your own practice tests! And stop thinking such crooked thoughts!"
Having said her piece, as if afraid Shen Yuan would pester her further, Li Zhi slammed the door shut with a BANG.
The sound of the door slamming was jarring in the quiet hallway.
Shen Yuan stood rooted to the spot, staring at the tightly shut door.
"Such a tsundere..." the young man mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
Then, Shen Yuan turned and headed for his own apartment, not worried in the slightest.
’After all, it’s winter break... There’s plenty of time.’
On the other side of the door, Li Zhi’s back was pressed tightly against the cold wood.
Shen Yuan’s question, ’Does this mean I can kiss you?’, echoed in her mind, looping and amplifying like a cursed chant, making her heart pound violently with each repetition.
"St-Stupid idiot Shen Yuan!" she cursed under her breath, but her voice was soft and trembling, lacking all its usual sharpness.
The beautiful girl stomped her foot hard, as if trying to crush that hateful person’s image under her heel.
She dashed into her bedroom and tossed her schoolbag carelessly onto the floor.
Then, as if completely drained of strength, she flopped onto her large, soft bed, burying her burning face deep into a plush pillow.
"Kiss, my foot... In your dreams!" came a muffled voice from beneath the pillow, while her fingers unconsciously twisted the edge of the pillowcase.
However, when she closed her eyes, it was as if an invisible candle had been lit in the darkness.
For some reason, an incredibly clear image burst into her mind—not the hasty peck she’d planted on the corner of Shen Yuan’s lips that night, but a... completely different scene, one that made her breath catch in her throat.
It was Shen Yuan’s face, his features sharp and distinct under a warm, yellow light, his gaze so scorching it seemed ready to devour her whole.
This was no longer restrained or accidental. Instead, with absolute Concentration and an irresistible force, he leaned in, his breath heavy as he captured her lips.
It was no longer a light brush against the corner of her mouth, but a kiss in the truest sense of the word.
A tingling numbness, so intense it was almost suffocating, shot through her entire body, making even her toes curl unconsciously.
"Ngh—!"
Li Zhi’s eyes flew open. She let out a short, startled gasp in the quiet room, her chest heaving as if she had just experienced a struggle so intense it left her gasping for air.
It was just a fantasy, but the shock it sent through her was a hundred times more powerful than the actual, fleeting kiss!
Like an ostrich, she once again buried her scorching-hot face deep into her pillow, her heart threatening to leap out of her throat.
’Th-this is too mortifying!’
’How could I have imagined... imagined a scene like that?!’
In her panic, Li Zhi’s mind flashed back to that night—the memory of leaning over Shen Yuan, telling him to close his eyes, and the sensation of gently pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth...
That clumsy little peck became her only defense, her only piece of "evidence." A strange sort of confidence began to sprout through the waves of her shyness.
Li Zhi took a deep breath, as if to draw strength from it.
’What’s there to be afraid of!’
’Besides... it’s not like we haven’t kissed before!’
’The corner of the mouth... that still counts as a kiss!’
’We k-kissed a long time ago! So what! What’s the big deal! And there’s definitely nothing to be afraid of!’
’We’ve already kissed! What’s a few more inches?!’
’Right! That’s it! What is there that I, Li Zhi, wouldn’t dare do!’
’It’s not like I haven’t done it before! If I dared to kiss him then, am I really going to chicken out now?!’
Like a magic spell, the thought instantly dispelled the panic and helplessness brought on by her fantasy.
The beautiful girl clenched her fist, as if making a firm resolution with herself.
Her delicate pink lips pressed together, then relaxed. Finally, she squeezed a trembling declaration through her teeth—a declaration that seemed intended both to bolster her own courage and to declare war on the idiot who had made her lose her composure so completely.
"Hmph! You think I’m sc-scared of you?! Besides... we’ve already kissed!"
As soon as she said it, Li Zhi felt the heat in her cheeks, far from receding, climb to an entirely new level.
The beautiful girl abruptly rolled over in bed, burying her face even deeper into the pillow, leaving only the messy crown of her hair and the tips of her blood-red ears exposed to the cool air.