"Aha! I won!" Shui proudly flipped her hair back. "You were starting to think that you were the master of all gas, weren’t you?"
"No."
"Liar. Your confidence tells a different story!" She harrumphed, collecting all the cards to her side, showing a V sign.
He pursed his lips. "Seems like I need to train."
"I can train if you want," she flipped a lock of her hair again. "Consider it as my thanks for teaching bowling. Let’s play another ga!"
Though she chirped rrily, a small yawn escaped from her lips.
"You should head to sleep now," he said, noting her weariness.
"What? I am not sleepy."
"You just yawned."
"That was just a tiny yawn."
There was no room to debate when Shui threw a glare at him. He could only accede.
But as the ga stretched longer, the longer her yawns beca too. She concentrated on the ga with all the focus she could, but her head was starting slightly to roll side-to-side.
Lin just watched her sleepy antics in silence but said nothing. As she placed another card on the bed, she almost collapsed on the side when he caught her head in his hand.
"I am not sleepy..." she said, while drawing another yawn.
"I don’t understand why you are insisting that you are not sleepy. Clearly, you."
"Nope..." her eyelids refused to listen to her the harder she tried to prevent them from closing. "I will play gas with you and talk to you..."
"We can talk tomorrow too."
"But...you weren’t sleeping tonight..."
Lin admitted it was true that tonight was particularly hard to get sleep. He was simply tossing and turning in the bed until Shui ca knocking in.
"Did you do all this to keep company?" He quietly asked.
"Hmm...?"
"Did you do all this to keep company? Because of what happened today?"
It looked like her lips parted to say sothing but they closed by themselves when she completely passed out.
"Miss. Han?"
He waited for a mont and softly poked her cheek. Her steady breathing and closed eyes were evident. Shui was fast asleep.
"You didn’t answer..." he whispered.
But at the sa ti, he didn’t need one. It was probably in the evening that Shui and Ruyi cooked the plan to stay the night here. Shui had probably even made up her mind to stay awake the entire night and play gas with him just so that he didn’t think about his parents.
He gently put her head down on the bed. He stared at her in a long silence. It didn’t occur to him that she was doing all this for him, but when it did, a thump jumped in his heart. He didn’t know what to do as he thought about her sneaky plan and concern.
He lifted his hand, his index finger reaching to touch her cheek. He stopped midway and folded back his finger. Suddenly, an urge ca upon him to peck her cheek, but he shook his head at the sa speed the thought crossed his mind.
Too soon. Too soon.
He looked at her once and then looked away.
Will it be fine on the temple? He seriously considered that notion but once again, shook away that thought.
He then concluded that the whole concept of pecks and kisses were probably too soon to conquer.
And she is asleep. It’s wrong to do sothing when she is asleep and cannot give her consent.
He nodded to himself and also berated himself for quite a chunk of ti for his impure thoughts. He then truly realized Cai’s warning that it was indeed dangerous for Shui to stay the night under the sa roof as him. All kinds of thoughts were playing ping-pong in his mind and just her presence was enough to make him feel restless - The good kind of restless.
Lin stacked the playing cards in a neat pile and packed them in their box, keeping it aside. Next, he wondered what to do about Shui. He couldn’t decide if he should carry her to the guestroom or let her continue to sleep in his room.
But just then, Shui shuffled a little in her sleep, grabbing the duvet and hugging it against her chest. Lin stared.
Now, it had beco even more difficult to change the rooms. In the end, he conceded to reality. Then he wondered if it was alright to share the sa room for the night.
Naturally, I will sleep on the couch, he said so valiantly.
But he wasn’t sure about the distance. His heart was already beating so fast as if it would break out of his chest. Feeling Shui so close to him, he didn’t know what it would do to his sanity.
Lin got up and lifted her just enough to properly adjust her on the bed. It looked like she felt right at ho the mont her head t his pillow. He couldn’t help but smile. She looked like a cheeky child hogging all his space to herself, but strangely enough, he didn’t mind it. Tucking her in the duvet, he remained still for a few monts.
Staring at her peaceful sleeping face eased the anxiousness that was popping in and out of his head now and then. Contemplating a bit, he slowly placed his hand in hers that was resting near her face as he just barely touched her fingers. It felt warm and nice. It felt like he could hold her hand and bask in that little warmth forever.
He switched off the bedside lamp and stood up to walk towards the couch, but by then, Shui had firmly secured their hands together in a tight grip. He tried to withdraw, but to no avail. He blinked twice and tried again, but she was in no mood to give him up. She mumbled sothing in her sleep as if she was dreaming, which sohow seed to be connected to her holding his hand. Clearly, the dream wasn’t going to let him go.
How am I supposed to sleep on the couch now?
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