Twenty minutes later,
Yukino had finished washing up and come out.
'Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…'
Lin Ye dried Yukino's hair again, the hot air scattering her long black locks.
Yukino sat quietly, enjoying Lin Ye's help in this moment.
This feeling—she thought it was rather nice.
When she was little, her mother had dried her hair, and her sister had dried her hair, and now that she had grown up, it was Lin Ye drying her hair.
If only Lin Ye dried hair for her and her alone, that would be even better.
"What's wrong?"
Even though Lin Ye stood behind Yukino, he still keenly sensed the shift in her aura.
"It's nothing."
"With our relationship, is there really any need for this?"
Since Lin Ye put it that way, Yukino thought about it and spoke up, "You're so skilled at this—just how many times have you dried how many girls' hair?"
Lin Ye froze for a moment.
He genuinely hadn't thought of that.
So this was the thing Yukino was concerned about.
"Jealous?"
"Don't change the subject."
"So you really are jealous."
Yukino's lips twitched. "Answer my question."
"..."
"Why have you gone silent?"
"I'm counting."
Yukino: ???
Just how many were there?! He needed to count?
How annoying.
Yukino gritted her teeth.
"Honestly, there really aren't that many. Counting you, Yukino, it doesn't even exceed the fingers on one hand."
Wasn't that still quite a few?
Yukino shot him a glare, expressing the anger in her heart.
This bastard—so he really had flirted with plenty of other girls too. Besides Mai Sakurajima, there were still other women.
"Speak. Who are they?"
"Heh heh, take a guess."
"Speak."
She pressed him with an icy chill, but Lin Ye wasn't buying it—he wasn't about to talk. Coming clean at a time like this could only end badly.
He switched off the hair dryer. "All done."
He set the dryer aside, took two steps over to stand before Yukino, then crouched down to meet the girl at eye level.
"Now it's our time, Yukino."
"I refuse."
"Yukino wouldn't think of backing out and breaking our deal, would she?"
She gritted her teeth, unwilling.
And Lin Ye seized the chance to make his move.
At a time like this, there was nothing to hesitate over—he just had to act directly.
He scooped the girl up in a princess carry and walked straight toward her bedroom.
Setting the girl on the bed, he kissed her lips without the slightest reserve.
"One minute…"
This was the sound of her final struggle.
Yet even when the time came and she struggled for a while, the maiden couldn't break free. In the end she could only silently endure it, and finally sank completely into it, letting Lin Ye do as he pleased.
Before sleep, looking at the man lying beside her, Yukino gritted her teeth, and in the end bit down hard on Lin Ye's shoulder to vent the anger and dissatisfaction in her heart.
They'd agreed on one minute, but in the end it had been a full fifteen minutes, and he'd even gone again.
This bastard—just how much did he love kissing?!
Perhaps,
this was satisfaction of another kind.
Yukino knew too that men—especially boys Lin Ye's age—had strong desires. It was just that he'd held himself back and hadn't laid a hand on her.
After all,
all he had to do was agree to her conditions,
yet he had forcibly restrained the impulse.
This man was not one who thought with his lower half; he was a man capable of rationally controlling his own desires.
In a certain sense, he was a man worth trusting and entrusting oneself to—it was just that he was too fickle, and greedy too. Even with her, he still wouldn't let go of that woman, Mai Sakurajima.
And who knew what other pretty girls he'd been flirting with behind the scenes!
"Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt, bzzt…"
The buzz of a phone vibrating.
Yukino thought it was hers, but found it was Lin Ye's. Since it was close by, she reached over and picked it up, seeing the caller ID.
Mai Sakurajima,
that love rival far away in Tokyo.
Yes,
by now Yukino had already come to regard Mai Sakurajima as her love rival.
Making Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima break up was a small goal of hers, but there was still some distance before it could be realized.
Still, she wouldn't give up.
"Answer it."
With that, she tapped the answer key and pressed the speakerphone at the same time.
She wanted to know what Mai Sakurajima's purpose was in calling this time.
"Lin-kun, good evening."
Mai Sakurajima's voice came from the other end of the line,
carrying a completely different feeling from her calm words on television—more like the kind of emotion-stirred tone a heroine in a film would use only for the lover she deeply cherished.
Yukino Yukinoshita very keenly made her judgment.
"Good evening, Mai."
Lin Ye felt that this was strange.
Having Yukino listening on the side, his heart felt very peculiar.
"Mm, what have you been busy with lately?"
"Studying, and occasionally running into some sudden incidents."
Mai Sakurajima immediately thought of Strange matters—only the Strange could be described by Lin Ye as sudden incidents.
"Be careful, you absolutely must be careful. No matter what, you must put your own life and safety as the first priority."
"Mm."
"And also… don't be too kind-hearted, really, Lin-kun. I know you're the type to lend a helping hand, but when you encounter that kind of danger, I hope you can be a little selfish, think of yourself a little more. I… I'm just a selfish, ordinary girl who only wants the boy I like to come back safely."
"I—I'll be waiting for you at home. If something happened to you, I'd have to spend the rest of my life alone, so, for my sake… you have to come back safely too."
The affectionate words struck the heart word by word, a voice as beautiful as a plucked zither string, stirring the depths of one's heart.
Yukino was stunned after hearing it.
In that instant she marveled that this was a famous actress after all—her skill with words was truly powerful.
At the same time, she also sighed, even envying Mai Sakurajima's boldness—daring to say such loving words so directly.
This was unlike her. She might be able to think of them, but she would absolutely never say them aloud.
Yukino Yukinoshita was the type of girl who wasn't good at speaking or expressing her feelings, but who would choose to express her affection through actions.
Yet she also knew that sometimes words could pierce the heart more deeply—like Lin Ye right now, who had been completely affected. The glint shimmering in his eyes was the best proof of it.
Rather than angry, Yukino was more helpless. Running into an opponent like this, who opened with a royal bomb right off the bat, she really could only feel powerless.
"Alright, I promise you, I'll put my own life and safety first."
Lin Ye agreed.
His girlfriend had said as much, had pleaded so earnestly—what reason did he have not to agree?
In fact, he'd always done exactly that: putting his own safety first, and only then seeing whether he could look after anyone else.
"Mm."
Mai Sakurajima gave a soft hum.
She lay on her bed, swinging her thighs. "I just finished taking a bath!"
The topic suddenly turned a little suggestive.
"After working these past few days, I'm so tired, my whole body aches—especially my calves, they're so sore and weak."
A scene surfaced in Lin Ye's mind,
that alluring posture of Mai's—he found himself a little tempted.
But the next second, he felt a twisting force coming from his waist.
"Hiss!"
Lin Ye drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
Yukino's twist was far too painful—a devastating critical hit.
"What's wrong, Lin-kun?"
"I tweaked my waist."
What he said was also the truth—it was just missing a subject.
Yukino couldn't help rolling her eyes at him.
"You should be careful—your body is your capital. Even lying on my bed right now, I'm a bit sore."
"Mm-hmm, I'll be careful."
Mai Sakurajima still felt a little dissatisfied. She'd hinted so obviously, yet Lin Ye showed no reaction at all, which made her quite unhappy.
"Lin-kun, come over and give me a massage, won't you?"
There was no helping it. Whether Lin Ye was deliberately playing dumb or genuinely didn't get it, she'd already said it outright. As a girl, she should have been more reserved, but because it was Lin Ye, she could only be a bit more forward.
If she hadn't been the one to take the initiative back then, she and Lin Ye would never have the lover's relationship they had now.
"This is…"
Lin Ye had already felt the icy, cautioning gaze from Yukino—this was her threat. If he dared to agree, he probably wouldn't have any good fruit to eat.
"Is it not possible?"
It was a tone mingled with pleading and expectation—what ordinary man could refuse it?
But the key issue right now was that Lin Ye's side had this girl, Yukino, present.
She pursed her lips, staring at that name on the display screen. Detestable, detestable—this woman was so forward too.
Honestly, Yukino Yukinoshita thought Mai Sakurajima was also the type of high-mountain flower, an Ice Beauty, who wouldn't be overly forward even with a lover—completely unlike her sister, and ought to be more like her. Every moment of intimacy ought to be initiated by Lin Ye, with her passively responding.
But this single phone call made her realize that Mai Sakurajima was completely different from how she'd imagined.
Mai Sakurajima was more forward than her—far, far more forward than she'd imagined.
"It's a bit late tonight. By the time I got over to your place in Tokyo it'd already be deep in the night, you should rest early."
In the end, Lin Ye gave an explanation, and this explanation leaned toward Yukino, which made the girl beside him a little happier.
And Lin Ye reached out and pointed to his own cheek.
The meaning was obvious.
Yukino hesitated for a moment, then leaned in close and kissed it.
A reward was a reward—
she gave it.
Lin Ye smiled. Having Yukino take the initiative to kiss him felt wonderful. More than physical enjoyment, what he savored most was the spiritual enjoyment.
"The weekend then! Lin-kun, come to Tokyo this weekend. I have time this weekend, I can spend two days having fun with you."
Mai Sakurajima delivered a piece of good news. "We haven't seen each other in such a long, long time. I… I miss you."
Lin Ye's heart stirred,
and from his waist came an even more forceful squeeze from Yukino. She said nothing, but used this method to express the objection in her heart.
She didn't want Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima to meet offline.
On the other end of the line, Mai Sakurajima noticed that Lin Ye hadn't immediately agreed, so several guesses surfaced in her mind. "Lin-kun, do you have something on this weekend? Have you made plans with someone else?"
Could it be Yukino Yukinoshita?
Mai Sakurajima couldn't help but think.
"Nothing scheduled at the moment."
This was the answer Lin Ye gave while bearing the immense intimidating pressure of Yukino Yukinoshita. Up until now, he really did have nothing scheduled for the weekend.
Even with Yukino threatening him, he still couldn't tell a lie.
"Then I'll come to Chiba!"
Actually,
the reason Mai Sakurajima hadn't proposed going to Chiba from the start was because Yukino Yukinoshita was in Chiba. She worried that if she and Lin Ye dated in Chiba they might accidentally run into Yukino Yukinoshita, and their date would be affected. In Tokyo it was different.
The possibility of Yukino Yukinoshita coming to Tokyo was close to zero.
Her date with Lin Ye wouldn't be subject to any possible disturbance.
"No, I'll go to Tokyo!"
Lin Ye spoke up.
Mai Sakurajima had already gone this far for him; there really was no need for him to keep hesitating. As for Yukino's side, once the call ended, he'd make it up to her properly!
"Mm-hmm, good. I'll be waiting in Tokyo for you to come, I'll prepare delicious food for you."
Mai Sakurajima had been snatching moments of spare time to train her cooking skills—she wanted to give Lin Ye a small surprise.
And that trace of anticipation made Yukino Yukinoshita grow tense as well.
What should she do?
She made up her mind.
"I wonder if I might be able to come along too?"
She spoke up.
A clear, cold female voice instantly plunged the atmosphere into a frozen, stagnant silence.
Even Lin Ye was stunned—yes, Lin Ye hadn't expected Yukino to speak. He'd always believed Yukino wouldn't make a sound to reveal her presence, wouldn't disturb his call, and would just silently listen.
But now, he'd thought too much.
And on the other end of the line, Mai Sakurajima was the same—she also hadn't expected that Yukino Yukinoshita would actually be right beside Lin Ye.
At this point in time,
a man and a woman together—what sort of things might happen?
Mai Sakurajima's mood soured, her whole emotional state plunging to rock bottom.
She really hadn't expected something like this to happen.
"So Yukinoshita miss is there too!"
Mai Sakurajima quickly readjusted her composure, and didn't directly interrogate or question—she kept her rationality.
"Mm, my boyfriend and I are at my home."
Yukino hinted faintly,
and across the phone, the two engaged in a soundless clash.
As the party involved—the party caught in the middle—Lin Ye's pressure surged.
This… should be a Shuraba, right?
It was just that, luckily, it was a Shuraba across a phone line, so the pressure was much less, and the two women couldn't possibly come to blows.
"Mm-hmm, that's nice. Then it seems I need to express my thanks to Yukinoshita miss today—for looking after my boyfriend for a whole day. Next time, I'll treat you to a meal as a token of my gratitude."
Mai Sakurajima wasn't angry either; on the contrary, brimming with smiles and full of sincerity, she wanted to treat her to a meal to express her thanks.
But in Yukino's eyes this was naked mockery.
That mockery laden meaning—she heard it clearly.
"My boyfriend and I are enjoying our date life. There's no need for Miss Sakurajima to express thanks on anyone's behalf."
"He's my boyfriend."
"He's my boyfriend."
Both of them fixated on this point, targeting each other, refusing to compromise in the slightest.
"The order of precedence—Yukinoshita miss should know it, shouldn't she?"
"Of course. Lin-kun and I settled our engagement first. It was a certain girl who was being unreasonable, without the slightest sense of shame, who actually went and became Lin-kun's lover."
Yukino also deliberately chose to say things that favored herself—especially that engagement.
Even though it had originally only been a Quasi-fiancés relationship, after Yukino's embellishment and omission, it became the more intimate engagement.
But to say it was wrong—it really couldn't be called wrong.
On the side, Lin Ye sighed endlessly.
When these women got into a contest, they became even more unreasonable, even more lacking in sportsmanship.
...
...
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