When the Heartthrob Meets the Cold-Hearted Ex - Chapter 28

Su Yang’s biological clock had always been precise. Even after last night’s prolonged indulgence, she still opened her eyes at the first light of dawn filtering into the room.

One had been emboldened by alcohol, the other had gone along with it from the kitchen to the living room, and finally to the bedroom, entangled beyond separation.

Everything had happened so suddenly, yet it all felt utterly inevitable.

Gazing at the person sleeping soundly beside her, Su Yang was momentarily struck by a surreal sense of time reversing.

She reached out to brush away the stray hairs from the other’s forehead but withdrew her hand halfway.

Sitting up, she rubbed her temples in frustration before picking up the clothes by the bed to get dressed.

Good grief, even a button was missing.

She had originally planned to freshen up in the bathroom first, but her movements were a bit too loud, disturbing the person sleeping beside her.

When Tang Yeran opened her eyes, her mind was still foggy.

The alcohol Xu You had left here tasted deceptively mild at first, but its lingering effects were potent.

So much so that when she first saw Su Yang sitting disheveled by the bed, she thought it was a hallucination.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, but when she opened them again, the scene remained unchanged.

Tang Yeran was so startled she jolted upright like a spring, grabbing Su Yang’s arm and giving it a hard pinch.

“Ouch, that hurts!” The sudden attack made Su Yang’s pretty brows furrow tightly.

So it wasn’t a dream!

“What are you doing here?!” Tang Yeran exclaimed, her voice still hoarse.

“This is my home,” Su Yang replied calmly, rubbing her arm.

[Su Yang, Yangyang.]

[You’re so pretty here, and here too.]

[Hug me!]

Fragmented memories flooded her mind, each more mortifying than the last.

Tang Yeran sucked in a sharp breath and, with lightning speed, scooped up all the clothes at the foot of the bed before rocketing into the bathroom.

This was her third time staying overnight at Su Yang’s place, so she even had her own towel and toothbrush ready.

She looked into the mirror and saw several bite marks around her neck impossible to hide!

Damn, was that woman part dog or something?!

Fuming, Tang Yeran handled her clothes more roughly than usual while getting dressed.

In her haste, she had accidentally grabbed Su Yang’s clothes too.

The first thing she pulled out was a lavender bra hardly her usual style of subdued elegance.

Disgraceful! What has the world come to?!

Tang Yeran bundled up all the clothes that weren’t hers and stuffed them into the middle of the cabinet. After making sure she was presentable with a final check in the mirror, she yanked open the bathroom door.

By then, Su Yang had also quickly freshened up and ran straight into the fuming woman in the living room.

Tang Yeran had been storming through like a hurricane, her steps too fast to stop. When her shoulder collided with Su Yang’s, she swore she heard bones creak.

Tears welled up from the pain, but now wasn’t the time for self-pity. She grabbed her bag from the sofa without a word and charged toward the door.

But before she could reach it, Su Yang’s voice stopped her.

“Where are you going?” Seeing Tang Yeran charging around like a fighter jet, Su Yang instinctively spoke up.

“Of course I’m going home. Goodbye! Or rather, let’s never meet again!” Tang Yeran was about to turn the doorknob when another hand pressed down on it.

“What do you mean?” Su Yang stared straight at her, as if trying to see through all the pretense hidden beneath that beautiful face.

Faced with such an overwhelming presence, Tang Yeran refused to back down and met her gaze directly. “Exactly what I said.”

“So, you’re planning to sleep with someone and then pretend it never happened?” Despite it being the warm season of spring blossoms, Su Yang’s words carried a subzero chill.

Tang Yeran wasn’t intimidated. Crossing her arms, she sneered, “President Su must be joking. I was drunk yesterday, but you were completely sober.”

Her words pierced through Su Yang’s hidden thoughts, causing the grip on her hand to weaken slightly.

“I’ll treat yesterday as if it never happened. I hope President Su can forget it quickly too.” Tang Yeran took Su Yang’s fingers one by one and removed them from her own hand.

Su Yang remained silent, her body still blocking the doorway.

Tang Yeran felt her patience wearing thin or rather, what little remained after rushing to the bathroom earlier. She had no energy left for verbal sparring with Su Yang; all she wanted was to escape this troublesome situation as soon as possible.

Having known each other for so long, she knew exactly which words would cut the deepest.

She looked up at Su Yang, her eyes nearly sparking with suppressed anger. “President Su doesn’t need to put on such a concerned expression. It’s not like it’s the first time we’ve slept together. We’re both adults, why make such a big deal out of it?”

Su Yang was taken aback by how casually Tang Yeran discussed their intimate encounter, as naturally as if they were talking about “what to eat for lunch.” After years apart, this was the first time the person before her felt so unfamiliar.

“Move aside.” Before Su Yang could react, she was pushed aside, and the next second, all she saw was the resolute back of the other woman and the sound of the front door closing again.

The spacious house was once again empty, save for her.

On the dining table in the living room, two unopened bottles of cocktails remained, a stark reminder of how they had laughed together there just last night, only to become strangers today.

The shift was so sudden, the contrast so sharp, the memories so familiar.

Su Yang gazed at the plane tree outside the window and mocked herself, “Hah, got dumped again.”

During their senior year, Su Yang and Tang Yeran had moved off-campus together, enjoying a period of inseparable closeness, like an idyllic couple.

Back then, even though Su Yang didn’t have early classes, she would ride her bike to take Tang Yeran to the lecture hall whenever she had free time during the day.

Senior year was a turning point for many. Though coursework lightened, life wasn’t any easier than the previous three years.

At the time, Tang Yeran, as the head of the Student Union’s Arts and Entertainment Department, had endless responsibilities.

Su Yang, meanwhile, had several competitions to participate in, sometimes requiring her to travel all over the country.

Both were striving to add impressive credentials to their future resumes.

Though they lived together, their busy schedules meant they saw each other even less than they had in their first two years.

Tang Yeran was so swamped during that period that she even forgot her own birthday something she had never done before, even hinting at it playfully a month in advance when they weren’t yet together.

She might have forgotten, but Su Yang remembered.

In the past two years, although Tang Yeran had always expressed liking the birthday gifts she received, the giver felt they lacked a bit of thoughtfulness and surprise.

In her final year of university, she decided to create a game uniquely for Tang Yeran as a birthday gift.

At the time, despite being very busy, she would still set aside two hours every day to secretly work on the programming and design.

Living under the same roof made it quite difficult to hide. Most of the time, she could only work on it quietly while Tang Yeran was away at morning classes.

However, since their computers and phones had no passwords set against each other, there were several close calls where Tang Yeran nearly discovered it prematurely.

It took Su Yang’s lifelong acting skills to cover it up.

Back then, she thought she had performed flawlessly, unaware that her unusual behavior during those days had already aroused deep suspicion in the person lying beside her.

That day, when Tang Yeran asked her on the tree-lined campus path, “Is there anything you want to tell me lately?” she thought her secret was about to be exposed, her heart pounding in nervousness.

Fortunately, in the end, the other didn’t press further.

Su Yang was happy to have kept her little secret for the time being, failing to notice the growing coldness in her partner’s attitude.

She simply assumed Tang Yeran was too tired these days and continued to silently accompany her whenever she had time. If Tang Yeran didn’t feel like talking, she wouldn’t force it.

Until one day, Tang Yeran suddenly said to her, “Su Yang, I’m moving back to the dorm tomorrow.”

Su Yang was stunned, her heart filled more with reluctance than anything else. But she didn’t want to appear too domineering after all, relationships should be built on mutual respect.

So she maintained a calm expression and nodded. “Okay.”

Tang Yeran gave her a deep look, one she didn’t quite understand at the time.

“Is there anything else you want to say to me?”

Su Yang had never been good with words, and this came too abruptly. After some thought, she replied, “What time are you moving tomorrow? I’ll see you off.”

“No need.”

The next day, Tang Yeran moved out with startling speed. By the time Su Yang woke up, both she and her belongings were gone.

Whenever Su Yang tried to reach out, nine out of ten times, Tang Yeran was “busy.”

Even someone as slow to react as her eventually realized it seemed like Tang Yeran didn’t want anything to do with her anymore.

Su Yang had always been solitary, keeping her distance from those around her.

Over the years, many had taken the initiative to get close, only to withdraw sooner or later after facing her indifference.

She was used to it. It didn’t matter to her.

But this time, she had actually responded. She had even valued the other person more than herself.

Yet in the end, they still left. She didn’t understand.

On Tang Yeran’s birthday, Su Yang waited for her outside her dormitory from six in the evening until ten at night.

What she got was Tang Yeran walking past her, laughing and chatting with a few classmates. While the others greeted her, Tang Yeran only gave her a cold glance before entering the dorm without a word.

A leaf from the nearby plane tree broke free from its branch, spiraled down, and landed lonely at her feet.

At that moment, she finally understood some things had truly come to an end.

She wasn’t the type to cling desperately. In the small confines of H University, back when she had wanted to meet, they never crossed paths.

Now that she didn’t want to, they kept running into each other.

Every time she saw the person who had once abandoned her, it reopened the wound.

At that moment, Teacher Chen, who was in charge of international exchange students, approached her and informed her that the spot for studying in Country M was still being held for her, urging her to reconsider.

This matter had been discussed with her by Teacher Chen a month ago, and at the time, she had refused without hesitation.

“Thank you for your kindness, Teacher. Country M is wonderful, but I believe I can achieve great things here in Hua Country as well.”

Back then, her words had been firm and resolute, but in truth, they were driven by a personal reluctance deep down.

But now, that reluctance was gone.

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