The warmth on her forehead lingered like a brand, causing the temperature in her cheeks to rise rapidly, making this shallow head-leaning embrace extraordinary.

Ruan Sixian felt it increasingly difficult to keep pretending.

If Fu Mingyu turned around, he would see her eyelashes trembling uncontrollably.

His body temperature was especially comforting, while the curve of his arm was just right—not restrictive, firm yet gentle.

One more second at most.

Ruan Sixian thought she couldn’t pretend much longer. A hot current filled her chest, boiling and rushing wildly, about to burst through her ribcage.

She frowned tightly, and just as she was about to open her eyes, a phone ringtone sounded in the car.

Fu Mingyu’s phone.

He took out his phone with his other hand, put it to his ear, and spoke softly.

Ruan Sixian took the opportunity while his attention was elsewhere to take a light breath.

“Hmm? Are you sick?”

Fu Mingyu maintained his position but looked down at Ruan Sixian’s sleeping face, his voice dropping even lower.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll come back shortly.”

After these simple words, he hung up, and the car returned to silence.

This interruption caused the tension in Ruan Sixian’s chest to gradually ease.

Although her heartbeat was still abnormal, it was much calmer than before.

Fu Mingyu’s steady breathing was near her ear, and his faint fragrance lingered around her nose.

Ruan Sixian maintained her position leaning in his arms but felt his hand tighten around her shoulder.

That nervous feeling returned due to the warmth of his palm.

At the same time, he tilted his head, his chin lightly brushing against the top of her head.

Ruan Sixian didn’t know why she felt so nervous at this moment, even more so than during the forehead kiss just now.

They had shared a more intimate embrace just last night.

Outside the window, the rising and falling sounds of car horns somehow sounded like tender music, with a quiet, ordinary pleasantness.

Though her emotions were difficult to calm, Ruan Sixian couldn’t help wishing that this journey would last a little longer, just a little longer.

She began to recall everything that happened that day, slowly finding a reason for herself.

Perhaps it was because this embrace today had no comfort, no desire to seek security—it was purely an embrace between a man and a woman.

The most primitive, most direct expression of emotion, like lovers who had been in love for a long time, naturally leaning against each other.

She took another long breath.

Nasal breathing was no longer sufficient to supply oxygen to her brain.

Fu Mingyu was sometimes too lethal; his warm water came so naturally, without any sense of aggression, yet one fell for him unknowingly.

She could hardly imagine that one day she would be leaning in his arms like this, even being kissed on the forehead by him.

And she didn’t resist at all, even replaying it over and over in her mind.

Until she felt the car slowly coming to a stop, presumably at the entrance of Mingchen Apartments.

Remembering the phone call he just received, Ruan Sixian felt she couldn’t pretend anymore—someone at his home was sick.

Ruan Sixian slowly opened her eyes. Fu Mingyu didn’t notice, just calmly looking forward.

She coughed lightly and slowly straightened her upper body.

“Awake?” Fu Mingyu turned to look at her, his breath falling on her face, his arm naturally releasing her.

Ruan Sixian didn’t look at him, turning to stare out the window for a moment. Recalling the phone call he had just received, someone at home must be sick, waiting for him to return, so she said, “Just drop me off here.”

The driver heard Ruan Sixian’s words and looked back at Fu Mingyu.

But Fu Mingyu simply said: “Take her inside.”

Ruan Sixian pressed her lips together without speaking, looking at her reflection in the car window, secretly touching her face.

The car passed through the barrier and slowly drove to the building entrance. Ruan Sixian had adjusted her expression to its most natural state.

As Ruan Sixian opened the car door, she felt Fu Mingyu opening the door on the other side as well.

She quickly said, “It’s fine to just drop me off here.”

Fu Mingyu, with his arm supporting the car door, looked at her without saying anything, only walking around to her side. “I’ll take you up.”

Fine.

Ruan Sixian silently followed him into the elevator hall.

While waiting for the elevator, Ruan Sixian’s fingers unconsciously gripped the strap of her backpack.

She found that when things quieted down, her emotions became unstable again. Fu Mingyu stood beside her, not speaking much as usual, but somehow it felt different from before.

Perhaps because of that kiss on her forehead, Ruan Sixian felt that now, even when he wasn’t doing anything, everything had changed.

Even though his intentions had been clear from the beginning, there had never been such an explicit intimate gesture, a unique intimate gesture between a man and a woman.

—Until the elevator door opened, and Fu Mingyu followed her in.

“You’re coming up too?”

Ruan Sixian asked.

Fu Mingyu lowered his eyes and smiled, “What’s wrong with you today? Am I not allowed to go up?”

Even if he wasn’t planning to escort her to her door, he lived upstairs, so why couldn’t he go up?

“No, it’s just that someone at your home is…”

“Hmm?”

After these words, they both fell silent.

Seeing Fu Mingyu’s inquiring gaze, Ruan Sixian looked away, her eyes darting around nervously, guilty about her slip of the tongue.

The elevator door closed silently, and the surrounding air suddenly felt cramped.

Ruan Sixian sensed Fu Mingyu approaching her step by step.

“You weren’t asleep?”

“…”

Ruan Sixian was speechless.

Fu Mingyu stood with one hand in his pocket, leaning closer, his presence intangibly enveloping her. He looked down, eyebrows raised, his gaze becoming increasingly direct, with hidden meaning.

There was no way out; she couldn’t cover it up.

Ruan Sixian raised her head, chin up, “What, you stole a kiss from me and now you’re in the right?”

Fu Mingyu just looked at her deeply without speaking, though a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Ruan Sixian roughly understood the meaning in his eyes.

You didn’t react, even continued pretending to sleep—doesn’t that mean you don’t object?

Having something she hadn’t even figured out herself directly exposed by him, a rush of heat surged within her. Ruan Sixian, not knowing if it was embarrassment or annoyance, stomped her foot toward him. He neither dodged nor moved, not even changing his expression.

Fu Mingyu leaned down, getting closer and closer.

Ruan Sixian was backed into a corner, her back against the elevator wall, the cold marble somehow becoming scorching hot.

No one pressed the elevator button, and the small space remained motionless, the air seemingly congealed.

When he spoke, his breath immediately entwined with hers.

“Then I’d like to push my luck a bit further. May I?”

Ending with a question, but without any questioning intent, he lowered his head and kissed her.

Fu Mingyu lightly touched her lower lip, barely tasting it. When he felt her instinctively shrink back, he opened his eyes to see her with closed eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

After a moment’s pause, Ruan Sixian slowly opened her eyes and met his gaze. In that second, she realized that his brief touch just now was only testing her attitude.

And this current pause was him confirming what he saw in her eyes.

Ruan Sixian didn’t know what her expression was at that moment; she only felt her heart was about to leap out.

She hadn’t expected tonight to be like this.

She hadn’t expected such substantial contact, completely beyond her expectations, entirely out of her control. Yet her brain and body weren’t being reasonable, completely led by Fu Mingyu.

She half-opened her mouth, wanting to take a deep breath to calm herself, but Fu Mingyu took his hand out, cupped her face, and kissed her without any more restraint.

A breath tinged with alcohol forcefully entered her mouth.

Someone from an upper floor must have pressed the elevator button, as they were slowly ascending, but neither noticed the change in their surroundings.

Ruan Sixian’s back pressed against the elevator wall, a sense of weightlessness hitting both her mind and body.

—Until the elevator door suddenly opened.

It was the tenth floor again, and an old lady walking a Labrador stared at the scene in the elevator, dumbfounded, immediately grabbing her bouncing dog.

Ruan Sixian instantly sobered up and pushed Fu Mingyu hard.

He remained immovable, only turning his head to glance at the intrusion.

His gaze was arrogant and carefree, frightening the old lady, whose face reddened as she dragged the dog backward: “Sorry to disturb you, please continue, continue.”

The dog didn’t want to leave and kept bouncing toward the elevator while the old lady pulled hard on the leash.

“You damn dog! Go! Go! Go! Home!”

Ruan Sixian: “…”

Ruan Sixian looked at Fu Mingyu’s jawline as he slowly turned back, his chin brushing her nose tip as he lowered his head to kiss the corner of her lips. “Little sister, give me some response.”

His fingers brushed against the hair by her cheek, his fingertips gently grazing her skin, and he was about to kiss her again.

The rationality in Ruan Sixian’s mind was finally pulled back by the old lady’s “damn dog.”

Damn dog!