A Time-Limited Romance with Movie Queen Ex - Chapter 13

Rong Qingyao approached slowly, her delicate eyebrows dusted with light snow like distant mountains. “What are you doing here?”

The expensive hem of her gown dragged through the muddy snow, occasionally illuminated by the headlights of passing luxury cars, transforming the fabric into a grimy oil painting.

Luo Mijin tore off the overly long skirt, the wind tousling her hair, revealing a wild, untamed arrogance.

“I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to run away.”

The whimsy and exhaustion in her words earned her gentle treatment. Rong Qingyao took off her old down jacket and draped it over Luo Mijin, then slowly sat beside her.

“Why run away?” she asked softly, as if ready to flee with Luo Mijin.

Luo Mijin reached out to catch a snowflake, watching it melt bit by bit. “I wanted to become a snowflake.”

She turned to look at Rong Qingyao and smiled. “Melt away when unhappy.”

“Why?”

“If we could choose between freezing or melting, the world wouldn’t feel so lifeless.”

For some reason, Rong Qingyao felt a pang of sadness looking at her smile perhaps a lingering trace of bad emotions, or maybe she truly understood Luo Mijin.

Ever since witnessing her mother’s death as a child, she had silently vowed to climb as high as she could, by any means necessary, to ensure no one could ever humiliate or harm her again.

Even if fate had never favored her.

Yet she couldn’t understand why someone like Luo Mijin, born into privilege, seemed like a child perpetually on the verge of homelessness.

“Why did your hair turn black?” she asked, studying Luo Mijin.

“Oh, my grandfather made me wear a wig,” Luo Mijin replied, as if snapping out of a dream, and removed it. “Does it look bad?”

“No, it’s fine either way,” Rong Qingyao answered.

“That’s good. But I prefer silver hair.” Luo Mijin hugged the down jacket tightly and staggered to her feet.

“What happened to your leg? Does it hurt?”

Luo Mijin shrugged off the pain. “Just a fall.”

A beam of light suddenly appeared on the deserted mountain road, accompanied by shouts of Luo Mijin’s name.

Dazed for half a second, Luo Mijin suddenly pulled Rong Qingyao behind the trunk of a tree near the streetlamp.

“Senior Qingyao, we need to hide.”

It was the man from the banquet the one introduced to her as a potential match, surnamed Yuan. Probably sent by the elders to look for her.

The thick trunks of the mountain trees and the dim light concealed their overlapping figures well.

As the snow fell gently, Rong Qingyao instinctively pressed Luo Mijin against the tree. Tilting her head up, her gaze turned curious. “Why hide from him?”

“I don’t want to be taken back,” Luo Mijin answered obediently.

A wave of thoughts flooded Rong Qingyao’s mind, a flicker of displeasure surfacing in her tone. “What is he to you?”

Luo Mijin instinctively lowered her head, her lips nearly brushing the faint tear mole at the corner of Rong Qingyao’s eye. “A matchmaking prospect.”

At this, Rong Qingyao’s eyes gleamed with amusement, recalling the rumors her roommate had spread, how Luo Mijin had no preference for gender but leaned toward women…

Her fingers, resting on Luo Mijin’s shoulder, curled slightly, tangling in the other’s long hair. “Does your family want you to marry him?”

Supported by Rong Qingyao, Luo Mijin could feel the soft curves and fragrant warmth radiating through the woman’s damp clothes. The heat of her breath against his neck made him stiffen slightly.

She shook her head blankly. “I won’t get married.”

“Won’t your family pressure you?”

“They will, but I still won’t.”

Pleased by this response, Rong Qingyao allowed herself to ask teasingly, “Then who would you want to marry?”

A flicker of light passed through Luo Mijin’s eyes before dimming again. “No one would want to marry me anyway.”

Rong Qingyao wanted to ask why, but the moment for indulgence had passed. She simply nodded slightly, gazing at the unusually light color of Luo Mijin’s pupils.

“Your eye color is so pale.”

“My mother was mixed race.”

Beneath the frost-laden trees, their breaths mingled, standing so close they could count each other’s eyelashes.

“He seems to be calling you,” Rong Qingyao said, just as she noticed the untamed curve of mischief in Luo Mijin’s eyes.

“I gave him the wrong number.”

“And mine?”

“Of course it’s real. You can call me right now to check,” Luo Mijin whispered, like a child solemnly entrusting their favorite toy.

For the first time, Rong Qingyao felt a pang of guilt. She turned her head slightly, cheeks faintly flushed, and after a long pause said, “I didn’t save it.”

Most people would be angry at this, she thought.

“It was my fault for writing it on scrap paper so casually,” Luo Mijin said, her long, dark lashes fluttering with her smile.

They stood barely a dozen centimeters apart. Though Rong Qingyao’s expression remained detached, even indifferent, her tightly clenched hands betrayed her racing heartbeat.

“Senior Qingyao, why don’t you give me your number instead?”

Rong Qingyao didn’t respond. She smiled faintly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, while waves of emotion rose higher and higher within her.

“Your blind date is gone.”

Luo Mijin peeked out to see the snowy path restored to quietude. Turning back to Rong Qingyao, she said:

“Thank you for playing hide-and-seek with me.”

Rong Qingyao half-closed her eyes, her thoughts drifting slightly. “Next time, pick a better hiding spot.”

Luo Mijin knew her choice of words was often peculiar, but this was the first time someone had bypassed the responses she disliked to give her such joyful feedback.

So there was someone in this world who could resonate with her frequency.

Truthfully, she hadn’t expected to run into Rong Qingyao here. Seeing her felt like a divine reward, making this noisy world slightly more bearable.

They stood beneath the street sign. The moonlight of the snowy night couldn’t penetrate the profound elegance of the woman’s features, casting instead a frosted shadow that softened her usual aloofness with an unsettling allure.

“Senior Qingyao, you seem cold. Would you like some candy?” Luo Mijin returned the down jacket to Rong Qingyao. She didn’t feel cold at all, happiness kept her warm.

The jacket carried Luo Mijin’s scent, reminiscent of refreshing summer soda. Rong Qingyao’s mind wandered to the day she’d been steeped in this fragrance.

“Do you give candy to many people?”

Under Rong Qingyao’s intense gaze, Luo Mijin felt herself drowning in some kind of trap.

“Not that many,” she said guiltily, touching her temple. “As I told you, my grandfather made me bring some for classmates to help me make friends.”

Rong Qingyao couldn’t quite tell if she felt happy or relieved. She found Luo Mijin to be a peculiar person outwardly obedient and sensible, yet in reality just another form of self-willed stubbornness.

The woman tilted her face upward, her pristine features illuminated by moonlight. “You should go back now.”

“But I have nowhere to go,” Luo Mijin said with downcast eyes, looking like a stray animal nobody would take in.

The claim lacked credibility, how could Luo Mijin possibly have nowhere to go? There were only places she chose not to visit.

A long-absent sense of indecision surfaced in Rong Qingyao’s mind, stirring a faint impulse within her.

“Senior Qingyao, I should treat you to a soda,” Luo Mijin murmured after a silent moment in the swirling snow, her silver bangs shadowing her slightly raised brows, concealing her nervous anticipation.

Though Rong Qingyao’s expression remained impassive, her glistening eyes held a fragile allure. “Let’s get a room.”

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