The Woman I Was Flirting With Turned Out To Be A Chaebol Heiress - Chapter 26

It was as if she had been bewitched Li Nianyi blurted out what was in her heart with ease.

Had she still not made herself obvious enough?

Had all the time they spent together not left even the slightest mark on this woman’s heart?

Yet, instead of the embarrassment Li Nianyi had imagined, speaking her feelings out loud brought a strange sense of relief.

She hadn’t planned it this way at all.

In the car, she had decided that tonight she would say to Jiang Ji:

“Next time we meet, I’ll confess to you.”

It was still a way of laying everything bare, but it would have been gentle and reserved, giving her enough breathing room and time to think things through.

But plans never keep up with changes.

After all, emotions aren’t something people can control at will.

Just like now though Li Nianyi always held the belief that one shouldn’t make decisions on impulse maybe breaking the rules would bring unexpected surprises.

Whether or not they could have a future together, one built by two people side by side, all depended on whether Jiang Ji dared to face her feelings tonight.

Li Nianyi looked straight into Jiang Ji’s eyes, without hesitation.

She waited.

If Jiang Ji chose to run away again this time, she would end it all.

For sure.

She warned herself again.

This silent standoff didn’t last long. Unsurprisingly, Jiang Ji was the first to yield.

She dropped her gaze, avoiding the honest eyes of the woman in front of her.

“Nian Nian, you must be tired from working so long today… I’ll make you some dessert”

“Jiang Ji!”

Li Nianyi cut her off. Her voice wasn’t stern or harsh, but it carried a weight that made resistance impossible.

At least, Jiang Ji couldn’t resist.

In that moment, Jiang Ji realized this time, she wouldn’t be given an escape.

“Look at me, Jiang Ji. Don’t avoid my question.”

Li Nianyi cupped Jiang Ji’s delicate and distant face in both hands, forcing her to meet her gaze.

“Jiang Ji, I want your answer. Tell me, what is your heart saying? Please?”

She tapped Jiang Ji lightly on the chest.

A tremble at the heart.

Light so light.

But also impossibly heavy.

Like a raging symphony playing wildly on her most fragile strings.

Her throat felt as if it had been choked by something, only able to let out faint, strained breaths. Staring into those eyes, where she saw her own cowardice reflected, Jiang Ji couldn’t form a single coherent sentence.

“You can’t say it? Is it fear? Or are you holding back for some reason?”

Li Nianyi’s voice remained calm, but beneath that calm was a brewing storm.

“Nian Nian, I’m begging you… please don’t push me.”

Her voice was full of desperation like it was squeezed out from her throat—her reddened eyes, so pitiable, no one could remain unmoved.

But Jiang Ji, if I don’t push you, this really will be the end of us.

She whispered, “But aren’t you pushing me too?”

Li Nianyi glanced toward Jiang Ji’s bedroom the one she had briefly entered before, Jiang Ji’s private space.

The door was half closed, the inside pitch black, hiding whatever lay within.

“Jiang Ji, if you won’t say it, then I’ll say it for you.”

Li Nianyi pulled her into the room and pushed her onto the bed. This woman, skilled in Muay Thai and martial arts, went soft and pliant in Li Nianyi’s hands, allowing herself to be handled without resistance.

The room was dark very dark only the faint light from the living room spilled through the crack in the door, just enough to make out each other’s faces.

Humans naturally fear the dark. In it, we become vulnerable. And that faint light just enough offers a glimmer of hope.

Li Nianyi stared at Jiang Ji’s face, half-devoured by shadows, her eyes still glowing like stars in the night.

“Jiang Ji, living in that kind of environment… you must be so lonely, right?”

Her voice was cold, like an icy needle stabbing into the softest parts of Jiang Ji’s heart.

“No… not just lonely. Also anxious, afraid. You didn’t even have the freedom to cry.”

“You lost your mother when you were most fragile and sensitive, losing the only person you could rely on. You longed to be loved, accompanied, saved… but your world was so cruel, it gave you nothing.”

“You’re always cold and distant because you had to pretend to be strong. Because if you didn’t become like that, you wouldn’t know how to face the world around you.”

“You once said something that wasn’t wrong you are weak, pitiful, a complete coward. Always anxious, always imagining the worst outcomes. You act calm, but inside you’re terrified, aren’t you?”

“But Jiang Ji, have you ever wondered why? Why is it that this version of you the one hidden behind a mask is the same person who dares cry in front of me? Why are you unafraid to let me see your vulnerability?”

“In front of Li Nianyi, Jiang Ji can laugh, cry, get shy. You’re vivid, adorable, imperfect but real.”

Using the faint light from outside the room, Li Nianyi looked around.

“You’ve filled this room with our photos. You put the little stone figure I gave you in the most prominent place. It’s like this room is full of my presence.”

She seemed to be talking about the room.

But her finger pointed to Jiang Ji’s chest.

Her mind was ringing, yet she had never felt more clear. Li Nianyi’s words echoed crisply in Jiang Ji’s head.

Suddenly, she felt cold tears streaming down her face.

Jiang Ji felt like a beautifully wrapped gift violently torn open by Li Nianyi, exposing the ugly contents inside.

She’d tried so hard to hide her true self, yet Li Nianyi saw right through her, so effortlessly.

Such a pretty box but it held only garbage inside.

“Jiang Ji, admit it. You like me.”

That sentence felt like a judgment final and inescapable.

Li Nianyi used the gentlest voice to say the most brutal words, breaking Jiang Ji down and nailing her to the cross of truth.

Jiang Ji liked Li Nianyi but she had only ever dared to like.

But then, Li Nianyi wrapped her arms around Jiang Ji’s waist and pushed her down onto the bed, trapping the woman in her embrace.

“Jiang Ji, do you know what I think? You should already know, shouldn’t you?”

“I should know… what?”

Jiang Ji croaked out the words, her voice dry. She should’ve avoided her eyes, but now, she couldn’t look away.

A bitter laugh slipped from Li Nianyi’s throat.

“That’s why I say you’re a coward.”

She brushed away the hair from Jiang Ji’s face. “You know, more than complementarity, intimacy is built on similarity.”

“You always unconsciously show me your true self. And I’m no different.”

“You know what? A lot of people say they enjoy being around me that it’s easy, relaxed, comfortable. That’s because I create that kind of environment for them.”

“It’s exhausting, really. But I’m selfish and fake. If pretending a little makes life easier in this society, then I don’t mind. After all, it doesn’t hurt anyone… right?”

“Jiang Ji, we’re the same kind of people. Always hiding but only in front of each other, we expose ourselves.”

Maybe that’s why they were drawn to one another.

“Jiang Ji, I like you.”

In that moment, the world fell silent. The buzzing in her brain ceased. Everything around her blurred, and in Jiang Ji’s eyes, there was only Li Nianyi.

What was she saying?

Li Nianyi’s confession stunned her more than her own feelings being exposed.

“Why that look? You think I’m joking?”

“I.. I just… I never dared to dream of something like this.”

Li Nianyi pinched Jiang Ji’s cheek. “Then I’ll say it again until you believe me.”

“Jiang Ji, I like you. I like you so, so much the kind of like that includes you in all my future plans.”

She leaned closer, their hair intertwining.

“Would you be my girlfriend?”

Maybe it wasn’t just their hair that entangled.

Maybe it was their fates.

Maybe it was them.

The next second, Jiang Ji gently lifted her chin and kissed Li Nianyi.

At that close distance, Li Nianyi could smell the faint saltiness, and then the cool tears melted into their kiss.

This time, it wasn’t a tentative peck.

Li Nianyi slightly opened her mouth like a guide, slowly leading her most eager student.

Their breaths intertwined, wrapping around their senses.

Li Nianyi was really good at kissing.

Jiang Ji’s stunned mind could only think that.

She had initiated it, but Li Nianyi took the lead.

Her thoughts grew slower, as if soaked in warm water. Her gaze became blurred, her entire being intoxicated.

So much love.

Jiang Ji’s sweet taste, mingled with the bitter flavor of her tears.

Li Nianyi silently sighed.

So much love.

Who knew how long they kissed?

Long enough for their brains to go oxygen-starved before they reluctantly pulled apart.

“Nian Nian, I’m willing.”

Jiang Ji’s voice was sticky with emotion, her eyes reflecting something Li Nianyi couldn’t read.

Was it struggle?

Was it pain?

Or maybe the room was just too dark maybe she saw it wrong.

Before she could think further, Jiang Ji suddenly wrapped her arms around Li Nianyi’s neck, pulling her tightly into her embrace until their bodies and even their souls blurred together.

“I’m willing.”

She murmured softly.

How could she not be?

She liked Nian Nian so, so much.

“Nian Nian, I like you too.”

“I know.”

She had known all along.

She never gambled on Jiang Ji’s courage she had always intended to make her say it.

This time, let her be brave first.

Cowardly Jiang Ji, it doesn’t matter we’re going to be together anyway.