"What to do When the Pretty Woman I Kissed is My Best Friend's Professor" - Chapter 103

Yan He now regretted drinking that glass of alcohol. The spirits were searing in her stomach, constantly making their presence known. But even more terrifying was the fire’s tendency to spread, rising from her stomach, burning straight to her lower abdomen, and quickly spreading throughout her limbs.

—This should not be happening.

Sitting in the car, Yan He lowered her eyes and looked at her elder sister, who was focused on driving. She felt she must be ill—or perhaps the drink had too high an alcohol content—because she had unconsciously begun to imagine things. Her gaze lingered on Shen Jinrong. She did not know if her sister felt it, but her sister glanced back at her.

Yan He could not clearly discern the emotions in that pair of eyes; she could not read them, yet she yearned for her to look at her that way, wishing to be the sole focus of her eyes. If this thought was too excessive, Yan He thought, then let it be excessive.

—After all, she was now a recognized little puppy.

Jiejie seemed—seemed not to have explicitly and seriously agreed to her proposal yet; she must make her admit it when they got back!

Yan He’s gaze fell unapologetically upon Shen Jinrong, distracting her as she drove. Before confirming their relationship, the younger girl’s eyes had been subtle, but now they were direct and fiery, as if her mere gaze could accomplish something unspeakable.

Her face was hot. Yan He touched her own face, realizing that both her face and the tips of her ears were burning, growing hotter with the rhythm of her breathing. She quietly pressed her hand against the window glass; the slightly cool touch helped her calm down—but only relatively. The fog brought on by the alcohol swept through her mind, creating a barrier in her perceptions, making her feel everything belatedly.

“Your face is so red.”

Shen Jinrong glanced at her while waiting at a traffic light, noticed how red Yan He’s face was, and simply held the steering wheel with one hand while pinching her cheek with the other.

There was a small traffic light next to Yan He. She looked at the red indicator and asked with a smile, “Is it not because of the red light?”

Shen Jinrong softly said, “Ah,” then stroked her chin, saying, “But your face is very red even when it’s not because of the red light.”

Yan He blinked, pretending not to have heard anything.

“It’s a bit of a pity that it didn’t snow.”

Yan He heard herself say this.

“It’s not too bad.” A blur of an indistinct animal flashed quickly across the narrow road. Shen Jinrong said casually, her eyes following it.

On a nearby rooftop, tiny cat footprints covered the entire surface, imprinted on the snow that had yet to melt. A series of small, delicate footprints had thus left their mark.

“Was that a cat?” The car passed the small log cabin with smoke billowing from it. Near the chimney, the old snow had already melted, leaving a small, exposed patch of roof.

“It certainly couldn’t be a pigeon,” Shen Jinrong merely laughed.

Yan He laughed along, “That’s true.” But there were still pigeons flying in the city center: “Do they not need to migrate?”

Shen Jinrong chuckled lightly, the meaning unclear.

The drive back to the hotel was not long. Yan He knew they would arrive just after passing the small log cabin and rounding a corner. She narrowed her eyes; even though the sky had darkened, looking at the snow for a long time still made her eyes feel tired.

“Will this snow melt? Or is it like the permanent snow on the mountains?”

Yan He asked, looking at the snow-capped mountains not far away, which seemed within reach. The accumulated snow on the peak of every mountain is difficult to melt; the altitude determines the temperature.

“It will melt,” Shen Jinrong said. “The altitude here isn’t that high, and spring will eventually arrive.”

And then? What happens after spring?

Everything comes back to life; everything will start anew.

Shen Jinrong parked the car back in the original parking spot, walked to the back, opened the car door, and picked up the bag she had placed in the back seat. Yan He turned to look at her, saying nothing, but with a smile in her eyes.

“Why are you always looking at me like that?” Shen Jinrong touched her own face. “Is there something on my face?”

“You look a bit too beautiful.”

Yan He took her hand, walking with her towards the elevator. They could take the elevator up to the hotel lobby.

Perhaps because it was Christmas, there were fewer people in the lobby than usual, but the lights on the Christmas tree were very bright. The deep-green Christmas tree was hung with many decorative trinkets. Small brass bells were placed slightly lower down. Yan He walked over and nudged one, and it let out a crisp ring.

—Just like the clear chime of the wind chimes when pushing open the door of that breakfast shop in Rome.

“Good evening.” The gentleman at the front desk smiled at them. “Merry Christmas.”

Yan He smiled and wished him “Merry Christmas” as well. Then, taking advantage of Shen Jinrong’s momentary distraction, she lowered her voice and quickly said something. The gentleman smiled and nodded, and Yan He looked relieved, then gestured and said something else.

Afterward, Yan He walked back to her sister’s side, feigning an air of nonchalance.

“What were you saying?” Shen Jinrong asked.

“Nothing, I was just asking if they would be closed today.”

Yan He’s lie was poorly constructed and full of holes. Shen Jinrong raised an eyebrow, said nothing, but let out a knowing “Oh.”

Back in the room, Shen Jinrong said, “I’m going to take a bath.”

Yan He nodded dazedly.

“You shower too, and then let me look at what’s wrong with your waist.”

Shen Jinrong ordered her familiarly, her fair fingers pointed lightly at Yan He in the air, leaving a look before turning to the bathroom.

Yan He watched blankly, feeling that something was amiss, until her sister’s silhouette appeared clearly behind the frosted glass. She then abruptly stood up, walked quickly to the hazy frosted glass, and peered at it.

Shen Jinrong’s hands, which were unbuttoning her clothes, paused. She walked up to the glass, looking at Yan He through it.

The biggest feature of frosted glass is that it allows you to see a person’s silhouette, but not clearly, only a hazy shadow. You can vaguely make out the color of clothes, but only when the color contrast between the clothes and skin is stark.

“What is it?” Her elder sister’s indistinct voice came through the glass.

Yan He pulled the curtain half-way and said loudly, “Your curtain isn’t pulled shut!” as if the louder her voice, the better it could conceal her own little thoughts.

Her sister seemed to have already removed her top. The hazy frosted glass and the lights inside mixed together, making Yan He feel dizzy. She didn’t know if she was genuinely dizzy or if it was due to something else, but she knew clearly that all of this was inseparable from Shen Jinrong.

Shen Jinrong.

Yan He silently recited these three characters in her heart, but they were soon covered by another kind of emotion. She began to hear the pattering water sounds from the bathroom, her sister’s light humming, and even seemed to hear the silent gentleness of the water landing on her skin.

Yan He panicked.

She paced back and forth in the room, trying to calm herself down with this simple exertion. This was the second time she regretted drinking alcohol today—if she hadn’t drunk, she wouldn’t have conceived these seductive thoughts, right?

But she also understood that the effect of the alcohol was far less significant than she thought; the temptation was largely coming from Shen Jinrong herself.

Now, she preferred to call her by Shen Jinrong’s name, rather than “Jiejie.”

Has she filled the water now? Is she already lying in the bathtub? And then? What will she do?

Yan He didn’t like taking baths, but at this moment, she suddenly thought of the slightly concave part of the bathtub inside. Would Shen Jinrong be holding onto that spot?

Her mind was in chaos; she couldn’t think of anything, and nothing mattered anymore.

Jiejie.

It was just a term of address.

Before they were together, they could hug and kiss; so now? Could they do something more intimate?

Damn it, Yan He thought, but I don’t know how.

She fumbled for her phone, hoping to find some quick-fix tutorials, but after those webpages loaded, she only dared to glance at them before quickly closing them again.

She kept her ears strained for any movement in the bathroom. Now the sound of water stopped, followed by the faint rustling of fabric. Was it a bath towel? Or something else?

Yan He dared not think anymore. She grabbed her phone but didn’t know what to do, so she just stared blankly at the time on the home screen.

“I’m done bathing,” Shen Jinrong walked out, toweling her hair. “You go ahead.”

Yan He nodded, walking into the bathroom one step at a time.

The bathroom still held the residual steam and the scent of shower gel, along with an inexplicable fragrance. It was like her sister’s slightly sweet-and-sour scent, mixed with a light, clear, and refreshing fruity aroma.

Yan He’s face instantly flushed bright red. She took a few deep breaths and quickly finished her shower.

When she came out wrapped in a bathrobe, Yan He saw her sister holding a bouquet of flowers—large red roses—which added an ineffable kind of allure to her face.

“The hotel staff just brought these over; they said you bought them.” Shen Jinrong lowered her head, looking at the flowers with a fully-smiling gaze, and lightly kissed a petal. “What made you decide to send roses?”

“I thought you would like them,” Yan He answered honestly.

Shen Jinrong chuckled, put the flowers aside, and opened her arms, motioning for Yan He to come over: “I really do like them.”

They embraced tightly. Yan He even felt that Shen Jinrong’s heartbeat was gradually merging with her own. It was a very strange sensation, as if the thing missing from her heart for over twenty years was slowly being completed, and everything she had lost in the past resurfaced at the moment this embrace was born.

Shen Jinrong gently kissed her ear. After confirming that Yan He was covered in her own scent, she smiled with satisfaction: “Alright, now let me see what’s wrong with your waist.”

The room temperature was slightly high, but it was just right for two people who had just bathed; even taking off their clothes wouldn’t cause a cold.

“I… I’m fine.”

Yan He forced herself to say this.

“Shy, are we?” Shen Jinrong touched her chin, looking thoughtful: “I see.”

Huh??? You see what?

Immediately afterward, Yan He watched as her sister untied the belt of her own bathrobe. The robe slid down to the floor, revealing the familiar black swimsuit underneath.

“Do you like it?”

“Little one.”