A Moment Too Late (GL) - Chapter 56

Her lips were warm and moist, and her breath seemed to linger with a faint fragrance. Shu Yubai’s heart raced, her thoughts swirling, and she couldn’t calm down for a long time.

Nan Xue had kissed her.

Just on the forehead.

What could this mean?

She remembered that day downstairs in her apartment complex, Nan Xue had been sitting on a cold bench with a warm bun, her eyes shining, saying she liked her and that she liked only her.

At that time, her tone had been so casual that Shu Yubai thought she might have just said it without understanding the meaning of “like” or perhaps was joking.

But now, she had some doubts.

The bracelet on her hand was still slightly cold. She gently touched it under the blanket, her fingers brushing over the carved inscription on the bottom—one character: “Bai.”

Nan Xue’s bracelet had “Xue.”

Why had she given such a gift?

Was Nan Xue perhaps not as straight as she seemed?

Shu Yubai’s heart raced.

At least the kiss on her forehead meant Nan Xue didn’t reject intimate contact with a girl.

But on the other hand…

Not rejecting something is very different from “liking.”

Moreover…

It was just a kiss on the forehead.

What kind of liking did she have for herself?

Was it like the feelings between friends, or was it like her feelings for Nan Xue, where a slight gesture from the other person could make her overthink, have a racing heart, feel nervous, and blush?

Shu Yubai turned off the TV with the remote. Using this action as an excuse, she glanced at Nan Xue. Nan Xue had her back to her, her black hair falling gently on her pale face, eyes closed, seemingly already asleep.

“Nan Xue?”

Shu Yubai tentatively called out.

“Hmm.” A soft reply came with a drowsy tone in the night.

“You—”

Shu Yubai struggled to speak but didn’t know what to ask.

Nan Xue waited for a while, hearing no further words, and turned over lightly, mumbling, “Sister, go to sleep.”

Shu Yubai’s heart was still racing, replaying the scene of the kiss in her mind—the soft touch of black hair brushing her cheek, the sensation of red lips, and a faint fragrance.

After a long while, Shu Yubai whispered:

“Are you asleep?”

The girl’s breathing was steady and even, rising and falling gently, with no response.

Shu Yubai: “…”

She was asleep?

She kissed her forehead and then fell asleep?!

How could this be… Shu Yubai tried to suppress her self-indulgent thoughts, feeling a mix of cool and warm emotions.

After kissing her, Nan Xue remained calm and even fell asleep in the next minute, which meant that it really wasn’t meant to imply anything. She had just overthought it.

It was truly just a goodnight kiss.

Shu Yubai pulled the blanket around herself, unsure of what she was expecting. She realized that a kiss on the forehead might not mean much to Nan Xue, and perhaps it was quite normal between straight women.

Normal?

Shu Yubai turned over carefully, feeling like she had started bending towards Nan Xue from the moment she met her, and had long forgotten how straight women normally interacted.

But even if it was a straight woman…

A goodnight kiss on the forehead still seemed quite ambiguous, right?

Shu Yubai extended her hand from under the blanket and gently touched the spot where Nan Xue’s lips had been, feeling a mix of longing and loss.

••••

Elsewhere.

After a long time, Nan Xue, who had not yet fallen asleep, opened her eyes in the darkness.

The woman beside her was already asleep.

The kiss she had given felt so wonderful.

It was a strange feeling.

It was as if a warm current had surged through her body, like a hot spring.

The moonlight cast a gentle halo, her skin was soft and warm, and at the moment of the kiss, her long lashes trembled slightly, as if startled. It was almost… breathtaking.

The sensation on her lips was warm, and the subtle fragrance on her body became more pronounced.

Overwhelmed by her infatuation, she kissed a little longer.

Nan Xue relaxed her tense body slightly.

Lingering on the kiss, almost exhausting all her courage, Nan Xue began to worry.

Was it presumptuous to kiss her without her consent? Under the guise of a goodnight kiss, it wasn’t actually just that. She clearly remembered that she didn’t like her touch when crossing the road.

Would this make her feel disgusted?

Nan Xue was afraid of seeing any sign of disgust from her.

When Shu Yubai called her earlier, she had been nervous and didn’t know how to respond, so she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Next to her, the blanket felt lightly indented, and Shu Yubai remained still.

Breathing evenly.

She didn’t seem to care much about the incident.

After a brief relaxation, there was a moment of disappointment.

Nan Xue’s pale fingers tightened and then relaxed.

••••

The kiss left an unsettled feeling.

Between sleep and wakefulness, Shu Yubai vaguely dreamed that Nan Xue had just finished bathing, her hair dripping wet, her shoulders damp, wearing a white cotton nightgown that was translucent. A drop of water trickled down her collarbone.

“Sister.”

The girl came very close, her fingers touching Shu Yubai’s neck, cold.

“I’m here.”

Shu Yubai responded softly, almost like a whisper.

Nan Xue, barefoot with delicate white ankles wet, gently lifted Shu Yubai’s long hair with her index finger, her deep, black eyes gazing at her.

She leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I like you.”

“Who?”

Shu Yubai chuckled lightly in the dream.

Nan Xue fell silent, her ears slightly red, her black hair cascading over her shoulders.

“You.”

Her voice was soft, like a cat’s scratch, irresistibly enticing.

Shu Yubai moved closer, kissing her eyes, her brow, and her nose tip.

Finally, her full, red lips.

Nan Xue clung to her shoulders as if drowning, her long lashes trembling, extremely uneasy.

••••

The next morning.

Shu Yubai couldn’t remember when she fell asleep last night. The alarm went off, and she got up to find the bed beside her empty and very cold. Nan Xue had apparently gotten up earlier, not in the bed.

She changed clothes and opened the curtains.

“Nan Xue?”

Shu Yubai called out, tilting her head to see that Nan Xue’s bag was already gone from the coat rack.

So early—had she gone to the office?

Shu Yubai relaxed her slightly tense body and stretched her waist.

The dream from last night left her ears still warm.

Outside the glass window, a row of withered cypress branches were sparse, with some unmelted remnants of snow on the black earth. The snow was hard to melt under the backlight. In the yard, the phoenix tree was illuminated by the light, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

She opened the door and carried a few paintings to find her teacher.

Ying Ran seemed unusually diligent these days, waking up early to paint in the yard. Shu Yubai learned from Ying Ran’s assistant that someone recently commissioned him for paintings, worth tens of millions each, so he was busy with those.

“Teacher.”

Shu Yubai stopped at the white moon gate.

In the yard, a plum blossom bloomed in the snow, with stone-yellow petals and buds, very small, each covered by a thin and translucent layer of snow. The petals were thin, wet with snowmelt, and slightly transparent.

“Hmm.”

Ying Ran didn’t look up, working quickly: “You’re here? Wait a moment.”

The assistant immediately went inside and brought a small stool for Shu Yubai.

“Sit here, Sister Yubai.”

“Thank you.”

Shu Yubai glanced at the camera hanging around the assistant’s neck and said, “You can continue working; don’t mind me.”

“Alright.”

The assistant walked over to find a good angle for photographing.

Ying Ran, wrapped in a thick cotton coat, sat on the small stool to sketch. His assistant carried a camera, helping him photograph the plum blossom for reference to continue painting from the photos later.

“Did you bring the paintings?” Ying Ran paused his pen and asked. “I mean the ones for the exhibition.”

“I brought them.”

Shu Yubai held out a few paintings, including recent practice works. Two were for the exhibition, though not yet finished: “Here, take a look.”

“Hmm.”

Ying Ran pulled out two and looked them over, commenting, “Not bad.”

Shu Yubai felt a bit relieved. When her teacher said “not bad,” it generally meant there were no significant flaws. Otherwise, he would usually point out the shortcomings and critique them for over an hour.

Had these two passed?

“Thank you, Teacher.”

Shu Yubai gently took back the two paintings.

“There’s one more?”

Ying Ran searched through the remaining stack of paintings, explaining, “I mean the portrait.”

“I haven’t started yet, just made a draft.”

Shu Yubai explained softly, looking down.

The figure painting was her weak point. This time, using Nan Xue as the model, she didn’t want to finish it carelessly. Each stroke and design had to meet her intended expression or it would be discarded.

It required much more time and effort than the previous two.

Striving for perfection.

“Not started yet?”

Ying Ran frowned, “Then you need to hurry. The international youth live painting is starting in a few days, so you need to deduct three days from your available time. How you allocate the remaining time is up to you.”

“Okay, Teacher. I’ll continue working on it when I get back.”

Shu Yubai gently bent down, took the paintings from him, and turned to leave: “You continue with your work; I won’t disturb you.”

••••

It’s been a busy day.

The sky was pitch black when Nan Xue returned.

At exactly six in the evening, a few people were gathered around the dining table. Outside the glass house, it was completely dark, but the courtyard had dim streetlights illuminating the neatly arranged lawn and pebble path.

A tall, slender figure holding a black umbrella walked slowly towards the house.

Creeeak, the door opened.

“Uncle.”

Nan Xue placed her black umbrella against the wall. Her short boots, wet with snow, melted on the carpet at the door.

“Back already?” Ying Ran smiled at her. “Come over and have something to eat.”

Dinner was light, with dishes like shrimp stir-fried with snap peas and osmanthus steamed yam—sweet and appetizing. Four people were seated at the table: Ying Ran, the assistant, Shu Yubai, and a senior brother.

The three of them looked over as she entered.

The senior brother continued to work diligently.

Nan Xue glanced at the empty seat next to her uncle, ignored the hint, and turned to walk towards Shu Yubai.

“Sister.”

She sat down, leaned in, and took her hand, her red lips slightly parted: “I also want to eat some snap peas.”

As she approached, Shu Yubai recalled the kiss from last night and felt a moment of nervousness. But upon closer inspection, Nan Xue’s expression was perfectly normal, with no trace of awkwardness or discomfort, as if she had completely forgotten about it.

— She really didn’t seem to care.

Shu Yubai felt unsure about her own emotions.

It was either habitual or disappointing.

Nan Xue gazed intently at her, not blinking. She had left early in the morning and wasn’t sure if Shu Yubai minded her kissing her without permission. She could only get closer and observe her expression.

Her long hair was spread out, very gentle. Underneath her dark hair, her skin was pale and soft. After a brief pause, Shu Yubai’s eyes held a faint smile, showing no deliberate distance or annoyance.

Nan Xue relaxed slightly.

“Your hands are so cold.”

Shu Yubai frowned, “How did this happen? Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?”

The temperature difference between day and night was significant here, and it was very cold in the evening. With the cold air sweeping in along with the wind and snow, even though she was dressed warmly, her fingertips still felt icy.

Shu Yubai held her hand to warm it up, and looked around for clean chopsticks on the table… but there were none.

She would have to use her own.

Shu Yubai lowered her head, her dark eyes full of warmth, and used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of snap pea and fed it to Nan Xue.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

The snap pea was long, but Nan Xue lightly bit the end of the chopsticks, her red lips moist and gently touching the food before she ate it. She chewed a few times, her eyes shining, and said to Shu Yubai, “Sister, you eat too.”

Shu Yubai looked at the glistening red end of the chopsticks and felt a flush on her cheeks, her heart racing for a moment.

She had just touched them with her mouth.

Ying Ran, seeing Nan Xue interrupting Shu Yubai’s meal, couldn’t stand it any longer. She took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder on the nearby cabinet and handed them to Nan Xue with a smile, “How old are you? Can’t you serve yourself? Are you still so clingy?”

Nan Xue: “…”