What's Wrong With Being Fifteen Years Older Than Me?! - Chapter 35

The girl on the sofa froze, leaning forward slightly, not quite believing what she had just heard.

Lu Zhiyun laughed at her reaction, covering her mouth with her hand. Her beautiful eyes curved like a crescent moon, and she lowered her voice as she repeated, “Come sleep in my room. You can’t possibly sleep here.”

This time, Ye Li heard her loud and clear. Aunt Lu was telling her to come sleep in her room.

The girl sat up, a moment of dawning realization—was she being asked to share a bed with her? Almost instantly, Ye Li’s face turned red, but the living room was dark, so it was hard to tell.

Seeing her hesitate, Lu Zhiyun reached for her hand with a small smile. “It’s okay. I won’t get mad if you hug me in your sleep.”

Ye Li was led to the bedroom, her mind a complete mess. Once inside, Lu Zhiyun let go of her hand and quietly closed the door.

“Wh-which side do I sleep on?” Ye Li stood there, looking completely lost.

Lu Zhiyun turned to face her, with a strange feeling in her heart, but she didn’t think much of it. “You can sleep on whichever side you want, but I usually sleep on the outside.”

“Then I’ll sleep on the inside,” the girl said without thinking, stiffly moving toward the bed.

“Okay. Good night,” Lu Zhiyun said, sitting on the edge of the bed and turning off the light.

Ye Li took a deep breath as she lay down, the words Lu Zhiyun had just said echoing in her mind. So Aunt Lu remembered what happened that summer when she was 17. Just thinking about it made her cheeks burn. It seemed that even back then, she had subconsciously…

But today, it felt completely different. This was the first time she was sleeping with her after realizing her feelings. In the past, she had always been too nervous to face her, but now, Ye Li quietly flexed her fingers and turned her body so that she was facing the woman beside her.

Aunt Lu was sleeping on her back. The room was dark, but not completely pitch black. Ye Li could just make out the low neckline of her silk pajamas and her hair spread across the pillow. She could see the faint outline of her high, elegant nose. Ye Li lay there, secretly watching her, listening to her soft breaths, and smelling her perfume.

“Xiaoli, why aren’t you sleeping?”The woman’s voice was soft and a little slurred, not her usual tone.

Ye Li’s eyes snapped shut, her body tense. She heard a rustling sound; the person beside her was turning over. A second later, a hand gently took hold of the one she had resting on her chest.

“What’s on your mind?”

Ye Li’s eyes flew open. Lu Zhiyun was right there, their faces practically touching. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she found it hard to swallow. She looked into Lu Zhiyun’s seductive and alluring eyes, and her mind went blank. “I… I was thinking of you.”

“Thinking about what?” the woman asked, her beautiful voice a stimulant to Ye Li’s ears. She took Ye Li’s hand and placed it on her lower back, pulling their bodies closer together.

Ye Li’s nose was filled with the woman’s light, rich scent. It was like a potion, making her feel hot and dizzy. The desire to possess her was overwhelming, fighting with her last bit of rationality. Ye Li felt like she was on fire.

“Aunt Lu, please stop.”

“Stop what?” The woman teased, her long, slender finger gently tracing Ye Li’s lips. A jolt of electricity shot up Ye Li’s spine, over her scalp, and coursed through her body.

Ye Li couldn’t take it anymore. She leaned in and kissed her, her tongue skillfully entering her mouth, a deep and passionate kiss.

Just as she was losing herself in the moment, a voice from somewhere faraway cut through the air. “Ye Li, why are you still sleeping? Everyone’s up.”

The girl opened her eyes, dazed. She was on the sofa, clutching the blanket she had used to cover herself. She was alone, and the room was bright. Han Yueyue was standing at the foot of the sofa, looking confused.

“Han Yueyue?” Ye Li mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“Your Aunt Lu sent me to wake you up. She’s almost done with breakfast, and we have to go to the new school today. Stop being so lazy!” Han Yueyue’s brows furrowed. “That’s weird, though. Didn’t you sleep in my room last night? How did you end up out here?”

Ye Li made up a quick excuse. “You were snoring too loudly last night.”

“Really?” Han Yueyue’s face turned red in embarrassment. “Well, get up now!” She disappeared from the room.

The girl on the sofa rolled over, not wanting to get up. She closed her eyes, trying to remember the dream, but the details were already slipping away. It was just a dream. Lu Zhiyun would never do something like that. But the kiss… it was so sweet! Ye Li’s eyes were still closed as she recalled the sensation, then she slapped her own cheeks to wake herself up.

Outside in the living room, the smell of pancakes filled the air. Han Yueyue went to the open kitchen island to help set the table. “Wow, that smells so good! It looks delicious, too.”

Lu Zhiyun turned around, bringing the orange juice she had just poured to the island. She glanced at her room. “Is Xiaoli still not up yet?”

“She was so out of it when I went in to wake her up. I don’t think she got enough sleep,” Han Yueyue said, chuckling.

Lu Zhiyun glanced at the room again. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night and seeing Ye Li curled up on her shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around her.

Just then, Ye Li came out of the room, her eyes meeting Lu Zhiyun’s. “Good morning, Aunt Lu.”

“Good morning, Xiaoli.” Lu Zhiyun’s words were cut short as Ye Li quickly looked down and ran into the bathroom.

Breakfast was just as Ye Li remembered. She ate in silence, too embarrassed to even look at Lu Zhiyun. This was more awkward than the first time she had the dream. She barely spoke, but luckily, Han Yueyue was a chatterbox, asking Lu Zhiyun all sorts of questions about starting school.

Ye Li listened, occasionally stealing glances at the woman across the table. Lu Zhiyun wasn’t wearing a dress today. Instead, she was wearing a loose, linen top that made her look pure and untouchable, like a saint. But in Ye Li’s dream last night, this saint had been the one to seduce her. The thought made the glass of orange juice she was holding freeze in mid-air. She was completely lost in thought.

“Ye Li, are you listening? Why are you spacing out again?” Han Yueyue’s voice snapped her back to reality, a hand waving in front of her face.

Ye Li’s hand jerked, and she spilled orange juice all over her shirt. “Oh, no…” she said, looking down at the orange stains on her white t-shirt.

Lu Zhiyun quickly handed her a napkin. “Wipe it off. You can change into something else later.”

“What were you guys talking about?” the girl asked, wiping her shirt as if nothing had happened.

“We were just talking about how I’ll just get off at the school gate. I’ve already talked to a senior, and she’s going to show me around,” Han Yueyue said.

“Oh,” Ye Li said calmly, checking the stains on her shirt again.

She had messed up again. It seemed like every time she saw Lu Zhiyun, she did something embarrassing. She hadn’t managed to have a single good moment.

After breakfast, Ye Li went to her room and changed into a clean shirt. She folded the dirty shirt and put it in her suitcase, planning to wash it later in her dorm. Lu Zhiyun saw her come out without the dirty shirt. “Where’s the shirt you took off?” she asked.

“I put it in my suitcase.”

“It’ll be hard to wash out later. Just give it to me. You can get it back next time you’re on break,” the woman said, walking toward the bathroom.

Ye Li stood there, dazed, then quickly went back into the room, opened her suitcase, and took out the shirt.

It was 10 a.m. when they finally left the apartment. The city of Los Angeles looked different in the daytime. Ye Li checked the weather app on her phone. The high was 30°C, and the current temperature was 27°C. The clouds in the sky looked heavy, and the sunlight seemed to touch every building on the street. Everything was different from the life she had just left behind.

She exited the weather app and opened WeChat. There was a message from Aunt Tang at 5 a.m. The time on her phone had automatically changed to LA time, so seeing that message was a little surreal. Aunt Tang wasn’t the type of person who would be up at 5 a.m.

[Tang Qianxia: Oh, right, Ye Li. I just remembered something. Lu Zhiyun is a little secretive about her likes and dislikes, but from what I know, she has a thing for artistic people, especially people who are good at painting.]

[Tang Qianxia: If I remember correctly, you studied painting in high school, right?]

Ye Li used to be unsure, but now she was confident. [Ye Li: The reason I’m in this major is because of her.]

She waited for a response, then realized it was the middle of the night in China. Tang Qianxia probably wouldn’t reply. Ye Li put her phone away.

The car arrived at Han Yueyue’s school. Ye Li got out and helped her get her suitcase out of the trunk. She saw people of all different races walking around, and it finally hit her that she was no longer in China. A girl with black-rimmed glasses and no makeup came running toward them. Han Yueyue let go of her suitcase and went to talk to her. Ye Li could hear them speaking in Chinese.

After a few minutes, Han Yueyue waved goodbye. Ye Li got back in the car, and Lu Zhiyun drove her to her school. With Han Yueyue’s endless chatter gone, the car was much quieter.

Ye Li secretly looked at her phone, at the search results she had pulled up earlier: “How to talk to your crush?”

She quickly scanned the results, put her phone away, and tried to sound casual. “Aunt Lu, did you sleep well last night?”

Lu Zhiyun’s eyebrows raised as she focused on the road. A small smile appeared on her lips. “Pretty well. What about you, Xiaoli?” Lu Zhiyun’s voice was clear and soft, and she still had that graceful, casual smile.

“I… I slept well, too.” The dream came back to Ye Li, and her throat went dry. She couldn’t act naturally.

Lu Zhiyun glanced at her with a smile. “You hugged me like a koala again last night.”

“What?!” Ye Li, who had been slouching, suddenly sat up straight. She stammered, “I… I hugged you in my sleep again last night?”

“Mhm.” The last syllable Lu Zhiyun said was as light as a wisp of cloud, floating in the air before entering Ye Li’s chest.

“I’m so sorry.” The girl rested her head on the window, her eyes fixed on the clouds.

“Don’t be. It was kind of cute.”

Ye Li’s cheeks turned crimson. She felt a secret joy. The only downside was that she had no memory of it.

They talked casually all the way to Ye Li’s school. Just like in the past, Lu Zhiyun took care of everything for her. And since they were in a foreign country, Ye Li stayed by her side, not daring to leave her for a second.

Her dorm room was a triple. The other two beds already had stuff on them, so Ye Li went to the empty one. After they had made her bed, Lu Zhiyun said she had to leave.

Ye Li offered to walk her out, and the two of them walked out of the dorm building together. As they walked down the tree-lined path, a gentle breeze rustled the sycamore leaves.

“If you don’t want to live on campus on the weekends, you can stay at my place,” Lu Zhiyun said, taking a keycard out of her purse. “Just swipe this in the elevator, and it’ll take you to my floor.”

Ye Li took the card, her heart pounding.

“Of course, it’s up to you. I’m not going to force you to stay with me.” The woman’s eyes smiled. “If you ever have any problems that you can’t solve, you can always call me.” She made a phone gesture, which looked surprisingly cute.

The girl’s lips curved into a small smile as she nodded, trying to control her emotions. Just then, someone walked by, and Ye Li unconsciously turned her head. The person looked so familiar.