“Our Ran Ran”
Something seemed to explode in Zhou Anran’s mind.
She couldn’t tell if it was because of his sudden change in how he addressed her, or because of that gentle yet slightly commanding tone in his voice.
She obediently opened her mouth, and Chen Luobai’s tongue immediately pressed in.
The young man began to explore her mouth, inexperienced yet domineering.
Zhou Anran’s every breath was filled with his scent, her lips and tongue completely conquered by his forceful advance.
In this moment of utmost intimacy, in this instant of being deeply kissed by him, she finally felt a sense of reality.
A sense that she was indeed in a relationship with Chen Luobai.
The kiss lasted for several minutes.
For a while, the empty Live House was filled only with the sound of kissing that made one’s heart race.
When Zhou Anran was almost out of breath, the young man finally withdrew from her mouth.
Chen Luobai lingered, kissing her lips for a moment longer before pulling away completely. He rested his forehead against hers, still close enough that she could feel his breath, and spoke in a low voice.
“Did you eat a lemon candy?”
Zhou Anran, still not fully recovered from her oxygen-deprived state, took two seconds before slowly shaking her head at him.
How could she possibly have eaten the two candies he gave her when he confessed?
Then, as if remembering something, she nodded: “Before I came out, my roommate gave me a different lemon candy.”
The girl in his arms had been teased to the point where her eyes were filled with a watery sheen, her lips flushed an almost alluring red from the kissing, and her voice had become incredibly soft.
Chen Luobai’s hand at the nape of her neck moved slightly as he leaned in to kiss her again. As his tongue explored her lips, he could still faintly taste a hint of lemon.
After kissing for a moment, he pulled back again, hearing her soft panting. He smiled lightly, his nose touching hers: “No wonder our Ran Ran is so sweet.”
Our Ran Ran.
Hearing these words, Zhou Anran’s heart fluttered again.
This person might tease her, but when she had only asked him one question, he seemed to truly think she wanted to hear other terms of endearment and had already changed it twice tonight.
Zhou Anran clutched at the fabric of his jacket, still feeling a bit embarrassed: “It’s been a long time since I finished eating it.”
“Still sweet,” Chen Luobai pecked her lips again, asking in a low voice, “You didn’t eat the two I gave you?”
Zhou Anran shook her head: “No.”
“Back then—” Chen Luobai paused, his fingertips gently caressing her cheek, “Why did you slip two candies into my desk?”
Zhou Anran’s hand on his shoulder tightened slightly.
Chen Luobai had wanted to ask her this for a long time, but he wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about past events, so he hadn’t dared to ask. Seeing her not speaking, he gently touched the corner of her eye with his fingertip, as if to comfort her: “It’s okay if you don’t want to say.”
Zhou Anran shook her head again: “It’s not that I don’t want to say.”
It was just that she wasn’t used to it, and felt embarrassed to lay bare her little thoughts in front of others.
But if he wanted to hear it, she wouldn’t be unwilling to tell him.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”
Zhou Anran recalled the details of that day. Perhaps because she had been so nervous at the time, with her mind tightly wound, or perhaps simply because it was related to him, even after several years, the actions and feelings of that moment were as clear as yesterday when she remembered them now.
“You looked so unhappy that day, and I wasn’t close to you then, so I didn’t know how to comfort you. Later, when I was on duty, I found two fizzy candies in my pocket. Remembering that you often drank soda, I secretly slipped them in.”
Zhou Anran paused, feeling a bit embarrassed to lay these things out in front of him, so she buried her head in his shoulder before continuing softly: “I thought that if you happened to eat them, and if you happened to like the flavor, you might feel a little happier.”
Chen Luobai’s heart suddenly melted.
His high school desk had been stuffed with countless things, including heartfelt love letters and carefully prepared expensive gifts. But when others gave him things, it was almost always in hopes of getting something in return from him, whether material or emotional.
It seemed no one had been as foolish as her, secretly slipping in two candies, hoping only that he might be a little happier that day.
She didn’t even dare to say a word to him at that time.
How much must she have liked him to risk possible exposure, yet expect nothing in return, by slipping something into his desk?
Before today, Chen Luobai had deeply regretted mistaking those two candies as being from Tang Jianrui or someone else and casually eating them.
But at this moment, he was incredibly grateful.
Grateful that he hadn’t wasted her thoughtfulness at that time.
Chen Luobai turned his head to kiss her temple: “I ate those two candies back then.”
Zhou Anran was stunned and suddenly raised her head.
Chen Luobai touched her cheek: “I ate them that very night.”
The girl’s eyes lit up in an instant, like stars in the night sky.
Also like a line from the song he had sung for her that night in this place—
“Like a diamond in the sky.”
Chen Luobai: “The reason I was unhappy that day was because the night before, I had overheard my mom telling my dad she wanted a divorce.”
The small hand gripping his shoulder seemed to instantly increase its pressure a bit.
Chen Luobai smiled and pinched her cheek again: “They didn’t divorce. They’re now as close as ever, their relationship is very good.”
Zhou Anran relaxed a little.
Chen Luobai: “But at that time, I thought they were going to divorce. When I went back that day, our housekeeper had taken a day off, so I hadn’t eaten dinner. I mistakenly thought those two candies were from Tang Jianrui or someone, so I just casually opened and ate them.”
Hearing him mention the misunderstanding from back then, Zhou Anran felt a bit embarrassed again.
“But after eating those two candies—” Chen Luobai’s fingertip fell to the corner of her lips, and he leaned down to kiss her lightly again, “I did feel a bit happier that day.”
Zhou Anran suddenly felt a twinge in her nose.
She had thought those two candies had been carelessly thrown away by him long ago. The best outcome she could have hoped for was that they might have been stuffed into some drawer at his home.
Just like her little thoughts at that time, never to see the light of day again.
Yet it turned out they had already caught a glimpse of daylight.
Zhou Anran buried her head in his shoulder again: “That’s good then.”
Chen Luobai’s fingers brushed through her hair, then he lowered his head to kiss her ear, his hand moving to her chin, slightly lifting the girl’s head to continue kissing her. His voice was low: “On behalf of that blind and foolish Chen Luobai from back then, I thank our Ran Ran.”
That night, they shared many intermittent kisses.
Chen Luobai would kiss her for a while, then stop to talk with her for a bit.
So much so that when Zhou Anran fell asleep that night, she even dreamed of Chen Luobai kissing her.
The next morning, after being woken by the alarm clock, Zhou Anran buried her red face in her pillow for a long while before slowly crawling out of bed.
After having breakfast with Chen Luobai in the cafeteria, as he led her by the hand along the tree-lined path towards the outer campus, she suddenly remembered to ask him: “Where are we going?”
Chen Luobai turned his head to look at her: “You’ll know when we get there.”
As long as she was with him, it didn’t matter where they went, so Zhou Anran didn’t ask further. It wasn’t until she realized he had brought her to the entrance of a residential complex that she blinked: “Are we going into this complex?”
He had said he was taking her somewhere else to study, and she had thought it would be some off-campus cafe or bookstore.
Why would it be a residential complex?
Chen Luobai made an affirmative sound: “I have an apartment in there.”
Zhou Anran was stunned for a moment, a bit surprised: “Did you buy it recently? You never mentioned it before, and I’ve never seen you living off-campus?”
Although they weren’t allowed to live off-campus as freshmen, weekends were fine.
“I bought it a few years ago. Living on campus lets me sleep in a bit more, and besides, wasn’t I trying to pursue someone before?” Chen Luobai stopped walking, his gaze falling on her with deep meaning. “How could I have chance encounters with you if I lived off-campus?”
The tip of Zhou Anran’s ears heated up: “Well, let’s go then.”
She continued walking forward two steps, only to find that the young man holding her hand had stopped in place.
Zhou Anran turned back, puzzled: “What’s wrong?”
Chen Luobai had thought she would be at least a little shy, but he didn’t expect her to show this completely unquestioning, fully trusting attitude again. His eyes deepened: “Are you sure you want to go in with me?”
Zhou Anran didn’t understand why he was asking this just as they reached the entrance, but she still nodded.
Chen Luobai looked at the girl in front of him, his Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbing up and down twice.
She always seemed to be like this.
No matter what request he made, she would always nod and agree.
As if she would let him take whatever he wanted from her.
Chen Luobai took two steps forward, stopping in front of her. It was unclear whether he wanted to scare her or test something.
“No matter what I might do to you later, you’ll still come with me?”
It took Zhou Anran two seconds to slowly understand the implication of his last sentence, and her face instantly turned red.
She hadn’t thought much of it earlier, assuming he just wanted to bring her over to study. Only now did she belatedly realize that going alone with him to his apartment seemed somewhat ambiguous.
Seeing her face finally turn completely red in an instant, Chen Luobai couldn’t help but raise his hand to pinch her cheek, his voice sounding a bit gritted.
“Zhou Anran, don’t think too highly of me.”
Zhou Anran: “…”
But he was that good.
If he intended to do something to her, he wouldn’t have said these words that seemed scary but were a warning.
Seeing her eyelashes trembling violently, her whole body tense and shy to the point of seeming to have stiffened up, Chen Luobai’s heart suddenly softened again, and he couldn’t help but regret scaring her like this.
But if she kept letting him do whatever he wanted, agreeing to everything he said, he didn’t know if he might end up doing something inappropriate.
Chen Luobai sighed inwardly and coaxed her in a low voice: “I’m just teasing you. I promise I won’t touch you until you’re ready.”
Seeing her not speaking, Chen Luobai added softly: “If you’re scared, we can go back to school now?”
Zhou Anran came back to her senses, her face still a bit red, but she shook her head lightly: “No need, I trust you.”
Chen Luobai’s breath instantly became uneven again.
He raised his hand and couldn’t help but pinch her cheek again.
Zhou Anran covered her face, about to ask why he pinched her again when the young man took her hand and started walking forward: “Let’s go.”
“…”
Thinking of his earlier nonsensical words, Zhou Anran didn’t dare to ask him anything more.
His apartment was on the 28th floor.
The apartment had a deep gray main color scheme, very spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view, and an open-plan living and dining area.
After entering, Zhou Anran saw the young man first take out a pair of brand-new women’s slippers and place them in front of her.
After she put them on, Chen Luobai looked down: “Seems I bought them a bit too big, I’ll get a different pair next time.”
Zhou Anran’s lips curved up slightly.
After changing shoes, Chen Luobai led her by the hand to the sofa. As if remembering something, he nodded towards the refrigerator: “There are drinks and fruits in the fridge, want me to wash some for you?”
Zhou Anran shook her head.
Having just finished breakfast, she couldn’t eat anything more right now.
“Let’s study first.”
The young man released her hand but casually sat down on the deep gray sofa that was as wide as a bed: “You study first, I’ll lie down for a bit.”
Zhou Anran: “…?”
She was about to ask if he hadn’t slept well last night when her wrist was suddenly grabbed by him again.
Then came a tug.
Zhou Anran suddenly fell onto the soft sofa, the bag on her shoulder sliding off, which he casually picked up and tossed aside.
Chen Luobai wrapped an arm around her waist and rolled on the sofa, ending up in a position half-pressing her down.
Zhou Anran hadn’t yet reacted: “What are you doing?”
Chen Luobai’s breath lightly hit her face, his tone extremely ambiguous: “What do you think?”
Zhou Anran remembered what he had said outside the complex, and her face uncontrollably flushed again.
The young man, who was very careful not to fully press down on her while half-propping himself up, suddenly started laughing at this moment. First, his shoulders shook, and then he simply buried his face in her shoulder, his chest vibrating noticeably with laughter.
Zhou Anran finally realized he was deliberately teasing her again.
She really shouldn’t think too highly of him; he was thoroughly mischievous.
“Chen Luobai!”
Even when she got angry, she was soft, calling his name like she was spoiling him.
Chen Luobai had indeed only intended to tease her a bit just now, but at this moment, he wanted to do something. He turned his face slightly, kissing her ear, then slowly moved to the corner of her lips, his voice low.
“Baby, we can’t do other things, but a kiss is okay, right?”
Author’s Note:
Baby x2
Kisses x? (Lost count)
(Aww, my precious Ran Ran baby)
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“Like a diamond in the sky.” — “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
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