Are You Allergic To Romance? - Chapter 38
Chapter 38: The Kiss
Jing Yuan watched as Xie Mianzhi already had her in a hold from behind and was about to implement that “terrifying” first aid measure.
This isn’t an allergic reaction!
Jing Yuan couldn’t explain. She could only, in utter embarrassment, free one hand to brace herself on the table with very little force. She was afraid that an accidental slip would shatter the tabletop.
At the same time, she maintained maximum calmness and care as she tried to break free from Miss Xie Mianzhi.
“Xie Mianzhi, you’ve misunderstood! I, I’m not allergic… truly,” Jing Yuan explained urgently, her face flushed crimson. She wanted to escape Xie Mianzhi’s attempt to force her to vomit, but she worried that using force would hurt the other person. So, she just desperately pressed down on the table, preventing herself from being lifted up in such an embarrassing manner.
Xie Mianzhi completely ignored Jing Yuan’s broken words. In her ears, Jing Yuan sounded like a disobedient cat meowing. She thought Jing Yuan was desperately trying to save face; the ears visible to her were so red they looked like they were bleeding.
The dark circles under her eyes had deepened, clearly looking like an allergic or poisoning reaction.
However, although Jing Yuan was so slender and only a few centimeters taller than her, Xie Mianzhi surprisingly couldn’t lift her up.
What the hell? The little savior is that heavy?
She, Xie Mianzhi, who exercised regularly, couldn’t even lift a woman of roughly the same build??
Just as Xie Mianzhi began to doubt her own strength, Jing Yuan swiftly escaped from her embrace.
The two of them stood there, panting and staring at each other. Fortunately, due to the bad weather outside, a wave of customers had already left the restaurant, otherwise this spectacular “wrestling” match would have been much more entertaining than Xie Mianzhi’s previous display of teaching someone a lesson.
The young waiter, who had been about to serve them, was also scared and trembling, hiding in the shadows due to the sudden behavior of these two distinguished guests.
No one dared to provoke the tempestuous eldest Miss of the Xie family.
After all, she was a good friend of the restaurant owner.
What’s wrong with them? Why are they suddenly fighting? Sure enough, this Miss Xie is the most troublesome one; even the friend she dines with gets embraced and slammed if she gets unhappy.
This was the candid inner thought of the uninformed waiter.
Xie Mianzhi, who had been categorized as a ‘female demon’ by the staff, was now catching her breath, asking with an incredulous expression, “What’s going on, why can’t I…” lift you up?
She didn’t finish the last few words because she saw Jing Yuan covering her face with one hand, her eyes slightly red, looking exactly like—
A broken-winged angel.
Xie Mianzhi didn’t know why her mind conjured up such a strange phrase, but it was that kind of indescribable sense of fragility, as if she had been bullied and crumbled.
Looking at Jing Yuan’s helpless and delicate expression, she felt like she wanted to give her everything.
Xie Mianzhi slowly walked closer, examining Jing Yuan carefully. Still worried, she lowered her voice and asked, “Are you really sure you’re okay?”
Jing Yuan looked at Xie Mianzhi awkwardly. Her eyes were still flushed. Even she couldn’t control the trembling and anxious reaction that arose when the other person touched her whole body, and she was even starting to feel… hungry.
The urge for hunting instantly assaulted her nerves. Fortunately, other anomalies didn’t surface, as she forcefully suppressed them.
How could the other person think she was having an allergic reaction and try to make her vomit using that method…
Although well-intentioned, did Xie Mianzhi even know what she was doing?
Jing Yuan was speechless. She nodded very unnaturally, indicating that she was truly fine.
“But your face is still very red,” Xie Mianzhi looked at her, still a little uneasy. She even walked behind Jing Yuan to look at her thoroughly flushed back of the ear. “Allergies can cause shock. I’m afraid you’ll suddenly pass out.”
She certainly didn’t want their long-awaited meeting to result in a fatality, especially not because of her, Xie Mianzhi.
Jing Yuan was afraid the other person would try the first aid method again. She really didn’t want to experience that difficult feeling a second time. She quickly took the initiative to grab Xie Mianzhi’s wrist, pulling the other person in front of her.
“I’m really fine. I just feel a bit stuffy, which makes my face look like this,” Jing Yuan explained with difficulty, struggling to keep her face calm.
“Are you sure you’re not just trying to save face? Allergies can be fatal,” Xie Mianzhi frowned deeply.
Jing Yuan was amused by Xie Mianzhi’s fierce expression. The other person really thought she was that delicate.
“Have you forgotten that I live by the sea?” Jing Yuan counter-asked.
Xie Mianzhi certainly knew what the other person was trying to say. “But that doesn’t guarantee you’re not allergic to anything from the sea, unless you’re the Overlord of the Ocean.”
Jing Yuan’s heart skipped a beat at the other person’s words. Xie Mianzhi had accidentally stumbled upon her true identity.
“Alright, but I can guarantee I’m not allergic to sea urchin,” Jing Yuan swore.
Xie Mianzhi raised her eyelids, seeing the two patches of red still lingering on the little savior’s cheeks, but it was much better than the color of a fully ripened, mushy tomato just now. She decided to believe her.
“Fine, I’ll believe you, but you must tell me if you have any dietary restrictions in the future.”
“Okay.”
Once they returned to their seats, the waiter began serving the other dishes. Honestly, the dishes Xie Mianzhi ordered were all good. If they were raw food, that would have been even better.
She inherited her mother’s wild nature in her bones, which made her crave the texture of the hunt more during this period of mutation.
To prevent feeling hungry during this meeting with Xie Mianzhi, she had already fed herself in the sea the day before.
But why did that difficult hunger surge back the moment Xie Mianzhi hugged her?
She’s still unstable.
Jing Yuan felt a bit troubled.
“Are you going to say again that me hugging you to save you might attract gossip?” Xie Mianzhi saw that Jing Yuan was quietly looking down and eating, and a trace of worry was attached to her already plain expression, so she asked softly.
“If they know you, they will gossip,” Jing Yuan looked around. Those who could afford to dine here were people of a similar upper-class status to Xie Mianzhi. If they knew her, it wasn’t impossible for some to deliberately point fingers.
“Do you think I care about the mouths of those people?” Xie Mianzhi took a sip of her cold drink and smiled contemptuously.
After spending this time together, Jing Yuan knew the other person wouldn’t.
“So you don’t need to care either. You worry too much. I was trying to save you.”
Jing Yuan smiled lightly, feeling it was necessary to remind her, “Actually, your technique wasn’t up to standard.”
“What? You’re critiquing it now? I was just trying to make you spit it out in a hurry,” Xie Mianzhi immediately countered. At that moment, she didn’t care if she was grabbing her waist or chest. It was also strange that she tried several times and couldn’t lift her. “My hand is even red because I was trying to save you.”
Watching Xie Mianzhi wave her hand in front of her, the familiar scent of hand cream instantly wafted into her nose.
It was the deep-sea-scented one Xie Mianzhi had given her before. It was still stored at her house, too precious to use.
The markings hidden beneath her neck were, for some unknown reason, excitedly trying to poke out and kiss the back of the other person’s hand.
Alarmed, Jing Yuan immediately looked away and tightly clutched her high collar.
What is wrong with her? Why does she have such an impulse?
“Hmm? What’s wrong with you?” Xie Mianzhi was still hoping Jing Yuan would feel sorry for her, but the other person clearly flinched, shrinking her neck and moving back like a startled little rabbit.
Seriously, does her hand have a virus?
“Nothing. I’m a bit hungry and want to eat more,” Jing Yuan covered her collar with her right hand and picked up her fork to eat with her left.
Xie Mianzhi pouted and didn’t say anything, but the way she avoided her touch was too obvious. Xie Mianzhi truly didn’t understand. Did Jing Yuan dislike her touching her that much?
It was the same when she stayed at the other person’s house.
Now she was deliberately wearing her collar so high. Did she think she, Xie Mianzhi, was a vampire who would bite her neck?
Xie Mianzhi silently sulked but still passed the dessert in front of her to Jing Yuan.
“Eat it, eat it. It’s their famous dessert, Blueberry Basque,” Xie Mianzhi said.
Jing Yuan quickly reached out and took it. “Thank you.”
“Hey, do I have a virus on my hand?” Xie Mianzhi couldn’t resist asking.
“Why would you ask that?” Jing Yuan was puzzled. In her opinion, Miss Xie was energetic and very healthy.
Xie Mianzhi frowned. As the host, she shouldn’t be bothered by such trifles, but she genuinely cared. Sometimes, the way Jing Yuan avoided her made her feel uncomfortable, even a little hurt.
“Because when I waved my hand in front of you just now, you avoided it like the plague.”
Xie Mianzhi raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at Jing Yuan.
Under such scrutiny, no one could continue eating.
Jing Yuan was no exception, and besides, she didn’t want to eat the food on the table at all.
Her source of hunger wasn’t these.
It was the woman in front of her.
The only human who always made her feel abnormally hungry upon contact.
When she realized her body was acting strangely, she could only take a sip of the cold drink to suppress it, placing her hands awkwardly under the table, sitting upright like an obedient student.
“Did I?” After a long pause, Jing Yuan asked softly, no longer avoiding eye contact with Xie Mianzhi.
Well, played. This person actually countered her with such an airy question.
Xie Mianzhi’s temper flared, and she became serious. “Of course you did. You flinched the moment I extended my hand, and you pulled up your collar. I saw all of that clearly, and I haven’t even complained about my hand hurting.”
“The scent…”
“Is the scent not pleasant? I remember I even gave you a tube, and you said you liked the smell…”
Xie Mianzhi directly cut off Jing Yuan’s stammering and spoke on her own.
Unbeknownst to her, a cluster of black, unspeakable organisms slowly extended from Jing Yuan’s hanging wrist toward Xie Mianzhi’s under the table.
This substance, which seemed to have a consciousness of its own, was creepily settling right near Xie Mianzhi’s hanging fingertips.
They were approaching the back of Xie Mianzhi’s hand like a lovesick maiden—infatuated and cautious—exploring gently.
Jing Yuan was aware that certain parts of her body were bravely reaching out, and she couldn’t stop it because these were actions of her subconscious.
She maintained her composure and spoke softly, “It smells good.”
So good that she couldn’t control herself.
“If it smells good, why did you act like that? No, this isn’t about whether it smells good or not. The point is that the way you avoided me made me feel disrespected.”
Xie Mianzhi didn’t mince words; she was always direct about such things. She actually knew Jing Yuan respected her, but she wanted to speak more strongly to make the other person realize that the avoidance made her a little sad, especially since she truly wanted to know the reason.
Was it a natural dislike for human contact? But sometimes the way Jing Yuan acted suggested otherwise.
Jing Yuan watched and listened intently. She always respected the person in front of her; ‘treasured’ would be a more apt description.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
After a moment, Jing Yuan asked Xie Mianzhi. Her expression was still so restrained, revealing none of the changes happening beneath the surface.
Xie Mianzhi was stumped by Jing Yuan’s earnest question, pausing for a few seconds.
What she actually wanted in her heart was for Jing Yuan to be close to her, like a true friend, or even closer than a friend…
She wished that when she extended her hand, the other person would grip it tightly. Even if her hand temperature was very low, she wouldn’t mind it at all.
The long-suppressed subtle emotion in Xie Mianzhi’s mind made her blurt out her desire: “I want you to grab me.”
She regretted it the moment she said it. She felt her answer was too sudden and could easily mislead Jing Yuan.
As for what it might mislead her into thinking…
It was actually everything she felt inside.
Xie Mianzhi hurriedly looked up. Sure enough, Jing Yuan was staring at her with wide eyes.
Being stared at like that… was a little embarrassing.
Then, her left hand, which had been hanging below the table, was suddenly grasped firmly by a cluster of cold, strange matter.
Before she could react, it pressed a shy and devout kiss onto Xie Mianzhi’s fingertip, like an oath.
Mwah.