Chapter 63
Yu Min was like a dog; her teeth were sharp. One bite left a mark on the side of Lin Baixin’s neck, neither too shallow nor too deep. On her fair skin, the half-moon of red looked striking and feverish under the clean white light.
It hurt, so Lin Baixin stopped struggling. Maybe the suddenness had caught her completely off guard; her first reaction was an involuntary shiver, her whole body jolting with it, then she went rigid as stone, not moving at all.
Moist heat followed, and a flexible tongue pressed against her, brushing over the most vulnerable part of her neck near that artery as if a wave were sweeping across a sandy shore, leaving dampness in its wake. The light overhead was so glaring it was almost blinding; Lin Baixin momentarily lost herself and forgot she was supposed to push the other person away.
It was as if something in her head had snapped all at once. Lin Baixin’s pupils contracted sharply, and she froze in place.
Yu Min’s distress came on fiercely, like bamboo shoots after rain, surging up in an instant. She buried herself in Lin Baixin’s neck and wrapped her arms around Lin Baixin’s waist, gripping hard as if, the moment she loosened even a little, Lin Baixin would run away or vanish into thin air.
Lin Baixin didn’t resist her. Instead of restraining herself or stopping while she was ahead, Yu Min only pushed her luck; after lying on top of Lin Baixin for a while, she bit her again. She was drunk and not fully conscious, her reason turned to slurry that couldn’t be cleared. Like a donkey rolling on the ground, whenever she went wild she would bite them; when she realized she’d done wrong, she would soften and lick gently to show weakness and seek favor.
A little later, when the warmth on her collarbone reached Lin Baixin’s senses, she finally came back to herself. Reflexively, she lifted her arm to block the other person, but Yu Min, though drunk, was not slow at all. She caught Lin Baixin’s wrist with precision, then in the next instant pressed her down over her head and pinned her firmly against the bed.
Not wanting Lin Baixin to be angry, Yu Min leaned close to her ear after a while and mumbled, her breath warm and heavy as it brushed over her: “Sorry...”
Lin Baixin was never too harsh. She only took Yu Min for someone who’d drunk herself silly; seeing her looking so wilted and pitiful, she could only soften her voice. “Get up. Go wash up. It’s already very late.”
Yu Min didn’t get up. Her eyelids felt heavy, and so did her head; even the Lin Baixin beneath her seemed to be splitting into afterimages.
“Tired,” she said, clinging to Lin Baixin completely. “Don’t want to move.”
“Stop acting spoiled.”
“I’m not.”
“Next time, don’t drink. I won’t bring you along.”
“No.”
She usually looked quiet and steady, but after drinking she became a different person altogether; her tone softened, and she softened with it. Holding Lin Baixin, she nuzzled again like she was trying to win her favor, rubbing against Lin Baixin’s neck, her cheek, then her chest. She was so softhearted that Lin Baixin couldn’t bear to be too hard on her, and almost couldn’t hold out.
“I’m being good,” Yu Min murmured. “Don’t stop bringing me.”
Her breath by Lin Baixin’s ear rose and fell lightly, like weightless black feathers brushing past. Lin Baixin didn’t look at Yu Min, but Yu Min turned her face back toward her and made her look straight at her; her breathing then fell onto Lin Baixin’s lips.
“Then listen to me.”
Only after a moment did Lin Baixin speak.
Yu Min defended herself. “I do listen. I always listen to you.”
“Then get up.”
“No.”
“What are you doing?”
Yu Min wasn’t doing anything. She was just holding Lin Baixin; she did nothing else. Simply holding her, clinging with dependence and longing, squeezing tighter and tighter until it was as if she wanted to merge herself into Lin Baixin’s embrace and dissolve into her body.
Sensing Yu Min’s mood was off, Lin Baixin understood. When she felt that face press against her again, the words she’d just been about to say suddenly stuck in her throat and would no longer come out.
After she let go of Yu Min’s hands, Yu Min still didn’t struggle. She pressed her face against Lin Baixin’s front, close enough to hear her heartbeat.
“Are you not going to want me anymore...” Yu Min’s voice was pitiful, even weaker than when she’d admitted fault while rolling around like a donkey.
Lin Baixin argued, “I’m not not wanting you.”
Yu Min was stubborn and insisted, “You will.” Tightening her arms around Lin Baixin’s waist, she shifted slightly. The irritation and unease she’d been suppressing for so long felt unbearably stifling; only now, under the influence of alcohol, did she dare to play dumb and show it. She was truly hurting; hurting so much it was unbearable. “You will. I know.”
Not being able to make sense of the tangle of emotions inside her, Lin Baixin didn’t know all of what Yu Min was thinking at that moment. One hand hanging at her side lifted slightly; after a moment, Lin Baixin still placed it on Yu Min’s back and patted her soothingly.
“Alright. It’s fine. You just drank too much; tomorrow you’ll be okay.”
Still holding on to Lin Baixin and refusing to get up, Yu Min did a few more things after that. She moved her lips to the side of Lin Baixin’s face, first lowering her head to rub her nose against Lin Baixin’s, then pressing in close, and after that... the dampness shifted to the corner of Lin Baixin’s mouth. Not the mouth itself, still a little short; at most, it could only count as Lin Baixin’s face.
A light peck, a touch, and then she pulled away again.
Lin Baixin froze there, her whole body straight and stiff. That single motion was like a point-blank acupoint strike; without someone to unseal it, she had turned completely wooden. She was still alive, but her limbs had gone rigid, and for a moment she couldn’t control herself.
—The moment her lips finished pressing against her, the alcohol finally burst loose. Yu Min tilted her head and toppled straight down.
She fell asleep at once, unconscious before she hit the pillow.
Lin Baixin lay flat, staring blankly, and for a long time had no idea how she was supposed to react.
The night was long and destined to be anything but peaceful; it was extremely hard to bear until dawn.
Lin Baixin didn’t sleep that night. Afterward, she left Yu Min’s room; before she went out, she even helped Yu Min straighten the blanket. When she returned to her own room, she tossed and turned all night, her mind completely blank.
The next day was clear and cloudless, though the sun didn’t stay out for long; it was a rare cool day.
Yu Min got up very late. By the time she woke, it was already past ten. Lin Baixin had already left home for the shop, and only the aunt was still there.
After waking, Yu Min cleaned herself up again, showered, changed clothes, got dressed, and ate before packing food and heading out. By the time she reached the shop, it was almost lunchtime.
The moment she walked in, she ran straight into Gu Yue. Seeing Yu Min carrying a thermal container, Gu Yue knew immediately who she’d come to deliver food to and pointed her toward the warehouse.
“Boss Lin’s over there. Wait two minutes; she’ll be out soon.”
Lin Qi came sniffing over as soon as she caught the smell. Even though the lid on the thermal container hadn’t been opened yet, her dog nose was still sharp. She leaned in, looking left and right, and nudged Yu Min with her elbow in jest. “Hey, where’s mine? Why is there only one serving?”
Yu Min was unexpectedly straightforward. Since the whole point wasn’t really to deliver food, she pushed the thermal container toward Lin Qi. “You eat it. It’s yours.”
How would Lin Qi actually eat that? She’d only come over to join the fun, expecting to tease Yu Min a couple of times. Instead, she got so caught off guard she couldn’t get a word out.
“Huh? For me? You’re sure?”
“Mm. If you want to eat it, eat it.”
“Then what about your sis?”
“I’ll buy more.”
Lin Qi frowned. “Aren’t you here specifically to deliver her lunch?”
Yu Min said, “Yes.”
“Then you’re giving it to me?”
“It’s the same either way. You eat it.”
Not understanding what kind of act this was, Lin Qi was completely baffled. She looked at Yu Min with growing confusion and, after thinking for a while, asked, “Do you have something going on today? This is weird. Really weird.”
Lin Baixin came out of the warehouse, and Yu Min didn’t keep chatting with Lin Qi. She set things down and went over to find Lin Baixin.
The thermal container really was left to Lin Qi. Standing there, Lin Qi truly couldn’t make sense of what was going on. She watched the two of them talking from a distance; only after they split up did she pick up the thermal container and bring it to Lin Baixin’s office.
“What are you two doing? What happened this time? I feel like something big went down.” Lin Qi was puzzled. She looked back toward the direction Yu Min had gone. “Especially you, Yu Min—what did you do to her? Did you bully her?”
Taking the thermal container and recognizing it as their own, Lin Baixin kept a neutral face and asked back, “What could I have done to her?”
“How would I know? I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t be asking you.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Mm... sure.”
“If you don’t believe me, forget it.”
Like she’d caught a tail, Lin Qi hurriedly seized on the telltale signs in Lin Baixin’s behavior. “Why are you avoiding my eyes? You won’t even look at me. And you still say nothing’s wrong. Go ahead and lie; anyway, you can only fool me.”
Lin Baixin’s thoughts were already a mess, and now there was another person adding to the chaos. She didn’t want to hear Lin Qi’s nonsense, so she stood up and pushed her out, refusing to argue.
Yu Min hadn’t left yet; she was just outside the office. Since Lin Qi couldn’t get any answers here, she turned around and went looking for Yu Min.
Unfortunately, Yu Min’s lips were even tighter than Lin Baixin’s. Not a thing could be pried out of her.
The more Lin Qi thought about it, the more curious she became. She was practically scratching her head, wondering if they’d had a fight or what. But later that day, Yu Min bought coffee and brought it over; Lin Baixin took it and drank it, and in front of outsiders the two of them were still speaking normally, with no sign at all of distance or conflict. They didn’t look the least bit like they’d fallen out.
No matter how hard she thought about it, she still couldn’t figure it out.
What happened last night seemed to vanish by daylight; no one mentioned it. Once it was over, it was over, as if it had never existed.
Something like that really shouldn’t be brought up openly anyway. Once it was laid bare, there’d be no benefit for either of them.
Yu Min was obedient during the day and even helped the other employees around the shop. She spoke to Lin Baixin several times, and Lin Baixin didn’t hold the previous night against her. So they got along normally, just like always.
After work, the car stayed quiet the whole way; not a sound could be heard. It wasn’t until they were close to the underground parking lot of the residential complex that Lin Baixin finally eased off the gas a little. After a long silence, she only managed to squeeze out one sentence: “Next time... don’t drink outside.”
Yu Min agreed. “Okay.”
Blaming everything on the alcohol, Lin Baixin regretted taking Yu Min drinking that day. Someone who didn’t drink often getting drunk and doing foolish things was normal; it wasn’t an unforgivable mistake. Lin Baixin was broad-minded and tolerant; her acceptance was high.
That hadn’t been Yu Min’s intention. Maybe she’d drunk too much and couldn’t tell what was what.
But she didn’t ask whether Yu Min had really just had a brain cramp and been too drunk to know what she was doing, so Lin Baixin didn’t plan to dig into it any further. That wouldn’t mean much; there was no need.
There was only one thing Lin Baixin felt she needed to explain. Once this stretch of awkwardness passed and the next day came, when they could both face reality, she spoke softly: “These past few days you’ve kept asking things like that... I’m not not wanting you. Don’t keep thinking that.”
Yu Min said, “I’m just a little worried.”
Lin Baixin replied crisply, “There’s nothing to worry about.” Then she added, “This is already pretty good, isn’t it? Thinking too much only makes more trouble.”
No, this wasn’t good enough yet.
That was what Yu Min was thinking, but she didn’t dare say it out loud. She answered in silence, lifting her eyelids to look at Lin Baixin, her gaze deep and dark, making Lin Baixin even less willing to meet it.