Seducing Him - Chapter 31

All winter break, Ci Yiyang stayed in the hospital taking care of her grandmother.

Fortunately, luck was on their side this time—only a few days passed before a suitable donor heart was found, and it was Lu Jin who arranged it.

After completing the necessary procedures, on the day of the surgery, she sat outside the operating room, so tense that sometimes she even forgot to breathe, her eyes fixed on the door.

Lu Jin sat beside her, cupping her face, pressing her philtrum gently, and looked her straight in the eye:

“Breathe.”

Ci Yiyang exhaled, but her shoulders remained stiff, her reddened eyes unfocused, still staring past his face toward the operating room.

All of her thoughts were tied to someone else. Not even the corner of her gaze fell on him.

Lu Jin studied her closely. His fingers left her philtrum and traced over her features, brushing across her face as if discovering them for the first time, until they stopped at the corner of her eye, curious.

“Hiss, Lu Jin!” Ci Yiyang finally came back to herself, her gaze landing on the boy’s face so close to hers. “Why are you pinching my eyelid?”

Lu Jin withdrew his finger, released her face, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the reddened corner of her eye. He smiled.

“Since you won’t look at me, maybe I should replace your eyes with a pair that can.”

It was a cold joke.

Ci Yiyang glanced at the smile on his lips, about to reply, when the operating room doors finally opened.

Her face lit up with joy. She immediately stood and hurried over, completely forgetting the words he had just spoken.

Lu Jin’s eyes followed her, a faint, indifferent smile lingering on his lips.

He hadn’t been joking.
That was exactly what he thought—to dig out the eyes that only held others and etch his face into them.

She should see only him.

The surgery was a success. Her grandmother couldn’t leave the hospital yet—she needed time under observation.

The heavy stone that had been pressing down on Ci Yiyang’s chest was finally lifted.

During her grandmother’s recovery, Ci Yiyang remained in Hechuan to care for her.

On the third day after the surgery, the first snow of January fell.

That morning she accompanied her grandmother for a while, and when the old woman grew tired and fell asleep, she stepped outside for some air.

Flakes of white snow drifted in the air. Even with a scarf covering her face, the chill pierced her to the bone.

Lu Jin removed his scarf and wrapped it around her neck, lowering his head to look at her gently.

“Sis, do you want to take me to see the places you went when you were little?”

Ci Yiyang lifted her eyes at him, a bit envious that the cold wind didn’t redden his flawless pale skin.

She handed the scarf back. “I only come back to Hechuan on holidays. It’s just a small town—there’s not much to see.”

He held the scarf up to his nose and inhaled.

Since it hadn’t picked up her scent, his interest waned, and he carried it loosely in his hand.

“Didn’t you play with friends here?”

Ci Yiyang thought maybe he was tired of being cooped up in the hospital all this time and wanted to get out a bit. She considered carefully, then looked up at him.

“Yes, I went to elementary school here.”

They later moved to Beijing. She remembered when she was little, there was an alley full of snack stalls by the school. Every day after class, her mother would come pick her up and buy her the prettiest little cake from the shop window.

No matter how many cakes she’s had since, none ever carried that same cloying sweetness from childhood.

She suddenly felt a craving.

“Lu Jin, do you eat sweets?” she asked, eyes half-curved in a smile, her nose pink from the cold, wrapped in a thick coat.

His gaze swept over her face. “I do.”

So they went to the alley by her old school.

The place hadn’t changed much, though the road was wider now. At the corner, the bookstore displayed bright, glittering toys—just like the ones she had adored as a child.

School was still in session, so the area was quiet, but the cake shop was open.

She led Lu Jin to the counter.

The cakes in the display had long since changed—now there were mousse cakes, cheesecake layers, chocolate cream, red velvet—each one striking and luscious, the cream silky even to the eye.

Bending down to look, she didn’t find the kind she remembered. She looked up at the owner.

“Don’t you have the strawberry cream cake that used to come in little pink bowls?”

“Oh, that one? My grandma used to make those. Not anymore,” the shopkeeper said.

“I see.” Disappointment colored her face. She turned to the boy behind her. “What do you want?”

Lu Jin leaned to look in the case. “I want the strawberry cream cake in the little bowl.”

“Handsome, I just told your girlfriend—we don’t have that cake anymore. I could try making one, but it won’t taste the same as my grandma’s,” the shopkeeper said, giving the boy an appreciative look. Since business was slow, he offered to make it.

“Thank you.” Lu Jin lifted his head and smiled faintly at him.

The two of them went inside to wait.

Noticing their linked hands, the shopkeeper asked with a smile while working:

“You two look so good together. Don’t look like locals—where are you from?”

Ci Yiyang’s eyes curved. “I’m from here, used to come a lot when I was a kid.”

“Ah, I forgot. My grandma passed away ten years ago. You’re the first in all these years to ask for that cake again.” He slapped his forehead, then looked at Lu Jin. “And you, handsome?”

Lu Jin drew his eyes back from scanning the shop, his polite smile unwavering. “Me too.”

The shopkeeper blinked but said no more, busying himself with the cake.

Ci Yiyang couldn’t help side-eyeing the boy who lied so easily.

But he showed no guilt, only lifted his beautiful dark eyes, bringing her hand to his lips.

“There are no cameras here.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” She pulled back her fingers, cheeks warming as she scolded him to behave.

It wasn’t like they were stealing a cake.

Lu Jin knew she understood. He let her go easily, elbow propped on the table, lashes lowered, his pose casual yet lazy, his gaze sharp from under his lids.

Though the streets outside were quiet, girls kept wandering into the shop.

At first, Ci Yiyang thought nothing of it. But soon she realized that as soon as one group left, another entered—three, four at a time—all stealing glances at Lu Jin on his stool.

That’s what it meant to be beautiful: wherever you went, eyes followed, kindness flowed.

Seeing this, she edged away, widening the space between them.

Lu Jin’s eyes flicked toward her.

“If you move any farther, I’ll kiss you right here.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but just enough for everyone in the shop to hear.

At once, all those envious gazes shifted to her.

Someone whispered, “They’re in a sister-brother relationship.”

Ci Yiyang’s cheeks burned instantly. She shot him a glare and stopped retreating.

The cake was ready soon.

The shopkeeper tied it up in a neat box with a ribbon and handed it over.

“Come back again.”

Lu Jin carried the cake out, holding her hand as they left.

The cold wind struck them the moment they stepped outside. Ci Yiyang shivered.

Lu Jin bent down to brush her cheek. “So cold. Want to head back?”

She nodded.

Back at the hospital, shielded from the biting wind, Ci Yiyang peeked into her grandmother’s room. Seeing her asleep, she found a quiet spot nearby to sit, not wanting to disturb her.

She set the cake on her lap, just about to open it, when a pair of icy hands cupped her face.

“What are you doing?” she frowned at the cold.

The boy’s face was flushed now, his eyes wet like snow-dampened glass, fixed on her with unwavering intensity.

“It’s been too long since you last kissed me.”

Her face burned, eyes darting around.

But she disliked the smell of disinfectant in the hospital. The place she had chosen was a stairwell with windows—so quiet not a soul was around. She had no excuse to refuse.

“Lu Jin, this is a hospital. Wait until we’re home.” She tried coaxing him.

But he leaned down, brushing her closed lips with his, tasting briefly before pressing harder. His Adam’s apple shifted under pale skin, hands tightening against her cheeks.

“I can’t wait. Even in my dreams, I’m kissing you.”

But in his dreams, it wasn’t kissing—it was devouring. Over and over until her tear-filled eyes rolled back, until she fainted, her body covered in the marks he left.

The more ripples in the dream, the deeper the emptiness after waking.

Yet all her attention lately was on others—not him. Not even a glance.

He couldn’t resist pressing harder, sucking on her wind-chapped lips, voice tender as the snow outside.

“Open your mouth. Stick it out—kiss me.”

A cold, low command.

Ci Yiyang trembled under his breath. Remembering how much he’d helped her these days, she hesitated—then parted her lips slightly.

Before she could move, he dove in, rough and impatient.

“Mm—” Ci Yiyang furrowed her brows, unaccustomed to such a forceful kiss, trying to pull away.

But he gripped her nape, deepening it. Fingers at her waist brushed under her coat, grazing bare skin.

She flinched like shocked, her eyes widening at him.

He didn’t close his eyes. He stared right at her as her face turned redder, his grip tightening.

“Lu Jin, enough.” She panted, grabbing at his hand—delicate, soft fingers no match for his strength. In her fumbling, the cake toppled to the floor, cream smearing everywhere.

Finally, he released her lips, trailing down her jaw, burying his face in her warm neck, breathing her in to steady the desire rising from his bones.

The sweet scent of cream clung to the air.

Ci Yiyang tilted her face up, gasping, fragile as if made of glass, about to shatter.

Lu Jin lifted his eyes at last—wet, red, fixed on her lips. His voice curled around her like a hook.

“When will you thank me?”

Blinking away the haze in her eyes, she pushed his hand from her waist and looked under her coat.

Her slender waist was mottled with red from his grip.

She lowered her coat hem. “What do you want?”

Her grandmother’s surgery had been thanks to him, but she didn’t want to tie herself to him—or his mother—because of this. It was best to keep things separate.

But perhaps he thought the same.

His fingers brushed the dampness at her lips. “I want everything of you.”

Her body. Her heart. Her gaze. Every drop of love beyond anyone else.

If possible, he wanted to lock her inside a glass case, kept under his eyes forever—able to see only him, love only him.

“Will you give yourself to me, whole?” His lashes lowered, long and dense, unable to hide the obsession flooding his face. His hands trembled faintly with excitement as they held her.

From his eyes, Ci Yiyang saw pure desire. She instinctively understood it as the longing between a man and a woman.

He wanted to be with her…

Her heart skipped.

He waited patiently, eyes burning with love and anticipation.

Her mind spun into chaos.

From the start, she only meant to toy with him. She had never intended for things to go deeper.

She had never dated, never kissed anyone else.

Every first moment of intimacy she had ever known with a man belonged to him. She didn’t feel she owed him more.

“Wait until we’re back,” she said, lifting her vivid face, meeting his gaze seriously.

Lu Jin smiled faintly and kissed her forehead.

“Alright.”