After Being Marked By A Love Rival - Chapter 62

Qi Musi hadn’t anticipated Xie Rong’s sudden move, so for a moment, she didn’t even react. She merely opened her eyes wide in astonishment, watching Xie Rong approach her.

Then, her shoulders sank as Xie Rong’s hands pressed down on them, carrying an undeniable and non-refusable force, pushing Qi Musi downwards.

Qi Musi yielded to Xie Rong’s strength, waiting for what the other person would do to her.

However, Xie Rong didn’t do anything excessive she simply returned what Qi Musi had just done to her, measure for measure.

Except there was no patient coaxing there was only a direct conquest of the fortress.

Yet, Qi Musi felt no resistance, instead, she was overjoyed and thankful for it.

She even deeply loved the scent of pear blossom pheromone that Xie Rong released due to her intense emotional fluctuation.

Her arms unconsciously wrapped around Xie Rong’s waist, immersed in the other’s aura.

A moment later, Xie Rong withdrew.

Qi Musi opened her eyes, which still held lingering emotions and a hint of moisture, seemingly dissatisfied that Xie Rong had left so quickly. Her arms instinctively reached out, trying to keep Xie Rong there.

However, Xie Rong remained unmoved, pulled Qi Musi’s arms away, got up, wiped her lips, and then gave her a look.

Qi Musi was breathing heavily due to lack of timely breath. Her lips were rosy, and the emotions in her eyes were as seductive as spun sugar, as if she wanted to cling to Xie Rong and demand more.

Xie Rong avoided her gaze, thinking to herself, Qi Musi is really too… too unrestrained.

Xie Rong closed her eyes, suppressing the various emotions that had just surged within her.

And she must be crazy to have gotten so carried away so easily, leading her to do something she couldn’t even imagine. If word got out, who knows how astonished people would be.

Xie Rong sat there in silence for a moment, then stood up. “I’m leaving.”

If not now, when?

Saying this, she turned to leave without waiting for Qi Musi’s reaction.

But Qi Musi quickly sobered up and grabbed Xie Rong’s hand.

A hint of disbelief danced in her eyes, and then she tentatively asked, “Xiaorong, just now…”

Even if Xie Rong personally told her that it was just a misunderstanding or a moment of madness, Qi Musi wouldn’t believe it.

If there was truly no feeling, where would the madness come from to enchant Xie Rong?

Putting herself in Xie Rong’s shoes, if someone she disliked or hated had forcibly kissed her, Qi Musi’s form of retaliation definitely wouldn’t be this way. At the very least, she would have punched the person first, not kissed them back merely because she was angry about being treated like an Omega.

That was not the attitude one takes toward someone they dislike or are indifferent to.

Thinking of this, Qi Musi couldn’t help but use her other hand to touch her own lips, the smile in her eyes deepening.

Xie Rong reacted like a startled cat, immediately refuting upon hearing Qi Musi’s words: “No, none of that, you’ve got it wrong!”

Qi Musi raised an eyebrow, outwardly accepting the answer calmly, but the smile in her eyes never faded.

Xie Rong couldn’t bear her gaze, and she also felt like she had lost her mind just now how could she have… done such a thing.

Xie Rong pursed her lips, feeling a rare sense of embarrassment. Naturally, she wasn’t embarrassed by Qi Musi, but by her own lack of restraint and hot-headedness.

She couldn’t stand to stay here for another minute.

So, Xie Rong said, “…I’m going back first.” She avoided the topic entirely, focusing only on leaving.

Qi Musi knew she shouldn’t push too hard, so she curved her eyes and nodded, “Alright. I’ll see you out.”

Xie Rong replied, “No need,” and hurriedly walked to the door, opened it, and left.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Qi Musi seemed to associate it with Xie Rong’s fluster, and a smile spread across her face.

She naturally knew that she couldn’t simply use this to determine that Xie Rong felt the same way about her, but Qi Musi didn’t mind using this line of reasoning to comfort herself and encourage herself to keep persisting.

Moreover, given Xie Rong’s personality, if she truly had no feelings for her, why would she allow her to get so close?

Thinking of this, Qi Musi’s smile deepened.

Standing outside, Xie Rong felt the chill of the winter wind. Although it made her feel cold, it was exactly this coldness that extinguished the strange fire that had just ignited in her heart, allowing her to calm down slightly.

Now that she was calm and looked back at what just happened, Xie Rong had a feeling that she might have been crazy. Otherwise, how, how could she have done something so childish!

Qi Musi kissed her, and she kissed back just for revenge. That was really… stupid. Either way, she was the one at a disadvantage.

Xie Rong thought resentfully, attributing all her emotional turmoil to Qi Musi.

However…

Even Xie Rong had to admit that if anyone else had treated her that way, she probably would have kicked them away long ago. None of the subsequent events would have happened, nor would there have been any thought of revenge.

When Qi Musi marked her before, the revenge she thought of was marking her back, not finding a way to beat Qi Musi up.

If you truly despise a person, even seeing them fills you with disgust, so how could you physically touch them?

Xie Rong looked at the still unmelted snow on the ground, breathing out a puff of white mist. Her eyes held a slight confusion.

What exactly were her feelings for Qi Musi now?

The Chinese New Year period passed quickly, and soon it was the fourth day of the lunar month. All of Xie Rong’s family relatives had visited, leaving the rest of the days to be spent entirely at home.

Since that day, Qi Musi had tried to contact Xie Rong, but Xie Rong hadn’t known how to respond, or perhaps was still dwelling on what happened, so she barely replied to Qi Musi.

However, the other person seemed unafraid of rejection or awkwardness, diligently sending her messages every day, not at all discouraged.

Looking at the messages Qi Musi had sent over the past few days, Xie Rong felt a bit annoyed.

That incident still lingered in her mind, and Xie Rong wanted to find someone to discuss it with, but… who should she talk to about something like this?

She didn’t have many people she could talk to in the first place, and if she went to her roommates… they would quickly figure out it was Qi Musi.

If she went to…

Xie Rong paused, and then realized she could actually go to Zhuang Xinbai.

Zhuang Xinbai had always been more than just someone Xie Rong had liked before that identity, she was still her friend, a partner, and family she had grown up with.

In some ways, Xie Rong trusted Zhuang Xinbai deeply trusted her enough to confide in her about a topic like this.

But discussing this with Zhuang Xinbai felt very strange, which made Xie Rong feel awkward.

Yet, she truly had no one else to confide in.

After a long period of internal struggle, Xie Rong finally clicked on Zhuang Xinbai’s chat window.

She hesitated for a long time, then tentatively asked: [Xinbai, a friend of mine asked me: she was kissed by someone. She clearly doesn’t like that person, but she doesn’t dislike their kiss. Why is that?]

Zhuang Xinbai was probably busy, she replied only after more than ten minutes: [Huh? That’s indeed a bit hard to generalize, but there could be many reasons for this situation.]

Xie Rong: [How so?]

Zhuang Xinbai: [For example, is your friend a hedonist? Although she doesn’t like the person, she can still immerse herself in these things.]

Xie Rong’s brows subtly moved. She recalled her state at the time, and it seemed there might have been a bit of that, as Qi Musi’s kiss was quite comfortable.

[That might be part of it, but not the whole reason.]

Zhuang Xinbai: [It could also be attraction between different genders. Pheromones, after all, might have some arousing effect.]

Xie Rong’s fingertips froze. She knew this was impossible, as both she and Qi Musi were Alphas.

So Xie Rong replied: [No, that’s impossible. Both of them… are Betas.]

Xie Rong told a harmless lie. Since Betas have few, almost non-existent, pheromones, and Beta-Beta pairings are not unheard of, using them as an example was appropriate and wouldn’t reveal anything.

Zhuang Xinbai: [Did she feel any emotion for it? Or was there a slight flutter during the kiss?]

Xie Rong: […No.]

There shouldn’t have been, Xie Rong thought, because her mind was swimming at the time. How could she remember if there was a flutter? So, there definitely wasn’t.

Zhuang Xinbai was already starting to feel suspicious: [Really no?]

Xie Rong: [No.]

Zhuang Xinbai: [Then I can’t guess. There’s only one possibility: maybe your friend doesn’t dislike that person as much as she thinks. She mistook her usual illusions for the truth, so when the truth was presented to her, she found it hard to accept and felt confused.]

Xie Rong was slightly stunned, not replying for a long time.

Because she couldn’t help but wonder, was it really like this?

Xie Rong subconsciously wanted to deny it, but her heart didn’t feel any rejection or resistance towards Zhuang Xinbai’s guess. It wasn’t the kind of unwillingness to accept a wrong answer.

Her heart sank slightly, and she couldn’t help but press her lips together.

She certainly wouldn’t describe her feelings for Qi Musi as hate after all, they had reconciled. But… going a step further was also impossible.

At the same time, Xie Rong knew that she was definitely not the type of person who would let a friend kiss her without consent.

She didn’t dislike Zhao Rongrong either, but she couldn’t imagine Zhao Rongrong kissing her. But if it were Qi Musi…

Xie Rong paused, placing the back of her hand over her mouth, her ear tips slightly red.

What exactly were her feelings for Qi Musi?

Could she… be feeling a tiny bit moved?

Zhuang Xinbai: [Hey? Xiaorong, where did you go?]

Xie Rong realized with a start that she hadn’t replied to Zhuang Xinbai.

So she quickly typed: [Sorry, I was busy just now. Thank you, Xinbai, I think I… understand.]

Zhuang Xinbai detected a trace of abnormality. She couldn’t help but ask: [This friend you mentioned…]

Xie Rong: [Hmm?]

Zhuang Xinbai paused: [No, never mind.]

How could Xiaorong be troubled by such a question? Impossible, this wasn’t like her. Zhuang Xinbai thought this and silently deleted what she had typed in the chat box.

At the same time, as Xie Rong closed the chat with Zhuang Xinbai, her phone immediately displayed an incoming call from Qi Musi.