The air froze for a second.

Something slowly melted in the cold, solidified air, then Chi Yao said: “I’m not unhappy.”

“Do you know what you look like right now?” Lin Zhexia looked at him and said, “Like a drunk person who insists they’re not drunk.”

“…”

Chi Yao didn’t speak.

After a while, he raised his eyes: “Have you considered that this person just isn’t drunk?”

He added, “Not everyone has a poor alcohol tolerance like you.”

Lin Zhexia: “Then smile for me.”

Chi Yao: “…”

She added, “Not that fake smile where your lips smile but your eyes don’t, but a genuine smile from the heart. If you can, just smile for me and let me see.”

Chi Yao passed by her, going to the kitchen for water: “I won’t smile.”

“You are angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

Lin Zhexia got off the sofa and followed him into the kitchen: “Then why won’t you smile?”

“Sorry,” Chi Yao closed the refrigerator door, bantering with her like countless times before, “I’m the type of person who likes to remain expressionless when I’m happy.”

“…”

What a good ‘expressionless’ excuse.

Lin Zhexia couldn’t out-talk him.

The refrigerator door had just closed, and Chi Yao hadn’t yet withdrawn his hand. Seeing her chance, she bent down and slipped into the space between Chi Yao and the refrigerator. When she straightened up, their posture looked as if Chi Yao had deliberately pinned her against the refrigerator.

They were very close.

After Lin Zhexia instinctively squeezed in, she suddenly didn’t know what to do next.

Her mind went blank for a moment.

Then, she remembered what was often said online, that between couples, there was nothing that couldn’t be resolved with a kiss.

So she secretly stood on tiptoe, moved closer to him, and gathered the courage to give him a kiss.

Despite being together for so long, she still seemed very inexperienced with kissing. Perhaps it was because the person in front of her was Chi Yao.

So no matter how long they had been together, she still felt shy.

Chi Yao hadn’t expected her to suddenly come closer, and he was visibly stunned for a moment.

Lin Zhexia pulled back after the kiss, meeting his light-colored eyes, and said very seriously: “I don’t like that skateboard club guy.”

“Not just him, I don’t like any of that type of person. How could you take seriously what I casually said about partner criteria? That was so long ago, I don’t even remember it anymore.”

Lin Zhexia explained, but lost control of the topic and veered a bit: “…When I was little, I also said I hoped you would kneel and kowtow to me three times, but I didn’t see you following that order either.”

“…”

The atmosphere grew strangely quiet for a few seconds again because of her “kowtow three times” comment.

As Lin Zhexia tried to say something more, Chi Yao lowered his hand. The chill he had brought in from outside had imperceptibly dissipated. After taking off his outer coat, he was left with only a thin sweater.

Chi Yao originally didn’t want to say anything.

For him, this kind of nameless emotion shouldn’t be voiced.

But Lin Zhexia was too earnest. She seriously cared about his every emotion, so he couldn’t continue to remain silent.

He tightened his hand holding the water bottle and averted his gaze from her: “It’s not entirely because of this.”

“Not just him,” Chi Yao finally said, “But others too. You’ll meet many other people in the future.”—

Their conversation that night ended there.

The clock pointed to twelve.

At this hour, the dormitory building had long been locked, prohibiting students from entering or leaving.

Lin Zhexia naturally couldn’t go back and could only stay at Chi Yao’s place for the night.

Fortunately, she had also stayed here temporarily during the holidays, so daily toiletries and clothes were all readily available.

Nothing happened that night. She still had an early class the next day. But before falling asleep curled up in Chi Yao’s arms, she drowsily tried to figure out what his last sentence meant. But it was too late, and her consciousness became increasingly unclear until she fell asleep without understanding.

The next day, she returned to the dormitory early in the morning to get her textbooks.

Lan Xiaoxue had just woken up and greeted her while brushing her teeth: “You’re back.”

“Yes,” Lin Zhexia responded, “Thanks for taking my books yesterday.”

“It’s nothing, just a small favor.”

Lan Xiaoxue didn’t ask where she went last night, only saying, “There was a room check last night. Qin Lei played two roles, covering for you. Otherwise, the dorm supervisor would have to talk with you today, which would be annoying.”

Lian University had very strict room check regulations.

To ensure the safety of boarding students, they had set many rules for room checks.

However, where there’s a policy, there’s a countermeasure. They would usually find someone to impersonate the roommate who wasn’t in the dorm, and then go down to sign in after the check was complete. But this method had certain risks.

Lin Zhexia asked worriedly: “She wasn’t recognized by the supervisor?”

Lan Xiaoxue pointed to a wig on the side, long, brownish-black, with a bit of annoyance, and said: “Yesterday they all betrayed us and joined other clubs. Qin Lei went to the cosplay club. They gave out a free wig upon joining, which came in handy.”

“…”

So that’s how it worked.

“Then I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight,” Lin Zhexia thought for a moment and said politely, “Just tell me what you want to eat.”

Lan Xiaoxue immediately agreed: “Sure, a new grilled fish restaurant just opened in the school cafeteria. Let’s go there tonight.”

When evening came, Lin Zhexia informed Chi Yao and then went to the cafeteria with her roommates.

The grilled fish was quickly served, and the table was immediately filled with the huge grill.

The group talked about yesterday’s club recruitment around the grilled fish.

“That wig is quite useful.”

“If I had known, I would have joined your cosplay club too. Our club didn’t give out anything.”

“…”

As they chatted, Lin Zhexia remained silent.

She was a bit distracted while eating, picking up a slice of ginger, and about to put it in her mouth.

Lan Xiaoxue reminded her: “You picked up ginger.”

Lin Zhexia: “…Oh, it was mixed in. I didn’t see clearly.”

“What’s wrong?” Lan Xiaoxue asked, “Relationship troubles?”

Lin Zhexia put down her chopsticks, indeed needing someone to confide in, and frankly said: “A bit.”

The others perked up their ears to listen.

Lin Zhexia briefly explained what had happened between her and Chi Yao, finally concluding: “I can’t understand why. Wasn’t that just something I casually said out of anger in the past? And what did he mean by saying I’ll meet many other people in the future?”

What she didn’t say was: Could it be that he regretted being with her?

Did he want her to choose someone else?

…

But she quickly felt this reason was unlikely. Chi Yao wasn’t that kind of person.

She thought about it over and over, but couldn’t figure out the real reason.

As observers, Lan Xiaoxue and Qin Lei saw clearly: “What’s there not to understand? It’s very obvious.”

Lin Zhexia: “Obvious?”

Lan Xiaoxue: “Yes, he’s afraid you’ll like someone else. He’s worried whether you truly like him.”

Lin Zhexia didn’t understand.

Because in her mind, Chi Yao was someone she had liked for a long time and finally managed to be with. She had never thought that such a person would be flustered because of her, would worry about her liking someone else.

In her heart, Chi Yao should always be that boy who captured everyone’s attention, who seemed to shine with pride. He shouldn’t have such worries.

“He’s not concerned about your partner criteria. He’s concerned that you might meet someone like that skateboard club senior who fits your criteria, that you might like that kind of person, rather than truly liking him.”

Lan Xiaoxue explained again, then asked puzzledly, “How did you two get together anyway? I thought childhood sweethearts like you would be very secure after getting together. You know, the kind who would be very certain the other person likes them. Why does he have so little security, like he’s not very sure of your feelings for him?”

How did they get together?

Following Lan Xiaoxue’s words, Lin Zhexia thought: Because he pursued her, and she agreed.

…

At this point, she finally realized slowly.

Chi Yao still didn’t know that she had liked him since high school, so he might think she only liked him because he pursued her.

That’s why he would fear that she would meet someone who fit her “partner criteria.”

This person might not be the skateboard club senior, but could be someone else.

That’s why he said, “You’ll meet many other people in the future.”

Lin Zhexia settled the bill early, hurriedly stuffed a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth, then put down her chopsticks: “You all take your time. I have something I want to tell him. I’ll go first.”

Lan Xiaoxue waved to her: “Go ahead, have a good talk with your brother.”

Lin Zhexia had their department’s class schedule and knew they had evening classes today.

So she calculated the dismissal time and waited in advance at the corner of their classroom for their class to end.

She crouched against the wall, memorizing vocabulary while waiting.

Soon, the dismissal bell rang.

Several people walked out of the classroom with their arms around each other’s shoulders. At a glance, she spotted the person surrounded by others walking at the back.

The young man was tall with long legs, one hand in his pocket. The people around him wanted to offer him cigarettes like they were paying respect to a big brother. He looked at the cigarette pack and didn’t reach out to take it. Just as he was about to say, “take it away,” someone stood in front of him and refused on his behalf: “He doesn’t smoke.”

Chi Yao looked up and saw the girl who had unexpectedly appeared before him.

Lin Zhexia was very serious, even a bit angry: “Next time you offer him cigarettes, I’ll report you.”

The others: “…”

“Sister-in-law, it’s a misunderstanding. We don’t smoke,” someone stepped forward with a lame explanation. “It’s precisely because we don’t smoke that we just bought a pack to admire, to see what cigarettes look like.”

“……”

Lin Zhexia wanted to roll her eyes.

But she had more important matters this time, so she didn’t dwell on the topic.

She walked with Chi Yao to the apartment.

“Are you going straight back?” Lin Zhexia asked. “Aren’t you going to the cafeteria to eat?”

Chi Yao said, “I’ll order takeout when I get back.”

Lin Zhexia made an “oh” sound.

When Chi Yao reached the apartment vicinity, he noticed she was still following him: “You’re not going back to the dorm?”

“No,” Lin Zhexia held his hand, tightening her fingers, and said, “I’m going back with you.”

Chi Yao hadn’t sorted out his thoughts yet and wanted to calm down for a while, so he casually scared her, implying: “If you stay at my place, you might not be able to get up for your early class tomorrow.”

Unexpectedly, Lin Zhexia wasn’t scared at all this time.

Her eartips reddened, but she still said: “Then I’ll be late.”

“Anyway,” her voice grew increasingly small, “being late once doesn’t matter much. You only lose points after three times.”

Chi Yao’s throat tightened.

After a while, he managed: “Do you know what you’re saying?”

Lin Zhexia followed him into the elevator: “Of course I know, and I have something else I want to tell you.”

Chi Yao couldn’t imagine what she wanted to say.

When they pushed open the door and entered the apartment, he was about to turn on the lights, but Lin Zhexia stopped him.

“Can we not turn on the lights?” she said nervously. “I’m afraid I’ll be embarrassed.”

Chi Yao’s hand paused in the air and finally didn’t press the switch.

Even without lights, there was still a faint glow in the room. The dim light from outside filtered through the windows, outlining the furniture.

She didn’t know where to begin with all she wanted to say.

Lin Zhexia opened her mouth, scenes from high school flashing before her eyes.

She hadn’t deliberately kept it from him. It was just that when Chi Yao first said he had liked her for a long time, she didn’t know how to respond and missed the best opportunity to be honest.

Afterward, she could never find the right moment to speak up.

Finally, she said very softly, “Actually, when you pursued me, I was very happy.”

“I never thought you would like me. I thought I would probably just have to continue liking you silently.”

Chi Yao rarely responded so slowly.

His lips tightened as he grasped the key point in her words: “What do you mean… continue to like me?”

Lin Zhexia searched for his eyes through the dim outlines in the darkness. In that instant when their gazes met across the darkness, she said: “Because I liked you since high school.”

“At first, I didn’t know it was liking. I just felt that whenever I was near you, I would become very strange. Later…” Lin Zhexia skipped over the later part, which was long and trivial, only saying, “But you were my best friend. I couldn’t like you, and I certainly couldn’t let you discover that I liked you.”

“So when you pursued me, I was truly happy.”

She carefully recounted things that had happened, things only she knew about: “I was very nervous when we took a couple of photos together. On Valentine’s Day, when you sat beside me watching a movie, I even wanted to thank He Yang a bit.”

“When you were going on stage, I watched you play guitar at your house and wanted to ask you not to go, because I didn’t want others to see you.”

She had never thought she would seriously confess to Chi Yao under circumstances like these.

The feeling of confession was wonderful.

The person standing in front of Chi Yao now was her, yet somehow not her.

Like her from high school.

That person who had once secretly and carefully liked Chi Yao had finally voiced all those words she never had the chance to say in high school.

“I’ve also liked you for a very, very long time.”

When Lin Zhexia reached this point, the entire room was extremely quiet.

“So I won’t,” she finally declared as if taking an oath, “Even if I meet many more people in the future, I will only like you.”

After she finished, she quietly waited for Chi Yao’s response.

Due to nervousness, she was distracted, trying to guess what Chi Yao would say in reply—would he narcissistically say “it’s normal to like me,” or would he be moved beyond words…

But Chi Yao didn’t say a single word in the end.

He simply, with strong aggressiveness, reached out to hold the back of her neck, forcing her closer to him. He seemed to have already adapted to the darkness, his angle neither too much nor too little, precisely capturing her. She had no strength to resist him.

Then, his kiss pressed down.

This kiss was different from all their previous kisses. He had never kissed her so recklessly before. They were like two people on the verge of suffocation, exchanging their last breath of oxygen.

No one remembered when this kiss ended.

Until Chi Yao spoke to her, pressing against her, asking at her ear “is it okay.”

These three words, “is it okay,” carried a very obvious meaning.

Lin Zhexia didn’t speak, proactively supporting herself to sit up, reaching out to take that thin familiar thing from his hand.

After opening it, her little courage was victorious.

Chi Yao guided her to change positions, no longer pressing on her, letting her exchange places with him, reminding her, “come to the top,” then that hand wearing the black hair tie supported her waist.

Her waist was very sensitive. She wanted to dodge but couldn’t escape at all.

In the end, she could only warn him without much authority: “…Don’t touch my waist.”

The next second, Chi Yao’s hand let go.

But the hand he released caught her hand, and he said languidly: “Fine, then you touch mine.”

“…”

Lin Zhexia was practically steaming: “I don’t want to touch.”

“If you don’t touch me, who will I let touch?” Chi Yao said, “…I trained it for you in the first place.”

Lin Zhexia was already on top, and just by lowering her eyes, she could see the vague outline of his abs. His whole body was still very slender, his bones hard, exuding a youthful air. His abs were a thin layer, not exaggerated, but when led by his hand to touch them, she could still feel the power concealed underneath.

Lin Zhexia didn’t dare to look anymore. She averted her eyes, staring at the silver earring on Chi Yao’s ear, the metallic gleam bringing a slight sense of dizziness.

Chi Yao suddenly stopped for a few seconds during his movements: “Say it again.”

Lin Zhexia’s voice was somewhat broken, left hanging by him, and she asked him pitifully: “Say…say what?”

“Say you’ve liked me for a long time.”

Perhaps it was because of their position.

Before, out of shyness, she would always bury herself in the blankets like an ostrich.

So she had never once felt that the person beneath her, all the marks on his body, belonged to her.

The black hair tie on his wrist. The earring. Even his body.

All these existed through the long years because of her existence.

Lin Zhexia tried hard to control her increasingly fragmented voice, doing her best to complete her sentence: “I’ve liked you…for a long time.”