A Moment Too Late (GL) - Chapter 72

Sleeping together?

Shu Yubai met those pitch-black eyes, as if starlight twinkled within them, and her heartbeat suddenly slowed.

In the silence, there seemed to be a certain ambiguity, like a silk thread winding around them.

In the night, the lights in the house flickered slightly, illuminating the falling snowflakes, light and carrying a slight chill.

The girl’s eyes shimmered under the lights.

Her warm breath gently spread out.

There was a bit of heat.

“Sister Yubai?”

In the distance, a shadow by the tree moved, and a person walked out. Shu Yubai instinctively moved Nan Xue’s hand from her waist and turned to look.

It was Ying Ran’s assistant.

She walked over from the moon gate, carrying a thermal container, made of stainless steel, with tonight’s meal inside: “Sir said you hadn’t eaten yet, so he asked the cook to make some more.”

“Thanks.”

Shu Yubai said, “Just put it on the table.”

Nan Xue, interrupted again, felt a bit anxious.

That question, Shu Yubai hadn’t answered it yet.

The assistant carried the food container to the middle room, where the door was open: “I’ll leave this here, eat it while it’s hot.”

“Alright, thank you.”

She said softly.

After placing the thermal container, the assistant quietly closed the door and went to her room to rest.

Shu Yubai felt a cool touch on her forehead, as bits of white fell from the sky.

“Sister.”

Nan Xue looked at her. “Is it okay?”

What did Nan Xue mean by “sleeping together”? Just lying down and sleeping as they used to? Or doing other things, like…kissing?

*Cough.*

That should… be all?

Or maybe, not just that.

“O-okay,” Shu Yubai said softly.

After agreeing, many thoughts flashed through her mind, and her thoughts wandered a bit.

A hint of blush appeared on Shu Yubai’s cheeks, making her look very attractive. Nan Xue reached out to touch her, feeling the warmth at her fingertips.

She gently caressed Shu Yubai’s cheek, finding it incredibly soft.

“So soft,” Nan Xue murmured, unable to help but smile.

“So cold,” Shu Yubai laughed, holding her fingers to warm them.

Her right index finger had a cut from a broken piece of vase and was wrapped with a band-aid. She thought, with Nan Xue like this, she shouldn’t be able to do much, right?

She didn’t seem very experienced either.

“Let’s go inside first,” Shu Yubai said nervously, squeezing her cold hand. She was afraid Nan Xue would get too cold. The girl leaned against her, trembling slightly even through the thick layers of clothing.

“You’re shivering,” Shu Yubai half-embraced her, wrapping an arm around her slender waist as they walked inside.

It was warm indoors, with the lights illuminating the room in a soft orange glow. The glass windows were fogged up.

“Are you still painting?” Nan Xue asked, noticing the light in Shu Yubai’s room. She walked over to see a sketch on the table, a lightly drawn pencil outline of a tall, slender girl—it was her.

“No, I’m done,” Shu Yubai replied. “Can you turn off the light and close the door?”

Nan Xue nodded.

She turned off the light, closed the door, and returned to her own room, which had a bathroom. Was Shu Yubai going to sleep here tonight?

On the small round wooden table, there was a thermal container. Shu Yubai sat down, opened the lid, and found two layers: the top layer had hot dishes, roasted goose and lettuce in oyster sauce, the aroma filling the room, with a side of dipping sauce.

The bottom layer was white rice.

Shu Yubai picked up some food with her chopsticks and tasted the dipping sauce—it was sweet-scented osmanthus plum sauce.

Sweet, with a hint of osmanthus fragrance.

She separated the two layers, turned, and asked Nan Xue, “Do you want to eat something?”

“Yes,” Nan Xue said, hanging up her slightly wet coat on the rack and walking over with open arms. She gently hugged Shu Yubai from behind, pressing her cheek against her warm back.

“Warm me up, sister,” she said.

Shu Yubai laughed softly.

Since they had opened up to each other, Nan Xue loved hugging even more.

All kinds of hugs—back hugs, front hugs, or light embraces while walking, always wanting to be close.

Shu Yubai was wearing a thin, light yellow knitted sweater, the soft material clinging to her body, outlining her slender waist. The sweater stretched over her soft curves, with a deep valley where her pendant and ring lay.

Nan Xue’s eyes fell on the ring, and her cheeks warmed.

“Sister…” she murmured, kissing Shu Yubai’s pale neck.

Her breath trembled slightly, unsteady.

Shu Yubai sensed something different, her cheeks heating up. She gently pried Nan Xue off, making her sit on a small stool nearby, and said softly, “Don’t… Let’s eat something first; you’ll warm up slowly.”

“Okay.”

The food on the table was still hot.

The aroma of the food wafted through the air. When they returned, neither of them had time to eat. Nan Xue went to find her father, while Shu Yubai was busy painting, preparing to show it to Ying Ran.

Nan Xue’s slender white fingers picked up chopsticks from a plastic bag and took a couple of bites of the greens. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Shu Yubai. The woman sat quietly, her pale face tinged with a blush amidst her dark hair.

She lifted her long lashes, and her gentle eyes were misty.

Nan Xue felt a sudden, indescribable urge.

For a moment, she wanted to hold her, kiss her, and maybe even do more.

“What’s wrong?” Shu Yubai sensed her gaze.

“Nothing. How about I feed you?” Nan Xue picked up a piece of greens, dipping it in the sauce.

The tips of the red chopsticks held the greens, and Nan Xue let the excess sauce drip off at the edge of the container before offering it to Shu Yubai, pressing it to her soft lips.

Shu Yubai looked at Nan Xue, her red lips parted slightly. She gently took a small bite, her tongue curling around the stem of the greens and pulling it into her mouth, leaving a bit of moist shine on her lips, which she lightly licked away.

Nan Xue took a bite from the same spot Shu Yubai had bitten.

Watching her, Shu Yubai’s cheeks grew hot.

Nan Xue’s lips were glistening with moisture. Holding the chopsticks, she offered another bite, “Here.”

The stem of the greens bore small teeth marks.

“Eat it like this?” Shu Yubai asked softly, her earlobes burning, but she obediently took another bite.

Instantly, a wave of heat surged from her toes to her head.

Even though they had kissed before, this way of eating together felt indescribably and embarrassingly intimate.

Where had Nan Xue learned this?

She frowned, her mind filled with questions. Just then, Nan Xue’s phone, placed casually on the table, lit up.

*Ding*

The screen showed a notification from an app, pushed based on the user’s browsing history. Shu Yubai glanced at it but couldn’t make out what it was before Nan Xue quickly blocked her view.

Nan Xue, her fair face flushed, clutched her phone tightly.

“…?”

Shu Yubai looked at her and said softly, “Let me see.”

“No,” Nan Xue hid the phone even more tightly.

Shu Yubai chuckled softly, her gentle eyes fixed on Nan Xue, speaking tenderly, “It’s okay, I won’t mind.”

“……”

Nan Xue’s cheeks turned even redder.

“We don’t need secrets between us.”

Shu Yubai coaxed, “Hand it over.”

Nan Xue looked at her, her cheeks flushed with a soft blush. She gently bit her lip, her slender white fingers hesitating for a moment. Shu Yubai tried to take her phone, but Nan Xue held on tighter.

“It’s okay.”

Shu Yubai shook her head, “If you don’t want to, it’s fine. Forget it.”

Seeing Shu Yubai a bit disappointed, Nan Xue felt uneasy too. She even considered giving her the phone, but thinking of what was on the screen, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Shu Yubai didn’t press further, and Nan Xue felt a bit relieved.

But in the next moment, she heard Shu Yubai say slowly, “Actually, I saw it. I was just teasing you.”

Nan Xue couldn’t sit still, a wave of heat rushing to her head. Her cheeks burned, and her fair earlobes turned red. She didn’t know where to look and couldn’t help but explain, “Sister, it just popped up by itself.”

“……”

“I didn’t search for it.”

“……”

“I really didn’t search for that kind of stuff.”

Shu Yubai’s lips curved slightly. She turned her head, speaking slowly, “Oh?”

“Mhm.”

Nan Xue nodded.

Shu Yubai: “Then what did you search for?”

Nan Xue: “……”

Feeling both embarrassed and frustrated, Nan Xue leaned in, wrapping her arms around Shu Yubai’s slim waist, and gently kissed her, pressing her small lips to silence Shu Yubai’s constantly moving red lips.

“Mmm…”

After a while, Shu Yubai gently pushed her away, “Alright. Finish eating, then go take a bath.”

“Mhm.”

Nan Xue pulled away from her lips, her lips wet and glistening. Her clear eyes were now misty.

“Sister, you go first.”

Nan Xue sat on the bed, holding her phone, her eyes flickering.

“What are you going to do?” Shu Yubai chuckled, “Delete your browsing history?”

Nan Xue: “……”

Seeing her expression, Shu Yubai thought she should stop teasing her; otherwise, the little one might get really angry.

Under the warm shower, the water flowed gently over Shu Yubai’s face. She closed her eyes, her wet eyelashes glistening with water droplets, her red lips soft and alluring under the steam.

After rinsing off the soap, she turned off the water.

The room fell silent.

“Nan Xue, can you bring me the towel?”

Squatting in the bathroom, Shu Yubai felt cold with the door slightly ajar. After a while, she heard light footsteps and saw a slender, beautiful hand handing her a towel.

“Thank you.”

Shu Yubai took the towel and stood up after Nan Xue left.

She dried herself, wrapped in the towel, and went out.

Nan Xue obediently sat with her back to her on the bed.

The rustling sounds.

It was easy to imagine what the person on the other side was doing—drying off, putting on underwear, then pajamas.

Shu Yubai’s voice came from behind, “All done.”

Nan Xue turned around.

Shu Yubai was wearing a round-neck white cotton T-shirt, with a wet mark by her collarbone. Water droplets rolled down, making the fabric cling to her skin, slightly transparent, almost showing the veins underneath.

The T-shirt was long, covering her thighs.

Shu Yubai’s soft calves were still wet. She climbed onto the bed, lifted the warm blanket, and wrapped herself in it.

Freshly bathed, she felt comfortable all over.

Nan Xue was right beside her.

The girl leaned in, kissed her from cheek to lips, a lingering, sticky kiss that she was reluctant to break away from.

Shu Yubai couldn’t help but laugh, “Did you delete all the browsing history?”

Nan Xue’s cheeks heated up. Her slender fingers curled up, her red lips pressed together, feeling very shy.

“It’s nothing.”

Shu Yubai looked at her, “I’ve searched for those things too. We’re adults, nothing to be afraid of.”

“I didn’t really search for much.”

Nan Xue sighed softly and confessed, “I was just learning about things I didn’t understand before. Here, you can see.”

Shu Yubai was a bit surprised. She took the phone and flipped through a few pages, finding that Nan Xue had researched a lot about girl-girl relationships online. Things like keeping nails trimmed, buying finger cots, even obscure facts Shu Yubai herself didn’t know.

The last search was: How to find films.

Shu Yubai immediately burst into laughter, her stomach aching from laughing, “You’re too cute, really…”

Nan Xue looked at her in confusion.

Shu Yubai rubbed her head, speaking softly:

“You’ve never even watched a film, so how can you be sure you like girls?”

Nan Xue was silent for a long time.

She glanced at Shu Yubai and asked calmly, “So, have you watched them, Sister?”

Shu Yubai froze, her cheeks instantly turning red.

“I, I…”