Transmigrated as the Future Movie Queen's Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The distance wasn’t actually that far, but because Su Mi was concerned about Xin Keke’s injury, it took them a full twenty minutes to reach the hotel. As Xin Keke took out her room card to head upstairs, she noticed Su Mi hovering near the area where food deliveries were placed, searching for something.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, I bought something earlier, just looking for it… ah, here it is.”

Su Mi pulled her paper bag from a pile of takeout orders and trotted over to Xin Keke with a bright expression: “Let’s go, back inside.”

Xin Keke glanced at the item in Su Mi’s hand: “Didn’t we already eat dinner?”

“Oh, you’ll see what it is in a minute.” Su Mi helped Xin Keke, watching carefully as she stepped into the elevator: “Give me the card.”

Such attentive care made Xin Keke feel incredibly uneasy. “I’m fine,” she said.

As if to demonstrate to Su Mi that “she was fine,” Xin Keke turned slightly to swipe the card for their floor. There was no one else in the elevator. Su Mi raised an eyebrow and shot Xin Keke a look: “Are you really fine?”

“I’m fine… ow!!”

Xin Keke let out a sharp cry. Su Mi had taken the opportunity to poke the spot Xin Keke had bruised earlier. Her hand wasn’t heavy, but Xin Keke jolted, tears of pain welling up in her eyes: “Su… Mi!!”

“Sigh. See, it obviously still hurts a lot.” Su Mi put on an innocent face. “I really don’t know why you feel the need to put on a brave face in front of me.”

Xin Keke couldn’t be bothered to waste breath on her. Perhaps having realized she didn’t need to say anything else to Su Mi, she turned her head away, pretending Su Mi didn’t exist. When the elevator dinged at their floor, Xin Keke clutched her painful spot and stepped out briskly. Su Mi tried to steady her, but couldn’t match the speed of the injured girl and was left behind.

“Hey…”

Su Mi sighed but said nothing more, simply pulling the item out of the paper bag and dangling it in front of Xin Keke as she caught up. Xin Keke didn’t even look at it, circling around Su Mi to keep walking.

“Just take a look.” Relying on the fact that she wasn’t the injured one, Su Mi nimbly blocked Xin Keke’s path again: “This stuff is a miracle worker. Let me rub it in for you after you shower.”

Only then did Xin Keke see clearly what she was holding.

Safflower oil.

She had been determined to ignore Su Mi, but at the sight of the oil, Xin Keke was stunned. She stared at the dark liquid, then looked back at Su Mi. It might be nothing for an ordinary person to carry safflower oil, but this was Su Mi—the pampered, high-maintenance rich girl with endless quirks. How could she possibly buy safflower oil for her? Wouldn’t she be disgusted by something “commoners” used, with its pungent, medicinal smell?

Su Mi seemed satisfied with the expression on the little fox’s face. She chuckled, swiped the room card, and gestured to the door. “Please, Princess.”

“It’s fine, I don’t need you to rub it… ow!”

The “Three-Point Covenant” seemed to have been forgotten. Tortured by pain, Xin Keke was in no state to rebuke Su Mi’s “boundary-crossing.” She had just stepped out of the bathroom when Su Mi scooped her up in her arms without a word and laid her on the bed. It seemed Su Mi had been waiting by the bathroom door for a while.

The seasoned corporate slave was quick-handed. Before Xin Keke could struggle, Su Mi had untied her bathrobe and pulled it back halfway. If not for the large, ugly bruise on her lower back, it would have been quite a seductive sight. Xin Keke’s skin was very pale, making the patch of blue and purple look even more terrifying.

Su Mi tutted and began twisting off the cap of the safflower oil: “Wait a second, it might sting a bit, but it’ll feel better once I rub it out.”

Xin Keke was mortified, grasping the edge of her robe and pulling it desperately toward her. She rarely felt this flustered, yet for some reason, Su Mi always seemed to catch her in these moments. Xin Keke didn’t dare turn around; Su Mi had pulled the robe down so far that turning over would mean total exposure. “I don’t need it!! I can do it myself!”

A familiar, strong medicinal scent filled the air. Su Mi had poured some oil into her palm.

“Don’t move.” Although Xin Keke couldn’t see Su Mi’s face, she could hear the seriousness in her voice. “If you keep squirming like that, I can’t apply the medicine.”

“So I’ll just do it myself… ow!”

Su Mi was a woman of action. She didn’t argue further; she simply pulled the fabric away and pressed her oil-slicked palm firmly against the bruise. She applied considerable pressure, and Xin Keke let out a sharp cry.

“When I was little and scraped my knees or arms, my family would use this on me,” Su Mi said, trying to soothe her. “They told me the more it hurts when you rub it, the more effective it is. You’ll heal faster.”

“Be good, just bear with it.”

Even so, hearing Xin Keke’s cries of pain, Su Mi’s heart softened. She secretly lightened her touch.

Wait. The thought hit her suddenly. The “she” of right now wasn’t herself, but Su Mi, the wealthy heiress from The Long Road of Flowers. The problem was, with the Su family’s fortune, they would definitely have better medicine than this. Would a girl like that really settle for safflower oil that left everyone smelling like a medicine cabinet?

Ahhh, whatever. It didn’t matter; Xin Keke didn’t seem to notice anything wrong, so she’d just keep going.

Indeed, Xin Keke couldn’t notice anything wrong. Beyond the searing pain, nothing else could register in her brain.

“No, it hurts… it hurts! Ah…!”

Seeing that she couldn’t outmaneuver Su Mi, Xin Keke gave up and let herself be handled. She gripped the edge of the blanket, tears brimming in her eyes. At first, she could hold it in, but rubbing an injury was like torture; no matter how strong her will was, she couldn’t last five minutes. “Don’t, don’t… stop… Su Mi… hnn-ah…!”

The scent of the oil spread through the room. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it stung Su Mi’s nerves. Listening to Xin Keke’s involuntary whimpers, Su Mi’s temples began to throb. She started to wonder if this was a torture for Xin Keke or for herself.

“Lower your voice,” Su Mi leaned down, whispering into Xin Keke’s ear. “It’s late at night, and I don’t know how soundproof this hotel is. Anyone passing by would think we’re doing that.”

“Ugh…”

Xin Keke was already drenched in sweat from the pain and lacked the strength to argue. She whimpered, letting her head drop weakly, biting down on the corner of the pillow.

“I’ll be lighter.”

Seeing Xin Keke like this, Su Mi felt a genuine pang of pity. She used her clean hand to grab a tissue and wiped the sweat from Xin Keke’s forehead. This time, her touch was much lighter; her palm rubbed against the skin of her lower back, generating a gentle, radiating heat.

“Is this better?”

“Mmh…”

The poor little fox had been reduced to a ragdoll by Su Mi. Su Mi took the opportunity to stroke Xin Keke’s hair, and since Xin Keke didn’t protest, Su Mi felt even more pity and affection for the girl—she felt she could just play with her like a doll all night. Taking advantage of the fact that Xin Keke couldn’t resist, she petted her head several times.

With Su Mi’s lighter touch, it wasn’t torture anymore, but therapy. No more cries of agony, only the faint, rhythmic sound of skin rubbing against skin. An indescribable atmosphere slowly rose between them, accompanied by the sweltering heat of her palm.

“Next time, be more careful.”

In this atmosphere, Su Mi felt she had to say something. “We’re just filming a show. Why go through all the trouble of getting hurt? How much do they even pay us? It wouldn’t even cover the medicine costs.”

“And most importantly, it hurts.”

Xin Keke buried her face in the pillow. After a while, a soft “Mmh” emerged, followed by silence.

Seeing that Xin Keke didn’t seem to want to continue the conversation, Su Mi lowered her eyes. Once she was sure the oil was evenly distributed, she pulled the bathrobe back up to cover Xin Keke. “There, keep yourself wrapped up. Don’t catch a cold.”

She got off the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash her hands.

Only when the sound of running water filled the bathroom did Xin Keke turn her head with a complicated expression, staring toward the bathroom door. She lay on the bed for a while longer to recover before laboriously pulling herself up to retie her robe.

For Xin Keke, perhaps the most exhausting part of every day wasn’t filming, but trying to fathom Su Mi’s thoughts. The hurts of the past had become layers of webs between their hearts—for every step Su Mi took forward, Xin Keke felt the urge to take one back.

They needed to maintain a certain distance. Only then could Xin Keke ensure she was safe.

Yet, the person on the other side of that web—at some point—had begun to look at her with such sincerity, her eyes overflowing with tenderness. Even if her will wavered just a fraction, Xin Keke felt herself softening. She had never been treated as someone’s “only,” nor had she ever known the taste of being loved. She had no parents; since birth, her heart had been missing things that others took for granted. Sometimes, just imagining the love she saw in those works was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

But that didn’t mean she had to accept “love” laced with poison. Although it was tempting. Su Mi had done so many unforgivable things to her in the past; she had been burned, and she had to learn to grow up.

Xin Keke curled back into the covers. This time, she faced the window.

She couldn’t fully trust Su Mi; she couldn’t trust human nature. Her rational mind warred with her longing to be loved, shattering into ashes in her mind. How could that young lady who delighted in mocking her and treating her like a toy change overnight, transforming into the gentlest girl in the world?

Even if miracles existed, she wasn’t lucky enough to be the catalyst for one.

Repeating these words over and over in her heart, Xin Keke gripped the corner of the blanket.

Absolutely not. You must not believe it.

“Xin Keke, are you still using the bathroom? I need to wash…”

Su Mi poked her head out of the bathroom, wanting to ask Xin Keke a question, but saw that Xin Keke had already turned her back to her.

“Asleep?” Su Mi muttered to herself.

Xin Keke didn’t respond. Su Mi glanced at her phone—it was indeed time to sleep. Even though she didn’t hear a “thank you,” Su Mi didn’t mind. She looked at Xin Keke’s back and whispered gently: “Good night!”

But in the spot Su Mi couldn’t see, the bright moonlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, landing on the small patch of bed in front of Xin Keke. The girl on the bed heard that faint “Good night,” lowered her eyes, and reached out her fingers, gently touching the patch of light.