The Wind Heard Her Confession - Chapter 5: A Blinding Crush part 1

Lin Yuran turned her head at the voice.

Chi Ye’s school uniform was open; two buttons on his collared shirt were undone, revealing a hint of his collarbone beneath his thin white arms, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing a section of cold skin. He held two bottles of mineral water, implying that he had just purchased them from the vending machine.

Perhaps hearing their conversation with the manager, Chi Ye walked over to her. “Lin Yuran, I’ve reserved a private room, would you like to come?”

At this time, Lin Yuran didn’t have much of a choice, but strangely, those words made her feel safe.

“Sure.”

Smiling, Chi Ye said, “Then wait here for a moment.” He quickly walked toward the private rooms area.

Half a minute later, three boys walked out from the room Chi Ye had entered earlier, cursing as they left. The three boys looked unfamiliar, likely not from the same school.

Lin Yuran heard them mutter under their breath, “Chi Ye, you heartless dog, how could you treat your bros like this?!”

“We’re having fun playing games, and you kicked us out in the middle of the night! No human being could possibly do such a thing!”

“There’s no humanity, only animal instincts!”

As they cursed, the trio walked into the main hall, where they saw Lin Yuran. The three instantly stopped talking.

One particularly mischievous-looking boy stared cockily at Lin Yuran, then received a swift kick from Chi Ye, sending him flying into the door frame.

“Get lost.” Chi Ye’s tone was extremely harsh.

The boy dusted off his sneakers and shot another glare at Lin Yuran, then playfully said to Chi Ye, “Forget it, I’ll forgive you this time.”

Without another word, they left the internet café together and drove away.

Lin Yuran filled out the registration form on the front desk, then took out ten yuan to give to the manager. Chi Ye spoke up, “She doesn’t have to pay; we’ll use our spots.”

The manager nodded in agreement, “Sure.”

Following Chi Ye into the private room, Lin Yuran finally felt she could relax after all that anxiety. She turned to ask, “Did I interrupt your game?”

“No,” Chi Ye answered, “they were too loud, so I was just about to kick them out anyway.”

He wiped down the sofa with disinfectant wipes as he spoke.

Only now did Lin Yuran notice that somehow, his school uniform zipper had already been pulled up, and the shirt inside properly buttoned to the top. His sleeves hadn’t been rolled down, exposing the pale skin beneath, upon which blue veins were clearly visible.

“You can sit here,” Chi Ye gestured toward the sofa he’d cleaned, inviting her over.

Lin Yuran didn’t hesitate and sat naturally where she was directed.

“A good student like yourself, why are you sneaking out late at night for a midnight gaming marathon?” Chi Ye asked while cleaning up the empty soda cans on the table.

“Then what? You haven’t seen good students fall asleep in class?” Lin Yuran lifted her index finger and waved it left to right with a smile, saying, “Don’t randomly define good students.”

Chi Ye’s lips curled up into a grin. “That’s true.” He then asked, “How come you’re out so late?”

Lin Yuran bit her lip for a moment before making up a lie, “My mom is on night shift, my dad brought a bunch of uncles home for a poker game overnight, it was too loud, so I ran away.”

Chi Ye wiped the keyboard of his computer carefully with a disinfecting wet wipe, then said, “Your dad doesn’t stop you from running out at such late hours as a girl alone?”

“He’s busy playing cards,” Lin Yuran responded nonchalantly.

Realizing she wasn’t interested in continuing this conversation, Chi Ye gave a quiet acknowledgment without pressing further.

After wiping down the keyboard, mouse, and headset twice with the disinfecting wipes, Chi Ye sat down beside her.

At this time, Lin Yuran had yet to fully calm herself; she wasn’t sleepy at all and hadn’t even brought any books along. Since she didn’t often browse the internet, she had no idea what games were worth trying out, so when she saw the game interface open on Chi Ye’s desk, she asked, “Want to play your game for a while, Chi Ye?”

Smiling, Chi Ye agreed. “Sure, I’ll give you my secondary account instead of creating a new one.”

Lin Yuran played with him for a few rounds, listening to his complaints about bugs, bad character models, and poor graphics.

But this game was already the most advanced on the market, the hottest among gamers. Chi Ye had said that one day he would create a game ten thousand times better than this.

It was clear that he loved games; chatting about them brought out more words from him. “Not bad,” Lin Yuran said. “Turning your hobby into your career is pretty cool.”

After playing a few rounds, Lin Yuran’s tensed nerves gradually relaxed as she felt herself succumbing to sleepiness. Before long, she leaned heavily against the sofa and fell asleep.

She wasn’t used to the surroundings, so her sleep was restless. She woke up once during the night, bleary-eyed, only to see Chi Ye no longer playing the game. He turned off the screen and leaned lazily on the other sofa.

The next morning when she woke up early, Chi Ye wasn’t in the private room anymore.

A blue-and-white school uniform covered Lin Yuran’s body, clean and fresh, carrying a faint scent of wood mixed with the aroma of mild soap—very pleasant. She got up from the sofa, stretching her limbs and bones.

Chi Ye walked into the room, his upper body clad in only a white shirt, his dark hair framing clean features like refreshing dewdrops. The vitality at the tips of his eyebrows and corners of his eyes seemed to glow like sunlight through misty mornings.

Only upon seeing two breakfasts in hand did Lin Yuran recall that she still hadn’t paid him back for their late-night snack.

She took out ten yuan from her pocket and handed it to him, slightly embarrassed. “I only have this ten yuan on me right now; I’ll pay you for breakfast tomorrow.”

Chi Ye placed breakfast onto the table. “No need, consider it my treat as your classmate.”

Lin Yuran disliked taking advantage of others and stuffed the ten yuan into the pocket of his school uniform jacket, which was still on the sofa. “We must still pay the overnight fee, but since you’re treating us breakfast today, next time, I’ll buy dinner.”

“Next time?” Chi Ye seemed puzzled at first, then he remembered something. “It’s not safe for girls to stay up all night alone, so if we’re going to do that again because we can’t stand being home late at night, let’s book a private room here instead. I’ve already paid for a year’s worth.” He pondered momentarily before continuing, “There’s no need to give the manager extra money either, just hand over ten yuan every time you visit. How about it?”