A Time-Limited Romance with Movie Queen Ex - Chapter 39.1

Under the pitch-black night sky, the howling winds of Xueye surrounded the small car. Nearly frozen stiff, they had no choice but to retreat back into the cramped vehicle, though the temperature inside continued to drop.

Yet Luo Mijin, kissed by Rong Qingyao, felt no cold, only electric tremors of pleasure coursing through her.

In her entire life, she had never experienced a moment so joyful and free. Rong Qingyao might just be the only one who truly understood her, who didn’t run away but chose instead to embrace her.

So, instinctively, she responded with inexperienced yet fervent kisses, nearly overtaking Rong Qingyao’s initial dominance. The usually composed Rong Qingyao was left breathless, reduced to soft, heated gasps and helpless whimpers escaping between their lips.

Sensual bliss numbed them to all caution, leaving only the desperate need to draw closer, to give without reservation.

Across the vast sky, pale green Auroras shimmered, breathtakingly beautiful, like the hem of a goddess’s gown draped over the heavens, edged with the rarest and most delicate green silk.

The Auroras hung nearly motionless, stretching endlessly above, as if displayed solely for the two inside the car.

With the car’s interior too cramped, Rong Qingyao had abandoned the driver’s seat entirely, straddling Luo Mijin’s lap instead.

Now, after the soul-consuming kiss, the woman could only collapse against Luo Mijin, her heated breaths laid bare, the delicate curves of her shoulder blades rising and falling with each shaky exhale.

“Senior, is this your answer?” Luo Mijin gently patted her back, soothing the intensity of what had just transpired.

Rong Qingyao’s eyes were still damp, her body yet to recover from the overwhelming intimacy. But she lifted her gaze without hesitation. “Yes, it’s my answer.”

No matter what happened next, she wouldn’t regret it.

The car’s heater barely made a difference. Remembering the portable camping stove the rental owner had thrown in for free, Rong Qingyao and Luo Mijin retrieved it from the trunk and assembled the chimney.

Using kindling to ignite the last of their charcoal, they fed the flames, the chimney extending through the sunroof.

Now, the howling winds outside poured in even louder, though the sound was oddly soothing, like white noise lulling them to sleep.

Rong Qingyao stuffed a towel into the gaps around the sunroof, and slowly, the temperature inside rose to something barely tolerable.

Then, boiling water from their bottles over the stove, they prepared two cups of instant noodles to replenish their energy and warmth.

“Next time we go camping, let’s sleep in a tent,” Luo Mijin suggested, sliding a piece of warmed beef jerky into Rong Qingyao’s cup. Her light eyes sparkled with excitement. “Actually, an RV would be nice too, we could cook, watch movies, and play games.”

“Alright, we’ll work hard to afford one. But I don’t know how to set up a tent.”

“I do. I studied how to do it and even practiced at home in secret,” Luo Mijin admitted sheepishly. Her limited allowance had been spent on all sorts of impractical hobbies like this.

Leaning against each other, they ate their noodles while Luo Mijin pulled up videos on camping and tent setups, both engrossed in the possibilities.

As dawn approached, the sun in the cosmos once again ejected vast amounts of charged particles, interacting with Earth’s magnetic field to trigger a geomagnetic storm, a dazzling Aurora that danced wildly like a solar wind.

They brought their camping stove outside, where the heat of the flames dissipated instantly, leaving only a warm glow.

So the two wrapped themselves in cheap old blankets, their long hair tousled by the wind, tangled messily together.

The starry wilderness, the deep sky everything was unbelievably beautiful. Luo Mijin felt she had become someone who would always see light, even in the darkest of times.

They reclined their seats, bid each other goodnight, and tried to sleep. Yet after the earlier intensity, returning to their own spaces left them with an unbearable emptiness and exhaustion.

Gazing at the Aurora and stars on the horizon, Luo Mijin tugged at the fleece blanket and tentatively whispered:

“Senior?”

“What is it?” Rong Qingyao immediately opened her eyes and responded.

Luo Mijin’s eyes burned like sudden flames, glowing brightly in the night, sweeping over Rong Qingyao’s fluttering lashes, cool gaze, straight nose, and beautifully shaped lips.

She’s so beautiful.

“I’m so tired, but I can’t sleep.”

“Me too,” Rong Qingyao said softly. The stars in the night sky cast a surreal halo, making everything feel dreamlike, almost illusory. “Then… do you want to hold hands?”

“Huh?” Luo Mijin propped herself up slightly, turning toward Rong Qingyao, and saw the woman’s fair, delicate ears flush crimson.

“Mhm. Holding hands helps you sleep better.”

“I guess so.”

Though the statement had no basis or source, it was unanimously agreed upon by both.

In the small space illuminated by the stove, their hands reached across the car’s center console, finding the most comfortable position to intertwine.

To avoid the cold, Rong Qingyao deliberately covered their hands with her own clothes.

Now they felt at ease.

After some sleep, they decided to head back. Halfway, where there was signal, they checked their phones. Thankfully, there were no messages from professors over the past two days, but if they delayed any longer, the risk of being discovered would grow.

Besides, their internship work officially started this Monday, and they couldn’t afford to be late.

The return journey ended with Luo Mijin driving from daybreak to sunset. They traveled along the desolate highway, where, beyond the sea, the scattering of dust particles in the atmosphere formed a pale pink arc of light.

They hadn’t brought a camera, so they stopped the car and leaned side by side against the hood. Under the anti-twilight glow known as the Belt of Venus, they drank cold water from paper cups and then kissed recklessly, until their icy lips were pressed, bitten, and warmed to the point of bleeding.

As they kissed, Luo Mijin suddenly thought of the moon above them, drifting away from humanity at a speed of about 3.8 centimeters per year.

Would she ever have another chance to watch the rise and fall of a full moon with Rong Qingyao? Because she, too, didn’t know if there would ever be a moment when they felt closer to each other than they did now.

Here, the clamor of the city couldn’t cage anyone. The boundless wilderness under the starry sky erased origins, social classes, power, wealth even the weight of judgmental gazes.

They weren’t two people worlds apart, nor were they bound by worldly conventions. They could love each other without restraint.

No one would care about their actions because of their gender, nor would they care whether they were making mistakes, acting impulsively, or if they even had a future.

Luo Mijin glanced at the sky, then turned back to look at Rong Qingyao. The woman standing under the sunrise was ethereal in both spirit and bone, her expression cool yet tender, possessing far too many qualities that made one want to linger.

“Luo Mijin, do you really…” Really like me?

Rong Qingyao didn’t voice the question aloud. It seemed unnecessary, her heart could already feel the answer completely.

This person was pure, beautiful, intelligent, with a sensitivity and charm unlike ordinary people.

Luo Mijin loved her, and loved her with deep devotion. This unwavering sincerity, this sense of “no one but her,” carried a fatal allure, encompassing both desire and passion.

She wanted to respond with equal warmth and sincerity, even if she didn’t know what would be the most romantic way.

Someone like Luo Mijin should be nurtured with sunlight, warmth, and love, letting her flourish like that unique Scottish green rose.

She had never imagined someone like this would barge into her world, catching her off guard yet leaving her overjoyed in the end.

Rong Qingyao wanted to capture this moment with her phone, but a text message happened to come in just then.

Luo Mijin saw it too, it was from that computer science major who had confessed to Rong Qingyao before. He had also come here for an internship and was texting to ask her out to dinner tonight.

His words were earnest, yet unabashedly persistent in his pursuit.

Luo Mijin’s earlier excitement came to an abrupt halt, as if she had slammed on the brakes. An illusion of strong glue seemed to bind her, leaving her unable to break free.

But Rong Qingyao had kissed her first and even said she didn’t regret it, she must like her, right?

Luo Mijin fell into a self-created dilemma. She knew Rong Qingyao liked her, even completely, but it still wasn’t enough.

She wanted more… as much as when they saw the Aurora together, so much that neither her eyes nor her heart could contain it.

Noticing Luo Mijin turn her face away, her mood visibly dampened, Rong Qingyao quickly replied to the guy: [No, I have plans tonight and every night after.]

“Luo Mijin,” Rong Qingyao hooked her pinky finger around Luo Mijin’s, gently rubbing it, “are you upset?”

“Mmm, a little.” Luo Mijin turned to look at her, her long legs swinging restlessly against the car hood.

Luo Mijin’s unexpected honesty and docility softened Rong Qingyao’s heart. “I turned him down. And I don’t like him at all, we’ve never even met privately. At most, we’ve only talked during project work.”

Luo Mijin felt as though she were floating in the air, one moment ecstatic over their intimacy, the next inexplicably saddened by the uncertainty of how much Rong Qingyao truly loved her.

Her heart, suspended in midair, rose and fell by turns.

She didn’t know if it was because of her peculiar temperament, but she had always made unreasonable, excessive demands since childhood.

She would cling to her favorite stuffed animal for days and nights without letting go, and the mere sight of things she disliked would make her eyes ache with discomfort.

Right now, she wanted to stay calm and normal, but she found it incredibly hard to be normal.

“But you’ve never worked on a project with me, or gone out to dinner at a restaurant.”

I’ve never heard you say you love me, that you want to be with me forever.

In the final hour before entering the crowded city, in this hour of sunrise, Rong Qingyao seemed to have made a resolution that would never change.

“Luo Mijin, no more random thoughts now, just focus and listen to me,” the woman took Luo Mijin’s hand, scratching her palm lightly as if holding a kitten’s paw pad.

“Okay.”

“Truthfully, I’m not very romantic, and this is my first time loving someone,” Rong Qingyao noticed Luo Mijin’s slightly drooping eyelashes lift at her words. “Yes, I like you very much. I love you.”

“I might not express it well, I can’t say those beautifully romantic or deeply moving words, and sometimes what I say might even be misunderstood. But I still want to share my feelings with you, completely and honestly, from the very beginning until now, everything I’ve thought and felt. That way, you’ll understand me better.”

“If anything confuses or upsets you, you can interrupt me directly,” she added softly.

“First, I’m a stubborn person. Once I’ve decided on something, I won’t change my mind. Once I’ve made up my mind, I have to have it otherwise, I’ll never stop fighting for it in this lifetime.”

Rong Qingyao revealed a rare, almost obsessive smile. “I don’t think anyone can stay perfectly calm when facing someone they love. At the very least, I become impulsive, contradictory, and utterly unreasonable.”

“In fact, everything that happened after we met… might seem a bit rash and frivolous. But I don’t want you to look back later and think our feelings started with just desire, appearances, or superficial attraction. So, these past few nights, I’ve thought long and hard about how to express my feelings to you without being abrupt.”

“I’m sorry for hesitating and wavering before. I shouldn’t have danced around my feelings. Luo Mijin, from now on, I’ll be brave.”

The woman’s honesty was almost a complete baring of her soul, beyond anything Luo Mijin, had imagined or experienced.

No one had ever spoken to her so earnestly before.

At that moment, Luo Mijin, seemed to see in this woman a kind of unshakable, reckless innocence.

And this innocence, over the next seven years, would not be worn away into scars by disappointment or despair.

Rong Qingyao smiled. “That first time at the hotel, I had accidentally drunk drugged water and was panicking. But when I saw you, I suddenly felt this strange sense of peace.”

“After that, I was stuck in a struggle for a long time, torn between moving forward or stepping back. But I knew that because of you, I was willing to… wake up every day.”

Her eyes half-lowered, but the tenderness in her voice made Luo Mijin feel a pang of sadness. “I always felt the timing wasn’t right. You’re so good, so sincere, but I’m not good enough. I have nothing to offer yet, I’d only be a burden to you.”

Luo Mijin interrupted firmly, “That’s not true. You’re wonderful, the best I’ve ever met.”

The woman tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and shook her head with a soft sigh. “No, it’s just that I was too afraid, afraid of losing myself, afraid of an uncertain future, afraid I wasn’t good enough. I was just too scared. The truth is, I’m a coward.”

But she didn’t want to give up even a single moment of the present because of an unpredictable future.

“Like I said earlier, I’m not someone who makes decisions lightly. But once I do, I never change my mind.” Her gaze grew gentle yet resolute, as if she were ready at any moment to throw caution to the wind and stake everything. “No regrets that’s what I most want you to know.”

“It will be a very, very long time,” Luo Mijin said after listening, unaware that her eyes were brimming with hot tears, stubbornly insisting, “Longer than forever, I mean it, we’ll be together forever.”

“Sealed with a handshake?” Rong Qingyao’s narrow, beautiful eyes held an intoxicating mix of obsession and determination.

“Yes, sealed with a handshake.”

In the wind and rain, the woman wore a thin white shirt, her cascading hair dancing wildly in the wind. Though her smile was warm, there was an undeniable fragility and delicacy about her.

Luo Mijin found this person utterly strange usually so reserved and indifferent, yet today she had spoken so much.

Someone who never wasted time or money had rented a car to take her on a two-day, two-night drift.

This person hadn’t made any grand vows, even her words were jumbled and illogical, yet they filled Luo Mijin with such happiness that she felt she could die in this moment without regret.

So this was what it felt like to make a move without hesitation.

“Senior, it’s all your fault for hesitating,” Luo Mijin lowered her head, trying to mask the tremor in her voice.

Rong Qingyao’s admission of fault was gentle and sincere. “Yes, it was my mistake. From now on, I’ll find you as quickly as possible.”

“Then I’ll find you just as quickly,” Luo Mijin lifted her head, her eyes red-rimmed but her tone bright.

“You said it, no taking it back, and no going to anyone else,” Rong Qingyao’s narrow eyes gleamed with a dark light, the emotion called possessive obsession sprouting wildly in the damp corners, already beyond restraint.

Suddenly, Luo Mijin understood the look in Rong Qingyao’s eyes. Throughout their journey racing down mountain roads, nearly freezing to death in sub-zero snow this woman had conveyed only one message:

“Survival or death didn’t matter; she wanted her to turn and look only at her.”

In truth, she stubbornly believed that what lay beyond words was the real thing.

She knew Rong Qingyao liked her too. This didn’t need to be loudly proclaimed—she could see it.

But before seeing the Aurora, it had felt like an exception. She wanted to hear Rong Qingyao say she liked her out loud.

Support