When the Heartthrob Meets the Cold-Hearted Ex - Chapter 32

Su Yang sat sideways on the sofa, one hand lightly clasping Tang Yeran’s wrist, silent for a long while.

Tang Yeran found the position extremely awkward. Propping herself up on the sofa cushion with one hand, she was about to scoot backward when she noticed Su Yang staring at her unblinkingly. The usually cool eyes were now tinged with a rosy hue, even glistening with moisture, making her look rather pitiful.

Tang Yeran’s heart skipped a beat as she heard the other’s lips part slightly. “It hurts.”

That single word made Tang Yeran feel like a criminal.

She hastily withdrew from Su Yang’s lap, both annoyed and helpless. “If you hadn’t pulled me, nothing would’ve happened. Where did you get hurt?”

Su Yang extended a finger, pointing from her thigh to her knee. “Here, here, and here.”

Tang Yeran watched as she marked out a large area and wondered inwardly: Was that one bump really this serious?

Still, doubts aside, she couldn’t very well roll up the other’s pant legs to inspect the damage now.

Seeing the person on the sofa still looking utterly pitiable, even her usual forceful attitude softened.

“What should we do then? I don’t have any ointment here. Should I call the front desk and ask?”

“No need.” Su Yang leaned back against the sofa, putting on a resigned expression. “It’s probably just some bruising. Rubbing it will help.”

“Really?” Honestly, it was late at night, and Tang Yeran wasn’t keen on bothering the front desk. Since Su Yang claimed it was fine, she decided to take her word for it.

But the other woman seemed utterly languid though she’d had plenty of strength to yank Tang Yeran earlier, now even lifting a hand seemed laborious.

Unable to stand it, Tang Yeran grabbed one of Su Yang’s hands and placed it on her own thigh, rubbing it. “Like this?”

Su Yang: “…”

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll assume it’s fine.” Tang Yeran held Su Yang’s wrist, treating her entire hand like a new massage device, amusing herself for a while.

Except this “massage device” seemed rather restless, emitting strange noises now and then.

“Mmm~ Ouch~”

So delicate. She wasn’t even using much force.

The sounds grated on Tang Yeran’s nerves, and she hissed, “Stop making weird noises, or rub it yourself!”

“Mmm…” Su Yang glanced at her slightly flushed profile and behaved for the moment.

Ten minutes later

Tang Yeran flexed her sore wrist, overworked from the exertion. “Good enough?”

Su Yang peeked at her silently before tilting her head back against the sofa and closing her eyes. “Sleepy.”

No more complaints of pain probably fine now.

Tang Yeran was also drowsy, but seeing Su Yang about to doze off on the sofa, she grew frantic and shook the other’s shoulder repeatedly.

“Don’t fall asleep yet! You still haven’t told me your room number. You can’t possibly plan to sleep here!”

Despite her urgency, the other woman remained unmoved. Left with no choice, Tang Yeran played her trump card.

“You haven’t even showered yet! What happened to your germaphobia?”

The next second, the person pretending to nap on the sofa opened her eyes. “Then, may I borrow your bathroom?”

Her tone was so polite that Tang Yeran nearly reflexively responded in kind.

Luckily, she caught herself in time. Wait, is she planning to shower and stay the night here?!

Su Yang noticed Tang Yeran’s guarded expression and softened her tone. “I have a bit of a headache tonight. Can we leave other questions for tomorrow?”

How pitiful, how resigned. Anyone who dared say “no” at this moment would surely be a heartless monster.

Even though the “other questions” referred to “what her room number was.”

Tang Yeran clenched her jaw and replied stiffly, “Then you can sleep on the sofa tonight. Is that okay?”

“Okay.”

Fine then…

Tang Yeran had drunk too much and woke up thirsty in the middle of the night, searching for water.

She had barely taken two steps when she spotted an extra figure on the sofa, memories from hours ago flooding back.

Two people who had been like strangers just a day ago, after attending a class reunion together, were now sharing the same room. How surreal this world was.

After drinking half a bottle of water, most of her drunkenness had faded, but her mind remained sluggish, too tired to overthink.

Driven by instinct, she stepped closer to the sofa and crouched down, studying the sleeping figure under the moonlight.

Su Yang in slumber lacked her usual aloof, elite demeanor. During the day, her gaze was always enigmatic.

But with her eyes closed, she exuded a fragile beauty, her peaceful sleeping face reminiscent of a fairy-tale sleeping beauty.

Tang Yeran stared, momentarily dazed, before shaking her head violently after several seconds. What am I doing, getting all lovesick in the middle of the night?!

Just as she snapped out of it and was about to leave, the supposedly sound-asleep person suddenly opened her eyes.

In the pitch-black night, those clear, cold eyes shone especially bright.

Tang Yeran felt the guilt of a peeping tom caught red-handed and preemptively accused, “What are you staring at, not sleeping in the middle of the night?”

Faced with such baseless blame, Su Yang remained unruffled, speaking unhurriedly, her voice carrying a hint of coolness and huskiness.

“I was trying to sleep, but someone kept staring at me, so I couldn’t.”

The “someone” scratched her cheek sheepishly. “Oh, then I won’t stare anymore. Go back to sleep.”

Tang Yeran stood up as she spoke, but her gaze remained glued to the sofa.

Since she had woken Su Yang in the first place, it felt rude to just walk away. It would be best if Su Yang obediently closed her eyes and went back to sleep now.

But of course, that person refused to give her peace, eyes wide open and unnervingly bright in the dark, making Tang Yeran feel even more guilty.

Tang Yeran took a few slow steps back and sighed. “What do you want to say?”

Su Yang propped herself up on the sofa and said innocently, “This sofa cushion is a bit hard. I managed to sleep earlier thanks to the alcohol, but now I can’t.”

Tang Yeran sighed inwardly. Do I owe you or something?

Well, maybe she did.

She glanced at the hotel’s two-meter-wide single bed and conceded, “Fine, get on the bed then. Stay on your side, no moving around, or I’ll kick you off.”

The moment the words left her mouth, the person on the sofa teleported to the bedside.

Tang Yeran: “…”

Wow, so this is how you use qinggong?

Su Yang pulled back the covers, thoughtfully leaving half the space, and obediently lay flat within two seconds, as if afraid Tang Yeran might change her mind.

In stark contrast to Su Yang’s lightning-fast reflexes, Tang Yeran inched toward the bed at a glacial pace.

During that drawn-out half-minute, she even considered the feasibility of taking the sofa for herself.

In the end, her stubborn pride won out this was her room, after all. Why should she suffer?

The hotel’s single bed was spacious enough, and if Su Yang ended up crowding her at night, she could always just kick her out.

Su Yang slept peacefully, staying strictly within her own territory, leaving a clear boundary between them like the dividing line of a chessboard.

Yet Tang Yeran still couldn’t sleep. Despite being exhausted, she lay awake, staring at the ceiling and counting sheep.

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep.

She had counted up to one hundred and forty-seven sheep when, in her drowsy state, she sensed movement on the left side of the bed.

Her eyes snapped open, but Su Yang beside her showed no signs of waking.

She had merely turned onto her side, facing the center of the bed, yet still hadn’t crossed that invisible line.

So, though Tang Yeran felt uneasy, she had no justifiable reason to kick her out.

She observed silently for a while Su Yang’s breathing was steady, deep in slumber.

Suddenly, she envied Su Yang’s ability to sleep so soundly.

She mocked herself inwardly: What am I so nervous about? What could possibly happen?

Closing her eyes again, she resumed counting: One hundred forty-eight sheep, one hundred forty-nine sheep, one hundred fifty sheep.

The rhythmic sound of breathing beside her gradually became a lullaby. She didn’t know how many sheep she counted in the end, but she finally drifted off to sleep.

Su Yang’s internal clock woke her earlier. She sat up and studied the person beside her for a long moment before quietly slipping into the bathroom to freshen up. The little sleepyhead was still deep in dreamland.

Tang Yeran had already finished her work for this business trip, with time to spare. She had planned to stay an extra day to catch up with friends, so she hadn’t even set an alarm.

The lingering effects of last night’s drinks, combined with being disturbed in the middle of the night, meant Tang Yeran slept until nearly noon.

In her half-awake state, she heard knocking and voices, but by the time she managed to open her eyes, the room had fallen silent again.

She thought she’d dreamed it until she spotted Su Yang lounging on the sofa, scrolling through her phone. The sight jolted her fully awake.

She stared at Su Yang, who looked up and met her gaze. They locked eyes for several seconds before Su Yang finally spoke.

“You’re awake. An Xin came by earlier. I told her you were still asleep.”

Tang Yeran’s blood pressure instantly spiked. “You!you!you!”

Su Yang quickly reassured her, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t urgent. She said you could find her this afternoon.”

Tang Yeran: !

Was that really the issue here?!

So now An Xin knows we slept in the same room last night?

Wait no, she just knows you stayed over!

Seeing Su Yang’s calm, innocent expression, Tang Yeran took a deep breath and swallowed her frustration. Fine, now’s not the time to argue about this.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

She bolted out of bed and into the bathroom, emerging less than ten minutes later, perfectly composed.

“Last night, we were both a little drunk. Now that we’re sober, there’s something I want to say.”

Su Yang sat attentively on the sofa, nodding as if ready to listen.

Tang Yeran cleared her throat and spoke seriously.

“Ever since we met again, things between us have felt awkward. At the root of it is that unresolved mess from five years ago, the way we ended things was unclear, and we both held onto resentment.”

“That matter stemmed from a misunderstanding, and to be honest, I also bear much blame. But fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared up last night, and the knot in my heart all these years should finally be untied.

“Yet some things, once they happen, cannot be undone. We can never go back to how things were before, but I hope our youth can still come to a proper conclusion.

“Su Yang, do you understand what I mean?”

Tang Yeran spoke the entire passage fluently, carefully observing Su Yang’s reaction.

The other party didn’t respond immediately but instead narrowed her eyes at her, looking rather amused.

A few seconds later, she couldn’t hold back and let out a soft laugh.

Her reaction thoroughly baffled Tang Yeran. “I’m being serious here, what are you laughing at?”

“I’m also being serious,” Su Yang replied, her gaze fixed on Tang Yeran, her smile unwavering.

“This time, you finally didn’t call me ‘President Su.'”

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