After Marrying the Aloof Beauty, I Totally Fell for Her - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Drunken Chaos?

Her head was spinning. She really shouldn’t have had those two drinks.

An Ning pedaled her shared bike down the road toward home. Yun City’s summer night was still lively, but the voices of the old men and women fanning themselves and chatting by the roadside reached her ears as if filtered—she could tell people were speaking but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

She couldn’t keep riding like this—it wasn’t safe.

Thankfully, she was already close to home. After parking the bike, she finally realized how cold it was. She zipped up her jacket and began walking slowly toward her building.

Today was the final match of Yun City’s badminton competition. An Ning’s team from Yun City University’s School of Sports had lived up to expectations and taken the championship. The coach, beaming with pride, treated the team to a barbecue dinner. After a month of grueling training, the whole team let loose, eating, drinking, and playing to their hearts’ content. As one of the core players on the women’s team, An Ning had clearly stated she wouldn’t drink alcohol, but enthusiastic upperclassmen and juniors had roped her into a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors and made her down two cans of alcoholic drinks.

Was the alcohol just now kicking in?

An Ning shook her heavy head. Not far ahead, a large yellow lightbulb dangled from the crumbling gate of the old porcelain factory’s residential compound. It only illuminated a small patch in front of the gate, resembling a giant anglerfish lying in wait for its prey.

She had felt fine when leaving the party, so she’d declined the offer from a classmate to walk her home—especially since she vaguely remembered that same classmate had confessed to her last semester and been rejected.

It was now 9:30 PM. Most of the lights in the residential compound were already off. Her head growing heavier, An Ning barely managed to stay upright as she made it to her building’s entrance. A cough from somewhere turned on the dim stairwell light. She gripped the handrail and started climbing.

The stairwell was dark, and her head was spinning. She kept her gaze down and trudged upward in a daze.

By the time she reached her door, she fumbled with her keys but couldn’t seem to get them into the lock.

From inside, she faintly heard the sound of metal falling to the floor.

Her parents hadn’t gone to bed yet?

An Ning raised her hand and knocked, her words slurring: “Mom, open the door for me… I feel kinda dizzy…”

Before she could finish the sentence, the door suddenly swung open, making her stumble. Someone inside reached out to steady her, but their grip was weak—so weak they nearly fell over too. An Ning barely managed to catch herself against the wall.

She slung her arm over the person’s shoulders, only to feel sharp bones digging into her arm.

“Mom, did you lose weight?” she mumbled, trying to get a look at the person’s face—but her vision was too blurry, and everything looked pixelated.

“You drank?” The voice by her ear was cool and crisp—like a bowl of sweet, icy plum soup on a sweltering summer afternoon.

Mom’s voice sounds so young today…

An Ning’s thoughts were a complete mess. She nodded, then shook her head. “No… just a couple of those alcoholic sodas… ugh…”

She dry-heaved a couple of times but didn’t throw up. That only made her feel worse.

Supported by the other person, An Ning was helped into the apartment. She heard the door close behind her and lifted her head with effort. It was pitch dark.

“Mom, why didn’t you turn on the light? Where’s Dad?”

Something feels off…

Her alcohol-fogged brain couldn’t piece it together.

“…Just stop talking already.” The woman’s scolding voice came again. An Ning could feel a slender, not-so-strong arm awkwardly wrapped around her waist, trying to keep her upright.

Mom’s being so gentle today.

An Ning giggled foolishly and leaned in, rubbing her face against the woman’s hair. She caught a faint, sweet scent. Even though she had stuffed herself at the party, her stomach suddenly rumbled with hunger.

“Mom, what perfume are you wearing? It smells so good!”

“……”

No one answered her. The two of them fumbled along in the dark until An Ning’s knee bumped against something like a bed.

“Lie down,” the other person ordered.

An Ning let herself be guided down, her back hitting the soft mattress.

She stared up at the ceiling, but all she saw was pitch black, dotted with rainbow-like blotches.

Am I poisoned?

Sleepiness dragged at her mind. Before her consciousness fully faded, she strained to glance at the person beside the bed—only to see a slender, blurry figure resting by the bed’s edge.

That doesn’t look like my mom…

That was the last thought in An Ning’s mind before she passed out.

In the near-empty old house, Mu Yan struggled to find a washbasin. She ended up using her own scarf in place of a missing towel.

When she returned to the bedroom with a half-full basin, the drunk girl on the bed had already shifted to a more comfortable position—sprawled out, fast asleep and carefree.

She’s still the same as before.

A faint smile curved Mu Yan’s lips—one she herself didn’t even notice. She placed the basin on the nightstand, wrung out the scarf, and gently parted the girl’s soft, chestnut curls to wipe her smooth cheeks.

Though a few years had passed, the girl had grown taller, like a bamboo shoot in spring, yet her face still held traces of baby fat—round and young.

No matter how expensive the scarf was, it couldn’t compare to a cheap towel for wiping someone down. Worried she might hurt An Ning, Mu Yan only cleaned her face, neck, and hands.

The sleeping girl remained completely unaware, even when her phone started ringing in her pocket.

“White dragon horse, hooves heading west…”

The familiar tune rang out alongside the vibrating phone. Mu Yan pulled the device from An Ning’s jacket. The caller ID read: “Mom.”

The real mom calling the fake one.

Mu Yan made a dry joke to herself before answering in a calm tone, “Hello, Auntie? It’s me, Mu Yan. Ning Ning’s here with me. She got drunk and went up the wrong floor, ended up at my place. I just happened to be home.”

“Oh! That’s fine then. Let her stay with you. Thanks for looking after her, Yan Yan.” Mrs. An, who lived just downstairs, hung up in a flash—as if afraid her daughter might be sent back to her.

A little too obvious, Auntie…

Mu Yan’s mouth twitched. She was about to stand up and dump the water when something weighed down her waist.

Looking down, she saw that An Ning had, at some point, turned over and was now hugging her waist, her cheek pressed against her side.

The girl’s face was burning hot. The heat seeped through Mu Yan’s thin shirt and into her skin, sparking a strange sensation deep in her chest—like being nuzzled by a wild, carnivorous beast capable of tearing your throat out, but choosing instead to show affection.

Mu Yan knew her thoughts were twisted, but she couldn’t stop them from drifting further.

If An Ning could unknowingly devour her like this… that might be nice.

Snapping herself out of her bizarre thoughts, Mu Yan tried twice to free herself from the girl’s grip. But An Ning, though not exactly muscular, was still much stronger than her.

Giving up, she looked down at the girl clinging to her. “Still as clingy as ever, huh?”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if afraid to disturb a pleasant dream.

If not for the pain still lingering in the wound on her arm, Mu Yan might’ve believed this was all just a dream—another pathetic illusion brought on by her desperate yearning for mercy.

Or rather, mercy from An Ning.

Mu Yan lifted her hand. On her slender forearm, the fine wound had stopped bleeding, but the fresh red mark proved it had been made no more than ten minutes ago.

Just as she’d made that first cut with a small knife, there had been a knock at the door—and the voice she dreamed about but didn’t dare to hope for.

She opened the door. The girl outside smelled like barbecue, and just like always, she had descended like a god from the heavens, saving her from the fire and water.

“I didn’t mean to… I was just so tired…” Mu Yan muttered softly, as if explaining herself to someone. But in the dark room, only her own voice replied, accompanied by the sound of An Ning’s peaceful breathing.

No one to hear her confession. No one to forgive her.

And yet, she was already lucky.

She’s the one who wouldn’t let me go. And I’m tired too.

Mu Yan lay down, gently ruffling the soft hair of the girl in her arms. Her voice low, she said, “Funny, isn’t it? You always show up just in time.”

Sleep crept up on her at last. The woman closed her tired eyes.

Her cool, soft voice faded into the still air, unheard by anyone.

“Thank you.”

An Ning had a lovely dream—she was lying on a soft patch of grass, a faint sweet fragrance lingering around her nose. She found the flower giving off the scent and buried her face in it.

The annoying wind tried to steal her flower away, but she was strong and held on tight.

Ugh, my head…

Despite the alcohol, her body’s habit of waking early still won. She opened her eyes with great effort and was met with an unfamiliar room.

Thick curtains blocked out the sun, but the light filtering in through the gaps told her it was definitely after 8 a.m.

Unfamiliar room. Unfamiliar furniture. And—

As her mind cleared, her neck creaked like a rusted gear. She stared wide-eyed and slowly raised her head.

“AH!”

The ever-relaxed An Ning, who had received countless “very good attitude” comments from teachers throughout her life, let out a shriek and tumbled off the bed with a loud thud.

A stranger.

The other person on the bed stirred from the noise. She propped herself up, long black hair cascading over her shoulder, hiding part of her beautiful face.

“What’s your name?” the woman asked calmly.

She raised her hand, her slender fingers brushing her hair aside, revealing eyes cold and bright as she looked down at the stunned An Ning sitting on the floor.

The light peeking through the curtain fell perfectly onto her white shirt, giving the loose fabric a soft golden glow.

Her expression was distant. The scene was ambiguous.

The words “drunken hookup” had been bouncing around An Ning’s mind in various combinations—but the moment their eyes met, everything vanished.

Only four words remained:

I’m completely doomed.

A drunken mistake was already bad. Worse if the person you slept with was a familiar stranger. And worst of all?

You’re scared of her.

An Ning, who had hit the jackpot on all three, stammered for a while before finally squeezing out four words:

“G-good morning, Miss Mu…”