Water droplets trickled down Yan Yu’s wet hair, falling onto Ruo Xiaozhen’s arm and neck, sending a cold shiver through her.
But she didn’t even furrow her brow. She only held the person in her arms more steadily.
The person in her arms was very light, so light it made her heart ache.
Those slender bones, those thin shoulders, and the faint trembling she could feel even through the cold, wet pajamas…
All of this made the anxiety that had risen in Ruo Xiaozhen’s heart from being kept in the dark quickly transform into a heavier sense of self-blame.
“Let’s go back to the room first. The floor is cold, and you’re soaked through. You’ll catch a cold.”
Ruo Xiaozhen softened her voice. Holding Yan Yu, she turned and walked out.
Her steps were steady, her arms strong. It was as if the person in her arms wasn’t a patient needing careful handling, but a treasure that needed to be protected.
Yan Yu lay stiffly in her embrace, the clean, warm scent of Ruo Xiaozhen lingering in her nose.
Her cheek pressed against the water-soaked fabric of the other’s clothes, and she could feel the heartbeat and body temperature beneath.
This feeling of being completely taken care of… was so unfamiliar that she didn’t know how to handle it.
It was like a solitary boat adrift on a cold sea, finally touching a warm, solid shore.
She closed her eyes, turned her face slightly, and buried it in the hollow of Ruo Xiaozhen’s neck. Her wet eyelashes trembled lightly. She didn’t speak.
Ruo Xiaozhen carried her quickly into Yan Yu’s room, carefully placing her on the bed that had already been made with fresh sheets.
Then she immediately turned, pulled a large, soft, dry towel from the wardrobe, and without a word, wrapped it around Yan Yu’s still-dripping hair, wiping it carefully.
“Where did you hit yourself? Was it your elbow? Does it hurt a lot? What about your leg? Did you twist it?”
She asked in a rapid-fire succession as she wiped, her gaze anxiously scanning Yan Yu’s body, finally fixing on her slightly reddened elbow.
Yan Yu let her work. After a few seconds, she let out an almost inaudible “Mm,” by way of an answer.
Then, with her uninjured hand, she gently pressed down on Ruo Xiaozhen’s still-busy wrist.
“… Zhenzhen.”
Her voice was very soft, a little hoarse from the bath. “… Thank you.”
“Thank me for what…”
Ruo Xiaozhen muttered, but her voice was a little choked.
She picked up the towel again, pulling Yan Yu closer to her so she could lean more comfortably.
“Xiao Yu, next time… don’t do this anymore. You have to call me if something’s wrong, got it?”
“Mm…”
Yan Yu leaned into her arms and replied softly.
Her long, wet hair, under Ruo Xiaozhen’s careful wiping, gradually stopped dripping and lay softly against her pale cheeks and neck.
“Alright, we’ll leave the hair for now. We need to get your body dry, or you’ll really catch a cold.”
Ruo Xiaozhen put the half-damp towel aside and pulled another clean, soft bath towel from the wardrobe, shaking it open.
She took a deep breath and turned to Yan Yu, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, shivering slightly in her wet pajamas.
Under the light, the girl had her eyelids lowered. The wet fabric clung to her skin, outlining her excessively slender waistline. The whole person exuded a fragile air, but her tightly pressed lips revealed a stubbornness that refused to fully submit.
“Xiao Yu, I… I’ll help you change out of these wet clothes and dry you off with the towel, okay?”
Ruo Xiaozhen’s voice was very gentle, with a tone of consultation.
Yan Yu’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly. She didn’t say anything, but her fingers on her knees curled up unconsciously.
Silence spread through the small room.
After a long while, Yan Yu suppressed the shyness in her heart and let out a soft “Mm.”
With permission given, Ruo Xiaozhen’s heart inexplicably began to beat faster.
She steadied herself, reached out, and with slightly trembling fingertips, touched the top button of Yan Yu’s pajamas.
The cold, slippery texture of the fabric met her touch.
Ruo Xiaozhen pursed her lips and began to work.
One, two… The buttons were undone one by one, and the cold, wet pajamas slipped from Yan Yu’s thin shoulders.
She picked up the bath towel, wrapped it around Yan Yu’s upper body as gently as possible, and then used the soft inner fabric of the towel to carefully absorb the remaining water droplets on her skin.
From her neck, to her collarbone, to her thin shoulders…
The towel rubbed against her skin.
Yan Yu’s body was tense, her head hanging lower, her wet hair covering most of her face. Only her small, flushed earlobes revealed her extreme embarrassment.
Ruo Xiaozhen’s movements were clumsy but earnest.
She could feel, beneath her palm, Yan Yu’s body trembling slightly.
The skin was cool and smooth.
When the towel brushed across her chest, Yan Yu flinched violently and let out a very soft gasp.
“S-sorry!” Ruo Xiaozhen was startled, her face turning red.
“It’s… it’s okay.” Yan Yu’s voice was muffled.
Ruo Xiaozhen steadied herself and continued.
But it was hard for her to concentrate. Her fingertips occasionally, unintentionally, brushed against the sensitive skin of Yan Yu’s waist.
Every unintended touch made the tense body in her arms tremble lightly, and a thin layer of pink would quickly spread across her fair skin.
Like the most delicate petals on a branch in early spring, turning a blush-red when brushed by a finger.
Ruo Xiaozhen watched that pink spread from behind her ears to her neck… A corner of her heart felt as if it were being lightly tickled by a feather.
In a moment of impulse, during another wipe, her fingertip lightly brushed the exceptionally soft skin on the inside of Yan Yu’s forearm.
“Ngh…!”
As if electrocuted, Yan Yu suddenly pulled her arm back, leaning backward. She finally raised her head, which had been lowered all along.
Under the light, her pale little face was now a rosy red.
Her wet eyes were hazy with moisture, and the corners of her eyes were flushed. That expression, a mix of shame and annoyance, yet with no strength to resist…
Seeing her like this, the corners of Ruo Xiaozhen’s mouth uncontrollably turned upward.
“Xiao Yu,” she deliberately lowered her voice, leaning in closer, “your body… it’s really quite beautiful, you know.”
“Your skin is so white, so smooth…” Her fingertip lightly pointed at the area just below Yan Yu’s collarbone that she had just dried. “Touch it once, and it turns red like this…”
“Ruo! Xiao! Zhen!”
Yan Yu’s face flushed to the point where it was almost dripping blood.
She glared at her in shame and anger, but because her breath was unsteady, her eye sockets were also red.
“You… stop talking like that!”
“Like what?”
Ruo Xiaozhen tilted her head, playing dumb, but the smile in her eyes deepened. Her fingertip touched Yan Yu’s burning cheek very lightly again.
“I’m just stating a fact. And besides…”
She deliberately drew out her tone,
“Xiao Yu’s reaction is really cute. Does she get shy just from me touching her a little?”
“You…!” Yan Yu was so angry her chest heaved, but she couldn’t push her away. She could only turn her head away, her voice trembling, as if in a pout. “If you keep joking like this… I-I’m not talking to you anymore!”
Her tone sounded more like she was acting spoiled.
Ruo Xiaozhen’s heart softened completely, and she knew she couldn’t tease her anymore.
“Okay, okay, okay. I won’t say anything more.” She quickly withdrew her hand, but the smile on her face was impossible to hide. “Don’t be mad, don’t be mad. Let me help you get dry and put on some dry clothes, okay?”
Yan Yu didn’t turn around, just let out a very light “Hmph” through her nose.
Suppressing a smile, Ruo Xiaozhen picked up the bath towel again. This time, she properly dried the remaining moisture from Yan Yu’s body and helped her change into a clean, soft pair of cotton pajamas.
Throughout the whole process, Yan Yu let herself be handled like a doll, her face staying red the entire time, refusing to look at her again.