Mistaken ‘O’ is a Crazy Gorgeous Boss - Chapter 34

Returning clarity made Qu Zhen realize that Shen Zhikou was already awake.

Their lips had not yet parted. After her soft lips were bitten, her lower lip was gently pecked again, like a weak young beast licking.

“Sister…”

Qu Zhen’s heart raced like a rabbit. She allowed Shen Zhikou to continue, her cheeks burning but still feigning composure. Unlike usual, she did not flee. When Shen Zhikou’s lips withdrew, she buried her head in the curve of her neck and shoulder, her wrist resting around that slender waist.

“Sister…” she whispered again, like an intimate murmur.

Shen Zhikou raised her left hand and gently patted the little alpha’s head. “Mm.”

The heat spread to her ears, and even the exposed skin of Qu Zhen’s neck flushed crimson. Hearing Shen Zhikou’s response, she fell silent for a moment, her pounding heart showing no signs of calming.

At this point, if she still didn’t understand why, she thought she might as well return to the flower shop and become its antique centerpiece.

The first kiss, landing on Shen Zhikou’s right cheek, had seemed to leave room for retreat. The second kiss, on Shen Zhikou’s lips, had brought the truth to the surface, starkly laid out before her eyes, leaving her trapped with no escape.

But she had no intention of fleeing. So, after catching her breath, she lowered her head and kissed Shen Zhikou again.

The third kiss was longer than the previous ones, like spun-sugar cake, their lips filled with a rich sweetness. Qu Zhen couldn’t describe the feeling in that moment, only that everything fell silent, and her ears echoed with the effervescent sound of summer soda being uncapped.

The autumn of Haicheng suddenly felt tangible. In her fourth autumn in Haicheng, she had met Shen Zhikou. Amid thousands of lights, she turned and saw only Shen Zhikou, her moon. Her heart raced, and she longed for that bright moon to come to her.

In the quiet room, neither broke the ambiguous silence.

Buried in Shen Zhikou’s shoulder, Qu Zhen, having clarified her feelings and confirmed her suspicions, held the Omega tighter. As her grip tightened, she suddenly loosened it, afraid of hurting Shen Zhikou.

“Sister,” Qu Zhen said, not wanting to be a deserter, “when did you wake up?”

In truth, Shen Zhikou, a light sleeper, had woken when Qu Zhen first spoke. She hadn’t reacted, choosing to feign sleep as she listened to the little alpha’s murmurs, her shy apologies, and her whispered request to kiss her.

Every word Qu Zhen said had reached her ears, and every kiss on her cheek and lips had been fully felt. Unmoving, like a hunter lying in wait in the night, she remained patient, waiting for her prey to draw near.

When the prey fell into the trap, exposing its soft belly and vulnerabilities without attempting to flee, even the infallible hunter felt a pang of tenderness.

So, she offered the little alpha an excuse: “Just woke up. Is your sensitive period coming?”

Before their sensitive period, alphas gradually soften, yearning to be close to their Omega. But once the sensitive period truly begins, they hide that tenderness, letting instinct take over, becoming the most dangerous beasts in their territory.

Shen Zhikou had initially thought that the shy, flustered alpha would take the offered way out, brushing off the intimacy of the night as lightly as she had in the past.

She was willing to wait, to indulge, to guide, and to engage in this gentle tug-of-war with Qu Zhen through each ordinary day.

No matter how slow the process, she savored every moment.

But,

As the last of her words faded, the alpha beside her suddenly sat up, straight and rigid like a tall poplar tree. Then, she heard Qu Zhen speak.

“Sister, that’s not it.”

Qu Zhen was far from composed. Out of Shen Zhikou’s sight, her left thumb and forefinger pinched the hem of her pajamas, crumpling the soft cotton fabric until it wrinkled before she finally let go.

Shyness was an innate part of Qu Zhen’s traditional, reserved nature, something difficult to change overnight. In their past interactions, she had been like a mimosa plant, folding inward at the slightest movement from Shen Zhikou. But now, mustering her courage, she forced herself to stay open, her clear almond eyes fixed intently on Shen Zhikou, unwilling to miss even the slightest reaction.

Word by word, she stated the truth: “It wasn’t because of my sensitive period. It was because I was testing a hypothesis, testing whether I have feelings for you, Sister.”

Shen Zhikou’s lips pressed together lightly.

“While you were away on your business trip these past few days, aside from studying and reviewing, I spent all my time thinking about this,” she confessed, laying her heart bare. “I’m clumsy. When I couldn’t figure it out on my own, I turned to books and even asked my mom and friends. Their answers were all the same. I thought about it for a long time and eventually decided to try this method.”

She had always believed she had felt some affection, even a flicker of attraction, toward her ex-girlfriend, Su Qi. But the reality seemed entirely different from what she had imagined. After spending time with Shen Zhikou, she realized she had never eagerly awaited Su Qi’s messages, never missed her when they were apart, and never felt the urge to be close to her.

During their two months together, aside from the day she agreed to give the relationship a try and the day they broke up, her emotions had remained largely unmoved, let alone blushing with shyness. The few times they held hands, she had been the one to pull away.

Most of the time, she had felt like a dull, silent wooden figure.

But with Shen Zhikou, she radiated joy from within. Even when she felt shy, there was always anticipation.

So, carefully and cautiously, she wanted to confirm whether her feelings this time were real.

As she spoke, Qu Zhen’s cheeks flushed a deep raspberry red. “I couldn’t sleep. I waited until you were asleep, then… I leaned in and whispered questions and apologies near your ear. I’m truly sorry for kissing you without your permission.”

“I’m sorry, Sister.”

Shen Zhikou remained calm. She had already sat up, leaning back against the headboard with an air of composure. “So, did your hypothesis prove true?”

“Yes,” Qu Zhen answered softly, her gaze slightly averted, her voice anything but steady. “This method was intrusive, but for someone as slow-witted as me, it was effective.”

“It’s genuine palpitation, not the effect of a temporary mark. It’s my heart racing for you, sister.” Qu Zhen paused, her face flushed crimson as she blurted everything out in one go. “I just kissed you three times, the first on the cheek, the second and third on the lips. And… and if you hadn’t woken up, I might not have been able to stop myself from continuing to kiss you.”

“Reason tells me I should return to my spot and keep my distance from you. Even though saying this might make you dislike me, the truth is, it took a tremendous effort to restrain those thoughts about you and pull away.”

After speaking, Qu Zhen glanced at Shen Zhikou, then quickly lowered her head like a puppy that had done something wrong.

“I’m sorry, sister.”

“Whatever punishment you give me, I’ll accept it willingly.”

“If I’ve made you angry, I’ll disappear right now.”

On the night they went to Star Island for vacation, Shen Zhikou had told Qu Zhen that she was allowed to be bold. Qu Zhen had taken those words to heart, which was why she had mustered the courage for such audacious actions. Even so, she still struggled to shake off her habit of feeling shy afterward and instinctively apologizing.

Normally slow-moving, she was unusually quick when it came to apologizing and leaving, as if staying to look at Shen Zhikou for even a moment longer would tempt her to act on the desires she had suppressed deep inside. But just as she was about to get up and leave the bed, Shen Zhikou’s words froze her in place at the edge.

“Come here.”

The obedient Alpha returned to her original position, tilting her head up to gaze intently at the Omega, as if trying to gauge whether she was angry. But she soon lost the capacity for such thoughts, because Shen Zhikou closed the distance between them once more and raised her fair, jade-like right hand, placing it over the left side of Qu Zhen’s chest.

Qu Zhen’s eyes widened. “Sister.”

Shen Zhikou glanced at her, a faint smile playing on her lips, and used her left hand to gently pinch Qu Zhen’s burning earlobe. “Didn’t you say you’d accept anything willingly?”

“Yes! I did.”

But this isn’t playing fair, Qu Zhen thought, her face flushing even hotter.

The jade-like hand resting on her left side shifted slightly toward the center, fingertips lightly brushing against a translucent button, sending a wave of heat through Qu Zhen that made her tremble. She held her breath instinctively, silently enduring Shen Zhikou’s actions.

The heart is located in the left side of the chest, yet Shen Zhikou moved her hand from left to right, her voice laced with amusement. “Is it really beating so fast because of me?”

Qu Zhen answered without hesitation. “It’s because of you.”

“Not because you stole a kiss?”

At this point, Qu Zhen realized Shen Zhikou was teasing her and understood that she wasn’t angry.

She replied honestly, “That’s only part of the reason. The main reason is that my heart races for you. Whenever you get close to me, my heart rate spikes, sometimes even skyrocketing.”

“It only happens with you.”

Shen Zhikou: “I am fortunate.”

Hearing this response, Qu Zhen felt deeply happy but also somewhat uncertain. She still couldn’t quite grasp Shen Zhikou’s thoughts, so she clumsily ventured a question.

“Sister, you once said you wanted to pursue a relationship based on sincerity, but you put detailed plans on hold because you were busy with other matters.” She swallowed nervously and whispered, “I studied this topic in books, and they say that understanding one’s feelings and choosing to pursue love is often a decision made in a moment.”

Once, it was she who had agreed to Shen Zhikou’s proposal of a relationship, but now it was she who took the initiative to ask: “My heart beats for you, sister. I want to pursue a relationship with you, one where we give our true hearts. Sister, may I pursue you?”

Shen Zhikou answered with action, her smile spilling from the corners of her eyes as the hand resting on Qu Zhen’s shoulder shifted to her right hand. Their fingertips touched, and she held Qu Zhen’s right hand, guiding it slowly toward that place toward the spot where the proof of a beating heart lay nestled.

“What do you think?”

The soft swell beneath her palm, the tender sensation at its edge, made Qu Zhen’s fingertips feel as though they had been set ablaze. The fire scorched her reason, and she could no longer pretend to restrain herself.

“I think… sister’s feelings are the same as mine.”

“Correct.”

“Then, before I officially begin pursuing you, may I ask for one more kiss from you, sister?”

Shen Zhikou replied, “My heartbeat has already given you the answer, hasn’t it?”

The encroaching night could not suppress the spring-like atmosphere that filled the room. A spark ignited into a sweeping blaze as Qu Zhen leaned in, turning all her previous thoughts into action. She kissed her repeatedly, parting her lips, coaxing out her soft tongue, and losing herself completely in the moment.

Until every corner was steeped in the fragrance of hyacinths.