A Time-Limited Romance with Movie Queen Ex - Chapter 16

Soft, pure white snow drifted slowly from the morning sky, while the air in the dimly lit room grew increasingly stifling.

Rong Qingyao’s body still burned with lingering heat, but her expression had already cooled.

With a faint, mocking smile, she looked directly at Luo Mijin and asked softly, “Is this what you want?”

Startled by the woman’s deliberate coldness, Luo Mijin recalled how Rong Qingyao had been eager to distance herself in the hotel, worried about causing too much trouble.

So, unlike the first time when she had pressed Rong Qingyao about whether they could be together, Luo Mijin feigned calm and said,

“I… don’t mind either way.”

Hiding her sore body beneath the warm covers, Rong Qingyao gazed into Luo Mijin’s eyes, unable to speak for a long time.

She had never asked for anything outright, no matter who the other person was.

This stubborn flaw was deeply ingrained born from never having received much and from her excessive pride.

Acting this way spared her from worrying prematurely about things that hadn’t happened or torturing herself over what she had lost.

For her, laying bare her innermost thoughts and desires was an incredibly difficult thing.

In the silent standoff, Rong Qingyao’s phone suddenly rang the caller ID read “Zhang Zhen.”

Luo Mijin remembered this person, the one who had once arranged a heart-shaped candlelit confession for Rong Qingyao on the school field.

Once the call ended, Luo Mijin lowered her head and asked bluntly,

“Qingyao, was that the person who confessed to you last time? Are you two together now?”

Surprised by Luo Mijin’s sharpness, Rong Qingyao’s face remained expressionless, though a ripple of emotion flickered in her eyes. “If we were together, what would you do?”

What would she do? Luo Mijin smoothed down the stray hair on her forehead, searching through what she had learned about human social norms.

Was sleeping with someone who was already in a relationship considered cheating?

“I’d give you a gift and keep my distance,” she murmured, unsure whether Rong Qingyao was being serious, but answering according to conventional social etiquette.

People seemed to really enjoy exchanging gifts, after all.

As for the dull ache in her chest, she swallowed it silently, she had lived this way for years.

“Give me a gift? Why?”

“To wish you happiness. I wouldn’t be so inconsiderate, I know where the boundaries lie.”

Rong Qingyao almost laughed coldly. What boundaries even existed between her and Luo Mijin?

The kind where they filled each other with heat and gasps last night, only to dress up and feign indifference this morning?

The wildfire that had raged between them last night had now completely burned out.

The woman knelt with her back to Luo Mijin as she buttoned up her white shirt, then turned around, her delicate and translucent face once again wearing a friendly, beautiful smile.

“Thank you.”

“Qingyao…” Luo Mijin reached out to touch her but quickly withdrew her hand.

Rong Qingyao seemed to have reverted to the gentle, lovely, and well-liked senior everyone knew not the moody, fragile woman Luo Mijin had seen.

“I’m heading back to campus,” Rong Qingyao said indifferently, watching as the lingering candlelight had long since melted away.

“I’ll take you.”

The area was remote, and Luo Mijin didn’t feel comfortable letting her return alone.

Rong Qingyao neither agreed nor refused, simply remaining silent.

Outside the small inn, the branches of the trees were coated in frost, stretching toward the sky like icy flames.

They walked along the main road to the bus stop. The early morning bus was nearly empty, and after boarding, they wordlessly moved in unison to the back row and sat down.

Outside the window, cumulus clouds towered like mountains, and dappled tree shadows flickered past. Luo Mijin twisted her fingers together, wanting to ask Rong Qingyao once more how she defined the relationship between them.

But the woman had already closed her eyes and put on her headphones, immersing herself in an English listening exercise.

Every time Luo Mijin saw Rong Qingyao, she seemed enveloped in a mist of crystalline frost like high-altitude snowflakes, ethereal and transient, as if she didn’t belong here and might vanish at any moment.

Afraid that this snow would melt away, Luo Mijin didn’t dare disturb her.

The bus ride took two hours before they finally arrived at Gate No. 2 of S University. Rong Qingyao led Luo Mijin off the bus, the morning chill so biting that she couldn’t help shivering slightly.

The muffled British accent in her headphones mingled with the mist in her eyes, blurring her vision. Rong Qingyao removed the black earpieces, her porcelain skin fragile and translucent, as if it might shatter at a touch.

She felt Luo Mijin’s unwavering gaze, warm and tender like steaming cocoa, softening her heart just a little.

Perhaps that lingering impulse hadn’t fully faded, because suddenly, she wanted to give herself a chance,

A chance to step into a trap woven of roses and thorns.

So, feigning retreat, she asked, “Junior Luo, did you have something else to say to me?”

Her heart pounding, Luo Mijin took a step forward, as if brushing away the hazy mist between them.

“Senior Qingyao, actually, I don’t want to!”

“Luo Mijin, 7-dan! Can I get your autograph?” A girl’s shrill voice cut Luo Mijin off, followed by two or three others crowding around.

“Luo Mijin, can you sign your name on this photo of you?”

Having forgotten her mask and beanie, Luo Mijin had no choice but to oblige, mechanically signing her name over and over.

By the time the fans left, delighted, a girl in a white dress hurried over, clutching an umbrella.

“Luo, thank you for lending me your umbrella last time.” Blushing, the girl held out a pink envelope. “And this letter is for you too.”

Watching from a short distance as Luo Mijin accepted the letter, Rong Qingyao’s eyes darkened. Then came an even more piercing sentence.

“Luo, will you go out with me? You said last time you were willing to try dating.”

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