The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 30.1

Chapter 30.1:  Even

Lu Yin clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in panic.

She really hadn’t expected that she could still make such a mistake!
How could she just kiss Sheng Xiali like that?!

What now? Say something? How was she supposed to explain what she’d just done?

God, could time please rewind?

If not rewind… then at least fast-forward.

Anything but staying frozen in this moment—anything but letting Sheng Xiali stand there at the side of the bed, looking at her with an expression Lu Yin couldn’t even begin to describe.

The look made her heart race in pure panic.

Lu Yin lowered the hand covering her mouth and instead clutched the blanket to hide half her face. Her cheeks were burning; she didn’t need a mirror to know how red she was.

What to do? How to explain? Her eyes darted around, desperately searching for something—anything—that could be turned into an excuse, as if she might stumble across one lying somewhere on the bed.

Her brain was working at full speed under the oppressive weight of Sheng Xiali’s gaze, and she felt like smoke might start coming out of her ears.

No, the longer the silence dragged on, the more awkward it became!

She took a deep breath, pressed down on her wildly pounding heart, and stiffened her neck to meet those eyes that seemed to say she wanted to skin her alive.

“Uh… s-sorry, I was half-asleep and m-mistook you for someone else…”

She stammered the sentence out, and the heat spread from her face down to her neck. She tugged the slipping blanket back up a little.

Right now, she wished she could just dive under the blanket entirely—better yet, perform a magic trick and vanish on the spot.

Only her eyes peeked out as she looked at Sheng Xiali, who remained silent even after her explanation.

What was wrong with her—was she angry? Then just say something! Don’t just look at her like that.

That gaze was making Lu Yin’s already overheated body feel like her skin was about to catch fire.

She didn’t think she could last much longer. She didn’t dare meet Sheng Xiali’s eyes anymore.

Well, she’d already kissed her. The mistake was made. Time couldn’t be turned back. She’d apologized—if that wasn’t enough, Sheng Xiali could just call the police and arrest her!

Since it was already done, Lu Yin decided she’d just give up and hide under the blanket.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the person at the bedside move.

Finally—Sheng Xiali finally reacted!

Lu Yin looked over nervously, hoping she would say something—preferably accept her apology and pretend nothing happened so they could both relax.

Sheng Xiali withdrew her gaze from Lu Yin and turned toward the bedside cabinet. After a moment of consideration, she cleared a spot and carefully set down the glass cup she had been gripping so tightly it looked like she might crush it earlier.

“Mistook me for who?”

She spoke as she set the cup down.

Lu Yin froze for a second before realizing what she meant.

She had just said she’d mistaken her for someone else—now Sheng Xiali was asking who that “someone else” was.

When Sheng Xiali asked this, she was standing sideways, so Lu Yin couldn’t see her expression. Her tone was calm, almost like she was casually chatting, but Lu Yin still felt her scalp tingle.

It was the instinctive reaction of a small animal sensing danger. She shrank her neck a little.

Her gut told her not to make something up—lying would be too easy to get caught, and if Sheng Xiali then asked why she lied, that’d be even worse.

But who should she say? Her mind was blank—she couldn’t think of a single name.

Her gaze landed on Sheng Xiali, but her brain kept replaying scenes from her dream earlier. That damn dream version of Sheng Xiali had gotten her into this mess!

While Lu Yin was still scrambling for an answer, Sheng Xiali reached for something on the cabinet.

From behind a stack of books, Sheng Xiali took out the photo frame Lu Yin had previously stuffed back there. Turning to her, she said:

“Was it this person? Did you mistake me for someone you like?”

As she spoke, she held the frame slightly toward Lu Yin and pointed at the person in the photo with her other hand, her gaze unreadable.

Lu Yin stared in surprise at the frame, her slow-working brain finally catching up—she had once said that “Little Fish” was someone she liked.

Lu Yin: !!!

Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? She’d already used it as an excuse before!

This was like having a pillow handed to you when you were feeling sleepy—Sheng Xiali had conveniently given her an answer. Lu Yin’s eyes lit up.

Perfect—she’d go with that!

She nodded vigorously. “Yes, it’s her. I thought it was her just now!”

Sheng Xiali looked at the almost overly earnest expression that practically screamed please believe me, and the corners of her lips curved faintly.

“Oh.”

She tucked the frame back behind the stack of books.

This time, Lu Yin’s reaction to that single “oh” was completely different—if she “oh”-ed, then she must have accepted her explanation, right?

Relieved, Lu Yin lowered her gaze to her hands clutching the blanket.

She’d been so nervous earlier that she’d wrung the duvet cover completely off the comforter inside. She was gripping just a thin layer of fabric now—she’d have to fix it later.

But just as the thought crossed her mind, the mattress dipped under someone’s weight, and a shadow fell over her.

Lu Yin’s head shot up—and met a pair of eyes just inches away.

Those eyes were dark and bottomless, like they could pull your soul in and never let it escape.

Her heart skipped a beat, her breath caught, and her eyes trembled violently.

“W-what are you—mmph—”

The rest of her words were swallowed entirely, the only sounds escaping her lips being muffled whimpers.

It was like she was back in the dream from earlier—no, not quite. In the dream, Sheng Xiali had been fervent but clumsy, charging straight ahead, and Lu Yin had been able to keep up. This… this was different. In just a few breaths, she was utterly overwhelmed.

It felt like she was back in their past—back when their breaths tangled together, when every inch of skin longed to be pressed against the other’s.

No—more than the past.

Flustered, Lu Yin tried to look at the reflection of herself in Sheng Xiali’s eyes to claw back some sense of reason.

She leaned backward, trying to put some distance between them—but it was as if Sheng Xiali had already anticipated her move. One hand circled the back of her neck, the other around her waist, pulling her closer.

“Lu Yin…”

Sheng Xiali murmured her name against the corner of her lips, low and indistinct.

Just like every time in the past.

That familiar call almost shattered the fragile bit of reason Lu Yin had left, but she managed to push at Sheng Xiali’s shoulders.

Feeling her resistance, Sheng Xiali’s eyes darkened.

Not yet—she couldn’t scare her. The restraint she’d nearly abandoned was pulled back in. She let go of Lu Yin’s lips and leaned her forehead against the curve of Lu Yin’s neck, breathing heavily.

After a moment, she pressed one more quick kiss to Lu Yin before finally drawing back and climbing off the bed.

Her foot kicked the pills scattered on the floor, the capsules rolling away until they bumped against the fringe of the curtain by the floor-to-ceiling window.

The strands of fabric swayed faintly.

Lu Yin covered her lips with both hands, breathing hot and fast into her palms. The heat in her body didn’t fade with Sheng Xiali’s departure—it seemed to spread instead.

She stared at her in a panic. Everything had happened so suddenly she’d had no time to prepare herself.

This was even more alarming than realizing she’d kissed her earlier by mistake.

Had Sheng Xiali just kissed her?

Why did she kiss her?

How could she kiss her…

Standing at the bedside again, Sheng Xiali looked calm—if it weren’t for the damp sheen on her lips and the uneven rhythm of her breathing, Lu Yin could have convinced herself it was all a dream.

She straightened the clothes Lu Yin had rumpled, steadied her breath, and looked at the still-stunned Lu Yin.

“Even.”

Just two words, but the slight unevenness in her tone gave her away—it was like she’d just run a sprint.

Lu Yin could even hear a hint of pleasure, a trace of teasing. Before she could process it, Sheng Xiali turned and left the room.

Staring at the closed door, Lu Yin’s sluggish brain finally started working again, turning over those two words.

“Even?”

She repeated it aloud in disbelief. She was saying that because Lu Yin had kissed her once, she had to kiss her back, and now they were “even”?

But her kiss had been an accident—Sheng Xiali’s had been deliberate! How was that “even”?!

But… in terms of results, she had kissed Sheng Xiali, and Sheng Xiali had kissed her back…

If that didn’t make them even, what would?

Kiss her back again?

That thought sprang up out of nowhere, and Lu Yin smacked herself—what was she thinking?! She must have lost brain cells to her fever.

What was even happening? Had she dreamed it? Or maybe Sheng Xiali had been sleepwalking?

No—she looked perfectly awake.

No—if she were awake, she wouldn’t have kissed her!

God, was it all just her imagination?

What was wrong with Sheng Xiali?

Lu Yin felt like she no longer understood the world, much less Sheng Xiali. How could she… how could she kiss her?

Was she insane? Was this something that could be “evened out”?

By that logic, if one of them had kissed the other more back when they were together, they could still go back and “make up the difference” now?

How could Sheng Xiali kiss her?!

But then again… Lu Yin had kissed her first…

She was losing her mind—completely losing it. Lu Yin yanked the blanket over her head and started pounding the mattress while yelling, “Ahhhh!”

A click sounded—the door opened again. Lu Yin immediately shut up and peeked out.

Sheng Xiali had come back!

Why hadn’t she locked the door earlier?!

Her brain really was useless now. She ducked back under the blanket and kept thumping the mattress like it was Sheng Xiali.

How shameless could she be, coming back in here!

But after just two hits, the blanket was yanked away.

“Take your medicine.”

Lu Yin looked at the pills in her hand and, remembering what had just happened, suddenly blurted, “Aren’t you afraid of catching it?”

Hadn’t she been wearing a mask earlier and keeping her distance during meals? Why hadn’t she worn a mask just now? If she had, Lu Yin wouldn’t have been able to kiss her!

Sheng Xiali’s eyes flickered with amusement. “Then you can take care of me.”

Lu Yin’s eyes widened—was something wrong with her brain too? “Who’s going to take care of you?!”

Sheng Xiali looked down at her. “If I catch it while taking care of you, of course you’ll take care of me. What, now you don’t want to talk about being even?”

Lu Yin was speechless. She’d only said “even” once, and Sheng Xiali was already using it against her? Was she going to throw it back at her every chance she got?

“Even, even, even—you’re so good at evening things out, why don’t you go ‘even’ out some noodles? You could even get paid for it!”

Sheng Xiali pressed her lips together, then, seeing Lu Yin wasn’t cooperating, grabbed her hand, dumped the pills into it, and shoved the glass of water from the bedside table into her other hand.

“Want noodles tonight?”