Famous Actresses, Please Keep Your Distance From Me - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The second Cen Zhi stretched out her hand, she regretted it. How was this behavior any different from a child pouting and asking their mother for candy? Moreover, she had uttered such childish words; she could hardly believe they had actually come out of her own mouth.

Duan Rujin didn’t seem to react immediately. Cen Zhi looked at her, her knuckles curling slightly, wanting to take advantage of this gap to withdraw her hand.

But Duan Rujin had no intention of letting her off. Just like before, she reached out and grabbed Cen Zhi’s wrist, holding her gently. Cen Zhi’s palm wasn’t fully closed, leaving most of it exposed to Duan Rujin’s gaze.

“How should I draw it?” Duan Rujin’s eyes flickered as if she were thinking very seriously. “With my finger? But that won’t leave a mark. With a pen? But that would stain your hand.”

Cen Zhi struggled only slightly to pull her wrist free from those slender fingers. She made up an excuse: “The light’s green.”

She started the car and drove forward, her heart racing in a panic. Beside her, Duan Rujin began rummaging through her crossbody bag, looking exceptionally focused as she tried to find a lip gloss or something suitable for drawing a heart. Cen Zhi’s breathing became shallow; she had to turn up the navigation volume to drown out her own racing thoughts.

Before long, the car pulled over at a parking spot outside Duan Rujin’s residential complex. The sky was darker than it had been at Wei Shu’s place, and most of the sunset glow was blocked by high-rises, yet colorful streaks of light still managed to filter through.

Cen Zhi turned her head and saw Duan Rujin holding a tube of lip glaze.

Pretending nothing was wrong, Cen Zhi said, “We’re here.”

“I haven’t drawn the heart for you yet.” Duan Rujin raised an eyebrow.

There was no escaping it now. Cen Zhi pursed her lips and resignedly held out her palm. “Go ahead.”

“Not on your hand.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know about that heart-half selfie trend for friends that was viral online a while ago?”

Cen Zhi frowned and tried to recall, but nothing came to mind.

Duan Rujin directly searched for an example on her phone to show her. The screen displayed two beautiful girls taking a selfie, each with half a heart drawn on their cheek, their faces pressed together.

“Let’s do this one, Cen Zhi. Just like when you took a photo of us pinky-swearing. If we take it like this, you can’t back out.”

Cen Zhi’s heart skipped a beat. She blinked. “Back out of what?”

“Back out of the fact that our next meeting won’t be as late as the day after tomorrow.” Duan Rujin stared at her. “You said it yourself; I was originally just confirming it.”

Cen Zhi remained silent. She didn’t understand why she had spoken up earlier—or rather, she understood, but she was unwilling to admit she was actually feeling so jealous.

Seeing her reaction, Duan Rujin’s mouth opened slightly. “Your car has a dashcam. What you said half an hour ago was recorded. Don’t even think about denying it.”

“I wasn’t going to deny it.” Cen Zhi let out a breath and offered her right cheek, closing her eyes at the same time. “Draw it.”

“On your face?”

“Aren’t you going to draw one too?”

Now it was Duan Rujin’s turn to be speechless. She leaned in close and uncapped the lip glaze. At this proximity, she could even see the fine pores on Cen Zhi’s skin. She couldn’t stop her hand from trembling slightly—purely out of nervousness. She lightened her breath and drew half a heart on Cen Zhi’s cheek.

The next moment, just as Cen Zhi opened her eyes and before she could even pull her head back—Duan Rujin’s face pressed against hers.

The temperature of their faces was similar, but the sensation of skin that wasn’t her own was very distinct. Duan Rujin used one hand to press Cen Zhi’s head against her own, their breaths mingling in the small space.

Time seemed to stand still; her brain felt like it had short-circuited.

It wasn’t until Duan Rujin pulled away that Cen Zhi regained her senses.

Duan Rujin’s voice rang out in the car, tinged with a smile. “I didn’t want to waste the lip glaze, and besides, this is how everyone takes the photo. This way, the heart is perfectly symmetrical.” She opened the selfie mode on her phone and held it up. “Let’s begin, Cen Zhi. You still have urgent business.”

Cen Zhi tried her best to look composed. “Okay.”

Just like the example photo, their faces pressed together again, though not as tightly as before. The heart wasn’t large, and the lipstick wasn’t a piercing red, but because both of them were fair-skinned, it stood out vividly. Cen Zhi curled her lips toward the lens, but most of her focus was on Duan Rujin’s face in the phone screen.

Duan Rujin’s makeup was beautiful today, and she was smiling, her dimples captured in the frame. It was a level of cuteness that Cen Zhi found hard to resist.

Duan Rujin took several photos in a row, even freeing up a hand to make a “V” sign over Cen Zhi’s head. After a moment, she lowered the phone and said, “I’ll adjust the filters when I get back and send the pictures to you.”

In truth, they didn’t need filters at all; their photos were perfect without any edits, especially with the natural sunset lighting. But Cen Zhi didn’t object. “Okay.”

Duan Rujin pulled a makeup remover wipe from her bag and handed it to her. “You’re busy, use this to wipe it off.”

“Okay.”

Hearing this, Duan Rujin laughed. “Can you only say one word at a time, Cen Zhi?”

Looking at her smiling face, Cen Zhi’s lips also curved into an arc. “See you tomorrow, Duan Rujin.”

Duan Rujin gave a light cough, quickly put on her mask, grabbed the things she had received at Wei Shu’s shop, and opened the car door. “See you tomorrow.”

Once the door closed, Cen Zhi’s gaze remained fixed on Duan Rujin’s back until she disappeared into the entrance. Only then did she lean her head back against the headrest and let out a long, long sigh of relief.

What a torture.

She adjusted the rearview mirror to look at herself. Her face only had half a heart. But her whole heart was with Duan Rujin.

Realizing this, Cen Zhi wasn’t in a hurry to wipe it off. She didn’t regret lying to end their time together early—how else could she have endured such interactions? Her face still felt the ghost of Duan Rujin’s touch—soft, warm—and her sweet fragrance.

However, she didn’t expect to run into Wen Lin in the residential underground garage. Wen Lin looked like she had just finished work and seemed a bit tired. Seeing Cen Zhi appear at the same time, she smiled and said, “What a coincidence.” Almost as the words left her mouth, she spotted the half-heart on Cen Zhi’s face and raised an eyebrow. “Been out taking photos?”

Cen Zhi glanced at her and walked toward the elevator. “How do you know?”

“Please, Boss Cen, this trend was huge a while ago. Two people, half a heart each, pressing faces together. It’s not like I don’t use the internet.”

Cen Zhi maintained a calm facade. “Mhm.”

Wen Lin then saw the bag she was carrying with several origami sunflowers inside. She couldn’t help but frown. “Sending those flowers to her again? Sending the same thing repeatedly might get boring.”

They had reached the elevator and were waiting for it to arrive. Cen Zhi hadn’t intended to explain, but her voice spoke up uncontrollably: “She gave these to me.”

As soon as she finished, the elevator doors opened, and she stepped in without hesitation. Wen Lin caught up, smiling undisguisedly. “Look at that smug face of yours. It’s not like I’m going to steal her from you.”

“But this situation with your old classmate is so interesting. I like it, I love to see it. Keep it coming!”

Support Famous Actresses, Please Keep Your Distance From Me