Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 17

“Right now?”

Xu You glanced around the empty stairwell before moving to the corner and lowering her voice.

Several seconds of silence passed on the other end of the line. Just as she was about to give up waiting and head upstairs, a slightly weary voice spoke again.

Zhou Siyu’s voice was very soft, yet each word was distinct: “Yes, now.”

Xu You grew anxious. In her eyes, this was Zhou Siyu’s rare moment of vulnerability toward her, a signal that she was needed. Taking large strides, she climbed two steps at a time while asking with concern, “What happened? I’m coming up now.”

“Nothing. I just wanted to see you.” Zhou Siyu let out a breath. Through the phone, it was impossible to tell whether she was exhaling smoke or simply sighing in relief.

“Wait for me.” Xu You maintained her pace.

She was nervous. According to Zheng Ran and the staff, Zhou Siyu had invested a great deal of effort into the newly launched game today and had set high targets. Could it be that poor performance data was troubling her?

The dull thud of her leather shoes against the stairs, along with the murmurs of conversation seeping through the walls beside each floor’s metal door, tugged at her chaotic thoughts.

At the landing between the fourth and fifth floors, where the stairwell grew noticeably quieter, she calmed down. If it were work-related, Zhou Siyu wouldn’t have sought her out specifically.

Following her memory, she found Zhou Siyu’s private lounge, entered her birthday as the passcode, and pushed the door open. The room was empty.

Her gaze swept across the room, taking in the scene before her hand slipped from the metal handle to her side.

It was the same, yet different.

The same cold, minimalist aesthetic: white walls, white bedding, a black desk, and a leather sofa.

What was different was that all the little trinkets she had hidden around the room had disappeared.

The dark gray curtains blocked out the sunlight, casting the room in a dim, gray haze. Closing the door felt like being sealed inside a confined box, stifling and oppressive, making it hard to breathe. Or perhaps it was just the room’s heating, set too high, that caused the discomfort.

Zhou Siyu had mild sinusitis and disliked overly dry air. Xu You stepped onto the carpet, walked to the control panel by the bed, and lowered the temperature by two degrees.

After adjusting the thermostat, she planned to curl up on the sofa to brainstorm today’s work tasks while waiting for Zhou Siyu. But then, the nightstand, previously hidden in the shadows, suddenly caught her full attention. She crouched beside it, a smile unconsciously spreading across her face.

Five origami animals folded from sketching paper stood in a row, arranged from tallest to shortest. Last time, she had hastily shaped them, but now each little creature had been carefully given eyes with a black marker.

Xu You was overjoyed. Her heartfelt gestures, along with these seemingly insignificant trinkets, had been treated with care. Gently tapping the bunny’s long ears, she grinned like a fool.

The wooden door to the lounge’s bathroom slowly opened.

Zhou Siyu spotted the small figure crouched by the bed and quietly approached.

“What are you looking at?”

A loud thud echoed through the empty room. Zhou Siyu hadn’t meant to startle the girl. Slipping her hands under Xu You’s arms, she lifted her up in one swift motion.

“Y-you’re here.” Xu You suddenly became tongue-tied, her back pressed against Zhou Siyu’s chest as she stammered.

Zhou Siyu didn’t respond. Instead, she buried her face in the crook of Xu You’s neck from behind, taking a deep breath. Her answer came with the warm exhale against Xu You’s ear.

“Mhm.”

Xu You lowered her head, acutely aware of the arms wrapped around her waist, Zhou Siyu’s breathing, and the cool, crisp scent that clung to her.

Compared to intense intimate interactions, she actually preferred quietly nestling beside her afterward, feeling their synchronized heartbeats and breathing the same air. In those moments, they felt like lovers, intimately connected even beyond physical desire.

“Is the internship what you imagined?” The hand around her waist loosened, and Xu You was gently turned halfway around by a hand on her shoulder to face Zhou Siyu.

“It’s a bit different, more relaxed than I expected.” Xu You seriously recalled her morning and realized she had only done one thing: playing games.

Zhou Siyu observed her earnest expression and nodded, refraining from dousing her with cold water while she was immersed in happiness and anticipation.

“But,” Xu You looked up at Zhou Siyu, her tone serious, “I think it’s just an illusion.”

Recently, during a lull period after the launch of Otherworld: Mountains and Seas, the company hadn’t taken on new projects or devoted energy to developing new games. The design department, having exerted itself earlier, was now one of the more leisurely departments in the company. But she knew that when things got busy, no department would be spared.

Zhou Siyu chuckled softly. The girl wasn’t foolish, after all.

“Did you call me here for something?” Xu You didn’t like expending emotions over an uncertain future. Unable to figure out why Zhou Siyu had summoned her, she asked directly.

“Can’t I call you for no reason?”

“You can.”

As soon as Xu You finished speaking, her thick coat was effortlessly stripped off by Zhou Siyu and tossed onto the sofa.

The location was the company, the person was her boss, and the time was during work hours.

A sense of forbidden tension washed over Xu You. She shivered and hesitated, “This isn’t good, is it?”

“What’s not good?” Zhou Siyu raised an eyebrow, her expression deceptively composed.

“Well,” Xu You gritted her teeth, “doing this now, at the company… it’s not appropriate, right?”

Zhou Siyu didn’t respond. Instead, she walked to the wardrobe, took out two sets of pajamas, and in front of Xu You, stripped down to her underwear. She slipped into one set of pajamas, pulled back the covers, sat on the bed with her arms stretched behind her, and silently stared at her.

An exclamation mark popped into Xu You’s mind, followed by a slow trail of ellipses.

Since things had come to this, she had no choice but to go along with it.

She began to undress. One by one, she unbuttoned her shirt, exposing patches of skin. Unlike Zhou Siyu, who remained calm and leisurely as she displayed her figure before changing, Xu You frowned the entire time, rushing through the process.

Seeing her swiftly complete the task, fists clenched with determination, Zhou Siyu gestured for her to come closer.

Xu You swallowed and sat on the edge of the bed, maintaining a twenty-centimeter distance between them.

“What are you thinking?”

A warm presence drew near, and she was suddenly pulled into the soft bedding. The covers gently settled over both of them.

“The mattress in my restroom is the same as the one at home. You can come here directly whenever you’re tired in the future.” Zhou Siyu’s lips brushed against her temple. “I’m very tired. I just wanted you to rest with me for a while.”

Xu You remained silent but wrapped her arms around her in return.

It was hard not to sink into such a fragrant, soft embrace. Zhou Siyu and Xu You rarely shared a bed, yet they adapted quickly and drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

Xu You slept lightly. Before long, she heard a sharp alarm. With her eyes closed, she felt the person beside her carefully release her, get up, change clothes, and tuck the blankets around her.

As the door lock clicked shut, she slowly opened her eyes.

Her phone lit up briefly. She picked it up to check.

The work group chat was silent, but Team Leader Qian had privately messaged her, asking if she had eaten and where she was.

Xu You replied earnestly that she had eaten, was in the restroom, and would be down soon.

Sitting up in bed, she looked at the message she had sent and rubbed the tip of her nose. Zhou Siyu’s restroom still counted as a restroom, right?

After tidying up, she took the outer elevator downstairs and settled into her workstation. As her computer was still booting up, she overheard Li Rui speaking loudly.

“What’s the big deal about guaranteed graduate admission? Who knows if that bitch can even make it through the internship period.”