I Am Her Secret Beauty - Chapter 28

Mu Xi independently planned and executed that confession.

She was lively and friendly with everyone, yet maintained a certain distance, so there was no one she could truly call a friend.

As for Nan Xi, it went without saying, there were hardly any people she could even hold a conversation with, let alone friends Mu Xi could turn to for help.

At that time, Mu Xi mainly focused on her studies, spending the rest of her time working part-time jobs and being with Nan Xi.

To outsiders, it seemed like they were already together. Only they themselves knew that the thin layer between them remained unbroken.

Mu Xi wanted to break it. The more time passed, the stronger her desire to hold her, to kiss her became. She didn’t want to just be friends with Nan Xi.

And she could sense that Nan Xi felt the same way. They just needed a defining moment to confirm their relationship.

“You’re spacing out.” Nan Xi was wearing a pair of non-prescription glasses, a book open in front of her. Without even looking up, she accurately pinpointed Mu Xi’s current state. “What’s on your mind? Something troubling you?”

Mu Xi quickly glanced at her before lowering her eyes back to her own book. “Finals are coming up. The pressure’s getting to me.”

“Your first exam is in eleven days, and the second one in sixteen. You still have plenty of time to review.”

Nan Xi still didn’t look up, even flipping a couple of pages. “And judging by your usual academic performance, you could probably get a scholarship without any extra studying.”

Mu Xi fell silent.

“So, Mu Xi, what’s really bothering you?”

Nan Xi finally took off her glasses and casually tossed them aside. Closing the book, her expression brightened, like a rose about to bloom, as she propped her chin on her hand and smiled at Mu Xi.

“Can’t you tell me?”

Mu Xi loved seeing her smile, but this time, she couldn’t bring herself to meet her gaze. Instead, she reached over to pick up the discarded glasses and carefully put them back in their case.

She said,

“I… haven’t figured it out yet. I’ll tell you once I do.”

“Alright, then we have a secret between us now.” Nan Xi narrowed her eyes, watching as Mu Xi placed the glasses case into her bag. After all, they’d be having dinner together soon, taking a walk, and studying side by side tomorrow, where the glasses were now didn’t really matter.

Mu Xi protested, “It’s not a secret. I will tell you, I promise.”

But asking her to say it right now? That was impossible.

How could she just blurt out a confession in the corner of a café? Absolutely not.

“It’s fine, Mu Xi. Even if it is a secret, it’s okay.” Nan Xi’s right wrist grew sore from propping her head up, so she switched to her left hand, offering her right wrist to Mu Xi for a gentle rub. “Because I have a secret too, one I haven’t told you yet.”

Mu Xi’s eyes widened.

As she softly massaged Nan Xi’s wrist, she pressed in a hushed, urgent tone, “What secret? Why can’t you tell me?”

“You’re acting like a child.”

Nan Xi spoke leisurely. “Of course, adults have secrets. And since you decided to hide yours from me first, I’m just retaliating.”

“Because, originally, I didn’t consider it a secret. It’s something everyone knows.”

Something everyone knows…?

But she herself didn’t know…? About Nan Xi’s matters…?

For a moment, Mu Xi felt as though the sky had collapsed. But her professional training had taught her to always focus on the future, so she quickly regained her composure and calmly negotiated with Nan Xi:

“So, if I tell you my secret first…”

“Then you’ll know mine too, of course.”

There was no way around it now. To uncover Nan Xi’s secret, Mu Xi decided to speed things up and confess to her as soon as possible.

What did Nan Xi like?

Mu Xi had pondered this question for a long time because she needed to ensure the answer was accurate. Nan Xi loved chemistry, cityscapes, dark-colored clothes, and food with rich sauces. Beyond that, she was interested in knowledge across many fields, enjoyed interacting with small animals, had an eye for art and jewelry, and occasionally watched movies and plays.

One little-known quirk about Nan Xi was that when she was in a bad mood, she liked to bury herself in a soft blanket like an ostrich, staying there until she felt better.

Mu Xi had secretly tried this method too, and it turned out to be just as effective for her, her worries really did lessen.

She decided on her own to make this a habit, vowing to keep it up in the future.

With so many things Nan Xi liked, Mu Xi couldn’t immediately pinpoint her absolute favorite.

Where should she start to prepare for the confession?

Mu Xi realized this wasn’t just a plan, she should leverage her strengths and treat this task like a strategy to be executed.

Some said love was a battlefield. Mu Xi didn’t quite agree, but she did believe it deserved the same level of seriousness.

Because in Mu Xi’s life, nothing was more important than Nan Xi.

Avoiding Nan Xi to carry out this task wasn’t easy, since they spent most of their time together.

But Mu Xi managed it. On a Sunday evening, she called Nan Xi out to the busiest street near University A and handed her a yellow rose.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful,” Nan Xi said, sniffing the delicate flower before looking up. “But you didn’t bring me here just for this, did you?”

Mu Xi’s cheeks were flushed. She had deliberately worn her best outfit, a dark gray dress she’d bought with her first paycheck from a part-time job. Though the color was understated, it made her stand out in the crowd.

Since it was the weekend, Mu Xi hadn’t tied up her hair or worn glasses. Her nearly waist-length locks swayed slightly, and her eyes were unusually bright.

“Mm…” she stammered, taking Nan Xi’s wrist and leading her forward. “Just come with me first.”

Nan Xi smiled faintly, staying silent as she let Mu Xi gradually guide her away from the crowd, twisting and turning until they entered a dim, empty room.

Mu Xi explained, “I rented this place, just for today.”

“Oh? What for?”

Mu Xi released Nan Xi’s wrist and fumbled along the wall for a moment before flipping a switch with a click.

The room suddenly lit up, revealing a surprising sight, many cats and a few dogs inside. Black, brown, multicolored… each one well-behaved, lying on the floor with wide, watery eyes gazing at her.

“I want to invite you to watch a play,” Mu Xi said seriously. “But due to the special nature of our actors, once the play is over, as the director and also in charge of stage management, I’ll stay behind to clean up before leaving. Otherwise, the landlord might deduct my deposit.”

Nan Xi suppressed a laugh. “Alright, I understand.”

The show began.

Mu Xi picked up the prettiest black cat and began her narration: “Little Black is beautiful, intelligent, but always very lonely…”

The black cat in her arms listlessly drooped its eyelids, looking genuinely disinterested in everything.

Mu Xi spun around and scooped up another tabby cat. “Little Tabby is also a lonely cat. One day, they met…”

“They quickly became inseparable friends, doing everything together, eating, studying, unable to bear being apart…”

“Sometimes they would lean against each other, just like this… But one day, Little Tabby began to wonder: why couldn’t they go even further…”

The tabby in Mu Xi’s left hand and the black cat in her right gradually moved closer together.

Before Mu Xi could make them “go further,” the tabby emitted a low warning growl from its throat, then swiped its paw, punching the black cat.

The black cat reacted swiftly, and the two cats, like nimble fish, easily slipped out of Mu Xi’s grasp and began tussling in the corner.

“……”

Mu Xi stood dumbfounded, her empty hands raised helplessly, now only covered in cat fur.

Who would have thought an SSS-ranked alpha, too engrossed in her narration, couldn’t even hold onto two cats, especially at such a critical moment.

Before she could sink into disappointment, Nan Xi promptly raised a hand. “Director, may I ask a question?”

Mu Xi was still frozen in place. “…Go ahead.”

“If only Little Black and Little Tabby are the main characters in this play,” Nan Xi pointed at the other cats and dogs lounging around the room, “then are these just background extras with no roles?”

Mu Xi, also serving as the scriptwriter, easily answered Nan Xi’s question:

“Because, based on reality… these others truly have no connection to the protagonists’ story. This is purely a tale between the two leads.”

She crouched down and began gloomily picking cat fur off her palms.

What now? With things in such a state, should she even continue with the confession?

Studying clearly wasn’t enough if it stayed only in books. No matter how well she mastered the theory, this paper general had lost to practice. Who knew the cats would actually fight?

Nan Xi stepped forward and crouched in front of Mu Xi. “Is this a story adapted from reality?”

“Mm…”

“Actually, I feel the feline actors didn’t contribute much to the play. The story’s progression relied mainly on the narration.” Nan Xi analyzed rationally. “Could you tell me how the story develops later? What did Little Tabby want when she wished to go further?”

Cat fur was truly hard to clean off completely.

Mu Xi looked up and saw Nan Xi’s earnest expression, as if she genuinely wanted to know the rest of the story.

Her proximity brought a faint, elusive fragrance, Mu Xi had asked before; it was likely from Nan Xi’s high-end shower gel, or perhaps just her natural scent.

Mu Xi told her, “Little Tabby fell in love with Little Black. She didn’t just want to lean against her. She wanted to embrace her… and kiss her too.”

“Is there nothing else? Like a mark?”

Mu Xi fell silent for a moment.

It seemed like everything was completely ruined.

“…Alright, Nan Xi. Actually, the little tabby is me. It’s me who likes you.”

The earlier failure now burned fiercely into Mu Xi’s motivation to throw caution to the wind. In this rather unremarkable room, amidst a group of well-behaved cats and dogs and a pair of fighting female cats, Mu Xi delivered her first-ever confession in life. “I’m sorry, I messed up the confession.”

“You didn’t mess it up,” Nan Xi said.

But Mu Xi shook her head in frustration:

“No, you don’t know my original plan. All these… dark-colored cats and dogs, I caught the most well-behaved and quiet ones from every park in City A, gave them baths, rented this room, and started arranging everything. The yellow roses were grown by me, they didn’t even have buds when I bought them…”

“It was supposed to be that after the story ended, I’d give you a cat. I’d ask if you wanted to continue this story and adopt them with me…”

All her efforts were wasted, these two weren’t the quietest or most well-behaved cats at all.

All those laps run in the park, all those times chased by the security guards, all for nothing.

Mu Xi covered her face with her hands.

Then, she felt a pair of gentle hands covering hers. “Is this your secret, Mu Xi?” Nan Xi asked.

“Mhm…”

She heard Nan Xi laugh happily but didn’t dare guess why, what if it was because her plan seemed childish and ridiculous?

“Alright, take your hands away now, be good.” Nan Xi squeezed her fingertips, coaxing her.

But Mu Xi stubbornly refused to move. “…No, it’s too embarrassing.”

“Then listen to me. I’ll tell you my secret.” Nan Xi slowly leaned closer, her warm breath brushing against the back of Mu Xi’s hands. “Your confession wasn’t a mess because the most crucial part succeeded, and that’s you. I like you.”

“…What?”

Mu Xi couldn’t believe it. Nan Xi had actually accepted her botched confession and seemed to be leaning even closer.

Before she could react, Nan Xi was already touching her.

“You still won’t move your hands? Then how am I supposed to kiss you? Didn’t you say you wanted to kiss me?”

Nan Xi’s soft lips pressed against the back of Mu Xi’s hand, and her forward momentum didn’t stop, because she couldn’t hold her squatting position any longer.

Mu Xi felt the damp warmth on her hand, her brain turning to stone, yet her body couldn’t help but go weak.

She fell backward too, the cats and dogs behind her scattering in a flurry before letting Mu Xi land squarely on her back.

Luckily, Mu Xi was physically strong, it didn’t hurt much.

And even more delightfully, as she fell, Mu Xi instinctively braced herself with her hands behind her.

Nan Xi got her wish, she kissed Mu Xi’s lips and ended up lying on top of her.

She thought the current situation was quite nice, so she simply kept kissing her. It even looked like she had pinned Mu Xi down, how face-saving for an omega.

This was their first kiss, happening in a tiny rented room, surrounded by a crowd of cats and dogs.

Mu Xi refused to reach out and hold Nan Xi, for a simple reason, her hands were still covered in cat fur, and Nan Xi’s dress was expensive.

Nan Xi was extremely displeased by this and immediately dragged Mu Xi outside to wash her hands. The black cat that had been fighting earlier followed them out.

“But… when did this happen? I mean, when did you start liking me?” Mu Xi was still dazed, her lips slightly swollen and her voice hoarse.

Nan Xi glanced at her, still displeased that Mu Xi refused to hold her. “Wasn’t it obvious? Didn’t everyone notice?”

Mu Xi scratched her head. “I know… but, uh, when did it start?”

“From the moment you started liking me.”

“That’s bad,” Mu Xi muttered. “I fell for you at first sight.”

Nan Xi smiled again.

So that was it. Now she knew.

Having lost the race in the speed of falling for Mu Xi, Nan Xi shamelessly changed the subject. “No more talking. You’ve washed your hands, now hold me, then kiss me.”

Mu Xi’s cheeks flushed.

She complied.

Ten minutes later, Mu Xi and Nan Xi emerged from the small room, with Mu Xi carrying several cats in her arms.

They had to return them to the park where they’d been staying.

Nan Xi accompanied her.

“So happy,” Mu Xi sighed. “Life feels so complete. I wouldn’t mind dying the next second.”

She heard the footsteps beside her halt abruptly. Nan Xi stood still, glaring at her furiously. “Say one more word like that and see what happens.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“You haven’t marked me yet, how can life be complete?” Nan Xi cut her off.

At the mention of the word “mark,” Mu Xi’s face immediately turned red. She scolded Nan Xi under her breath for being so shameless, she hadn’t even brought it up, yet Nan Xi was more eager than she was.

“We’re girlfriends now, why can’t I mention it?” Nan Xi clasped her hands behind her back and leaned in, bending slightly to study Mu Xi’s expression intently. “So, when are you going to mark me?”

Mu Xi avoided her gaze, clutching the cats and darting around, but Nan Xi chased after her relentlessly, her eyes fixed on Mu Xi with unmistakable intent.

“You…!” Mu Xi, cornered, could only mumble vaguely, “I don’t know how! Let me study up on it first, then we’ll talk…”

Nan Xi was reassured. “Mu Xi learns so quickly, it must be soon.”

It was soon… but not as soon as Nan Xi had hoped.

She never expected her offhand joke to become a grim prophecy: the moment Mu Xi’s life felt complete, she vanished.

So, Nan Xi was left alone to care for the two cats they’d adopted, seeing them through to the end of their lives by herself.