The Reborn Scummy A and the Sickly O Got Together (GL, ABO) - Chapter 2

Luo Mingyue was genuinely astonished. No matter how hard she racked her brain, she never would have guessed that the first person to visit her after her death would be Feng Baiming.

When it came to Feng Baiming, those who had met her had attached many labels to her.

But they mostly boiled down to these: cold, restrained, indifferent.

And one more: “Miss Feng really doesn’t seem like an omega.”

Often followed by a sighing addendum: “What a pity. Such an extraordinary person is merely an omega.”

Luo Mingyue had thought the same of Feng Baiming. To be honest, she too had held certain stereotypes about omegas.

In Luo Mingyue’s view, omegas should either be delicate and pitiable, evoking tenderness, or soft, cute, and tsundere, adorable creatures like little kittens.

In any case, they shouldn’t be like Feng Baiming.

To Luo Mingyue, the relationship between them could be summed up in one phrase: the most familiar strangers.

They had lived under the same roof in the Lu family for an entire year. Even if Feng Baiming had truly been an aloof cat, they should have at least occasionally curled up together for warmth.

Yet, despite seeing each other every single day for 365 days, while the other young ladies of the Lu family could affectionately, if artificially call out “Baiming” to her perpetually cold face, Luo Mingyue and Feng Baiming still only exchanged frigid greetings of “Miss Feng” and “Miss Luo.”

But it was precisely this “Miss Luo” that made Luo Mingyue realize Feng Baiming had always harbored feelings for her.

It was an afternoon after the Qingming rains.

The spring chill lingered, and the entire Lu family  including Luo Mingyue’s troublesome mother, had gone to the Lu ancestral graves to pay respects, praying for the family’s continued prosperity and flourishing descendants.

Only Luo Mingyue was neither required nor suited to join in worshipping the Lu ancestors.

What did the Lu ancestors have to do with someone surnamed Luo?

Thus, on that day, the vast and bright Lu ancestral home was left to just the two outsiders: her and Feng Baiming.

That day, Luo Mingyue had been stifling grievances in her heart. Over the years, she had not been remiss in expressing her loyalty. Her father was a figure whose face she could barely remember.

Weighing the pros and cons, bearing the surname “Lu” would have been far better than “Luo.” With utmost caution and ingratiation, she had once pleaded with her grandmother, “Lu Mingyue is also a very beautiful name.”

Her grandmother had merely glanced at her indifferently and said pointedly, “One must not forget their roots, Mingyue. Your mother is already a child who brings no peace. I have no grand expectations for you, I don’t ask you to achieve greatness. The Lu family can afford to support you regardless.”

“My only demand of you is this: be upright, forthright, and of sound character.”

These words had lashed at her like a whip, each sentence seeming to imply:

You are nothing but a scheming, morally questionable person, utterly contemptible.

She had practically fled, murmuring, “Grandmother, Mother, have a safe trip. I’ll return to my room to study.”

Once the entire Lu family, along with their retinue of servants, had departed in a grand procession, she curled up in a corner by the floor-to-ceiling window in the study, hugging her knees.

The spring breeze lifted the dark green velvet curtains that pooled on the floor, concealing her sorrowful figure.

Unconsciously, she had fallen asleep like that.

It was the gnawing hunger in her stomach that woke her. Her lashes fluttered, and before she even opened her eyes, she sensed someone lifting the dark velvet that had been draped over her.

It was a very slight movement, followed by the sensation of fingertips brushing against a cheek.

Luo Mingyue opened her eyes at that moment, her gaze meeting a pale, delicate face.

Feng Baiming, whose constitution made her more prone to illness than most, always carried an air of fragile exhaustion between her dark brows.

Combined with her perpetually cool and restrained demeanor, Luo Mingyue found Feng Baiming to be a figure full of contradictions yet one who effortlessly drew the attention of those around her.

She thought Feng Baiming lacked the typical traits of an omega, but she couldn’t deny that Feng Baiming was exquisite and beautiful, her features softened by years of lingering illness, her skin so pale it was almost translucent.

She was like a pure white waterbird in this world.

From the moment Luo Mingyue first saw her, she knew even if Feng Baiming was just an omega, she would always be someone Luo Mingyue could only look up to.

So it was the first time she had ever seen someone like Feng Baiming wear such a guilty, flustered expression.

When Feng Baiming hastily withdrew her fingers from Luo Mingyue’s cheek, Luo Mingyue perhaps overwhelmed by stifled emotions, or perhaps finally redirecting her resentment toward the Lu family’s haughty attitude grabbed that retreating hand and murmured, “Miss Feng.”

Then, still holding those slender, ice-cold fingers, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to Feng Baiming’s stunned cheek.

It was a feather-light kiss, the only one Luo Mingyue would ever give in her lifetime.

Almost immediately, she realized she had done something wrong.

Her grandmother had been right, she lacked moral discipline. She wasn’t a bad person, but she was evasive and cowardly.

Always acting on impulse without considering the consequences, doing things that would later leave her tossing and turning in regret, unable to sleep.

Like kissing Feng Baiming, then facing this beautiful, fragile omega.

Feng Baiming sighed softly and called her, “Miss Luo.”

Luo Mingyue chose to push her away in a panic, fleeing like a refugee, leaving behind only a hasty silhouette.

Yet in the quiet of night, she still remembered that sigh, laced with an emotion that unsettled her deeply.

Feng Baiming seemed to say nothing at all yet everything was laid bare in that single utterance of “Miss Luo.”

Now, Luo Mingyue was dead. She sat beside her own corpse as a woman clad entirely in black stood silently by her side for a long while.

The prolonged silence, the breathless body, and the striking figure standing beside it, black and white, starkly distinct.

Perhaps the mournful stillness led the staff to misunderstand. He spoke carefully, “Please accept my condolences.”

Then, considerate as ever, he turned and tiptoed out of the morgue, gently closing the door behind him, leaving the beautiful woman alone with the one who would never speak again.

Luo Mingyue crossed her legs and studied Feng Baiming closely, belatedly recalling that absurd incident from their youth.

Afterward, she had found a chance to speak to Feng Baiming alone. Feng Baiming didn’t seem angry just listened expressionlessly as Luo Mingyue apologized.

Then, with polite detachment, she replied, “There’s no need to dwell on it, Miss Luo. I was the one who acted presumptuously first. I must have startled you.”

Her words actually made this alpha feel somewhat embarrassed. Pretending to be thick-skinned, she waved her hand and said, “We’re peers living under the same roof. If Miss Feng doesn’t mind, consider me a friend from now on. If you ever need help, I’ll be there without hesitation.”

The moment she finished speaking, she found her own words ridiculous. Feng Baiming was the treasured jewel of the Feng family, while she was merely the Lu family’s granddaughter living under others’ roofs. She didn’t know where she got the audacity to make such grandiose claims that would only invite scorn and distrust.

Yet Feng Baiming graciously nodded and softly replied, “Then we’ll be friends from now on.”

She nearly teared up, thinking that despite Feng Baiming’s cold exterior resembling an ice-carved snowman, she was actually a considerate and understanding young woman at heart.

But later events proved this was merely polite conversation. Their subsequent interactions remained unchanged from before they couldn’t even be described as having the light friendship of gentlemen.

Yet after being dead for most of the day, the only person who came to see her was this most familiar stranger, Feng Baiming.

So much so that she leaned forward to touch that pale, soft cheek.

It was here she’d once left a kiss carrying the moisture of early spring rain, the only time in her life she’d ever kissed someone.

After much deliberation, Luo Mingyue finally asked the question that had always puzzled her: “Miss Feng, why did you ever like me?”

This was something Luo Mingyue could never understand, and had always avoided confronting.

She consoled herself with the thought that Feng Baiming must have long forgotten their youthful infatuation, and that their connection over the years had dwindled to nothing more than occasional glances across crowded rooms.

Time would be the best remedy, gradually smoothing over what was never meant to be a profound affection.

But looking into Feng Baiming’s grief-stricken eyes that could no longer conceal their depth of feeling, she suddenly realized how terribly wrong she’d been.

With astonishment, she thought: So in this lifetime of mine, someone has loved me this deeply after all.