Chapter 54: Paranoid thoughts

‘It felt like semi-sweet jasmine tea…’

‘The taste was exquisite… I wanted to drink more…’

Su Cheng, in her hazy state, drank what she perceived to be jasmine tea, yet no matter how many times she swallowed, the exquisite flavor lingered in her mouth, seemingly inexhaustible.

The warmth and softness enveloping her felt akin to being cocooned within a sun-kissed quilt, drawing an involuntary sigh of pure comfort from her lips.

Despite its deliciousness, however, this particular draught of jasmine tea brought with it a hint of suffocation, making her breathing increasingly heavy and labored.

Su Cheng instinctively pushed Yin Xuelian’s body away, halting Yin Xuelian, who had been eager to take more.

“Hah… hah…”

Su Cheng’s delicate face, flushed crimson from oxygen deprivation, was a mask of bewilderment; her eyes, barely opened to a slit, could just make out the exquisite features of the face so close to hers, and those eyes that seemed shaped like hearts.

The sight was too blurry for her to be certain, leaving Su Cheng unsure if her eyes were deceiving her.

“Lian… Sister Lian…”

Yin Xuelian slowly wiped a trace of saliva from the corner of her mouth, the lingering flush on her fragrant cheeks not yet entirely faded, her eyes still gleaming with a potent mix of desire and possessiveness.

****

Her thoughts snapped back to reality.

“Water…”

The words were so faint they would have been lost if she had been any further away.

Yin Xuelian gently stroked Su Cheng’s tender cheek, leaning close to her ear to whisper.

“Alright, wait for me.”

Yin Xuelian moved swiftly, retrieving a bottle of water from the bedside table before glancing back at the half-asleep Su Cheng, a thought suddenly striking her.

After twisting open the cap, Yin Xuelian first took a long sip herself, allowing the cool liquid to soothe her rapidly overheating mind, then took another, this time holding it in her mouth without swallowing.

Yin Xuelian leaned down once more, slowly drawing closer to Su Cheng.

Su Cheng’s eyes remained half-closed, her thick lashes fluttering like butterfly wings, and the blush on her cheeks was reminiscent of a sunset’s gentle hues, while her slightly parted lips gleamed with moisture.

Yin Xuelian’s heart clenched at the intoxicating sight, the tide of heat she had struggled to suppress surging back with renewed, even greater, ferocity.

The flames of desire in her eyes reignited, burning even more fiercely due to their brief separation and Su Cheng’s utterly defenseless state.

Yin Xuelian extended a hand, her fingertips burning with a searing warmth, gently cupping Su Cheng’s delicate chin and tilting her head upwards.

Su Cheng, still in a haze, complied obediently, her slightly parted lips resembling a delicate flower bud yearning for moisture.

The very next second, without a flicker of hesitation, Yin Xuelian lowered her head, firmly covering those slightly parted, soft lips.

“Mmm…”

Su Cheng let out a muffled whimper, a sound laced with the disorientation of a sudden awakening and the lingering weakness from her recent suffocation.

She felt a familiar softness, cool and moist, pressing against her, followed immediately by a cool, sweet liquid flowing into her mouth.

It was water.

The water was subtly infused with Yin Xuelian’s unique sweet jasmine scent, and the rich, cool fragrance emanating from her body permeated Su Cheng’s very being.

“Mm-hmm… Sister Lian… why are you doing this…?” Su Cheng’s eyes widened slightly, her hazy vision unable to discern the subtle dominance in Yin Xuelian’s gaze.

Yin Xuelian smoothly wiped away the droplets of water from the corner of her mouth, her clear eyes now tinged with an unusual hue, mirroring Su Cheng’s expression of utter astonishment.

“Su Cheng, you are mine… I will never let anyone take you from me again!” A low voice, laced with intense possessiveness, reverberated through the air.

Clasping Su Cheng’s fragile body tightly, Yin Xuelian no longer bothered to suppress the rampant desire in her heart, pressing deep, lingering kisses onto Su Cheng’s slightly swollen and reddened lips.

As silence descended once more, Su Cheng’s surprised expression slowly faded, the focus in her eyes blurring again as an overwhelming sense of suffocation and helplessness washed over her, plunging her into a deep slumber.

The orchestrator of this entire scene was now left to savor this unique delight all to herself.

It was akin to a desert, parched for years, finally being drenched by the first spring rain—the sense of fulfillment was utterly unprecedented.

The night had deepened, and the rain outside the window continued its steady descent, mirroring the rhythmic rise and fall of breaths within the room.

Yin Xuelian finally ceased her actions, the beloved figure nestled in her arms now reduced to faint, shallow breaths, all strength for struggle having been thoroughly drained from her, leaving her utterly limp.

Burying her nose into Su Cheng’s fragrant shoulder, she inhaled deeply, a sigh of profound satisfaction escaping her.

After dressing the unconscious Su Cheng in the nightgown she had prepared, Yin Xuelian made her way to the bathroom to compose herself.

She cupped her hands, splashing cool water onto her face, quickly bringing down the heat from her flushed cheeks.

“Hah… that’s better…”

Lifting her gaze to her reflection in the mirror, she observed her own flushed face, the desire in her eyes slowly receding. She gently patted her cheeks, willing her racing heart to calm.

This was her usual self.

A faint, lingering fragrance remained on her soft lips, which she absently licked away with the tip of her tongue, her nightgown swaying gently with the subtle movements of her body.

‘No… Yin Xuelian, how could you do this…?’

‘But I couldn’t control myself… I wanted her… because I love her…’

The frantic rise and fall of her chest intensified, her breathing, which had only just begun to steady, grew heavy once more, and the flush of color that had momentarily faded seemed to resurrect on her face.

“Slap! No, no…”

Yin Xuelian slapped her own cheeks twice, then violently shook her head, attempting to dislodge the thoughts she found so unsettling, until finally, reason began to prevail.

‘It’s not time yet… doing that would only hurt her…’

Yin Xuelian lowered her head, bracing herself against the vanity with both hands, panting incessantly until her mind finally cleared completely.

Intimate wear hung on a nearby rack, while warm water from the showerhead cascaded continuously over the pink-haired girl’s pristine, delicate body.

Yin Xuelian’s eyes were tightly shut, her thoughts already far removed from her present surroundings.

Her mind drifted back to her past life, to a student council dinner where she had been plied with alcohol by other members, and those with ulterior motives had begun to stir.

Yet, in the end, Su Cheng had single-handedly fended them off, plying them with enough alcohol to knock them all out, while she herself had only become half-drunk, remaining coherent enough to care for Yin Xuelian until she sobered up.

Now, however, she had shamelessly taken advantage of Su Cheng’s intoxicated state, stealing numerous kisses from her.

A wave of transgressive guilt washed over Yin Xuelian, making her fearful. She dreaded Su Cheng turning against her once she awoke, afraid of breaking her heart and severing their bond forever.

Yet, she found herself utterly unable to control the impulses raging within her; every attempt to quell the turmoil in her heart only seemed to backfire.

All that remained was to try and regain her composure in the shower.

‘But I just love you… Su Cheng… I love you…’

‘No matter what I become, I will always love you.’

‘I don’t want to lose you again.’

‘Even if it means hurting you, I don’t care; I will use every means necessary to make you utterly mine.’

A twisted, terrifying thought flickered into her mind, only to vanish just as quickly.

Yin Xuelian, startled, abruptly opened her eyes, allowing the hot water to pound against her cheeks, as if to wash away those thoughts that felt so utterly alien to her.

‘What is happening to me?’

‘Why am I having such obsessive thoughts…?’

‘The person I used to be would never think like this…’

Deciding to cool her mind quickly, she abruptly switched the hot water to cold.

Yin Xuelian, however, instantly regretted her decision, quickly switching the water back to hot.

“Ah, hot water showers are still the best!”

Her shower concluded, she donned a flimsy nightgown and returned to the bedside.

Noticing the screen of her pink phone light up, Yin Xuelian’s eyes sharpened with cold resolve. She hung up the call and, simultaneously, powered off her phone.

“No one will disturb us.”

Switching her own phone to silent mode, Yin Xuelian quietly slipped into bed beside Su Cheng, carefully pulling the small blanket over them both.

“Good night, my love.”

Her gentle voice resonated in Su Cheng’s ear, a tone sweet to the core, conveying the girl’s profound joy.

Yin Xuelian, reveling in this warmth she now monopolized, held Su Cheng, her precious soft jade, tightly in her embrace.

Fantasizing about their beautiful life together in the days to come…