Lin Xi tilted her head, her eyes questioning Duan Yiheng: "Who's your darling?" Duan Yiheng shrugged, responding to her earlier schadenfreude.
The woman standing in the doorway let out a charming laugh: "You two...aren't you a couple?" Duan Yiheng slightly raised his chin, gesturing for Lin Xi to come closer.
Lin Xi snorted, remaining standing still. Whoever's romantic entanglement it is, they should deal with it. Duan Yiheng nodded slightly, turning to the woman who was clinging to him, saying, "You're right, she's my secretary."
"Duan Yiheng!" Lin Xi's heart skipped a beat. Afraid of being misunderstood, she hurriedly left the bathroom and covered his mouth.
Duan Yiheng, supporting her waist, their gazes locked, slowly took two steps back until his back pressed against the wall.
The woman's eyes darted back and forth between the two men. Had she misjudged? Lin Xi glanced sideways, cleared her throat, and feigned a fierce tone to shoo the woman away: "Why aren't you leaving yet?"
The woman had no sense of shame. She leaned against the doorframe and smiled at Lin Xi: "Is he really your boyfriend?"
"Absolutely." When someone is guilty, their voice becomes louder, and Lin Xi's shout drew the attention of the guests across the hall.
A man and a woman, who looked like a couple, only poked their heads out to watch the commotion.
Lin Xi: "..." The man, never one to shy away from a good show, teased Duan Yiheng, "Brother, you're quite the ladies' man, aren't you? A red rose versus a white rose?"
The woman spat, "The couple inside are the real deal. Some people, I bet they're prostitutes."
The woman's smile vanished, and she turned to question him, "Who are you talking about?"
"Don't you know who you're talking about? Knocking on a young couple's door dressed like that in the middle of the night, are you desperate for a man?"
"Say that again if you dare! You old hag, you want to sleep with a man, but you should take a good look in the mirror."
"You shameless slut..." Duan Yiheng covered Lin Xi's ears, preventing the vulgar words from polluting this pure little jasmine. He lightly kicked the door shut.
Hearing the insults escalating outside, Lin Xi looked up worriedly, "Are you alright?" Duan Yiheng raised his chin, his soft lips touching her palm, gesturing for her to release him.
Lin Xi, like a crab about to be steamed, pushed Duan Yiheng away with both hands and feet. The commotion at the door continued. Duan Yiheng placed his hand on Lin Xi's shoulder, leading her inside.
"Never mind that, get some rest." Lin Xi looked back worriedly, "Who started this? I'm just worried we'll get dragged into it."
Duan Yiheng didn't have time to care about the people outside. If he didn't understand, he'd let someone else teach him. "The hotel staff will handle it."
Duan Yiheng said, "You go to sleep first, I'm going to take a shower."
Lin Xi stiffened, completely losing interest in anyone else. Duan Yiheng had won with one move, a faint smile appearing in his eyes. They had both showered that afternoon; a quick rinse before bed was all it took. Less than ten minutes later, Duan Yiheng emerged from the bathroom.
He turned off the bathroom light and stood in front of the full-length mirror, asking Lin Xi, "Do you want to turn off the light over there?" Lin Xi glanced up. She was lying on the side closest to the sofa, naturally too embarrassed to sleep facing Duan Yiheng, so she had to turn her back to him.
Therefore, the light in the small living room was too glaring for her. The light from the bedside table was soft and inviting, creating an ambiguous halo, which Lin Xi had already turned off.
If she turned off the light in the small living room as well, the room would be completely dark.
A pang of panic shot through her, and she quickly said, "No, I won't." Duan Yiheng lowered his hand and hooked the security chain behind the door. The subtle sound seemed amplified several times in the quiet room, making Lin Xi inexplicably tense.
Duan Yiheng silently approached the bedside. From his perspective, Lin Xi's back was stiff and motionless. There was only one bed and one blanket; she only grabbed a corner of the blanket.
"I'm up?" Duan Yiheng asked softly.
"Mmm," Lin Xi replied slurredly. In fact, she was frowning deeply because of the glaring light. She wouldn't be sleeping tonight. The hotel bed was soft; Lin Xi felt a sinking sensation behind her.
Duan Yiheng was tall and large, taking up most of the bed. Lin Xi subtly stretched outwards. Duan Yiheng caught her movement out of the corner of his eye and said, "The bed is big; if you move any further to the side, you might fall off at night."
Lin Xi knew this, of course, but she'd rather fall off. Duan Yiheng usually slept on his back; the light was too bright. He shifted his leg and said, "Should we turn on the bedside lamp?"
Lin Xi turned her head and asked, "Isn't it too bright?" Duan Yiheng nodded.
Since he'd already said that, Lin Xi couldn't refuse. She raised her arm and turned off the light, plunging the room into darkness. She let out a short "Oops," saying, "You turned it off too early."
Duan Yiheng reached for the bedside lamp and said, "Don't move, I'll turn it on." Hotel bedside lamps are usually mounted on the wall above the bedside table, but Duan Yiheng glanced at it; there wasn't one.
Lin Xi reminded him, "It's on the headboard." Duan Yiheng sat up. Sure enough, there was a button on the side of the headboard. He leaned closer to look; it could adjust the brightness and color.
He adjusted it to a warm yellow, then lowered the dimness, turning back to ask Lin Xi, "Is this okay?" Compared to the bedside lamp on Duan Yiheng's bedside table, this backlight was negligible.
The orange-yellow light was contained by the lampshade, the light seemingly trying to break free illuminating half of his face. The other half of his face, facing Lin Xi, was hidden in the dim shadow.
From his full forehead to his high, straight nose, and his sharp jawline, his features resembled towering mountains under the night sky. Lin Xi stared, momentarily lost in thought. She had always known Duan Yiheng was handsome, but she had never truly looked closely.
It was a handsomeness completely different from Duan Mingxuan's, and this handsomeness wasn't just reflected in his face, but also in the maturity that came with experience and age. This was something Duan Mingxuan would never possess. In that moment of reverie, Duan Yiheng was also looking at Lin Xi.
He remembered the man across the hall saying Lin Xi was a "white rose," but Duan Yiheng didn't think so.
She was clearly a jasmine flower, "refined and elegant, gentle as the moon." One glance was admiration, two glances were desecration. He had not only looked, but also kissed her.
Duan Yiheng looked away and asked, "Is the lighting okay?" Lin Xi suddenly snapped back to reality, inwardly cursing herself for being so bewitched.
"It's fine," she replied hastily, and lay down.
Both of them had rested during the day, and there were still occasional voices in the hallway; no one could sleep at this hour. Lin Xi desperately needed something to break the silence in the room, and muttered to herself, "Can I watch TV in the room?"
Duan Yiheng reached for the remote and said, "It should work." The CEO had never actually turned on the TV himself before, and he pressed the power button according to the Chinese instructions on the remote.
After a while without any response, Lin Xi was about to get up to check when her phone suddenly rang.
She glanced at it and saw it was a video call invitation from Duan Mingxuan!