Seducing Him - Chapter 4
Ci Yiyang couldn’t quite see clearly, so she narrowed her eyes slightly and was the first to break the silence.
“You… what’s wrong?”
Her naturally soft voice, once spoken, carried a kind of delicate sweetness that made one’s spine tingle.
Lu Jin eased the craving burning on the tip of his tongue, the corners of his lips lifting into a smile. His voice came out hoarse:
“Sorry, it’s just that I’m allergic to the fragrance on you.”
Fragrance…
Ci Yiyang lowered her head to sniff.
There was nothing but the faint scent of body wash left from her recent shower. Nothing unusual.
But if he was allergic to that kind of fragrance, and still kept such a scented body wash in his room, then he deserved it.
Ci Yiyang looked into his clear eyes and slowly showed a gentle apology.
“I didn’t know.”
He said nothing more, only bent down and extended his hand toward her.
Ci Yiyang lowered her lashes, looking at the hand before her — long, slender fingers, every joint well-defined, the kind of hands naturally made for playing piano.
Even his hands looked good.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally lifted her hand and placed it into his.
The instant their skin touched, she realized his hand was burning hot, an abnormal temperature that seemed to seep into her bones.
Using his strength, she stood up.
When she steadied herself, he deliberately drew back, maintaining a restrained distance. His manner was detached.
Completely different from their first meeting, when he had seemed lofty yet approachable, warm and kind.
Now, getting even a single word out of him felt like prying gold from his mouth.
Having achieved her purpose, Ci Yiyang didn’t linger. She held the railing and headed upstairs.
After she left, the aloof boy remained standing where he was, lazily lifting his eyelids. His dark pupils stayed fixed on the spot where she had disappeared.
He stared for a long time, then, with a weary expression, lowered his head and brought his hand to his nose, inhaling lightly.
He could still smell a pleasant fragrance.
Not perfume.
It was temptation.
Although Ci Yiyang had moved in with ulterior motives, she actually seldom took the initiative to approach Lu Jin, and rarely saw him.
He spent almost the whole day in his room, sleeping. Usually, she only saw him in the mornings at the dining table.
Their interactions were relatively harmonious.
After waiting several days, the items she ordered online finally began arriving.
Early one morning—
After signing for her packages, Ci Yiyang opened them and took out several boxed dresses, trying each one in the fitting room.
The dresses fit her size just right, though the bust felt a little tight, pressing against her uncomfortably. Still, she didn’t plan to alter them.
In the full-length mirror, the girl wore a pure white, lace-trimmed camisole dress. Her chest full, the lotus-petal hem just barely covered her hips, her thighs encased in white lace stockings.
Ci Yiyang had never worn a skirt this short before — only slightly longer than the lingerie set she had once bought.
At a glance: slender waist, long legs, and a dazzling white complexion.
Feeling insecure, she tugged at the hem, trying to pull it down further.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
It was the housekeeper, calling her downstairs.
Ci Yiyang turned her head to reply, intending to change out of the dress before going down. But then she paused.
Slowly, she loosened her hair, letting the silk-like black strands fall over her shoulders, and walked out just like that.
As usual, Lu Jin was coming downstairs at the same time, now seated at the dining table.
Hearing her, he turned his head, his gaze naturally falling on her.
She looked different today — no pearl hair clip, only a pair of snowy pearl earrings. Her long hair hung loosely down her back.
Especially that dress style. Without the lace trim at the neckline and hem, it reminded him of the one he had seen on her phone before.
He glanced once, his long lashes trembling, then calmly retracted his gaze.
The hall was silent.
Ci Yiyang walked over, sat opposite him, sipped her soy milk, and let her eyes drift toward him.
The boy bit into toast stained with bright red jam, his dark lashes lowered, his demeanor calm. That calm carried both a dangerous allure and a cold restraint.
She had dressed like this, and he only looked once?
Ci Yiyang lost some confidence, lowering her head to study herself.
Her figure was fine — her chest not too big, not too small, her legs long and straight, her skin pale and smooth.
Besides, she had good taste in dresses. So… the only possibilities were that either he couldn’t, or this outfit simply didn’t move him.
Ci Yiyang lowered her lashes thoughtfully, set down her cup, and took the initiative.
“Lu Jin.”
He lifted his head to look at her.
Because of his beauty, even eating was refined and elegant. The jam smeared on his lips made them look like he wore lipstick.
Seeing her hesitate, he put down his utensils.
“What is it…”
He paused, then deliberately raised the tail of his voice, adding a title:
“…sister.”
Ci Yiyang almost spat out the soy milk she had just swallowed.
Suppressing her disgust, she pretended not to hear and kept her face blank.
“Does this dress look good?”
Dressed like this, asking the man who was about to become her stepbrother if the dress looked good?
Lu Jin lowered his lashes slowly, his gaze only skimming her collarbone and up, avoiding the lace-trimmed neckline.
“It looks nice,” he said casually.
His words said it was nice, but his expression showed no real interest.
Ci Yiyang remembered she still had two other dresses. At first she thought he couldn’t dislike all of them.
But now she wondered — what if he truly didn’t like any?
To be cautious, she said,
“Can you do me a favor?”
Lu Jin’s brows arched slightly. His gaze lingered lazily on the girl’s serious pale face.
So she wanted to ask him for help.
For no reason, his brows and eyes softened, a smile tugging at his lips, dyed red like a dew-soaked rose.
“Of course. What does sister want me to help with?”
It wasn’t asking for help.
Ci Yiyang wanted to correct him, but when she saw the sudden smile in his eyes, her heart skipped a beat.
She had found something.
Lu Jin wasn’t as cold as he appeared. On the contrary, he was malicious. That was why, at their first meeting, he had deliberately used a term she despised. And now again, twisting her meaning by calling it a “request.”
Ci Yiyang said,
“Later, can I come to your room? Help me choose which dress looks best?”
This time, he was the one to fall silent.
To better see the look in his eyes, Ci Yiyang leaned forward against the table, her slender shoulders held only by fragile straps that could snap with a tug.
She pleaded softly,
“Can you help me? A few days from now, a friend of mine is coming over. He’s a guy. I don’t know what kind of girls guys usually like. Only you can tell me.”
There was no such guy. She made it up.
Something in her words struck him. His lashes lifted slightly, his eyes dark and unreadable.
“All right. Tonight, I’ll help sister take a good look.”
Satisfied with his agreement, Ci Yiyang smiled faintly.
Lu Jin seemed easy to approach.
She sat back, quietly finishing her breakfast.
She ate slowly, with care and respect for everything.
After breakfast, the housekeeper left.
Lu Jin headed upstairs.
But before he had gone far, someone followed behind.
“Lu Jin.”
The girl’s soft tone carried a faint breathlessness.
He stopped at his door, turning his head.
Ci Yiyang had run after him, lace fluttering around her white form, her cheeks flushed when she reached him.
Because of his height, he looked down at her lazily.
“It’s not even dark yet, sister.”
As if scolding her impatience.
Maybe it was the lingering drawl in his voice, but every time he called her “sister,” her skin crawled.
Ci Yiyang raised her bright black eyes to him, shook her head.
“No, I meant another thing.”
“Oh?” His deep gaze was like black gemstones with no light.
Under his stare, Ci Yiyang asked calmly,
“How old are you? Legally… are you an adult?”
Awkward and blunt, like someone rushing to ask if a crush was single.
He clearly froze for a second. Then, recalling what he’d seen on her phone before, a strange smile curved his lips.
She had let him see semi-sheer lingerie, yet now she asked if he was of age.
Dropping his lashes, he casually tossed the question back.
“What do you think, sister?”
His deep, magnetic voice lost its coldness, now dripping with entangling warmth.
In her ears, it was like some damp, clinging creature crawling on skin — a shell-less snail, a water snake, a swamp lizard. Sticky, suffocating.
Especially that word, “sister.” The more he said it, the more her stomach churned.
From the very beginning, he had kept calling her that, as though they were truly siblings.
Disgusting.
She swallowed down the nausea, forcing patience.
“I mean on your ID. Are you legally an adult?”
If he was still underage, she’d have to wait. But if she waited any longer, Lu Lan and her father might already be married.
“My ID…” he murmured softly, his lashes trembling innocently.
“Roughly, yes. Probably an adult.”
What did “probably” mean? Adult or not?
Ci Yiyang pressed further.
He drawled languidly,
“Eighteen.”
That was enough.
She let out a small breath of relief.
Though the sound of him calling her “sister” still sickened her, she had gotten the answer she needed. Without another word, she turned and left first.
He had promised to help her that evening, but Ci Yiyang couldn’t wait. Before night even fell, she knocked on his door.
Though she knew he was inside, it took a long while before the door opened.
He looked as if he had just woken up, eyes drowsy, leaning against the frame.
The girl before him wore a loose nightdress, her black hair falling like silk, her delicate brows and gentle eyes giving her the air of a classical dancer.
Clearly, she had dressed carefully before coming.
She raised the box in her hand.
“You said you’d help me look at which dress looked better.”
His eyes shifted to her hand. The daze faded from them, and he gave a hoarse “ah,” before lazily asking,
“Right now? I’m not awake yet.”
Ci Yiyang choked on her words.
Not awake — and yet standing there talking to her?
Just as she considered leaving and coming back later, he smiled suddenly.
“Sister is so cute. Come in.”
Smiling politely, he stepped aside like a Western gentleman, inviting her in.
She followed him inside.
Lu Jin sank onto the sofa, tilting his head back, eyes closed, Adam’s apple rising against his pale skin, his complexion snowy under the fading evening light.
What he did all day, she didn’t know. But he always looked half-asleep.
Ci Yiyang glanced around the vintage European-style doors in the room, and asked,
“Which one is the changing room?”
Drowsy, his gaze was gentler than in the daytime. He jerked his chin.
“There isn’t one. There’s the bathroom. Use that.”
Three doors, but no changing room? She didn’t believe it. But the bathroom worked just as well.
She started toward it.
Just before stepping inside, his lazy voice drifted behind her.
“I thought sister would change right here. Aren’t you afraid of having no privacy?”
What did that mean?
Ci Yiyang turned, confusion flickering in her eyes.
He was smiling, like he was teasing her kindly.
Her hand hesitated on the bathroom door.
His room door had a fingerprint lock. Who knew if he might be some kind of pervert, with hidden cameras inside.
But what would he even do with cameras in his own bathroom? Film himself showering?
The doubt on her face seemed to amuse him.
Lu Jin’s expression softened, his voice gentle.
“Go ahead. I’m not that much of a pervert. Who would put cameras in their own bathroom? If anything, they’d be in someone else’s room. Don’t you think so, sister?”
Ci Yiyang hated that word. Hated it.
So realizing he was teasing her, she immediately pushed open the bathroom door and went in.
The click of the lock reached his ears.
Lu Jin’s smile deepened. He leaned against the black leather sofa, lowering his head to scroll through his phone.
Inside the bathroom, however, Ci Yiyang’s pupils trembled at the sight before her.
She had been wrong.
Lu Jin might really be a pervert.