Zhou Zheng gripped the two corners of his T-shirt, pulling it up and off in one motion, his taut muscles and narrow waistline lifting with the movement, the shirt sliding off along the flow of his body, covering the teeth marks on his shoulder and the crisscrossing scratch marks across his back.

He turned to glance at the person on the bed, lying on her side facing inward, head buried under the covers, asleep. This position had held for a long while now — she must have been exhausted enough to fall asleep.

The pale blue cotton sheets, washed soft and faded, were as wrinkled as pickled greens. Lin Shuang had pulled up a corner, wrapping it haphazardly around herself, her pale, delicate back still exposed, marked here and there with faint red strawberry bruises of varying depth, her slender shoulders rising and falling with her breath, her damp, sweaty long hair spread across the pillow — however you looked at it, there was a lush, dazzling quality to the scene.

In broad daylight, the sun blazing outside the window, the two of them had for the first time thrown caution entirely to the wind — though driven by youthful passion, it didn’t quite match Zhou Zheng’s usual personality or profession. On the surface he’d kept his composure, but he’d drawn the curtains again and again, sealing them shut tight.

The room was a mess. Zhou Zheng started cleaning up the battlefield on the floor first, gathering their clothes and draping them piece by piece over a chair.

Water sounded from the bathroom, and Lin Shuang finally opened her eyes. She couldn’t even lift a finger — her whole body felt scattered, loose sand, the intense afterglow still lingering in every extremity, languid, sated, and exhausted all at once. That firm, gripping tightness and heat still lingered on her skin, red finger marks spread in patches across her wrists, thighs, waist, and legs.

She wouldn’t admit that Zhou Zheng had thoroughly worn her out, but she couldn’t help acknowledging the enormous gap in stamina between men and women — however gentle and refined he seemed on the surface, when he really got going, he could grind you down to the bone.

Rule number one of dating — never listen to a man’s sweet talk; a soft heart is quick to get you killed.

Zhou Zheng came out of the bathroom just as Lin Shuang, wrapped in a blanket, was stuffing the bedsheets into the washing machine.

Seeing Zhou Zheng emerge, her expression visibly steadied for a moment; she straightened up without missing a beat, casually fixed her hair, her tone calm and natural, though her voice carried a hoarse rasp of exhaustion. “That laundry pod I bought — did we run out?”

“In the cabinet.”

Zhou Zheng walked over to stand beside her, opened the cabinet door, rummaged through it, pulled out a laundry pod, and tossed it into the washing machine, closed the door, and hit the switch.

The washing machine rumbled to life.

Both their gazes landed on the spinning drum, an odd, distracted stillness settling over them for a moment.

Neither spoke, unsure what to talk about. They’d just come through such a long stretch of distance, an argument full of veiled barbs and open blows, an unexpected agreement — and then, somehow, a spark had inexplicably caught fire, burning until it reached down to the bone.

What was there to say at a time like this?

Compliment each other’s performance in bed? Or offer up some sticky-sweet affection?

The mood felt oddly stiff, a little unfamiliar.

Nowhere close to reaching that state of harmony and resolved tension one might expect after such a moment.

Though honestly, Lin Shuang had rather liked the direction things had taken after their embrace — some hidden quality in Zhou Zheng carried a certain dizzying, hormone-charged intensity.

“The bathroom light’s still on, I left your towel in there.” Zhou Zheng touched his own nose.

Lin Shuang looked him over — his T-shirt and sweatpants worn clean and fresh — then thought back to the scene just moments ago, and unable to help herself, gritted her teeth and let out a scornful laugh. “Who would’ve guessed — Teacher Zhou’s got quite the wolf hiding under that sheep’s clothing, thorough work in bed too.”

Zhou Zheng’s expression stayed steady on the surface, though his ears reddened faintly, and he didn’t say a word in his own defense.

His own emotions had been stretched to their absolute limit; his behavior had been out of character, and for a moment he hadn’t controlled his own force.

“Where else still hurts?” He found one of her shirts and draped it over her bare shoulders. “Let me apply a warm compress.”

Lin Shuang glanced sideways at him, half-smiling, half-mocking, and extended a finger to press against his chest, pushing him away. “No thanks, keep your distance — save some yin energy for me, I’m not ready to die yet.”

The corner of his mouth curved up, his gaze bright and glimmering too. He held his own waist, his voice gentle. “Should I make you something to eat, get your strength back? Instant noodles with a poached egg sound good?”

She hummed a lazy “mm” in response.

One went into the bathroom, the other into the kitchen. By the time she came out from her shower, the noodles were already done cooking, and Zhou Zheng sat cross-legged on the floor, sorting through the shopping bags that had scattered everywhere on the ground.

Lin Shuang set her noodle bowl on a small stool and sat down on the floor too, eating while watching him tidy up, not showing the slightest intention of helping.

“When does the lease run out?”

“Next week.”

“You’re not keeping any of the stuff at home?”

“The student dorm’s not big, too much stuff won’t fit. No kitchen either, and it’s on the fifth floor — carrying things up and down would be a hassle.”

“Giving it away for free, or selling it cheap?”

Secondhand items given to neighbors — who’d ever charge for that. Zhou Zheng answered naturally. “Free.”

She wasn’t pleased, saying something absurd with a straight face. “A lot of that stuff is what I bought — you’re giving it away without even asking me first?”

“Didn’t you say you don’t want it? Better to give it to someone than throw it in the trash.”

Lin Shuang pouted, muttering under her breath. “I picked all of that out carefully, spent a fair bit of money on it too, and it’s barely even been used.”

Zhou Zheng glanced at her, brows furrowing slightly. “Should I just give it all to you, then?”

Lin Shuang tilted her head. “I don’t need it, but I do have an empty room at my place, plenty of space to store it.”

Both of them knew it — she had a spare main bedroom sitting empty.

It wasn’t as if they’d never lived together before.

“So store it at your place for now?”

Lin Shuang nodded, then after a moment, asked him with feigned casualness, “What about you?”

“Me?” Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow. “I’ll bring some clothes and stay at school. My dorm application’s already been approved, and it’s more convenient living in the dorms anyway.”

Lin Shuang let out an “oh.”

She thought it over — made sense, really. It wasn’t as though they’d move in together the moment they’d just started dating; some restraint was probably in order. But a subtle, complicated feeling stirred in her chest all the same. Her tone stayed indifferent. “Suit yourself.”

Zhou Zheng tilted his head to look at her, smiled, and ran a hand through her half-dry hair.

She gritted her teeth and stood up. “I’m heading back.”

“I’ll walk you.” It was getting late, and he had things to do at school too — evening study hall tonight.

“You’re not going back to the bubble tea shop?”

“Am I out of my mind?” Lin Shuang scolded him. “Go back and let them have a laugh at my expense?”

In these few hours her makeup had worn off, her clothes had changed, strawberry marks planted on her neck and shoulders — the traces on her body impossible to hide. In this listless, disheveled state, one glance from Nana and Kevin and they’d know exactly what had happened.

And the one to blame for all of it was standing right there.

Zhou Zheng first hailed a cab to take Lin Shuang home, carrying her shopping bags along with them. Before leaving, he’d already taken a few steps away, but turned back, glancing at her once more.

Lin Shuang stood there, thoroughly languid, thoroughly relaxed, watching him lazily.

He walked back, opened his arms in front of her, his gaze tender, clearly asking for a hug.

Lin Shuang clicked her tongue inwardly, glancing off to the side.

Seeing her unmoved, Zhou Zheng smiled, lowered his shoulders, and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his cheek against hers, nuzzling affectionately.

“Shuangshuang…” His tone was tender, lingering.

This kind of clingy, sappy gesture.

How on earth had she turned this man into this — this state? The once calm, straightforward Teacher Zhou, somehow transformed into a wriggling stick of malt candy.

“I don’t want to kiss.” She spoke up first. “My lips are numb.”

She was still in that post-intimacy haze right now — forget kissing, at this point she’d rather be celibate for a whole month, given herself time to recover.

Zhou Zheng stroked her hair, murmuring, “You’re tired today, get some rest early.”

“I know.” She urged him along. “Go on, hurry, evening study hall’s about to start.”

He didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to move a step — this recovered, upended happiness, even the careful hesitance of it felt like a small, precious thing, close to the luckiest turn a life could take.

After he left, Lin Shuang went straight back to bed.

The feeling was strange, subtle — like revisiting a familiar scene, knowing perfectly well everything that might come next, yet still finding herself, without meaning to, looking forward to it.

Her mindset and awareness had both shifted into something new.

At eleven that night, she got a call from Zhou Zheng.

“What are you up to?”

“Sorting things out.” He asked, “You?”

“Playing games.”

The two chatted about this and that for a bit, then Zhou Zheng asked her, “Shuangshuang, how much is your rent a month?”

“Why?”

He paused. “Actually, I wanted to take things slow, go through every step of dating properly… but being alone right now… I just want to be closer to my girlfriend. Every minute apart feels a little too quiet.”

Well, well — miss this chance and there’d be no second one.

“Don’t rush this — we’ve finally got a real relationship going, of course we should start over, take it step by step.” Lin Shuang teased. “I think dating should have some sense of ceremony to it, a proper process. Why don’t we recreate the whole scene and atmosphere — best to start with that kind of ambiguous, will-they-won’t-they tension, moving from eye contact to a wordless understanding, first linking pinky fingers, then holding hands, dinner dates — slower pacing is best.”

Zhou Zheng hummed in agreement. “Completely doable, I’m fully on board with that pace. Just, from a scheduling standpoint, I might be a bit busy, and our free time doesn’t line up — seeing each other’s limited to a few hours after class each day, which might slow down the relationship’s progress.”

“How about a different approach then — the classic trope of roommates sharing a place, spending every day together, sparks flying from proximity over time, how’s that sound?”

She pictured the scene in her head.

【Shock! Prestigious High School Teacher Caught Peeping at Roommate-Landlady, Teacher Ethics in Ruins, Where Is Justice!】

【Mortifying moment: rushed into the bathroom to use it, turned around to find the opposite-sex roommate showering.】

【The Empty Landlady and the Pure-Hearted Male Tenant: A Tale in Several Parts.】

Lin Shuang clicked her tongue — even when it came to games, it took a genuinely upright person to make it interesting; someone as experienced as her, ironically, couldn’t come up with anything fresh.

“Do you have money to rent a place? My rent’s crazy expensive.”

She checked online rental prices and messaged him back: “1,200 a month.”

Hardly qualified as “crazy expensive” by any measure.

Zhou Zheng transferred her a full year’s rent on the spot.

【When are you moving in?】

【This weekend, I guess.】

She pictured the scene again, lips curving into a smile — and found, somewhat to her own surprise, a small flicker of excitement and anticipation stirring within her.