“I-I’m going to start drawing now!”
After that shameful interaction ended, I fled back to my original spot.
“Alright. The base colors for the last one are finished, so there’s no rush to complete it. For now, just finish the sketch we were just talking about. Otherwise, Little Guiyun might lose the feeling,” Ling Beina replied easily, her voice betraying no emotion.
Hearing Ling Beina’s request, I nodded with a flushed face.
She was right. I had to finish the draft while the feeling was still fresh. Otherwise, I definitely didn’t want to reminisce with her again!
However, she didn’t sit back down on her original sofa. Instead, she followed me over slowly and knelt right by my side. She was too close! She was so close that I could clearly smell the faint, grassy scent of her incense. And now, that scent seemed to be mixed with a bit of… a bit of my own scent left over from when we were close earlier?
‘Wwah! Why is she leaning so close! I can’t even concentrate!’
The tip of my pen hovered over the screen, trembling uncontrollably. My mind was a mess. Images of the “demonstration” from moments ago and the lingering sensation on my neck flashed back vividly, shoving things like composition and line work into a dusty corner.
What should I draw? How should I draw it? That kind of gaze… that feeling that makes one’s legs go weak and leaves no room for escape…
“What’s wrong? Did you lose the feeling?” Her voice sounded right against my ear, her warm breath brushing over the sensitive tips of my cat ears like a small brush.
I jerked violently, the tip of my pen nearly dragging a long, crooked line across the screen. “N-No! I’m brainstorming!”
I shook my head hurriedly in denial.
‘Help! Can’t she move further away! If this keeps up, I’m going to forget how to breathe!’
“Is that so?” She let out a soft chuckle. Suddenly, one of her hands reached over my shoulder and pointed at the blank screen.
“Then, here… shouldn’t you first sketch the movement of being forced into a corner? The body should lean back slightly, showing a bit of subconscious resistance, but also appearing somewhat stiff because there is nowhere to run.”
Her fingertips didn’t actually touch the screen; she merely hovered over it. Yet that invisible pressure, combined with the unerringly accurate description in her words, made me feel as if I were being pinned against that cold wall all over again, unable to move.
‘What she’s saying… seems right…’
I bit my lip hard and began to clumsily sketch according to her words. The lines were awkward and stiff, nowhere near as fluid as usual. I looked like a complete beginner.
“And the eyes…” She seemed to lean in even closer, a few strands of her hair nearly brushing against my cheek. “That kind of laziness, as if she doesn’t care about anything, yet possesses a focus that can see right through a person… Give it a try?”
I tried my best to recall the way she had stared at me earlier — the undercurrents surging beneath that bottomless tranquility. The lines beneath my pen trembled as I tried to capture that dangerous yet charming look, but it always felt like there was a barrier in the way. I couldn’t grasp the essence.
‘It’s no use… I can’t draw it… How could something like that possibly be drawn with a pen!’
Just as I was getting so frustrated that the tip of my tail began to unconsciously thud against the floor, a slightly cool hand gently covered mine, which was still gripping the stylus.
*Meow?!*
My entire body froze, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Relax.” Her voice lowered, carrying a gentle yet unquestionable strength as she guided my stiff fingers. “The lines are too tense. Control isn’t achieved by drawing with force… but here, at the turn of the brushstroke. It needs to be more composed, more natural. Do you understand?”
Her palm was completely pressed against the back of my hand. The cool sensation against my burning skin was like the intersection of ice and fire.
I could clearly feel the delicate ridges of her fingerprints and the steady, heart-fluttering pressure of her hand. She was too — too close! My hand… my hand was being held! And this posture… it was like she was hugging me from behind!
My ears twitched at a high frequency, completely out of my control. The heat in my cheeks exploded, spreading all the way to the base of my neck. I even felt like my collar was getting a bit tight.
Wrapped entirely by her hand, I couldn’t move on my own. I could only follow her guidance stiffly, tracing lines on the screen that were still shaky but, strangely, much more fluid than before.
“Yes, just like that…” Her breath brushed over my already hyper-sensitive ear tips once more, carrying a faint hint of approval. “Add a tiny bit of… a condescending nuance. Yes, exactly like that.”
She was so close that I could even vaguely feel the slight vibration in her chest as she spoke. That lingering grassy fragrance enveloped me tightly, nearly suffocating me.
‘I can’t do this… my brain is turning into mush… I can’t draw like this at all!’ All of my senses were focused on the place where she touched me and the breath fluttering against my ear. How could I possibly have any energy left to think about lighting or composition!
Just when I felt like I was about to faint from excessive shame and a racing heart, she finally let go.
“There, that’s roughly the feeling. You can finish the details on your own, right?” She sat up straight as if nothing had happened, casually smoothing out her slightly messy long hair.
I jerked my hand back. My little heart was still pounding wildly, the sound so loud I could hear it myself.
My gaze darted frantically across the screen. On it was the rough silhouette of a character’s head. The eyes actually carried a few hints of that lazy, dangerous aggression she had mentioned, and the lines were much more fluid and expressive than when I had been struggling alone.
‘Dammit… with her leading me like that, it’s like… I really did capture a bit of that feeling…’
“I can finish it!” I raised my voice, trying to use the volume to cover my panic.
Ling Beina looked at my beet-red cheeks, my frizzed-out tail, and my paws that had nowhere to hide. She curled her lips into a satisfied smile. She reached for the plate of cat-paw cookies next to her, picked one up, and took a slow, deliberate bite.
“That’s good.” She chewed slowly, her gaze still glued to my face as if she were enjoying my embarrassment with great interest. “Next time, we can try a scene that requires more… emotional investment. For example, a lap pillow?”
‘There’s a next time?! And what the heck does more investment mean! A lap pillow?!’
Just hearing those words caused my tail to snap straight as an iron rod!
I lowered my head as far as it would go, nearly burying my burning cheeks into the tablet. My paws tightly gripped the pen that still seemed to hold the sensation of her touch, and my tail curled into a dead knot behind me.
And my reaction seemed to be caught by Ling Beina as well.
“What’s wrong? Are you unwilling?”
“I-I’m not unwilling!”
My head shook like a rattle, but my tail guiltily curled around my ankle. “It’s just… it’s just a bit sudden…”
My voice grew smaller and smaller. I was doomed; even I didn’t believe what I was saying.
“Oh — ” Ling Beina gave a soft response, dragging out the final syllable. She reached out to tuck a stray strand of silver hair behind my ear, her fingertip brushing against my earlobe as if by accident.
My ear twitched sensitively, immediately turning a transparent red.
“But I see the fur on your tail has puffed out like a dandelion.” She chuckled, her fingers sliding through my hair to the back of my neck, where she gave a firm yet gentle squeeze.
My whole body stiffened, and I nearly let out a meow. The sensation of her sniffing that spot earlier still lingered, and now that she was pinching it, it felt like she had seized my most vulnerable point.
‘Ugh, don’t squeeze that spot!’
Even with my tail caught, I had to brace myself to explain.
“I-I was just too invested! Your guidance is too professional, Sister Beina. I just didn’t react in time!”
“Oh? Guidance…” She repeated the word thoughtfully, her thumb slowly tracing circles on the skin of my nape. “Then next time, Little Guiyun, please continue to cooperate well with my… *guidance*.”
With every word she spoke, my body tensed another degree.
Even though that hand wasn’t using much force, it made my legs feel weaker than any physical restraint ever could.
I nodded with a stiff neck, but the tip of my tail couldn’t help but flick once, hitting the tatami mat with a soft thud.
Ling Beina’s gaze immediately followed the sound.
“It seems your tail is more honest than you are.” She finally let go, her tone full of mischief.
“Meow? MEOW!!!”
After dazing out for a moment, I finally realized what she meant. I slammed my hands over my tail, my entire face burning so hot it felt like it would catch fire.
‘Uggggh, why did it turn out like this!!’