Secret Relationship

After that, kissing in that position so often naturally became second nature.

Xu Zhitong really liked it. She liked taking Lin Yang’s weight, liked wrapping her arms around Lin Yang’s slender waist, liked Lin Yang’s hand resting on her shoulder. And if a kiss got a little too intense, Lin Yang would loop a hand around the back of Xu Zhitong’s neck and twist her ear, making her let go.

Besides, Xu Zhitong felt that Lin Yang liked it too.

But in fact, it was only after her period ended that Lin Yang clearly realized she had been far too ruled by her emotions before.

When she truly understood that something was wrong with the way things were progressing, Xu Zhitong was livestreaming.

Maybe because of the kiss, or because of something at dinner like a charm potion, Lin Yang didn’t know why, but she had agreed to sit beside her and keep Xu Zhitong company while she streamed.

Of course, she would be off to the side and not on camera.

For that reason, Xu Zhitong had pulled one half of the curtains shut, so the huge floor-to-ceiling window wouldn’t reflect a second person’s shadow.

Watching the stream in person, Lin Yang didn’t log into her alt account to send gifts, in case Xu Zhitong failed to keep her expression under control.

While listening to Xu Zhitong chat with the bullet comments, Lin Yang picked up her phone and replied to emails.

Before her period started, she had sent Yan Ci the industry analysis and user profile for the new product.

For some reason, Yan Ci, who was usually punctual, didn’t reply until several days later this time.

Not only had she failed to follow Yan Ci’s usual email format, her wording was also less serious than usual.

Something was off. Lin Yang read it twice, then opened a private chat to ask Chu Ling: What’s wrong with Yan Ci?

Chu Ling was always swamped; she never replied instantly.

So Lin Yang turned to the message that had just popped up on WeChat.

Ever since Xu Zhitong lost her memory, Lin Yang hadn’t been to her coffee shop in more than half a month.

The shop manager messaged her on WeChat to say that a customer had broken one of the artworks, and asked her to come by when she had time to decide what to do.

Lin Yang replied that she would, then forwarded the message to her assistant, asking her to confirm the situation and also look for a similar small sculpture to buy and put there.

After sending that, she checked the coffee shop’s accounts once more before finally getting Chu Ling’s reply.

[Chu Ling: Don’t know]

[Y: …]

[Y: Last time you said she was heartbroken. What did you mean?]

[Chu Ling: She looked pretty out of it when we met. Seemed like the romance game she’d been playing shut down.]

[Chu Ling: Or did the little game she wrote herself glitch?]

[Chu Ling: She wouldn’t say.]

[Y: [cat staring blankly.jpg]]

[Chu Ling: [cat staring blankly.jpg]]

[Y: I’ll go ask. When are you free? Let’s have a meal sometime.]

[Chu Ling: What are we eating; do we need to choose a pet-friendly restaurant [surprised]?]

[Y: [bomb]]

[Chu Ling: [bomb]]

The two of them started tossing bombs back and forth.

Lin Yang was faster with her hands, so she had the screen completely occupied.

Then a strange sensation came from her calf.

The first time, she thought it was just her imagination.

Very soon, her calf was lightly brushed a second time.

This was not her imagination.

The moment Lin Yang realized it, her calf stiffened too.

Her cheeks couldn’t help warming. She held it in, then lifted her eyes to look at Xu Zhitong on the other side of the table.

Xu Zhitong was propping her face with one hand, idly playing with the earphone wire in the other, smiling as she watched the bullet comments.

As if the foot stretching out under the table had nothing to do with her.

But it had already been sliding higher and higher.

Xu Zhitong casually looked away from the monitor and muttered something about getting some water.

She turned her head, picked up the straw cup on Lin Yang’s side, and delicately took a sip.

Her gaze also drifted over to Lin Yang.

On the side of her face the camera couldn’t see, she gave Lin Yang a very sly wink.

All right. This definitely wasn’t her imagination now.

Lin Yang’s ears were burning hot, and the glance she gave the livestream screen only made her stiffen further.

Xu Zhitong took that as permission. Whatever boldness she’d suddenly been given, she used the motion of setting down the cup to lift her leg and brazenly reach for Lin Yang’s calf.

Lin Yang: “…”

Afraid that even the slightest movement would look too obvious and get them noticed, Lin Yang had no choice but to wait a moment, then, while Xu Zhitong was adjusting the microphone, pull her leg back.

She tucked both legs neatly under the chair.

Only after the livestream ended and the computer was fully shut down did Xu Zhitong turn to look at her.

Her eyes were bright. Today’s makeup had a few little star-shaped glitter stickers at the corners of her eyes, so bright they were almost less clear and luminous than her own eyes.

But she still didn’t say anything, just as she always did; she was waiting for Lin Yang to praise her.

And also, and also...

Lin Yang froze, suddenly realizing something else was wrong.

Had she been crossing the line a little these past few days…?

Affecting her emotions and hormones during her period, Lin Yang couldn’t help becoming more emotional and clingy, even lowering the boundaries she should have kept.

She had done some things that could almost be called seduction.

Lin Yang’s mind immediately spiraled into chaos. She didn’t dare imagine what would happen if all these actions were dug up later and put on trial.

She pressed her lips together and stood up, wanting to leave and think alone for a while.

Xu Zhitong blinked, then let out a puzzled “Huh?”

She tightened her hold on Lin Yang’s hand and used only a little force; really, it wasn’t much force at all.

Lin Yang was pulled into her lap.

To steady herself, Lin Yang instinctively wrapped her arms around Xu Zhitong’s shoulders.

The movement was so natural that it only made Lin Yang feel even more hopeless.

Xu Zhitong had no idea about any of these thoughts. She leaned closer, rubbed the tip of her nose against Lin Yang’s, then quickly kissed the corner of her lips; the movement was so fast it was like she was stealing a taste of her lipstick.

“What’s wrong? Why were you making that face just now?”

She had been singing for more than an hour, so her voice was a little hoarse.

Low and husky, warm with breath.

Very intimate.

Lin Yang’s urge to escape was immediately bewildered by her closeness, leaving her with no way to resist.

All sorts of words circled in her mind for a long time.

In the end, she only asked, “Why were you rubbing against me just now…?”

Her voice was very soft. Lin Yang cared about face; saying this out loud was already embarrassing enough.

Xu Zhitong blinked and said very naturally, “Why not? Isn’t that what a secret relationship is? I saw it in novels; secret relationships are always about secretly rubbing up against each other and holding hands like that. Don’t you like it?”

Lin Yang: “…”

Xu Zhitong went on to give several examples from novels, trying to prove that this was perfectly normal.

It was pure sophistry.

How could this possibly be normal?

Setting aside the fact that secret relationships didn’t even exist, more importantly, Xu Zhitong seemed to have pushed their dynamic into another misunderstanding.

Lin Yang listened to her argue so righteously for a long time.

Only then did she say, “Don’t do that next time. Otherwise I’ll still have to go outside to watch you livestream.”

Xu Zhitong immediately shut her mouth.

That was more effective than any grand speech.

Xu Zhitong had been caught in a chokehold, resentful in her heart, but she still had nothing she could do about Lin Yang.

After a while, Xu Zhitong muttered softly, “Then I’ll get separation anxiety.”

Lin Yang didn’t believe her. “Since when do you have separation anxiety?”

Whether Lin Yang was by her side or not clearly made no difference to her; in any case, she still did everything very well.

But Xu Zhitong couldn’t explain it either.

She only felt terribly wronged, sniffed, and leaned close to smell the hair by Lin Yang’s ear, as if she were sniffing her tranquilizer.

And she also brought over her own scent.

Xu Zhitong seemed to have recently found a perfume she liked, a sweet woody fragrance.

Lin Yang felt her breath brush her ear, itching lightly; then that breath drifted slowly across her cheek, landed with pinpoint accuracy, and, together with the sweet woody scent, descended onto her lips.

Playing dirty.

Lin Yang was kissed until she closed her eyes. Enjoying it, but also helpless.

Of course. She’d been kissed again.

This really wouldn’t do.

Although she liked kissing and hugging Xu Zhitong like this too.

But wasn’t this progression a little too fast, and too frequent?

It felt like after they had confirmed their “relationship,” she and Xu Zhitong were kissing every day, so often it was practically as if she had some kind of kiss hunger syndrome.

Did she? Should she take Xu Zhitong to the hospital for a checkup?

Forget it. Maybe Xu Zhitong just didn’t know much about romance.

Lin Yang sighed inwardly.

She felt that Xu Zhitong’s memories only went as far as middle school, and she didn’t know much about romance; probably, in her understanding, intimacy was just kissing.

This was Xu Zhitong’s way of expressing affection.

Besides, this frequent and intimate kissing had some of Lin Yang’s own contribution in it too.

Her thoughts grew more and more foggy, almost sinking into Xu Zhitong’s kiss.

Xu Zhitong’s kissing skills were getting better and better.

Maybe “better” or “worse” wasn’t the right way to judge it, since there was no one else to compare her with.

If Lin Yang still had any reason left in this area, she would have changed that sentence to: Xu Zhitong’s way of kissing was becoming more and more suited to her.

She was wasting not a single bit of her learning ability on the right path; it was basically all directed straight at making Lin Yang comfortable and making her sink in deeper.

But Lin Yang’s reason had been kissed down to only a trace.

It could only remind her, when her slippers slipped off the tips of her feet and fell to the wooden floor with a soft thud, that she should push Xu Zhitong away.

She was breathing a little hard; the corners of her mouth were damp.

She shifted uncomfortably and felt that the side-sitting posture in Xu Zhitong’s arms wasn’t very workable.

Xu Zhitong probably had been pressing her legs tightly together so Lin Yang could sit more comfortably.

But Lin Yang would rather she spread them apart and leave some room, otherwise if she got wet, Xu Zhitong might notice…

Her face hot, she thought it over and over, and in the end still said cautiously, “Xiaotong, don’t you think we’ve been kissing too much lately? Shouldn’t we control it a little?”

Xu Zhitong put on an obedient look. “Have we? I think it’s still pretty little. Back when we were dating, didn’t we do things that were even more…”

Even more…?

The directness and boldness of her wording shocked Lin Yang a little. “Huh? What did you say?”

Was she talking about the meaning Lin Yang thought she was talking about?

Xu Zhitong blinked, her expression innocent.

“Hmm? What do you mean, what do you mean?” she asked, as if she had no idea what she had just said.

She somehow brushed it off.

Lin Yang fell silent for a moment, thinking that Xu Zhitong’s wording was so vague probably because she didn’t understand it yet, or was too embarrassed to say the next step couples took beyond kissing.

But in Xu Zhitong’s eyes, that was no different from a shy admission.

Her heart immediately grew envious of her past self.

So good…

Having had such a feast and still not knowing how to enjoy it and give back, ending up with seven-year itch and memory loss.

But it didn’t matter; she, the amnesiac version, was here now.

Xu Zhitong felt that getting one step closer to Lin Yang… or rather, returning to a more intimate relationship, was only one opportunity away.

However, for the sake of her youthful dignity, she didn’t feel quite ready to say it out loud yet.

These past few nights, she had been curled up under the covers, seriously making up for class.

She had already systematically finished this stick-figure teacher’s course.

And in the advanced course materials, she had discovered something incredible.

—Those soft silicone things in Lin Yang’s dressing table drawer the last time she went to Lin Yang’s place.

They weren’t beauty devices at all.

They were a few different kinds of little toys.

Wonderful. Lin Yang wasn’t cold after all.

Damn it, how had her pre-amnesia self failed even to give her wife happiness?!