As Wen Yifan’s hand brushed against Sang Yan’s bare arm, it felt like an electric current. She wanted to pull back, yet found herself irresistibly drawn closer.
From this angle, she couldn’t see anything. She could only sense that Sang Yan seemed to lower his head. His broad, warm chest rose and fell slightly. Her senses were overwhelmed by his scent.
They were cut off from the surrounding world.
At that moment, Wen Yifan felt as if something was gradually filling the space in her heart. A sense of security seemed to take tangible form, enveloping her in delicate threads.
It was a warmth that only he could provide.
Even just a touch was enough.
Wen Yifan forcibly controlled her emotions, trying to keep her breathing slow and steady.
She didn’t dare prolong the embrace.
After all, pretending to be unconscious and acting this way toward someone wasn’t exactly honorable.
Wen Yifan was about to let go.
At that moment, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sang Yan slowly raised his hand. Wen Yifan’s expression froze, her emotions instantly reined in as her mind flashed back to what she had said to him before:
“If this happens again in the future, just punch me.”
Her sense of guilt peaked.
Before his “fist” could land, Wen Yifan casually withdrew her arms. Without looking at his face, she slowly turned and walked towards the master bedroom.
Sang Yan’s voice came from behind her.
He seemed accustomed to it, his tone relaxed as if this wasn’t a big deal: “Just a short hug today?”
“…” Wen Yifan didn’t break her stride.
She had reached the master bedroom door.
Following the description her college roommate had given her, Wen Yifan tried to make her movements appear mechanical and stiff. She slowly turned the doorknob and entered the room.
Only when the door closed behind her did Wen Yifan’s nerves begin to relax.
She sat down on the edge of the bed, her expression blank. After a while, she fell backward onto the soft mattress, staring vacantly at the ceiling.
Three seconds later, as if finally coming to her senses, she grabbed a nearby pillow and covered her face.
Wen Yifan rolled over once, then abruptly sat up.
Her entire face visibly reddened at an alarming rate.
What.
Had she.
Just.
Done?
Had she just pretended to sleepwalk and hugged Sang Yan?
Had she taken advantage of Sang Yan?
How! Could she? Have hugged! Him!
Unable to believe she had done such a thing, Wen Yifan felt somewhat devastated. Staring into space, she suddenly began talking to herself: “I was drunk.”
“Right.”
“I was drunk.”
“Alcohol leads to mistakes.”
“I won’t drink again in the future.”
“If possible, I hope this alcohol can apologize to Sang Yan,” Wen Yifan mumbled, “instead of pushing the blame onto me.”
“I can’t take the fall for this.”
The lingering alcohol in her system made her mind exceptionally active. Coupled with her guilty conscience, Wen Yifan found it even harder to sleep. She continued to find reasons, desperately trying to convince herself.
After a long while, Wen Yifan’s emotions settled somewhat, and she picked up her phone to browse Weibo.
After scrolling through a few posts, she came across an anonymous confession:
— The guy I’ve been chasing for a long time kissed me when he was drunk last night and said he agreed to be with me. I was happy all night. But when I went to find him today, excited, he told me he was drunk and didn’t remember anything. TAT
Wen Yifan’s brow twitched, and she clicked to read the comments.
[I guess next time he gets drunk, he’ll take you to bed. Wake up, girl.]
[Great, being drunk is such a convenient excuse.]
[What a scumbag, ugh.]
Clang!
The word “scumbag” hit Wen Yifan’s face like two heavy bricks.
She immediately exited the comments, not daring to read any further.
Wen Yifan tossed her phone aside. The self-hypnosis from earlier now seemed completely ineffective. She struggled to come up with more excuses–
She used to like him.
But after so many years, those feelings were long gone. She felt guilty towards him and with the alcohol affecting her…
These reasons were quickly interrupted.
Overturned one by one by that uncontrollable thought.
Wen Yifan buried herself under the covers, forcibly pushing all thoughts from her mind.
The night always makes one think too much.
Things would be better in the morning.
–
Though she told herself this, the incident had shocked Wen Yifan too deeply, causing her to toss and turn, unable to sleep. Moreover, she hadn’t had a chance to drink water when she went to the living room earlier, as Sang Yan had come out.
Wen Yifan was extremely thirsty now, but she didn’t dare to go out to the living room again.
She feared Sang Yan might notice something amiss.
The next morning.
Wen Yifan adjusted her mindset, pretending everything was normal. She left her room at the usual time and as soon as she entered the living room, she saw Sang Yan sitting at the dining table, already eating breakfast.
On the table was a simple meal of rice porridge and eggs.
Their eyes met for a second.
Wen Yifan looked away, calmly entering the kitchen and taking a bottle of milk from the refrigerator. She paused for a few seconds in front of the fridge, guessing a few questions Sang Yan might ask next.
After thorough preparation, Wen Yifan returned to the dining table.
Sang Yan casually said, “Have some porridge.”
Wen Yifan glanced at the pot still half full of porridge and quietly replied after three seconds: “Okay.”
Silence fell.
To Wen Yifan’s surprise, Sang Yan’s expression remained neutral, showing no intention of questioning her. It seemed as if her “sleepwalking” hug last night had little impact on him.
From his expression, Wen Yifan couldn’t tell if he had guessed anything, leaving her feeling anxious and uneasy. She slowly sipped her porridge, then took the initiative to probe: “I think I sleepwalked again last night?”
Sang Yan didn’t even look up: “Mm-hmm.”
“So, this time,” Wen Yifan feigned nonchalance, “did I do anything?”
“You did.”
Wen Yifan stared at him, patiently waiting for his response.
“Well,” Sang Yan paused, looking up thoughtfully, “just a hug.”
“…”
Sang Yan lazily remarked, “You were quite restrained yesterday.”
His answer matched exactly what had happened the night before.
It reminded Wen Yifan of the previous times she had sleepwalked, and how Sang Yan had described those situations to her. She hadn’t quite believed him before, but now, given Sang Yan’s honest account, her thoughts began to waver.
However, there was no time to consider those things now.
His demeanor and tone truly seemed to indicate that he found nothing strange about the situation. Wen Yifan finally felt relieved, but in its place, a sense of guilt arose.
She felt as if she had taken advantage of Sang Yan, subjecting him to undue hardship.
Hesitantly, Wen Yifan said softly, “I’m sorry.”
Sang Yan: “For what?”
Though afraid of saying too much and making a mistake, driven by her internal self-reproach, Wen Yifan still forced herself to finish: “Although I’m not clear about the situation, I’m truly sorry for behaving that way towards you.”
“How many times has this happened now?” Having just finished his breakfast, Sang Yan leaned back, looking her up and down. “Why are you suddenly feeling sorry for me now?”
“…”
“Weren’t you quite brazen before?”
“I,” bewildered that this word could be applied to her, Wen Yifan was extremely confused, “was brazen…?”
“Weren’t you?” Sang Yan raised an eyebrow, speaking slowly and deliberately, “When I brought this up before, you’d only make excuses. Taking advantage of your unconscious state, you’d counter every word I said, and in the end, you even wanted to settle it with money.”
Wen Yifan hadn’t realized that from his perspective, this was how she appeared.
If he was this resentful about her unconscious behavior, Wen Yifan didn’t dare imagine how Sang Yan would react if he knew she hadn’t been sleepwalking at all last night.
“Then in the future,” Wen Yifan stammered, “maybe you should just stay in your room at night and lock the door. I certainly won’t be able to enter your room then.”
Sang Yan didn’t respond to her suggestion, instead asking: “Your sleepwalking is quite peculiar, with this habit of taking advantage of people.”
Wen Yifan instinctively explained: “I don’t think I used to…” Realizing how ambiguous this sounded, she quickly corrected herself: “I’m not sure.”
“Oh.” Sang Yan seemed to catch her meaning, his eyebrows slightly raised, “So you’ve only taken advantage of me?”
“…”
That was indeed the case.
But saying it outright somehow felt inappropriate.
Wen Yifan didn’t know how to respond and remained silent.
“Really,” Sang Yan laughed, “is this some new way of pursuing someone?”
“…”
“Is this a thing? You’re making me a bit suspicious,” Sang Yan sat up straight, resting his arm on the dining table and leaning closer to her, “Are you sleepwalking?”
Normally, Wen Yifan would patiently explain herself. But now she felt too guilty, and could only lower her head to drink her porridge, mumbling, “Yes, I am.”
“You’re not saying much today.” Sang Yan stared at her intently, as if trying to discern something, “Weren’t you quite good at making excuses when I brought this up before?”
Wen Yifan maintained her composure and responded with his own words: “Well, it’s happened several times now.”
Sang Yan looked away: “That’s true.”
The topic ended there.
Sang Yan stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
After he left, Wen Yifan confirmed she hadn’t revealed any flaws, and her back visibly relaxed. At that moment, she felt the relief of having successfully answered a teacher’s question after being called upon.
…
They left the apartment around the same time.
Entering the elevator, Wen Yifan habitually leaned against the innermost wall. Noticing that Sang Yan had returned to his usual attire, she wanted to ask if he had found a new job.
But because of last night’s incident, Wen Yifan felt too uncomfortable to muster the courage to initiate a conversation with him.
The elevator descended.
Around the seventh or eighth floor, Wen Yifan suddenly noticed that Sang Yan had only pressed the button for the basement level. She paused, then stepped forward to press the button for the first floor herself.
As she reached Sang Yan’s side, just as Wen Yifan raised her hand, he grasped her wrist. He shifted his gaze from his phone, looking up at her like a victim who had just begun to be violated, instinctively resisting.
“What are you trying to do?”
“…” Wen Yifan said, “Press the first-floor button.”
Sang Yan released her hand: “Oh, step back a bit.”
Wen Yifan held back her frustration: “Alright.”
“I’m in a good mood today, and I happen to be heading towards An’s place,” Sang Yan said magnanimously as if bestowing a great favor. “I’ll give you a ride.”
“…”
Though it lacked dignity, Wen Yifan didn’t want to squeeze onto the subway when a free ride was offered. She put on a smile, feigning gratitude as she replied: “Thank you, then.”
They reached the basement level, exited the elevator, and walked to the underground parking lot.
Wen Yifan sat in the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. Every moment of proximity to Sang Yan reminded her of last night’s embrace.
As a result, she now had no idea how to interact with him.
The car started.
The journey was silent.
After a while.
Perhaps noticing that she had been acting strange all day, Sang Yan glanced in her direction several times. Then, he spoke up: “Not feeling well?”
Wen Yifan leaned against the window, responding languidly: “No, I’m fine.”
She looked as if she was in a bad mood.
Or perhaps unwell.
Another moment of silence passed.
Sang Yan spoke again: “Did you use up all your energy sleepwalking?”
Wen Yifan: “Hm?”
Sang Yan’s tone was playful: “Weren’t you quite enthusiastic when you were lifting my shirt last night?”
Still looking out the window at the passing scenery, Wen Yifan’s mind went blank, and she reflexively replied: “I didn’t lift your shirt last night.”
After saying this, a long moment passed before Wen Yifan belatedly realized that the atmosphere in the car had become somewhat strange. She suddenly came to her senses, realizing what she had just said, and stiffly turned her head.
It happened to be a red light.
Sang Yan stopped the car and turned his head, slowly meeting her gaze. He looked at her meaningfully for a few seconds before saying: “How do you know you didn’t?”