The Whole World Is Waiting for Me and My Ex-Girlfriend to Remarry (Entertainment Industry) - Chapter 28

Kisses Everywhere

This kiss was truly pure.

Ears were flushing, hearts were itching, and in an instant, Dong Huaci felt herself plummeting back to that rooftop summer night at eighteen. When she lifted her head, dazed by the scent and the kiss, she stared blankly at the nineteen-year-old Zhong Qing. It was as if she and Zhong Qing were still falling through that “South Orchard Dream”—a dream devoid of power and wealth, yet filled with warm fragrance and soft whispers. This performance of The Dream of the South Orchard seemed destined to never end; with every kiss, that lingering, obsessive tenderness forced one to gaze at the moon with eternal longing. The nineteen-year-old Zhong Qing hadn’t dared to look at her, and the twenty-seven-year-old Zhong Qing in this Japanese restaurant didn’t dare to look at her either.

Zhong Qing hurriedly turned around. With the strength of a long-time dancer, her arm power was excellent, and she pulled the other woman up in one swift motion. However, she hadn’t expected that after years of acting, Dong Huaci’s core strength was no longer what it used to be; she fell straight back into Zhong Qing’s arms.

The meal had been a chaotic mess. The two of them held each other in a strange embrace on the tatami mats, yet neither spoke. A scent wafted up again—yes, Dong Huaci’s scent. Dong Huaci pressed against Zhong Qing’s clothes, her eyes meeting Zhong Qing’s. She grabbed Zhong Qing’s arm, her old habits resurfacing, and gave her a ruthless pinch, sparing no strength at all.

Zhong Qing let out a sharp “Hiss.”

Dong Huaci blinked, and tears finally began to well up. “Why are you meddling in my business? Mind! Your! Own! Business!” She was the one pinching, she was the one taking advantage, yet the more she spoke, the more aggrieved she became. Glancing at Zhong Qing’s reddened ears, she propped herself up with one hand and tried to pull Zhong Qing with the other, only to have her wrist caught firmly by Zhong Qing.

Zhong Qing’s mood, however, seemed quite good. She even felt like teasing Dong Huaci, saying, “This place isn’t right. You should change it.”

Dong Huaci gave up.

She realized that the directions she and Zhong Qing cared about were polar opposites. Their emotions resonated, but their understandings had completely diverged. She repeated herself slowly: “Zhong Qing, send me a bank account number. This is my matter.”

Dong Huaci gazed at Zhong Qing with that look she excelled at—the one that made her seem deeply in love with whoever she looked at—but Zhong Qing appeared completely immune. Zhong Qing stared back at her; it seemed even pain was a form of love. She continued, “I didn’t intend to tell you. Your manager found his way to me on his own. I have the right to refuse compensation, don’t I?”

She subconsciously pursed her lips and added, “Or perhaps, I think I’ve already received my compensation.”

That was likely not enough. Dong Huaci gave a somewhat self-deprecating laugh. She stepped down from the tatami and sat back down opposite her, looking a bit despondent as she drank her mung bean smoothie. The mung bean smoothie was sweeter than those astronomical financial figures; it represented the sincere heartbeat of youth, whereas those huge sums often carried hidden, secret demands. This was why Dong Huaci had pinched her—she had long seen through Zhong Qing’s intentions, and a hint of resentment finally sprouted from her guilt toward Zhong Qing. She asked, “Zhong Qing, do you still remember when we were on the rooftop?”

“The rooftop?” Zhong Qing repeated the word.

“Yes, the rooftop. The first time. Our first kiss.” Dong Huaci smiled slightly, her tone growing more certain as she spoke. She toyed with her hair as if nothing had just happened. The mung bean smoothie was nearly finished. The nineteen-year-old Zhong Qing had always been afraid that Dong Huaci wouldn’t eat. On the rooftop, after several kisses, Zhong Qing’s temper had vanished entirely. The final kiss had been breathless, emotions overflowing like water beneath a glass reflecting the moonlight, yet the two of them only grew thirstier. After finally pulling apart for a split second, and after Dong Huaci said, “The wind on the rooftop is so strong, walk back with me,” the nineteen-year-old Zhong Qing said something shocking to the eighteen-year-old Dong Huaci: “Okay. Are you hungry?”

“Hungry?”

Dong Huaci blinked her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering; the moon overhead seemed to blink its eyes and eyelashes in return. She froze, then laughed uncontrollably. “Is that all you have to ask me? Zhong Qing, I bet you’ve never been in a relationship.”

Zhong Qing stood still. She was a bit nervous and turned her head away. “Ah… should I not have asked? I remember you’re always hungry at night.” She lowered her head again. “It’s so late, food delivery will be too slow. Let’s just go to the convenience store and get something to eat.”

They didn’t hold hands, nor did they walk side by side, yet the atmosphere felt as though they were still kissing. Dong Huaci walked in front, and Zhong Qing followed behind. The few seconds waiting for the elevator after coming down from the rooftop felt extra long. Dong Huaci was clearly dissatisfied with the answer to her previous question. She asked again, “So, have you really ever been in a relationship?”

Zhong Qing tried to summon all her songwriting skills to answer that question. She thought for a long time but couldn’t say a word, appearing cold instead. She followed step by step, her movements becoming almost pitiful. Finally, at the moment the elevator bell rang, she uttered three words: “Do you count?”

The elevator doors opened, but Dong Huaci forgot to step inside.

She turned her body, only to see Zhong Qing’s hair in a mess, her usual “master-level” composure completely gone. Dong Huaci’s face flushed in response. The two stood in a stalemate; neither entered the elevator. This blush surpassed all love songs and confessions. Zhong Qing’s rational logic returned slightly: “If you don’t count, then no.”

Dong Huaci bit her lip. She said, “Zhong Qing, don’t feel burdened. I just… I just felt like I wanted to comfort you then.” Dong Huaci’s explanation only made things more awkward. The elevator doors shut right in front of them. “I didn’t expect things to turn out like this afterward. I… I haven’t asked you yet.”

“Asked me what?” With the doors closed, half of Zhong Qing’s face was submerged in shadow.

“Do you feel offended?” Dong Huaci asked seriously.

“Are you really not hungry?”

Zhong Qing once again answered Dong Huaci’s question with one that didn’t match. Dong Huaci turned her whole body around, trying to see her expression. She couldn’t quite describe her feelings for Zhong Qing. She wondered why Zhong Qing wasn’t curious about whether she had dated anyone or if she liked girls. Was it because she had made it too obvious? In the slang of the time, was she being “handled”? Dong Huaci’s face was almost completely red. She felt she no longer held the initiative in this relationship because she was so worried about Zhong Qing being sad. Whether out of shyness or a game of “hard to get,” she was too embarrassed to ask Zhong Qing to define things—silly, naive, ambiguous, and soulful questions like “what exactly is our relationship now?”

The eighteen-year-old Dong Huaci’s brain stalled; now it was her turn to freeze up. Her earlier rooftop bravado—the “I just want to comfort Zhong Qing so I’ll take advantage of her first and then act cool and deny everything” attitude—was gone. Now she had become a little girl who simply said whatever came to mind in her dreamlike state. Dong Huaci replied to the question as asked: “Actually, I’m not hungry, but I am a little thirsty.”

As soon as she spoke, another kiss followed.

If we keep kissing like this, our lips are going to swell! This sort of chaotic thought bubbled up in Dong Huaci’s mind, but this time, the roles had reversed. Zhong Qing, who had been following behind, suddenly closed the distance. Dong Huaci was pressed against the center of the elevator doors, tilting her head back to kiss her. This kiss carried a hint of fire. Is Zhong Qing still holding a grudge because I ignored her to chat with someone else in the room after receiving flowers for my successful debut performance today? Dong Huaci had no experience in kissing, and fatally, neither did Zhong Qing. If it had been a pure, simple kiss, it would have been fine, but this was too deep. Both forgot to breathe, yet neither seemed willing to be the first to give in. The kiss eventually turned into biting. Dong Huaci instinctively patted Zhong Qing’s back, repeatedly, until she had to deliver three forceful hits before Zhong Qing let go slightly. Their breathing was ragged, intertwined in an extremely ambiguous way. Zhong Qing buried her head in Dong Huaci’s hair, inhaling her scent as if it were oxygen. Zhong Qing asked, “Are you still thirsty now?”

“My dress is a bit… a bit messy.” Dong Huaci only felt that this woman, Zhong Qing, was incredibly strong. She was tall enough to be a model with perfect muscle tone from training, making Dong Huaci’s 170cm height seem like it was for naught. “Let me go first. If you don’t let go, I’ll hit you, Zhong Qing!”

Zhong Qing shook her head and actually started to act spoiled in a low voice: “I’m a girl. You can’t hit a pretty girl.”

Dong Huaci felt like she was going to faint. She pushed at her. “Fine, fine. Our ‘pretty girl’ Zhong Qing, would you allow this ‘tree’ to go and press the button?”

“Beg me,” Zhong Qing said.

Being confined, certain signs seemed to be emerging. But at that moment, both were so intoxicated by the atmosphere of love that they couldn’t see the gaps in their personalities; it only felt like a unique sort of romance. Dong Huaci took several deep breaths. In the rise and fall of her chest, she felt the embrace tighten. The exaggerated black cross necklace that Zhong Qing loved to wear pressed into her skin, which was already sensitive under her thin summer dress, causing a bit of pain.

“I beg you, Eldest Miss Zhong.” Dong Huaci’s nickname for Zhong Qing, “Eldest Miss,” was a byproduct of them getting to know each other over the past month. She never expected that Zhong Qing would later use this same title to counter her whenever she was frustrated. “My very, very best friend, the only child from Shanghai who is willing to spend so much money on her partner…”

“What kind of videos have you been watching lately!” Zhong Qing couldn’t help but laugh. She let her go and turned to press the elevator button. This time they didn’t have to wait, but when Zhong Qing looked back, she saw Dong Huaci standing there, blushing and smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt. Dong Huaci looked up but didn’t enter the elevator, appearing as if she were waiting for Zhong Qing.

When they were just friends, their physical contact had been so natural; they would have walked into the elevator hand-in-hand. But now, because they had kissed too much and were no longer kissing, they stood far apart. Zhong Qing stepped in first. Dong Huaci remained at the door, half-dazed and sleepwalking, her mind filled with strange thoughts like “If you kiss your best friend this much, can you still be best friends?” Zhong Qing waited for her for a long time. Seeing that the doors were about to close and Dong Huaci still hadn’t entered, she reached out forcefully and pulled her in. The elevator doors shut, and the ceiling light flickered on. Dong Huaci thought, Well, since we’ve already kissed like that, one more won’t hurt. It was mainly because Zhong Qing looked too beautiful under the overhead light. Her eyes were like cosmic black holes, pulling people in; her lip was slightly bloodied, which only added to her charm, making her look like a temptress. Dong Huaci thought, Yes, that’s it. One more won’t matter. If we fall out in the future, I’ll never get to kiss such a beautiful face again. So, she took two quick breaths, turned, and stood on her tiptoes. Before Zhong Qing could even react, Dong Huaci closed her eyes, hooked her arms around her neck, and kissed her again.