After that, we chatted for a little while longer, just about some trivial things.
When our simple conversation ended, Yue Ran glanced at the time—it was getting late. She stood up from the bench. “Alright, it’s getting late. Gui Yun, you have to report to work tomorrow, don’t you? Go to bed early. If you can, come help out after work.”
“Mm, you rest well too.” I stood up from the bench as well. For some reason, the warmth in my chest hadn’t faded yet.
“Mm-hmm, good night~”
“Good night.”
After exchanging simple goodbyes with Yue Ran, she left, and I returned to my room.
The room was so quiet, I could hear my own heartbeat. Ling Xiaoxiao was curled up on the bed, her rabbit tail gently rising and falling with her breath. Moonlight and street lamps filtered through the sheer curtains, scattering mottled shadows on the floor.
I sat on the rattan chair by the window. The cat-paw shaped lamp cast wavering shadows on the wall.
Tonight was very quiet, yet my heart simply couldn’t settle down.
Yue Ran’s expression from earlier kept replaying in my mind…
Ugh, if that girl just liked bullying me, that would actually be easier to deal with.
But now, I really don’t know how to face her…
My cat tail unconsciously swept across the bedsheet, and even my fluffy ears drooped powerlessly atop my head.
I don’t know how long I sat like that. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier. In the end, I just pressed my cheek to the cool glass, letting my thoughts drift away like the clouds outside the window.
When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was already glinting off Ling Xiaoxiao’s hair. She was pinching my cat ear and shaking it, her pink-and-white bunny ears quivering in the morning light like two willow leaves. “Dummy, get up! If you don’t, you’ll be late for work!”
“Meow? Meow meow meow!!”
Ling Xiaoxiao’s booming voice, plus the pain in my ear, startled me fully awake. But soon, her voice sounded again.
“Still meowing there? Get up and eat breakfast!”
“Ugh, you don’t have to shout so loudly, you know.”
Jolted awake so suddenly, I shook my little head in distress.
Struggling off the bed and into the bathroom, I splashed cold water on my face to finally shake off my sleepiness. I had just stuffed my toothbrush into my mouth when the door was gently pushed open. Yue Ran stood in the doorway with two kraft paper bags, her teal apron still dusted with flour. “Awake?” Her gaze swept over the foam at the corner of my mouth. “Just now I heard Xiaoxiao say… the company Ning Dongya works at, that was recommended by your distant relative too?”
Toothpaste foam dripped down as I spoke, and I nodded vaguely. “Mm… he helped me send in the resume…” My brain felt stuffed with cotton, so I completely missed how Yue Ran’s hand, hanging at her side, quietly clenched the bag’s handle.
The light in her eyes suddenly dimmed, like the moon hidden by clouds. She said softly, “So it really was like that…” Her voice was so light, it was nearly drowned out by the sound of running water. I was about to ask what was wrong when she had already placed the paper bags on the dressing table, the golden edge of a crepe peeking out from one of them. “Breakfast is packed, one strawberry crepe each, and hot milk too.”
When I opened the paper bag and picked up the crepe, cool cream plopped onto the corner of my mouth. Yue Ran was turning to leave, but when she saw this, she suddenly burst out laughing and came back, gently wiping my lips with her fingertip—her fingers, rough with flour, felt so hot that my cheeks burned instantly. “Eat slowly, no one’s fighting you for it.” She pinched my puffed cheek in passing, her teal apron brushing against my arm.
“W-Who’s eating fast!” I muttered stubbornly, shoving the crepe towards her mouth. “You have some too!” She lowered her head and took a big bite, strawberry jam dotting her lips like a little red mole, her teal eyes curving into crescents. “Mmm~ Sweeter than yesterday’s tiramisu.” When our fingers brushed at the edge of the wrapper, both of us jolted as if electrocuted. I looked down, pretending to focus on my crepe, but my cat ears were so hot I could fry an egg on them.
Suddenly, a warm breath brushed past my ear—Yue Ran had somehow gotten really close, gently nudging my twitching cat ear with her nose. “So, tell me, which is sweeter, the crepe, or…” She drew out the ending on purpose, “…me?” My fluffy tail curled around her wrist involuntarily, and I heard my own mosquito-quiet voice: “B-Both are sweet…”
“Hehe, alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I have to get to the shop and prepare.”
Seeing how shy I was, Yue Ran stroked my fuzzy cat ear and left with a smile.
After Yue Ran’s footsteps faded at the stairway, I stood there holding the crepe wrapper, my cat ears still warm from her touch.
The feeling of her fingertip brushing the corner of my lips suddenly became very vivid. I slapped my hands over my face and crouched down, my tail thumping uncontrollably on the floor with a soft “pat-pat.”
Honestly, I kept wondering, why did she take the initiative to be so intimate with me?
I stared at the shallow marks my tail had swept onto the floor, my mind tangled like a ball of yarn. Did she find out? Find out that I’m actually the big fool she’s bullied since childhood?
No way! I’m not a dummy!
But just thinking there might be such a possibility made my heart race out of control. I pressed a hand to my throbbing temples. My cat ears couldn’t help but twitch, and my bangs, hanging over my eyes, were damp with cold sweat. If she knew, would she think I’d been deceiving her all this time? Would she be angry?
The tip of my tail unconsciously curled around my wrist, its fluff making my skin itch. I forced myself to take a deep breath and my gaze landed on the kraft paper bag on the dressing table—Yue Ran’s knuckles had turned white from gripping it, and that fleeting dimness in her eyes stabbed me like a needle. Had she already suspected something? Was that why she brought up Ning Dongya’s company on purpose?
Just as I was about to drown in my own guesses, last night’s conversation in the hallway suddenly resurfaced. “Because~ you, you’re someone that person entrusted to me.” Yue Ran’s voice had been cheerful, her teal eyes sparkling like crushed diamonds in the moonlight.
I slowly let go of my face, and my tail’s thumping on the floor gradually slowed. That’s right, that’s what she said. She was good to me because I’d been “entrusted” to her by “that person,” not because she’d found out who I really was.
But that doesn’t make sense either. If it was just an entrusted favor, then as long as she treated me well—like she does with Ling Xiaoxiao—that would be enough. There’s no need to be so intimate. Plus, Xiaoxiao and I came together, so why is Yue Ran only so close with me, but not with Xiaoxiao?
One question after another, none of which I could figure out, left me deeply troubled.
My tangled emotions made my cat ears stand up and flick restlessly.
But this mood didn’t last long, because Ling Xiaoxiao’s voice cut in.
“Dummy, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and eat!”