Chapter 26: A Blatant Crush part 2

Thinking of that, Chi Ye sighed softly and gave up trying to pull his arm away. He braced himself for the mental battle.

Forty minutes later, the film’s end credits finally began to roll, mercifully putting an end to Chi Ye’s torment.

As the house lights flicked on, Lin Yuran stirred from her nap, wincing as the sudden brightness stung her eyes. But then, the glare seemed to soften.

Her lashes fluttered, and she slowly awoke to find a broad, long-fingered hand blocking most of the light for her, only a few stray rays slipping through the gaps between the fingers to let her adjust gradually.

Yanked from sleep without warning, Lin Yuran’s thoughts were still sluggish. It took her a second to realize something was very warm against her chest.

Two seconds passed.

Then it finally hit her what she had been holding. She panicked, quickly letting go of the arms she’d been wrapped around and tugged down the hand in front of her eyes.

Chi Ye’s face came into view, handsome, grim, and full of existential despair.

“…”

When they came in earlier, she’d been shy and cautious, like she was afraid of someone taking advantage of her. Who would’ve thought she’d be the one taking advantage instead?

Lin Yuran slowly sat up, dazed, staring blankly at Chi Ye.

The flickering light from the screen cast shifting shadows on their faces, bright then dim, like a slow tide. But with the ceiling lights back on, the brightness revealed everything, there was no hiding.

Chi Ye’s jaw was tight, his dark eyes fixed intently on her. He looked like someone who had just been terribly wronged.

“…”

Lin Yuran could feel the heat rising in her cheeks again. She lowered her lashes to avoid his gaze, flustered. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a glistening patch of moisture on Chi Ye’s arm.

!!

She was mortified.

Trying to play it cool, Lin Yuran casually pushed back her messy hair, but stopped mid-motion when she remembered how much Chi Ye hated uncleanliness. After hesitating for several seconds, she reached out and sheepishly used her sleeve to wipe the drool she’d left on his arm.

Clearing her throat, she forced herself to say, “You could’ve resisted, you know. Pulled your arm out or something. I’m not that strong.”

Chi Ye was thoroughly amused by her flustered yet self-righteous expression. Reaching out, he gave her hair a good ruffle. “So it’s my fault now?”

Lin Yuran batted his hand away and mumbled, “Well… yeah.”

Too adorable for her own good.

Chi Ye chuckled wickedly and ruffled her hair again, even harder this time.

“Chi Ye!” Lin Yuran protested, frowning. “Stop messing up my hair! One more time and it’ll tangle into a knot!”

As the audience began filing out of the theater, the two of them stood up.

The hem of Lin Yuran’s skirt had gotten wrinkled while sitting, and Chi Ye reached out to smooth it down for her. “Next time we go out,” he reminded her gently, “make sure you take care of yourself. You can’t just fall asleep in a public place like this.”

Lin Yuran wanted to say she did know how to take care of herself. Growing up with a face that drew too much attention, she had dealt with her fair share of harassment. She’d learned to be cautious from a young age.

Back in high school, when she had nowhere to go one night and was turned away by a cybercafé clerk unless she could find a classmate to room with, she’d worried about the risk of sharing a booth with someone else.

But when Chi Ye offered to share his, she agreed without hesitation, not because she had no choice, but because, for some reason, she instinctively trusted him. Maybe it was because they were deskmates, or maybe it was just him.

She’d fallen asleep from exhaustion. When Chi Ye gently draped a jacket over her, she woke instantly, her subconscious trying to protect her. But once she saw it was him, she didn’t move away.

He had been sitting so close she could feel the warmth of his breath, yet she hadn’t felt the urge to put distance between them. With him, she never had her guard up from the very beginning.

That tiny VIP booth became her safe harbor during countless restless nights. No matter how chaotic or scared she was, as long as Chi Ye was there, she felt at peace.

And that feeling had never changed. Even now, his presence gave her a calm so complete that she could bare even her most vulnerable self.

“Are you listening?” 

Lin Yuran nodded. “It’s just… with you, I wouldn’t even hesitate. With anyone else, I wouldn’t have come. Much less, anything else.”

Chi Ye looked momentarily stunned, then broke into a wide grin. “So in your heart Lin Nuotao, I’m that great, huh?”

Lin Yuran was always straightforward. She nodded. “Yeah, you’re pretty great.”

Chi Ye’s eyes were deep and dark, reflecting the light. “If I’m that great, then does that mean…” He caught himself before finishing, pulling back just in time. “Lin Nuotao, I’ve made it this obvious, and you still haven’t figured it out?”

She blinked at him, confused. “Figured what out? Obvious about what?”

The smile on Chi Ye’s face faded. “Nothing.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, then gave her hair another good ruffle.

Lin Yuran protected her head and frowned. “Chi Ye! Why do you keep messing up my hair today?”

With a crooked grin, Chi Ye said wickedly, “I just feel like bullying you.”

“What are you two still doing here?” Qin Lang’s voice cut through from behind.

Lin Yuran turned around. Xu Jianwei and Qin Lang were walking toward them, hand in hand.

Once they got close, Qin Lang looked at the two of them with a teasing smile. “So? How was the movie?”

Chi Ye gritted his teeth. “You two are the worst. Making a single guy watch a romantic action film with you? What were you thinking?”

Qin Lang cackled shamelessly. “Wasn’t asking you. I was asking Lin Yuran.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Lin Yuran played dumb. “I fell asleep.”

Then her gaze landed on Xu Jianwei’s lips and froze for two seconds before drifting over to Qin Lang’s. Qin Lang’s lips were shiny and smeared with lipstick. Xu Jianwei’s lips were visibly swollen, with one spot even broken.

Just then, the couple sitting in front of them, who had been all over each other the entire time, finally finished kissing and began gathering their things. Lin Yuran took one look at their similarly disheveled mouths.

Yep. The signs were clear. Those two had been kissing the entire movie.

Typical Xu Jianwei. Honestly, Lin Yuran was just relieved she hadn’t ended up sitting next to them. How awkward would that have been?

Qin Lang patted Chi Ye’s shoulder and whispered with a grin, “You did sleep with someone… technically.”

Chi Ye shot him a look. “Get lost.”

After a few more jokes, Xu Jianwei tugged Qin Lang away, not lingering a second longer.

Qin Lang turned back to wink at Chi Ye. “We’ve got something urgent to take care of. Catch you later!”

The two of them darted off so fast that Lin Yuran didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Watching their retreating figures, she turned to Chi Ye and asked, “What do you think they’re rushing off to do?”

Chi Ye lowered his eyes, clearly exasperated. “No idea.”

“Oh.”

Lin Yuran thought she saw the tips of his ears turn red.

When they reached the bottom of her apartment building, Chi Ye reminded her, “Make sure you take a proper shower tonight. Those cinema blankets… God knows how well they’ve been sanitized.”

No wonder he’d tensed up the moment she’d covered him with it. With his obsessive cleanliness, he must have endured it for her sake.

She gave a small nod, a little guilty. “Got it.”

……

T/N: To be someone’s safe haven, uhhh

I could only be someone’s emergency err