Wen Ci had always possessed excellent self-control.
When computer games became popular throughout the school during her childhood, everyone else secretly played them during computer class. Her parents repeatedly forbade her from touching them, so after finishing her assignments, she could suppress her curiosity, switch off the computer and quietly wait for class to end.
She could resist eating from roadside stalls without business licences, resist drinking sweet and stimulating fizzy drinks, and resist watching short, entertaining videos.
But whenever Zhou Wu was involved, all that self-control suddenly disappeared.
The bathroom door was locked.
The shirt jacket had been removed and casually thrown aside.
Wen Ci was pressed against the door, her mouth barely permitted to close.
She always felt that Zhou Wu’s kisses were intensely sensual.
They were not lingering and gentle like those in television dramas. Instead, they were calm yet deliberately provocative, entangling and plundering until she could hardly breathe, yet still could not resist becoming addicted.
The hem of her lace nightdress was lifted.
When Zhou Wu touched something, he released her and laughed.
“You’re wearing safety shorts?”
The bathroom was lit only by a dim yellow night-light.
Even in such poor lighting, Wen Ci’s flushed cheeks remained visible. It was impossible to tell whether the kisses had caused it or whether she was remembering what had happened at the door.
“…Fortunately, I wore them.”
That was true.
Zhou Wu undid the fastening and lowered his head to kiss her again.
It did not take long before Wen Ci’s legs weakened beneath his kisses.
Zhou Wu lifted her onto the washbasin counter.
It was not particularly high, so once Wen Ci sat there, she was almost level with him.
The white strappy nightdress still covered her body, though it had become thoroughly dishevelled.
Her lips remained slightly parted.
The moment he placed her there, she instinctively leaned forwards and kissed Zhou Wu.
Zhou Wu allowed her to kiss him but did not respond.
At the neighbouring sink, he rinsed his hands with cleanser.
Without drying his wet palm, he placed it directly against Wen Ci’s thigh.
“Open them a little.”
Wen Ci was very thin.
Zhou Wu’s palm could nearly cover one side of her thigh.
Because of his excitement, the veins on the back of his hand stood out slightly, while his clearly jointed fingers pressed into her skin with neither too much nor too little force.
The washbasin counter vibrated faintly from the sound system.
Wen Ci parted her legs.
Zhou Wu supported her left thigh with his wrist, raising it slightly, while his other large hand slipped into the gap.
…
Zhou Wu lazily supported himself against the edge of the counter with one hand.
His other hand alternated between slow and fast movements as he lowered his eyes and watched Wen Ci’s expression.
Her shoulders, arms and back were all trembling.
Unable to endure the way he watched her, she restrainedly raised her head to kiss him, wanting him to close his eyes.
Zhou Wu avoided her.
He laughed, his voice somewhat hoarse.
“What are you doing, Ms Wen?”
Hearing him address her that way made Wen Ci shrink slightly.
She shook her head in confusion and grabbed his arm with both hands, attempting to stop him.
“Zhou Wu, stop… You…”
Zhou Wu kissed her.
“There’s no hurry. You can finish first.”
The film outside reached its climax.
Alongside the protagonist’s screams, Dou Yiqing and Qin Yun’s voices could faintly be heard.
Wen Ci trembled in shame.
Her entire body felt as though electricity passed through it, and in the end, she collapsed weakly against Zhou Wu’s chest.
Zhou Wu estimated how long they had been gone.
They might be running short on time.
He reached towards his pocket for the c*ndom.
Knock, knock, knock—
Heavy pounding sounded against the door.
Zhou Wu stopped.
Wen Ci had not yet completely recovered.
The moment she heard it, her entire body stiffened.
Her heartbeat, which had only just begun calming, leapt back into her throat.
She raised her head and looked at Zhou Wu in panic.
Zhou Wu was not frightened.
He merely looked thoroughly irritated.
He released a heavy breath and stroked Wen Ci’s back, reassuring her.
Then he turned towards the door.
“Who is it?”
“Who else could it be? Brother, you’ve been in the bathroom for almost twenty minutes!” Qin Yun shouted from outside.
“What does it have to do with you?”
Zhou Wu’s voice was cool.
“I’m smoking. Use the bathroom upstairs.”
Standing outside with his hands on his hips, Qin Yun said, “Have you seen Wen Ci? She said she was getting water and never returned. She isn’t in the kitchen, and her phone is still in the living room. Dou Yiqing has already gone upstairs to search.”
Zhou Wu exchanged a glance with the person before him.
With a smile that was not quite a smile, he asked, “How would I see Wen Ci inside the bathroom?”
Wen Ci:
“…”
Qin Yun paused.
“That’s true… Stop smoking and hurry out. The film has already ended. I’ll go upstairs and help search too.”
They heard Qin Yun’s footsteps move away.
Wen Ci tightly gripped the hem of Zhou Wu’s shirt and finally dared breathe loudly again.
Zhou Wu lowered her leg.
“Go.”
Wen Ci froze.
Her cheeks were still deeply flushed as she stared at him blankly.
“What about you?”
“There isn’t enough time to do it even once.”
Zhou Wu picked up the shirt jacket and wrapped it around her.
“Go, before they come downstairs.”
“Aren’t you coming out?”
“I…”
Zhou Wu leaned against the wall, glanced down and explained unhurriedly, “If I go out now, we probably won’t be able to hide it.”
Wen Ci followed his gaze.
“…”
After secretly slipping out of the bathroom, Wen Ci hesitated repeatedly before returning to the villa and changing back into her bear-print pyjamas.
The nightdress had been lifted for too long, and its hem was already hopelessly wrinkled.
Besides…
When she hurried back, Dou Yiqing and Qin Yun happened to be coming downstairs.
“You went back?”
Dou Yiqing examined her.
“Why didn’t you say anything? I searched upstairs for ages.”
“Didn’t you say these clothes were wet? Why did you change back into them?”
“The other outfit also got wet while I was pouring water.”
Wen Ci spoke awkwardly, her voice fading over the final words.
“Compared with that one, this set was slightly better, so I changed back.”
Dou Yiqing:
“…”
Nearly another twenty minutes passed before Zhou Wu leisurely returned to the living room.
Seeing him, Qin Yun froze.
“Why did you even take a shower?”
“Hot,” Zhou Wu answered concisely.
Hot while watching a horror film in an air-conditioned room?
Qin Yun was about to question him when Zhou Wu lifted his chin towards him.
“Move over.”
Qin Yun froze before realising Zhou Wu wanted his original seat back.
“Sit here. There’s plenty of room beside me.”
“You two are too noisy.”
Without turning his head, Zhou Wu walked towards the opposite end of the sofa.
Seeing him approach, Wen Ci silently moved aside to create space.
A bottle of iced mineral water appeared before her.
Zhou Wu said calmly, “Drink some water.”
“…”
Wen Ci stared for several seconds at the fingers Zhou Wu held near the bottle cap.
Then she looked away and accepted it.
“Thank you.”
Qin Yun and Dou Yiqing were selecting the next film.
When they scrolled past an old horror film, Qin Yun said, “Look. This is the one we watched during the evening break at our high-school sports day.”
“It was all your fault for bringing the teacher over. I never got to see the ending.”
Dou Yiqing rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t report us to the teacher. How many times do I have to say it? Ask Wen Ci if you don’t believe me.”
Hearing her name, Wen Ci nodded.
“That’s right. Yiqing never left her seat.”
Qin Yun immediately argued, “Then I didn’t scream that loudly either. It was the sports representative beside me—ask Zhou Wu if you don’t believe me!”
Zhou Wu poured several mouthfuls of iced water down his throat.
“I don’t remember.”
Of course Zhou Wu did not remember.
He had skipped the first evening study period that day. The teacher stormed into the classroom shortly after he arrived.
Wen Ci remembered that evening study session.
She had never dared raise her head towards the screen and had instead used the light from the film to complete her homework.
Then the classroom door opened.
When she heard someone call “Zhou Wu,” she hurriedly raised her head and unfortunately saw a ghost’s face filling the screen.
Zhou Wu had already passed beside her seat in the front row, carrying with him a brief rush of cool air.
The new film began.
Warm, pale-yellow light illuminated Wen Ci’s face.
This side of the sofa was not particularly spacious.
Her shoulder rested against Zhou Wu’s, their bodies pressed closely together through the thin layers of clothing.
Wen Ci unscrewed the iced water in her hand and lowered her head to take a small sip.
Silently, she savoured the indescribable fullness spreading through her heart, so intense that it hardly felt real.
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