I Don't Want To Fall In Love With The Heroine [Quick Wear] - Chapter 3

The door to the room was slightly ajar, leaving a narrow gap.

Bai Qian had barely stepped inside when the woman’s delicate voice drifted out from within. Unlike the tone over the phone, it was now laced with a soft, lingering petulance. “What took you so long? I’ve never waited for anyone this long in my life!”

Bai Qian couldn’t help but chuckle. “How did you know it would be me walking through the door?”

“Aside from you, no one would dare come up here without my permission.”

As they spoke, Bai Qian made her way into the room. A trail of water droplets stretched from the bathroom door all the way to the bedside. Coupled with Shao Zizhi’s damp, loose hair, it wasn’t hard to guess that she had taken another bath while waiting.

A soft down duvet covered most of the woman’s body. What remained visible—glimpsed through her silk nightgown and shifting hair—was vast stretches of skin as pale and delicate as if dusted with a pink glow. Upon her exquisite collarbones sat a scattering of vivid, alluring “red roses” left over from the night before.

Bai Qian pointedly averted her gaze, yet she could still catch the faint scent of body wash radiating from the other woman. It was a scent she knew all too well; she had spent the previous night breathing it in from inches away, her hands tracing it across the most supple surfaces.

Shao Zizhi’s voice snapped her out of her untimely, hazy recollections. “You still haven’t answered me! Why did it take you an hour to get here? I had someone check—your place isn’t even that far!”

Bai Qian stood by her side, holding the bags. “The bus took a while to arrive. It held me up.”

“You actually took a bus to come see me?! Could you not afford a taxi? And why won’t you look at me! Is it guilt, Bai Qian? Because let me tell you—it’s too late for that!”

Bai Qian’s eyes remained shifty, refusing to meet hers. She simply continued her explanation. “Taxis are a waste of money; I didn’t see the need. I said I would come find you, and I did. You have my number, so if you were truly in a hurry, you would have called to rush me. Since I didn’t get another call, I figured you weren’t in that much of a rush.”

Shao Zizhi huffed. “Lame excuses! Fine, I won’t argue about that now. Do you even know why I called you here? Bai Qian! Where are your manners? I’m talking to you! Why won’t you look at me!”

The little princess’s indignant voice was so sweet it was impossible to find annoying.

Bai Qian sighed and set the breakfast she’d brought on the nightstand. Finally doing as Shao Zizhi wished, she turned her eyes toward her and leaned in close. As the woman’s ears began to turn a visible, burning red, Bai Qian grabbed the edges of the duvet and pulled them up, tucking them firmly around her.

Shao Zizhi was now covered so thoroughly that only her head poked out. Confused by the sudden move, she reached out to shove the covers back down. “What are you doing? It’s the middle of summer, I’m not cold!”

Bai Qian pinned her hands down. Her eyes were as deep and heavy as a dark sea. “You are cold,” she said flatly.

“I am not! Bai Qian, are you crazy?”

Ignoring the insult, Bai Qian’s expression didn’t flicker. She used one hand to pull out the container of wontons she’d picked up from a breakfast stall. “Hungry? Eat something first. Once your stomach is full, we can discuss last night.”

Shao Zizhi immediately stopped fighting for the duvet, the blush on her ears spreading further. She muttered in a tone that sounded unconsciously like she was acting spoiled. “Fine then. You didn’t let them add green onions, did you? I hate them. They taste awful.”

Bai Qian’s hand paused as she untied the bag. “I did. A whole spoonful.”

“…”

The little princess demanded petulantly, “Then go buy me another bowl. I’m hungry right now.”

A bowl of wontons cost eight yuan. In her current state, Bai Qian was ready to split a single yuan in two just to make it last. She didn’t agree. Instead, she opened the container and began using a spoon to meticulously pick out the bits of green onion floating on the surface.

“Just wait a moment. I’ll give it to you once the onions are gone.”

Shao Zizhi’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to the woman’s pale, slender fingers. It was an ordinary task, yet she made it look graceful and strangely captivating. As the last bit of green disappeared from the bowl, Shao Zizhi couldn’t help but speak up. “My dad used to pick the onions out for my mom just like that. You look exactly like him doing it. Bai Qian… have you secretly liked me for a long time?”

Bai Qian’s hand jerked, sending a splash of broth down the side of the bowl into the trash can. Ignoring it, the woman on the bed continued, “Thinking back, you were awfully quick yesterday. My memory of last night is a bit fuzzy, but I’m certain you weren’t near me when I drank that wine. I didn’t exactly take long to collapse, yet you were right there to catch me perfectly. So, Bai Qian, you must have been watching me from a distance the whole time. You saw something was wrong and rushed over because you were worried, right?”

Bai Qian handed the onion-free wontons over and grabbed a tissue to wipe the hot broth from the back of her hand. “I’ll give you back the same words you gave me.”

“Huh?”

“Shao Zizhi, are you quite alright in the head?”

“…”

Bai Qian tossed the tissue into the bin, her expression turning unreadable. “Since you want to talk about last night now, I won’t wait for you to finish eating. What happened last night was not something either of us expected.”

She paused, omitting the fact that she had also lost her composure due to the drug’s influence when the other woman leaned in for a kiss.

“Whatever compensation you require, Miss Shao, I will do my best to provide it. I have other things to attend to, so if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going. You can text me regarding the compensation.”

Shao Zizhi had been blowing on a wonton to cool it down, but she froze when Bai Qian mentioned compensation. The lingering shyness on her face vanished, replaced by a stiff, icy mask. She lowered her head, silent. Bai Qian waited for a few seconds, then straightened up to leave.

Suddenly, a hand cinched tight around the hem of her shirt.

The woman’s voice broke into a piteous, tearful accusation. “How can you be so hateful?! I’m the one who was… handled… like that! You got what you wanted and now you’re just dumping me here without even asking if I’m okay! This was my first time doing something like this, and instead of comforting me, you’re telling me you have ‘other things’ to do? Waaa! What could possibly be more important than me? You don’t care at all! You kissed me yesterday, and today you’re throwing me away!”

Bai Qian’s footsteps faltered. She tried to pry the hand away, but the girl held on like a child refusing to let go of a favorite toy. Her sobbing grew more distraught. “I don’t have experience like you do! Waaa! And you’re being so cold! You’re yelling at me! Waaa! You’re being mean!”

Bai Qian: ?

Realizing she wasn’t getting her shirt back, she gave up on it. She turned around to face the beautiful woman crying her eyes out, her own expression complicated. “Who told you I have ‘experience’?”

“The way you… did all those things! You knew so much, how could you not be experienced!” Shao Zizhi glared at her through teary eyes.

Bai Qian couldn’t resist lightly tapping the girl’s smooth forehead. “You can learn things without having done them before, you know. Understand, little girl?”

Shao Zizhi’s face turned scarlet—whether from the touch or from the soft, teasing chuckle in that “little girl.” Her voice lost its fire, and as she tilted her head up to maintain her bravado, she looked like a kitten whose paws had been caught mid-swipe. “You are not allowed to call me Miss Shao anymore! Do you hear me?”

Bai Qian remained silent. Was that really the point to focus on?

“I’m going to eat now, and you aren’t allowed to leave. You have to stay with me until I’m ready to go! I don’t need you to ‘take responsibility,’ but you can’t just do nothing and walk away like you did this morning. That’s shameful behavior. Don’t you think so?”

After a long pause, Bai Qian nodded.

Though she didn’t understand why the plot was deviating so drastically from the original, it was a beneficial turn for her. Being able to naturally interact with the female lead was far better than trying to be some “invisible guardian.”

Shao Zizhi ate slowly, taking tiny bites and chewing thoroughly before swallowing. Her appetite was small; after only five wontons, she set the bowl aside.

“Done?”

“I’m full.”

Bai Qian looked at the bowl. Those wontons had cost eight yuan—a small fortune in her current situation. Loath to waste it, she took the bowl and polished off the rest herself.

Shao Zizhi couldn’t help herself again, her voice turning soft and gooey. “My dad eats my mom’s leftovers too. Bai Qian, are you sure you don’t like me?”

This time, Bai Qian’s reaction was less explosive. She simply cleared her throat and set the empty bowl down. “I stand by what I said before.”

The little princess pouted at the indirect rejection. “Fine, if you don’t like me, you don’t like me. It’s probably for the best anyway. It would be quite piteous for you to like me when I don’t like you back.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure you never have to worry about that.”

Shao Zizhi didn’t reply. Instead, she suddenly kicked off the duvet and lay down flat, reaching out to poke Bai Qian’s thigh. “My waist still aches. You caused it, so you have to fix it. Give me a massage.”

Bai Qian didn’t refuse. As a Guardian of the Quick Transmigration world, she possessed all the basic auxiliary skills. As her hands settled onto the woman’s soft, slender waist, she found it hard to let go. It felt like kneading a cloud—impossibly soft.

Bai Qian had intended to stay calm, but then Shao Zizhi let out an involuntary, soft moan of comfort. The sound triggered flashes of images that should have been cleared from her mind. Her hands faltered for a second before she steadily resumed.

“Mmh… ah…”

The atmosphere grew heavy. Sensing her own breathing becoming uneven, Bai Qian abruptly withdrew her hands and stood up. “That’s enough.”

“No it isn’t! I was just starting to enjoy it. Keep going. You don’t stop until I say so!”

“I’m tired.”

Shao Zizhi turned her head, her gaze traveling from Bai Qian’s hands up to her face. “I can wait for you to rest. Once you’ve had enough of a break, you can start again.”

Bai Qian gave another cold refusal. “I can’t. Go to a parlor and find a professional to do it.”

“It wasn’t a professional who touched me last night! You did this, so you have to settle it. I don’t care—you aren’t leaving until you’ve massaged me properly! Besides, my dad owns this hotel. If I don’t want you to leave, you won’t be able to get out!”

Bai Qian said nothing, but a faint ripple of emotion stirred in her calm eyes.

The little princess continued to pester her. “Did you hear me, Bai Qian? I’ll give you ten minutes to rest, then you get back to work!”

Bai Qian’s tightly pressed lips suddenly relaxed into the tiniest of curves. “Shao Zizhi… haven’t you learned your lesson from last night?”

The confusion on the woman’s face turned to bashful shock as Bai Qian suddenly leaned down over her. Trapped by her position, she couldn’t move. She could only watch as Bai Qian’s lips brushed against the corner of her own.

“Now… do you understand why I can’t keep going?”

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