My Upperclassman Wants me to confess my feelings - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Opening the Shoulders

“Take… take off my top?” Xiaohan was stunned. Although her right shoulder was indeed uncomfortable, still…

When Cheng Wu walked to the head of the bed and leaned closer, Xiaohan subconsciously shrank back, feeling a bit nervous. Yet, why was there a tiny bit of anticipation in her heart?

Cheng Wu reached out, wanting to see if she could do it without having Xiaohan remove her shirt.

Xiaohan misunderstood her, quickly looking away and clutching the hem of her shirt as she whispered: “Senior, the curtain hasn’t been drawn yet.”

Hmm? Cheng Wu paused, and seeing Xiaohan’s face flushed red like a sunset cloud, she let out a meaningful smile.

She turned to draw the curtain, and when she looked back, she saw that Xiaohan had already turned her back, crossed her arms, and nimbly slipped off her top.

This is—? Cheng Wu’s gaze froze. Why were there so many scars on Xiaohan’s back? Although the marks were faint, the crisscrossing scars of various sizes were impossible to ignore.

Hearing no movement behind her for a long time, Xiaohan hugged her arms and looked back: “Senior?”

Cheng Wu snapped out of it, walked to the bed, and helped her lie face down, though her eyes were carefully examining the scars. Judging by their color, these wounds were at least ten years old.

A cool fingertip brushed against her spine, making Xiaohan tremble uncontrollably. Lying on her side, her hands involuntarily gripped the bedsheets.

Cheng Wu’s brow furrowed slightly, her heart aching as she looked at the scars. What exactly has Xiaohan been through?

Pushing her emotions aside, Cheng Wu gently pressed down on her shoulders. Grabbing Xiaohan’s right wrist with her right hand, she whispered a reminder: “Relax a bit. I won’t use too much force; I’ll progress gradually.”

“Mhm.” Xiaohan tried her best to relax, but she knew the moment Senior lingered earlier, she must have been surprised by the scars. It’s okay! Senior is different from the others!

As her mood slowly eased, Xiaohan simply closed her eyes, sniffing the faint scent of rosemary amidst the smell of disinfectant. Cheng Wu slowly lifted Xiaohan’s right arm, gently stretching it toward her back.

“How do you feel?”

“Not bad. My shoulder doesn’t feel as sore.”

“Then I’ll add a bit more force. There might be a slight tearing pain, bear with it.”

“Mhm.”

Cheng Wu slowly rotated her arm backward, and after reaching the limit, slowly lowered it. After several repetitions, Xiaohan felt her shoulder and arm were incredibly comfortable.

Although Cheng Wu forced herself not to look at the scars on her back, she couldn’t help it. With a momentary lapse in focus, the arm gave a soft crack.

Xiaohan snapped her eyes open as a wave of numbness spread through her body.

Cheng Wu immediately stopped: “Does it hurt?”

“No! It’s very comfortable.” Xiaohan moved her shoulder; it wasn’t sprained, but rather felt like it had been properly loosened up.

This relieved Cheng Wu, but remembering that Xiaohan hadn’t exercised in a long time, she realized that while the right shoulder was stretched, the left one wasn’t. So she asked: “Do you want me to ‘open your shoulders’? It hurts a lot the moment it happens, but it feels comfortable for a long time afterward.”

Xiaohan hesitated but, feeling that Senior was doing it for her own good, she agreed.

“Then I’m coming up.”

Cheng Wu took off her high heels and straddled Xiaohan’s lower back, kneeling halfway with her knees tight against the sides of Xiaohan’s waist. She took Xiaohan’s wrists in both hands, rotating them up and down to warm her up. Once she felt the joints in the shoulders becoming flexible, Cheng Wu moved her hands up from the wrists to grip Xiaohan’s shoulders.

To keep Xiaohan from being nervous, Cheng Wu deliberately started talking about the Mathematics Department’s curriculum, and Xiaohan replied sentence by sentence.

Taking advantage of the moment Xiaohan was completely relaxed, Cheng Wu’s right knee suddenly pressed against her spine, and her hands abruptly pulled backward.

There was a crisp crack. The moment Xiaohan felt Cheng Wu’s knee press down, a sharp pain spread from her shoulders to her entire body. She couldn’t control herself and let out a cry of pain: “Ah!”

Ningning, who had just arrived at the door, didn’t know Cheng Wu was opening Xiaohan’s shoulders. She rushed forward and pulled back the curtain: “Is something wrong? Xiaohan, she—”

Seeing their posture, Ningning was directly stunned.

Cheng Wu quite naturally reached out and pulled the curtain shut, blocking Ningning’s view. She turned to sit down and put on her shoes, then picked up Xiaohan’s top and asked: “Can you move?”

“Yes, I feel less tired now.” Xiaohan propped herself up to turn over.

However, her right hand was still unsteady. Just as she was about to fall back, she was caught by Cheng Wu, who moved with quick eyes and hands. Xiaohan was on her side, and as Cheng Wu leaned over to catch her, her face was buried right into Cheng Wu’s chest.

Warm body temperature, a rich fragrance, and that strong, powerful heartbeat. She suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Cheng Wu helped her sit up and noticed Xiaohan seemed to be shaking. She asked worriedly: “Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No! No!” Xiaohan’s mind was filled with the sensation from just now. Hearing Cheng Wu’s voice, she trembled even harder.

Cheng Wu felt it was strange until she noticed the tips of Xiaohan’s ears were a deep, dark red. Recalling the scene just now, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepened. So Xiaohan is this pure-hearted.

…

Outside the curtain, Ningning was waiting with unbearable curiosity. What exactly happened just now? That posture made it impossible for her not to let her imagination run wild!

“Sister Wu! Is Xiaohan okay?” Ningning didn’t want to rush them, but she truly wanted to know what had occurred, so she had to ask.

Xiaohan quickly put on her clothes, touching her burning face and ears, wishing she could dig a hole and crawl into it! Seeing that Xiaohan still had her back turned, Cheng Wu knew she was embarrassed, so she pulled back the curtain and stepped out herself.

Ningning craned her neck to look inside, but could only see the back of Xiaohan’s head. As the curtain fell, Ningning saw Cheng Wu looking completely indifferent, but she knew something must have happened! What was it?

Cheng Wu took the millet porridge from her hand: “You go ahead and get busy. I’ll take care of Xiaohan here.”

“I can do it too! I can do it too!” Ningning hadn’t figured out the situation, so how could she be willing to leave!

Cheng Wu didn’t mind. She sat down on the empty bed next to them and took out her phone to reply to messages. Anxious Ningning paced between the two beds, looking at Cheng Wu one moment and the curtain the next.

What on earth happened? She saw Xiaohan sit up just now, so she should be fine. But why did Xiaohan keep the curtain drawn?

After struggling for ten minutes, Ningning finally stopped in front of Cheng Wu and asked cautiously: “Sister Wu, Xiaohan screamed just now. What were you guys doing?”

Cheng Wu looked at her with a half-smile: “You’re that interested?”

Ningning gave a dry laugh: “It’s because I care about Xiaohan!”

“We weren’t doing anything, just making Xiaohan more comfortable.” After saying that, Cheng Wu went back to her messages.

To Ningning’s ears, those words were a depth charge! It completely blew her suppressed curiosity sky-high! She clenched her palms, wishing she could rush in and see for herself. Sister Wu saying that is basically fanning the flames, okay!

She had already been overthinking, and now Ningning decided she definitely had to corner Xiaohan and ask her clearly!

Just as Ningning was about to grit her teeth and go for it, the doctor walked over and asked strangely: “Little girl, what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” Ningning’s curiosity instantly vanished in fright. Only then did she realize—with a doctor here, Sister Wu couldn’t have done anything even if she wanted to!

The doctor walked over and asked: “Xiaohan, how do you feel?”

Xiaohan was so startled she sat up abruptly, then quickly lay back down, pulling the sheet over her head: “I feel great! I’m already fine! Just a bit tired!”

“That’s good. Once you’ve rested, you can head back.” Seeing she was fine, the doctor didn’t pull back the curtain and turned to leave.

Ningning grabbed the doctor: “Wait, I want to ask, why did Xiaohan scream just now?”

The doctor glanced at Cheng Wu and said: “She was opening Xiaohan’s shoulders. After exercise, opening the shoulders can effectively stretch the meridians; it’ll make her feel less sore in the coming days.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Ningning quickly smiled and saw the doctor off. She turned around just in time to meet Cheng Wu’s smiling gaze: “Otherwise, what did you think we were doing?”

Ningning pouted: “Sister Wu just loves teasing me!”

…

Half an hour later, Xiaohan made sure her complexion had returned to normal before sitting up and drawing the curtain. The moment she saw the area just below Cheng Wu’s collarbone, she immediately looked away: “Senior, I’ve rested enough. Let’s go.”

“Alright.” Cheng Wu picked up the porridge Ningning bought, said goodbye to the doctor, and left the infirmary.

Because of the sports meet these past two days, the freshmen and sophomores had no classes, so there were people everywhere. Cheng Wu inevitably ran into many acquaintances, many of whom were surprised she wasn’t over at the sports field.

She said with a smile: “Chang Le is very capable, and besides, there are many newcomers this year. It’s a good chance to give them some practice while I take a break.”

Most people who knew Cheng Wu had essentially gotten to know Xiaohan over the past two months. When they greeted Cheng Wu, they would also praise Xiaohan for being impressive. After all, as a girl from the Mathematics Department taking first place in both javelin and shot put made it hard not to remember her.

Along the way, Xiaohan tried her best to maintain a steady appearance until they returned to the dorm, where she let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t spoken to so many people in a long time.

“Xiaohan, eat this first. I’ll go get some hot water for you.” Cheng Wu placed the porridge on Xiaohan’s desk and turned to pick up her cup to head out for water.

Xiaohan didn’t want to keep bothering her and reached out to stop her, but accidentally slid her hand between Cheng Wu’s ribs and arm. Her wrist brushed against that spot, and Xiaohan retracted her hand as a reflex, whispering in a fluster: “Se-Senior, I didn’t mean to. I can get the water myself.”

The smile on Cheng Wu’s lips couldn’t be hidden. She said softly: “Go eat your porridge first. I’m not busy anyway; it’s just getting some hot water, it won’t tire me out.”

After she left, Xiaohan held her head and looked at the ceiling, shaking her head incessantly: God! That was too deliberate! Will Senior think the infirmary incident was deliberate too?

“Xiaohan? What’s wrong?” Zhao Ru’s voice suddenly appeared at the door.

Xiaohan quickly composed herself and said with a stiff face: “Nothing. I’m just too hungry. I’m going to eat.” She turned back to her seat, picked up the spoon, and began eating the porridge.

Zhao Ru entered the dorm and had just put her things down when Cheng Wu walked in: “Xiaohan.”

Xiaohan turned around with her spoon in hand: “Mhm!”