It Seems Like My Senior Seems to Like Me - Chapter 16

“Then pick someone at the table and give them a kiss.”

Faced with the very first truth-or-dare of her life, Ye Wanjia was cornered with no way out.

Around this whole dinner table, the number of people she actually knew could be counted on one hand. Even the presidium members she only recognized because Wei Xiaoxiao nagged about them daily “Mama Liang Shangbin,” “the female Wu Song Qiu Yan.” Other than that, she only knew the surnames of the two sports ministers, and of course the president, Pei Suye, who practiced high jump with her.

Beneath the table, her long, slender fingers clutched tightly at her pants. The knuckles went pale, the bones raised starkly with each rise and fall, like valleys hidden deep within a gentle breeze.

Ye Wanjia was the kind of person with thin skin—just a bit of nervousness and her cheeks burned as if scalded. Especially when she was feeling guilty.

“Better not.” The head of the Student Life Department, Xu Qian, noticed her extreme nervousness and tried to smooth things over. “Our little junior’s so shy. She hardly knows anyone here at this table. Let’s change it to something else.”

But Liang Shangbin shook his finger with a mysterious grin: “No, no, no. Look at her face. Ha! With my years of experience, I’d say someone here knows who she likes. Or maybe the one she likes is right here, and she’s scared she’ll give herself away.”

Ye Wanjia wished she could stuff a tablecloth into Liang Shangbin’s mouth—if he kept talking, she really would end up confessing Pei Suye’s identity card number!

Seeing her flustered only made Liang Shangbin more excited. He waggled his eyebrows mischievously and asked:

“No way… junior, don’t tell me you like me?”

Ye Wanjia’s vision went black. “I don’t like men.”

That did it—the entire table exploded.

“Oooooooh—”

The crowd buzzed like a hive just cracked open, chaos breaking out as every pair of eyes lit up brighter than lightbulbs.

“Well, that rules out half the table!”

“There aren’t many girls left sitting here!”

Realizing she had said too much, Ye Wanjia bit down on her lip. Her face stayed bright red, lips pressed in frustration, like a boiled tomato.

Seeing the upperclassmen hemming her in with bad intentions, a gentle voice cut through the noise—like a snowflake drifting into a noisy marketplace.

“Alright.” Pei Suye spoke calmly. “You guys should tone it down. Don’t scare the junior so much she never dares eat with us again.”

Liang Shangbin perked up. “Oh-ho! The president’s worried about her! The president’s being protective!”

He swiveled toward Ye Wanjia, stoking the flames: “Hey, Ye Wanjia, the president just swooped in to rescue you. Perfect chance—give her that kiss!”

Xu Qian had meant to step in and stop them. But then she thought, maybe this would let that brat Pei Suye take advantage for once. Her outstretched hand slowly pulled back. She even helped set the stage:

“Don’t be nervous, junior. You’re closest with Old Pei anyway. Just a quick, innocent kiss—pure, between senior and junior.”

Ye Wanjia gave a bitter smile. “I can’t.”

It wasn’t that she couldn’t. It was that she didn’t want to.

She wanted her first kiss to be saved for the moment of confession, when both of them truly liked each other. That kiss should be full of feeling—not like this, muddled and unclear, meaningless, like stealing a cheap thrill.

But sitting at this table, aside from Pei Suye, she barely even knew anyone else. Kissing anyone else would be even more inexplicable.

So was she really supposed to kiss Pei Suye?

If someday she did manage to confess successfully, then their “first kiss” would have nothing to do with heart-fluttering emotions or mutual affection—it would only be the result of a game’s punishment.

Just as she hesitated, a familiar voice rang out from the stairs.

“Is it here? The veterinary medicine celebration’s on the second floor, right?”

It was Wei Xiaoxiao!

Wei Xiaoxiao was good at photography, one of the little worker bees buzzing around this sports meet, snapping countless photos (including 10 GB worth of Ye Wanjia’s private pictures). Of course she had a seat reserved at the banquet.

But because of her terrible sense of direction, she was an hour late. The moment she came upstairs—Ye Wanjia dashed over and planted a kiss on her.

Smack!

“Uh?”

Wei Xiaoxiao froze, kissed completely out of nowhere. One hand stuck in the air at an awkward angle, the other twisted in her pocket. She blinked—looked at Ye Wanjia, then at the round table, then at the seemingly calm Pei Suye sitting in the center.

Panic.

No, no, seniors, upperclasswomen, this really has nothing to do with me, please don’t kill meeee!

Screams, laughter, the crowd clinking glasses.

Hiding, dodging, the two girls kept avoiding each other’s eyes.

By the time the game ended, it was already past ten, and people gradually began leaving.

At the street corner below, Ye Wanjia stood pretending to rummage in her canvas bag for three minutes until Pei Suye came out after settling the bill.

Tonight, Pei Suye wore a green ruffled bodycon skirt with low-cut flats, showing off her long, straight legs. From thigh to calf the lines were smooth, delicate, and beautiful.

“Xiao Yezi?” Pei Suye was a little surprised. The feather-shaped brooch on her chest glimmered faintly. “You’re still here?”

“Mm.”

Ye Wanjia took a deep breath, stepped forward, and opened her palm. Resting on a white tissue steeped in tea fragrance was a delicate hair clip.

“This hair clip—I’m giving it back to you, Senior.”

“Oh, that.” Pei Suye smiled lightly. “I’d forgotten all about it.”

Ye Wanjia looked up into those smiling eyes, her heart sweet as honey. “That day when you braided my hair, I didn’t even notice until I got home. It looked really pretty. It must be expensive. Since today’s the celebration, I brought it back for you.”

Under the streetlight, Ye Wanjia’s dark, thick hair gave off a simple, fresh fragrance. Her head was bare—just right for that very clip.

“If you like it, keep it. I’ve got plenty more.”

Pei Suye liked wearing little accessories—hair clips, brooches—adding a touch of elegance to her understated style.

But Ye Wanjia was stubborn: “No, it’s yours. And you wore it that day, so you must really like it too. A gentleman doesn’t take what someone else treasures.”

Pei Suye’s brow arched ever so slightly. Seeing her acting like some ancient scholar with such serious grace only made her seem cuter. Then, glancing at the opposite side of the road—where Wei Xiaoxiao lurked, waiting to walk back with Ye Wanjia—an odd sourness rose unbidden in her chest.

So she said deliberately:

“But my hands are full.”

Ye Wanjia blinked, realizing that one of Pei Suye’s hands carried her bag, the other two recipe books gifted by the restaurant. She was about to offer to hold them when Pei Suye spoke again:

“Why don’t you put it on me?”

The midsummer breeze, damp with youth, lifted the emerald veil of drizzle and slipped straight into a heart awakening to love.

(Wei Xiaoxiao: President, don’t misunderstand—I’m just the head of the CP fan club, I only wanted to snap a few pictures!)

“Hey, Old Pei, don’t you think our junior was a bit too shy tonight?”

On the walk back, Xu Qian kept mulling things over.

“Think about it—if she didn’t feel anything for you, it’s just truth-or-dare, what’s there to be scared of? Only one explanation: she does like you, but she’s scared you’ll notice, so she held back. Right? But her roommate’s a bit suspicious—Ye Wanjia didn’t hesitate a second when she kissed her. Maybe she actually likes her roommate?”

She chattered the whole way. Pei Suye didn’t listen closely—until the words “likes her roommate” dropped. Then her thoughts returned, pulling her out of the memory of Ye Wanjia carefully pinning the clip in her hair.

“Don’t overthink it.”

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