Seducing Him - Chapter 2

She didn’t know how he had gotten onto the bed, but his entire body was pressing down on hers, bringing with him a damp heat that spilled across her face, suffocating and overwhelming.

Her whole body trembled. Panic shot through her throat as she shoved him off with all her strength.
“Who’s there!”

He seemed completely unaware that someone else was already in the bed, letting himself be pushed away without resistance. He fell to the side of her, and in the dark, echoed softly:
“Who’s there.”

As his voice fell, the lights in the room suddenly flicked on.

The harsh brightness made Ci Yiyang instinctively shield her eyes, unaccustomed after so long in the dark. She didn’t see the lazy boy lying beside her, his black pupils glimmering with a faint smile, his half-curled wolf-cut hair framing a face that was both alluring and cold.

When her eyes finally adjusted, Ci Yiyang lowered her hand, only to be stunned at the sight of him.
“What are you doing in my room?”

“My room?” Lu Jin arched a brow, countering calmly, “Are you sure you didn’t walk into the wrong room, and the wrong bed?”

Ci Yiyang glanced around at the surroundings, as if only just realizing her mistake. Flustered, she scrambled off him, muttering apologies as she climbed out of bed.

“Sorry. I just got back today and went into the wrong room. I thought this was mine.”

On the bed, Lu Jin sat up. His black hair hung in damp, messy strands, his face marked with a faint unnatural flush.

He didn’t stop her. Ci Yiyang reached the door and found it wasn’t even closed—she hadn’t given him the chance to open it.

Biting her lip, she hesitated, then turned back to explain.
“My name is Ci Yiyang. We’ve met before. I didn’t mean to come into the wrong room. I saw the door open and thought it was mine.”

“Lu Jin. We’ve run into each other a few times,” he said with a faint smile. “Perhaps I forgot to close the door before I left. You entered the wrong room—and the wrong bed.”

His tone was so mild it bordered on indifferent. Ci Yiyang didn’t know how to respond. After a pause, she simply nodded, wished him goodnight, and slipped out.

The moment the door closed, the boy’s smile faded. He turned his gaze to the empty side of the bed where she had lain, and slowly buried his face into the pillow. The flush on his cheekbones spread along the curve of his ear to his neck, his breath hitching softly.

She had used the bath fragrance he kept in the room.

Although it was vacation, Ci Yiyang had never been one to sleep in late. She woke early, just as her phone rang.

Looking down, she saw it was her father calling.

At this hour, she didn’t even have to guess the reason.

She didn’t pick up right away, letting it ring until it stopped. Then she sat up slowly, phone in hand, settling into the armchair by the window, waiting for the second call.

It came soon enough.

She swiped and lifted it to her ear. “Dad.”

“How are you getting along with Lu Jin?” asked Luo Lin.

Ci Yiyang leaned back, sunlight filtered through the trees casting soft light on her white dress, making it glow faintly.
“Very well.”

Luo Lin gave a satisfied hum, then reminded her again:
“He will be your younger brother from now on. Get along with him, do you understand?”

“I understand.” She lowered her eyes indifferently. “Dad, when will you and her be back?”

He seemed to check the time on his end before answering, “In a few days. Once A-Lan is discharged from the hospital, we’ll come home.”

When they returned, they would go to the Civil Affairs Bureau for their marriage license, and he and that woman would move into the warm house her mother had once decorated with her own hands.

After a few more words, Luo Lin had to sign documents and hung up.

The busy tone beeped a few times.

Ci Yiyang tossed her phone aside and got up to open the wardrobe.

She had planned to change into a long-sleeved dress, but stepping into the walk-in closet, she found only a few solitary gowns hanging like ceremonial robes. She hesitated.

Had last night left Lu Jin with any kind of impression?

Men were visual creatures. No matter their age, their eyes always went first to a woman’s chest and legs, then her waist, then her face.

Her dresses covered almost everything.

After a moment’s thought, she changed into something casually and walked out.

When she went downstairs, the housekeeper greeted her warmly. “Miss Ci, you’re up early.”

Ci Yiyang explained it was a habit and took a seat at the dining table, noticing an untouched set of tableware.

“Lu Jin hasn’t eaten yet?”

The housekeeper softened her tone unconsciously at the girl’s gentle voice. “Young master will come down later.”

“He hasn’t gotten up yet?”

“No, he’s awake,” the housekeeper explained. “The butterflies in his studio escaped, and he went to find them.”

Looking for butterflies this early?

Ci Yiyang frowned. “Where’s his studio?”

“All the rooms have been renovated, and I’m not sure which is which,” she added.

“On the third floor.”

Ci Yiyang rose from her chair. “I’ll go find him.”

“You won’t have breakfast first?” the housekeeper asked in surprise.

“I’ll wait and eat with him.”

The manor’s design was European, with pointed towers and ivy climbing the outer walls. Inside, it was elegantly decorated, three floors in total: the first was the hall, the second bedrooms, and the third mostly open space with few doors, lined with blue-tinted glass windows.

It was obvious which one was the studio. The door was ajar, revealing walls hung with paintings.

It had once been her piano room. Now it was his studio.

She lingered at the threshold, then pushed open the tall door.

The room was instantly filled with imagery—paintings of roses, most of them bound tightly with thorns. Not just gloomy roses, but also butterfly specimens, large and small, even cocoons, all neatly arranged in cabinets.

Even standing in the doorway, Ci Yiyang felt a suffocating sense of entrapment.

It was eerie, almost sinister. She saw no one inside and turned to leave—

Only to see him coming down the corridor, slender fingers pressed to his phone, lips occasionally murmuring replies. His sharp jawline emerged from the shadows, black hair damp with a few strands hanging over his brows, cold beauty sharpened into a kind of dangerous allure.

“…Yes, I know. She should be downstairs now.” He looked up, meeting her gaze.

They had only met a handful of times, so he studied her for a moment before recognition flickered. His lips curved into a faint smile.

Just like that day—aloof, yet seductively dangerous.

Whatever was said on the other end, he answered indifferently:
“Yes. We met last night.”

Then he ended the call.

Ci Yiyang, not far away, looked like a pure white bellflower in her long dress. She smiled at him softly.

His eyes drifted past her to the open studio door before returning to her. His tone was mild:
“What’s sister doing here?”

He seemed to have forgotten last night entirely. Ci Yiyang tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I didn’t see you downstairs, so I came to find you.”

“Find me?” He regarded her steadily.

“I don’t want to eat breakfast alone. It’s lonely,” she explained.

It was the same excuse she’d used before, and it worked well enough again.

“Let’s go, then.” He didn’t press further, turning to head downstairs.

“Lu Jin, wait—one more thing.” Ci Yiyang walked a few steps forward, phone in hand.

He stopped, looking back at her.

Up close, she realized his eyes were like black stones that could not catch the light—deep and unnerving.

“Let’s exchange contact info,” she said, holding out her phone. “In case I can’t find you. Besides… I’m your sister now.”

Every time she called herself “sister,” nausea curled in her chest. Yet she smiled lightly, feigning concern like an elder sibling worrying about her younger brother.

Lu Jin glanced at the phone in her hand. His Adam’s apple shifted faintly.
“Sister may have to wait a little.”

Ci Yiyang frowned. Wait? For adding contact info?

He took a few long strides downstairs, then paused, looking back with a faint, teasing smile.
“If sister’s in a hurry, come with me.”

Ci Yiyang didn’t follow. Instead, she sat in the living room, nibbling fruit the housekeeper had just served.

Fortunately, he didn’t keep her waiting long before he came down.

“Do you scan me, or do I scan you?” she asked, popping an orange segment into her mouth. The sourness made her eyes water as she licked her lips.

He glanced at her glistening lips, then took her phone, typing in a string of digits before pressing “Add Friend” and handing it back.

“Anything else?”

Ci Yiyang shook her head. “Not for now.”

“Then let’s eat.” He rose and walked toward the dining table.

She hadn’t even checked her phone yet but followed him, sitting deliberately at the chair beside him.

He spared her a sidelong glance but said nothing.

The housekeeper already knew his usual breakfast preferences and served them promptly.

When she placed the food before Ci Yiyang, she added deliberately:
“Madam said Miss Ci prefers light breakfasts—so I prepared soy milk, fried dough sticks, pickles, and porridge.”

The mention of Lu Lan instantly killed Ci Yiyang’s appetite. She was about to refuse when her eyes caught the graceful curve of Lu Jin’s fingers holding his bowl, his movements elegant and refined.

She swallowed her words.

After all, she had gone upstairs to invite him down. If she suddenly refused to eat, it would only reveal lingering resentment toward him and his mother.

When breakfast ended, Lu Jin didn’t return upstairs, and Ci Yiyang didn’t either. She sat on the sofa in the living room.

Now, only the two of them remained.

Ci Yiyang glanced from her phone to him.

He lounged on the sofa, one long leg bent, earphones in, tapping calmly at his laptop keyboard.

She moved over to sit beside him.

A faint scent lingered in the air.

He lifted his lashes briefly before lowering them again, indifferent.

To anyone else, Ci Yiyang seemed like a quiet, well-behaved girl. Lu Jin was even more reserved, and together they sat in a silence so heavy it thickened the air.

Only the crisp rhythm of fingers striking keys filled the room.

Ci Yiyang broke it first.
“My dad said you already graduated high school. You transferred back here before, right? Did you take the entrance exams? Have you checked your results?”

She remembered the first time she went looking for him—at the best high school in Nanjiang. Security had been tight, guards patrolling outside. She had waited for a long time before finally seeing him.

In her anger, she had slapped him without thinking. But instead of being angry, he had, out of nowhere, commented that her hand cream smelled like roses.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be thinking about him now.

Though maybe she remembered wrong. Maybe Lu Jin had never said that. His cold indifference was far too obvious.

Like now. He only raised his head, pressing lightly at his wrist, not answering a word.

Ci Yiyang thought to herself—living in a place like this, even if his grades weren’t good, there would always be universities willing to take him.

She was just about to ask which university he had applied to when she noticed a video interview playing on the coffee table.

A pair of slender hands disconnected the Bluetooth and turned up the volume.

Instinctively, she looked over—