My Upperclassman Wants me to confess my feelings - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Teasing Her

The surroundings suddenly became terrifyingly quiet; time ticked away second by second.

Xia Xiaohan gathered her courage and was just about to answer her Senior when a knock suddenly came from outside the door: “Sister Cheng! There’s a cute little sister here looking for you.”

“Okay, coming.” Cheng Wu stood up and directly took Xiaohan’s hand. “Let’s go. It’s a good chance for you two to meet.”

Pulled up by her Senior, Xiaohan joyfully squeezed her Senior’s hand and followed her outside. Standing next to Ningning was the cute girl she had seen last time. After the girl walked over, she was about to speak when she suddenly noticed the two of them holding hands.

Cheng Wu’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she introduced her to Xia Xiaohan: “This is my cousin, Lu Xintong.”

Deliberately emphasizing the word “cousin,” Cheng Wu then said to Lu Xintong: “This is Xiaohan. She’s a few days older than you, so you can call her Xiaohan for now. In a little while, you’ll have to call her Sister.”

Lu Xintong understood the implication instantly and asked with immense surprise, “Really?”

“Of course it’s real.” Cheng Wu raised her hand to brush a stray hair from Xiaohan’s forehead.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Xintong excitedly grabbed Xiaohan’s other hand: “Sister Xiaohan! From now on, I’m your cousin! We must stay in touch!”

Seeing Cheng Wu come out, Chang Le ran over, saying there were many people waiting for her. Cheng Wu asked Lu Xintong to look after Xiaohan while she followed Chang Le to the entrance first.

After pulling Xiaohan down to sit, Lu Xintong fired off several questions in a row: “Where is Sister Xiaohan from? Who else is in your family? Are you going back to Kyoto with my cousin after graduation?”

Xiaohan couldn’t withstand her enthusiasm at all and said a bit nervously, “I’m a native of Jiangcheng. At home—”

“That’s fantastic! My boyfriend is also from Jiangcheng; you can even help me keep an eye on him!”

“Huh?”

“I just arrived here. When New Year’s Day comes, can you be my tour guide?”

“I should be free on New Year’s Day, so that should be fine.”

“Then we can just call Cousin along. The four of us can get two rooms with big beds!”

“Uh…”

Xiaohan wanted to say she could stay at her house, and her Senior could come with her. As Lu Xintong was talking, Zhou Rui entered through the small door carrying milk tea, causing her voice to stop abruptly.

Zhou Rui was also a bit surprised to see Lu Xintong, but he quickly returned to normal: “Xintong, you’re here.” He brought the bag over and opened it for them to choose. “Take a look and pick whatever you like.”

“Let Xintong pick first.” Xiaohan handed the bag to Lu Xintong.

Lu Xintong stared at their familiar manner and spoke blankly, “You two know each other?”

Zhou Rui smiled and didn’t explain too much: “Xiaohan is the sister I told you about.”

As early as last year, Lu Xintong had met Zhou Rui through her cousin. During the National Day holiday, Zhou Rui had specially gone to Kyoto to accompany her cousin and help her deal with the relatives’ prying questions. She had always known Zhou Rui was pursuing her cousin—but now her cousin was pursuing Zhou Rui’s sister?

Lu Xintong looked at Zhou Rui, then at Xia Xiaohan, waved her hands at them hurriedly, and walked toward Ningning while holding her forehead. “I need to go and process this to calm down.”

Watching her back, Xiaohan turned and asked Zhou Rui, “Does Brother know Xintong?”

Zhou Rui glanced at the open prop room where the sandwich was still on the table. Knowing it was specially made for Xiaohan by Cheng Wu, he pushed her toward the prop room. “Go eat. Don’t waste Cheng Wu’s heart. I’ll explain things to Xintong.”

…

Entering the prop room and sitting down, Xiaohan took a bite of the sandwich. The silkiness of the cheese, the tenderness of the ham, and the crispness of the lettuce, wrapped in the fragrant softness of the bread, made Xiaohan’s taste buds instantly active. Her body and mind were both satisfied.

Xiaohan ate very slowly, chewing bit by bit, secretly delighted: Senior’s cooking is really good!

Halfway through, Cheng Wu returned, holding her dress and looking very tired. Xiaohan immediately put down the sandwich and went over to ask, “Senior, do you want to change your clothes first?”

“Mm.” Cheng Wu held her stomach as she walked to the table and directly picked up the remaining sandwich to eat.

Xiaohan froze. Watching her Senior eat the sandwich she hadn’t finished, she stuttered, “That… that’s what I already ate…”

Cheng Wu was ravenous and finished it in a few bites. Licking the corner of her mouth with a lingering sense of hunger, she asked meaningfully, “I can’t eat it?”

At this moment, her Senior had an indescribable allure that made Xiaohan’s throat go dry. She quickly turned around and whispered, “You can… you can.”

If the Senior’s tongue just now… Xiaohan quickly shook her head. What am I thinking!

Witnessing Xiaohan’s changing expressions, Cheng Wu gave a deep smile. Time to change clothes.

The two arrived at the changing room door. Xiaohan handed the backpack containing the clothes to Cheng Wu. “Senior, the clothes are in here.”

Cheng Wu touched the layers of ribbons on her lower back, her eyes twinkling with a smile. “It’s hard to change by myself. Come in and help me.”

“But… but…” Looking into her Senior’s eyes, Xiaohan felt flustered.

Cheng Wu didn’t give her a chance to refuse. She reached out and pulled her inside. After closing the door, Cheng Wu turned her back and explained, “It’s mainly because the ribbons are too troublesome; otherwise, I could change by myself.”

Xiaohan felt a sense of relief. She hung up the backpack and turned to untie the ribbons of the gown. As the ribbons were pulled open one by one, her Senior’s skin, marked with indentations, gradually appeared before her eyes. The further down she went, the more red marks left by the tight ribbons she saw.

It made Xiaohan’s heart ache. She couldn’t help but say, “Senior, wearing this dress is too much suffering. You’ll look just as beautiful in a size larger in the future.”

Cheng Wu smiled and turned her head to look at the person behind her. Xiaohan’s brows were knitted together, her eyes full of heartache. Cheng Wu suddenly turned around and raised her hand to stroke the space between Xiaohan’s eyebrows. “No frowning. Not even if you feel bad for me. You should be laughing happily.”

“But…” Xiaohan looked at the side of Cheng Wu’s waist. If she wore a properly fitting dress, there wouldn’t be such deep red marks.

Cheng Wu gazed at her raven-feather eyelashes, which were fluttering. The fingertip resting on Xiaohan’s brow uncontrollably moved downward, covering her small pink mouth. The warm touch sparked a current of electricity that instantly spread through her body, stirring up desires suppressed for a long time. It slowly extended, reaching deep into her mind and entangling her steadfast logic.

Cheng Wu’s eyes took on a dark hue, and her breathing quickened. Xiaohan felt an unavoidable sense of pressure and instinctively wanted to escape. Unexpectedly, Cheng Wu pressed her hand against Xiaohan’s waist first and leaned in. Their noses almost touched.

“What are you afraid of…”

Cheng Wu’s hand left Xiaohan’s lips, brushed past her ear, and gently cradled the back of her neck. It startled Xiaohan so much that her whole heart felt suspended.

“I’m… I’m not.”

Looking at her Senior’s face so close at hand, Xiaohan’s heart pounded like a drum, and a layer of blood-red color instantly flooded her cheeks. Cheng Wu smiled knowingly and used a voice that only the two of them could hear to offer a shallow temptation: “Duplicitous.”

Without waiting for Xiaohan to speak, her heart moved with her will. She tilted her head slightly and finally captured the softness she had long craved. Xiaohan’s breath hitched; she slowly stiffened her neck, and her toes curled uncontrollably.

Unfortunately, in the next moment, a series of messy footsteps came from outside the changing room. Someone knocked on the door and asked, “Is anyone in there?” It was the people from the skit performance needing to change.

Cheng Wu could only raise her head and release her hold. She turned aside with great regret and said, “Bring me my undershirt.”

Carefully lowering the gown to her waist, Cheng Wu reached for the shirt and unintentionally noticed Xiaohan with her head down. Her ears and neck were so red they looked as if they had been painted with blood, and her right hand was anxiously picking at the wall of the changing room.

“Is it hot?” Cheng Wu took the clothes and teased her intentionally.

Xiaohan dared not look up even more, feeling as if she were in a sauna. After her Senior finally finished changing and opened the door to leave, Xiaohan covered her face and ran straight away. She grabbed two bottles of mineral water and hurried through the crowd to hide in a corner. She held a bottle to each cheek to cool herself down, keeping her back to everyone for fear of being seen.

…

After the gala ended, Zhou Rui suggested going for a late-night snack to celebrate, and Cheng Wu invited Sun Wenze and Luo Xu. The student street on Christmas Eve was very lively; everyone ate and played happily. However, during the meal, Zhou Rui took a phone call and looked at Xiaohan several times as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

On the way back, Lu Xintong had too much to drink and insisted on pulling Xiaohan into a dance. Fortunately, Xiaohan was strong enough to keep her from getting out of hand. Sun Wenze had taken an interest in a girl from the Arts Department and was asking Luo Xu about her. Zhao Ru and Ningning had a date and had already returned to school. Thus, Cheng Wu and Zhou Rui were left walking at the very back.

Looking at Xiaohan up ahead, Cheng Wu remembered Zhou Rui’s behavior during the meal. She asked him, “Do you have something you want to say to Xiaohan?”

“I really can’t hide anything from you.” Zhou Rui smiled and shook his head, looking at Xiaohan’s back with a conflicted heart. During the meal, his mother, Chen Lan, had called and told him not to mention Auntie Xia’s surgery for the time being.

Cheng Wu could only think of one thing that would worry Zhou Rui: “Is it something about Xiaohan’s family?”

Zhou Rui replied, “Yes. It’s Xiaohan’s mother.”

Seeing Cheng Wu’s pensive expression, Zhou Rui’s heart moved, and he suddenly asked, “On New Year’s Day, can you stay in Jiangcheng and accompany Xiaohan for a few days?”

Cheng Wu’s expression froze slightly. “Is it very serious?”

Zhou Rui remembered Xiaohan’s past reactions and nodded solemnly. “Very serious. I don’t know if Xiaohan will need sleeping pills to fall asleep this time.”

…

Late at night, Cheng Wu tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She felt like she didn’t fully understand Xiaohan.

Ningning and Zhao Ru were not in the dorm, and Xintong was incredibly drunk, so Xiaohan had directly carried her back to the room. Cheng Wu gave her bed to Lu Xintong and slept in Zhao Ru’s bed. Originally, she wanted to squeeze in with Xiaohan for the night, but considering Xintong was there, she went to Zhao Ru’s bed instead.

After tossing for the umpteenth time, Xia Xiaohan’s worried voice suddenly came from across the room: “Senior, is it because of the bed? If you don’t mind, you can come over and sleep with me.”

Cheng Wu turned over and looked at Xiaohan. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Okay.”

She put on her coat and got out of bed. Cheng Wu climbed onto Xiaohan’s bed. As soon as she lay down, she remembered Zhou Rui’s words and couldn’t help but pull Xiaohan into her arms. Xiaohan didn’t dare move at all.

With Zhou Rui’s words still on her mind, Cheng Wu didn’t notice Xiaohan’s unusual reaction. It wasn’t until she realized the person in her arms was getting hotter—practically like holding a furnace—that Cheng Wu looked down and found Xiaohan covered in sweat.

“What’s wrong?”

As Cheng Wu moved, her chest brushed against Xiaohan’s hand. The soft touch startled Xiaohan, who immediately shrank back. The edge of the quilt lifted, letting in a cold draft.

Cheng Wu laughed softly. She took Xiaohan’s hand, placed it on her own waist, then tucked it in the quilt. She leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Sleep early.”

Her nervous heart slowly relaxed. Xiaohan gave a soft “Mm” and closed her eyes in peace.

The next morning, Cheng Wu dragged Lu Xintong out of the covers and told her to wash up quickly to catch her flight. Xintong acted spoiled and refused to leave until Cheng Wu handed her phone over. Seeing the barrage of missed calls on the screen, Lu Xintong directly grabbed her things and ran out.

Xiaohan came in from the balcony and asked curiously, “Why was Xintong in such a hurry?”

“Her mother found out she came to see her boyfriend. She’s likely on her way here right now.” After Cheng Wu said this, her gaze fell on Xiaohan’s moist little mouth. She smiled and asked, “What do you want to eat today?”

Over the next few days, Cheng Wu became very busy, spending all her time in the library gathering several books on psychology to read. Xiaohan was busy reviewing for her final exams so she could spend quality time with her Senior on New Year’s Day.

Previously, she hadn’t expected her Senior would want to go to her home for New Year’s Day.