Keep My First Kiss Safe For Me - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The police station was bustling, a noisy hive of activity that felt more like a crowded wet market. The officers led the two men away first. The previously arrogant Yellow Hair and Gold Chain, never expecting to be taken down by two young girls, looked as limp as wilted cucumbers the moment they stepped inside.

Fan Yue and Xie Yanyan were left alone in a room. The atmosphere was thick with awkwardness. Fan Yue could feel Xie Yanyan staring at her, but she felt too self-conscious to look back.

After a long silence, Xie Yanyan spoke. Her voice was quiet and soft: “Thank you.”

Fan Yue gave a dismissive wave. “No big deal. I just saw an injustice and let out a roar.”

And what a roar it was. Recalling the recent farce, their eyes finally met, and Xie Yanyan couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing her smile, Fan Yue dropped her guard and laughed along. After a fit of inexplicable giggling, the tension finally dissolved. Xie Yanyan didn’t forget to compliment her: “You’re quite the actress.”

Give Fan Yue a little sunshine and she’ll beam; give her a compliment and she’ll grow a tail. She tossed her head theatrically. “Can’t help it. Born with the talent—beauty and skill coexist in this body.”

Noticing Xie Yanyan suppressed a smile, Fan Yue realized she was being a bit too thick-skinned in front of such a great beauty. She cleared her throat to change the subject. “So, uh, is this what you meant by ‘going to the library’?”

She had intended to expose her lie, but Xie Yanyan merely arched a fine eyebrow. “Were you stalking me?”

Crap. She really did notice. She had been playing with me on purpose! But Fan Yue couldn’t admit to it. She shook her head instantly. “No. Why would I stalk you? I was just… also going to the library.”

“You? Going to the library?” Xie Yanyan’s tone was pure disbelief.

Fan Yue shot back, “What? You’re allowed to go, but I’m not?”

“What were you going there for?” Xie Yanyan tilted her head.

Fan Yue replied righteously, “To study, obviously!” Wait, I was the one questioning you, how did it turn back on me? She tried to steer the conversation back. “So instead of the library, you were doing a part-time job? What kind of job?”

“Hand model,” Xie Yanyan answered.

“Huh?”

Only then did Fan Yue notice her hands. Truly beautiful people are perfect everywhere; Xie Yanyan’s hands were slender, her joints well-proportioned, her skin fair and delicate, and even her nails were smooth and clear. Fan Yue looked away and asked, “How long have you been doing this?”

“A year. Since the start of high school.”

“Have you run into stuff like this before?” Fan Yue frowned.

Xie Yanyan shook her head. “I used to work for people I knew. This was the first time I went to a different studio.” It turned out to be unreliable, a fact that left her feeling helpless.

“Are minors allowed to work?” Fan Yue wasn’t sure.

“It’s allowed once you’re sixteen, but most places prefer adults. That’s why I dressed so maturely for the first interview.”

That must have been the time I first spotted her, Fan Yue thought. She asked curiously, “Why are you working part-time anyway?”

Xie Yanyan answered honestly, “To save money.”

“For what?”

Xie Yanyan didn’t answer immediately. Fan Yue thought it might be something private—maybe expensive clothes, skincare, or a new phone? It wasn’t her place to pry. However, Xie Yanyan eventually replied, “To save enough to leave this place.”

Leave this place? Fan Yue stared at her in shock, the words escaping her mouth: “Why?”

Xie Yanyan stared at her for a few seconds before speaking slowly, “Don’t you want me gone? You told me to get as far away as possible…”

Those words dragged them both back five years. They were in the sixth grade then. Despite living under the same roof for two or three years, Fan Yue still couldn’t accept Xie Yanyan and Xie Rong.

That was her most rebellious phase. She targeted and provoked Xie Yanyan repeatedly. Xie Yanyan went from initial tolerance to eventual retaliation, and the two fought bitterly at school and ignored each other at home.

With the birth of Fan Xinghang, Fan Shicheng and Xie Rong focused most of their energy on the baby boy. Fan Yue’s sense of displacement grew, and she vented her frustration on Xie Yanyan, intentionally stinging her with words: “See? Your mom doesn’t want you anymore. She has a son now.”

The hurt on Xie Yanyan’s face gave her a sense of triumph.

Xie Yanyan fired back with a cold face: “Your mom doesn’t want you, and your dad won’t want you either now that he has a son!”

Fan Yue felt a pang in her heart and became even more vicious: “Your dad is the one who doesn’t want you! You’ve never even seen him. You deserve to be fatherless!”

Those thoughtless words hurt both Xie Yanyan and Xie Rong. Fan Shicheng, coming in to break up the fight, was so enraged that he raised his hand and slapped Fan Yue.

Everyone was stunned. Fan Shicheng felt the sting of regret instantly, but Fan Yue had gone too far; she needed a lesson. He stiffened his neck and refused to look at her. Xie Rong wanted to comfort her, but the infant Fan Xinghang started wailing, and she had to tend to him first.

Fan Yue clutched her burning cheek, looking at her father in disbelief. All her life, Fan Shicheng had never hit her, let alone spoken a harsh word. Now, he had struck her because of Xie Yanyan.

Tears surged uncontrollably. Fan Yue screamed at Xie Yanyan like she had lost her mind: “I regret it! I regret it! I’m not sharing my dad with you anymore! Please, just give my dad back to me, okay?”

She cried so hard she almost collapsed to her knees. Fan Shicheng pulled her up with a stern face, barking, “Enough!”

Xie Yanyan cried too.

Fan Yue knew that no matter how much she begged, nothing could go back to the way it was. She became hysterical again, pointing at Xie Yanyan and snarling, “I don’t want to see you again! Get out! Get as far away as possible!”

Watching Fan Yue slam her bedroom door, Xie Yanyan suddenly felt exhausted. Why had that cheerful, lovely little girl—the sister who once brought her warmth and sunshine like an angel—turned into this? Is it all because of me? If so, maybe my leaving will make her happy…

And so, she truly had left.

But now they were older. Fan Yue broke the awkwardness. “You’re leaving just because of what I said as a kid?”

“If that’s what you want.”

The words made Fan Yue feel like the wicked stepsister driving away Cinderella. She had been immature back then, but she hadn’t expected a heat-of-the-moment comment to be remembered by Xie Yanyan for so many years. She asked tentatively, “So that’s why you went to boarding school for middle school?”

“Yes.”

It really was me who drove her out.

“That was just me being angry! If I tell you to go, you just go?” She saw Xie Yanyan nod and said, speechless, “What if I told you to go to outer space!”

“Then I’d become an astronaut.”

…

Fan Yue didn’t even know how to respond to that. However, she was always curious about what Xie Yanyan had gone through in middle school—how she had come back a different person. She was about to ask, “In middle school, you…”

The sound of the door opening interrupted her. The police returned with the two men. After checking the surveillance, the older officer asked Fan Yue, “Little girl, did you say they harrassed you?”

Fan Yue blinked her large eyes and explained, “Officer, it was a move of desperation. Although they didn’t do it right then, who knows if they would have developed ‘bad intentions’ later seeing how pretty we are?” She shot a glare at the two men.

Yellow Hair and Gold Chain had “It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it, stop lying” written all over their faces.

Fan Yue continued, “Besides, if I didn’t shout that, nobody would have come to help.”

“You’re quite sharp,” the older officer smiled at her. He then asked Xie Yanyan, “Do you have evidence that they withheld your wages?”

Xie Yanyan pulled up the chat logs. The officer took the phone and asked the men, “Anything else to say?”

Gold Chain quickly produced his own phone. “I’ll transfer the money to her right now.”

The matter ended with the men receiving a stern lecture and signing a guarantee that they would not harass or seek revenge on the girls.

Fan Yue politely thanked the officers: “Thank you, Officers!”

The older officer, seeing they were about the same age as his own children, couldn’t help but lecture Xie Yanyan: “You’re still a minor; your main job is to study. These part-time jobs aren’t regulated. This time it was money; what if next time it’s your safety? There’s no rush to earn money. Go back and study hard.”

Xie Yanyan nodded solemnly. “I won’t do part-time work anymore.”

Finally, the officer added, “Under these circumstances, we need to notify your parents.”

“What?” both girls cried out at once. “No need!”

The officer insisted, “We have to.”

Fan Yue grabbed Xie Yanyan’s arm and pointed at her. “I am her family. I’m her sister.”

The officer looked skeptical. Fan Yue said seriously, “It’s true. My dad is her dad, her mom is my mom. We are a family.” She hadn’t expected the first time she’d acknowledge their relationship to be in a situation like this.

The officer looked a bit confused by the family dynamic. Xie Yanyan took over: “Her father and my mother are remarried. We really are sisters. Thank you for today. we can handle it ourselves and don’t want to worry our parents. Can we go now?”

Seeing their resolve, the officer didn’t press further.

Outside the station, Cici was already waiting. Seeing them, she rushed over and dramatically looked Fan Yue up and down, hugging her and wailing, “You scared me to death! Yue-er, are you okay? Why did you end up in there!”

“Who ended up ‘in’ there? Watch your mouth,” Fan Yue glared at her. “Your sister here was performing an act of bravery.”

Glancing at Xie Yanyan, Cici whispered, “Why is she with you?”

“It’s a long story,” Fan Yue signaled her to stop. Cici shut her mouth.

“Thanks for today. I got the money, so let me treat you to a meal,” Xie Yanyan said.

Fan Yue instinctively went to refuse. “No, it’s fine. Cici and I were going to the Book City.”

Xie Yanyan looked at Cici. “You come too.”

“O-okay,” Cici couldn’t refuse.

Fan Yue shot her a quick glare.

The three of them went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. The combination was incredibly strange. Cici whispered secretly, “Did you guys make up?” Although she didn’t know the details, she could sense the aura between the sisters had changed.

“What ‘making up’? Just eat,” Fan Yue stuffed a piece of grilled meat into Cici’s dish to shut her up.

Afterward, Fan Yue still went to the Book City with Cici. She told her about the “brave rescue” and reminded her not to tell anyone about Xie Yanyan’s part-time job. Cici, while scavenging for Ning Yuan merch, nodded. “No wonder your relationship improved.”

Improved?

Fan Yue felt their relationship was just… weird. Xie Yanyan’s attitude was hard to read, and while Fan Yue was used to keeping her distance, she couldn’t help but become more and more curious about her.