Chapter 37: A Blatant Secret Crush

Chi Ye furrowed his brows and looked over at Lin Yuran. She was sitting upright on the couch, her expression calm and composed, not saying a word, unusually well-behaved.

“Lin Yuran?” Chi Ye tried calling her softly.

“Mm,” Lin Yuran responded obediently.

“Is she drunk?” Chi Ye looked over at Xu Jianwei, clearly skeptical.

Xu Jianwei nodded. “That’s what she’s like when she’s drunk. If she doesn’t feel safe, she’ll stay like this completely on guard until she decides the environment is secure. Only then will she let herself pass out.”

“What did she drink?” Chi Ye’s voice carried a trace of anger.

Xu Jianwei flicked her eyes toward the empty glass on the table in front of Lin Yuran.

Following her gaze, Chi Ye looked at the glass. There was only a sip left, but it was enough for him to recognize what it was. His face darkened instantly. He glanced toward Liang Size and the others, his voice low and cold: “Who gave her that to drink?”

His anger was plain as day. Liang Size hadn’t expected him to get so worked up, so he kept quiet and subtly scooted farther away.

“You guys are unbelievable,” Chi Ye snapped.

Zhang Kun quickly stepped in, trying to defuse the situation. “Come on, Chi. She just got a little drunk. Let her sleep it off, no need to go after the guys like this!”

Chi Ye shot him a glare. Zhang Kun immediately shut up. The others didn’t dare make a sound either.

Chi Ye waved a hand in front of Lin Yuran’s eyes. She reacted like a sober person, frowning slightly and asking irritably, “What?”

“…”

“I’ll take you home,” Chi Ye said gently.

Lin Yuran blinked up at him, dazed. After a long moment, she asked, “Chi Ye?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his temples. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Okay,” Lin Yuran nodded, docile as ever.

Chi Ye tugged off the suit jacket draped over her and replaced it with his own cashmere coat. He didn’t care about the looks from everyone else in the room as he buttoned it up for her, one by one. Then he helped her to her feet. “Let’s go.”

Lin Yuran even smiled and waved to the group. “You all have fun. I’m heading home.”

If she hadn’t been staggering a little, Chi Ye might’ve thought she wasn’t drunk at all.

The car ride was silent. Lin Yuran sat quietly in the passenger seat, long lashes blinking as she gazed out at the night. She was quiet, sweet, even serene. No music played.

The silence in the car was stifling.

When they reached the gate of Warner Garden, Chi Ye glanced over. “Lin Nuotao, do you still remember your door code?”

“Code?” Lin Yuran blinked and thought hard. She looked confused. “What code? I use a key.”

“Do you have your key?”

“No… I use the code.”

Chi Ye sighed and stepped on the gas.

They drove a long while in silence before Lin Yuran finally looked around at the unfamiliar streets and asked, “Chi Ye, where are we going?”

“My place,” he said calmly. After a few seconds, Chi Ye asked, “Is that okay?”

Lin Yuran blinked at him and stayed quiet for a long time. Then she bit her lip and murmured, “Okay.”

A faint, bitter smile tugged at Chi Ye’s lips. He said nothing more.

When they arrived at Linsen Villa, Lin Yuran sat stunned in the seat and sighed, “Chi Ye, your place is so far! Is this really on your way?”

Chi Ye almost laughed. Taking advantage of her blurry mind, he looked at her seriously and said, “Nope. Went out of my way.”

Lin Yuran pressed her lips together and fell silent. Chi Ye unbuckled her seatbelt and helped her out of the car. By then, the alcohol had really hit her. She could barely stand. Chi Ye had no choice but to scoop her up in his arms.

Lin Yuran stayed quietly nestled in his arms without fuss.

After a moment, Lin Yuran mumbled, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Chi Ye looked down. Her expression had dimmed, and he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. He assumed it was just drunken nonsense and didn’t respond.

Half a minute later, Lin Yuran shifted closer, nuzzling into his chest. Her cheeks, tinged pink from the alcohol, brushed against his skin as she whispered, filled with remorse, “Chi Ye, I’m sorry.”

He froze mid-step and looked down at her.

“What?”

Lin Yuran bit her lip and shook her head.

They had reached the bedroom. Chi Ye kicked open the door and carried her in, gently placing her on the bed. From the moment he picked her up, Lin Yuran had been drifting into sleep. Worried the overhead light would bother her, Chi Ye only turned on a dim floor lamp.

He removed her coat and short boots. Seeing she was still somewhat alert, he hesitated and asked, “Nuotao, do you want to take a shower first?”

Lin Yuran shook her head and muttered, “So tired… don’t want to move. If you wash me, I’ll do it.”

“…”

Chi Ye lifted a hand but didn’t dare move it toward her clothes. Instead, he pulled the blanket over her. “Just sleep, then.”

“Mm.” Lin Yuran closed her eyes obediently.

Chi Ye sat by the bed, his Adam’s apple bobbing involuntarily.

In the stillness of the room, even the sound of him swallowing was deafening, like his deepest urges roaring up from within. Maybe she sensed something. Lin Yuran suddenly opened her eyes and stared blankly at him.

After a few seconds, Lin Yuran reached out, tugged on his tie, and loosened the knot. “Chi Ye, doesn’t this feel tight?”

“Lin Nuotao, you…” His throat tightened. Almost in a panic, Chi Ye pulled away from the bed. “I’ll go make you some sobering soup.”

When he returned, Lin Yuran was already fast asleep, breathing deep and even.

Chi Ye set the soup on the nightstand and called her name a few times: “Lin Yuran? Lin Nuotao?”

No response.

So she really was drunk.

Until now, he hadn’t quite believed it. Or maybe… part of him simply didn’t want to.

A deep sense of loss settled over him.

If this was how she behaved when drunk…

Then what did that promise she made all those years ago even mean? Did it mean anything at all?

That single glimpse of her at the math competition in their first year had branded her image into his heart.

He worked hard to transfer to her school, to get into her class, to sit beside her. While every girl in school had a crush on him, she seemed utterly unmoved. She turned others down, saying only the top three in the grade were good enough to be her boyfriend. He didn’t even dare confess with his bottom-ranked scores. So he buried himself in studying, trying desperately to break into the top three, but never made it.

He could only show his feelings in subtle ways. But she never rejected his advances either. He thought, at the very least, she liked him a little.

During their second year, at Gu Jiaze’s birthday party, Su Yirou pushed her into his arms, saying she’d had a bit to drink. She behaved exactly like tonight, sweet, coherent, walking straight.

He had no idea that was her drunk state.

When he offered to take her home, she shook her head. “Don’t want to. There’s a bad person at home.”

He tentatively asked, “Then… want to go to the internet café?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”

She didn’t want to go home. But she was willing to be with him. That had to mean something, didn’t it? He was quietly overjoyed.

That night, she didn’t stay up studying like usual. The moment she entered the private booth, she flopped onto the couch and didn’t move. He gently draped a blanket over her.

She suddenly opened her eyes. For a moment, they held caution until she saw it was him. The worry in her eyes slowly faded. She stared at him, eyes clear and bright. Then she reached out and buttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. “Buttoned up so tight… doesn’t it feel stuffy?”

That moment, something inside him snapped.

His heart raced. His breath went erratic. He stared at her soft lips and swallowed hard.

Then came a soft, sleepy voice, “Chi Ye, I’m a little tired…”  and he barely pulled himself back from the edge.

She trusted him completely. In that instant, he believed she liked him too. He wanted to use that moment of closeness to ask for something real.

Forcing down his desire, he asked, “Lin Yuran, if you get into Qingbei’s Art School, and I get into Qingbei too… can we be together?”

She looked at him with wide, bright eyes and answered without much hesitation, “Okay.”

“Then it’s a promise. Don’t forget.”

“Okay.”

She closed her eyes and drifted off.

That restless craving surged again. No matter how hard he fought it, it wouldn’t go away. Before his reason gave out, he fled to the bathroom.

He’d always believed that night was something special between them. But in reality, she’d just been drunk. And he’d treated her drunken words as truth… for eight years.

He actually thought she’d keep that promise one day.

He thought that fleeting sweetness in his sour years of silent longing had been a reward. But the harsh truth came without warning, drowning that fragile memory, dragging eight years of hope down into despair.

His chest ached, his temples throbbed like they were about to split.

Chi Ye collapsed to the floor, utterly drained.

On the bed, she tossed and turned in her sleep. Chi Ye pretended she was awake. Some things had been bottled up inside for too long, and were about to burst.

“Lin Yuran, back in school, I never hid my feelings for you. If you didn’t see it, maybe I could believe you were just clueless… But even now, I’m still showing it and you still don’t react. Do you really not like me at all?”

The room was too large, the silence too loud. His voice cracked with emotion, close to pleading. “They all say I’m a good guy. Lin Yuran, can’t you try liking me?”

Suddenly, something soft landed on his head cutting off his emotional spiral. He reached up and pulled it off.

Even in the dim light, he could see clearly.

It was a bra. Still warm from her body, faintly scented with her rose-like fragrance.

Chi Ye rubbed his face, trying desperately to rein himself in, but the bl00d in his body was already boiling.

Then, a slip of fabric floated down onto his shoulder. His breath caught. He picked it up.

Under the low light, he could clearly see it was lace underwear.

Chi Ye’s chest heaved. The desire he’d kept locked away for years tore free like a wild beast, and in that moment, it devoured every last shred of his self-control…

……

T/N: Aiyah… Ranran is way too comfortable with Chi Ye 😊