Chapter 25: Then I Won’t Pretend Either

Her mind went blank in an instant.

Only when Wei Qingxuan spoke again did her thoughts jolt back into motion.

“Qiqi, are you so happy you can’t even speak?”

Run.

Through the haze, that single word surged up.

Wen Qi stepped backward toward the door, but her movements felt weightless and unsteady.

How could Wei Qingxuan be sitting so brazenly inside her home?

Or had this been his plan all along?

No wonder the rental listing had been “coincidentally” pushed to her by the agent.

No wonder he hadn’t come looking for her these past two months.

He had done it on purpose.

Waiting for her to jump in herself.

Wei Qingxuan’s brow lifted slightly.

There was no excess emotion in his gaze, only quiet certainty.

As his eyes settled on her face, that sense of control gradually surfaced.

If Qiqi wanted to avoid him, he would simply have to put in a little more effort.

Anger surged through Wen Qi.

For a split second she even wanted to punch him.

But when she caught the faint smile in his eyes, the satisfaction of prey stepping into a trap, she snapped awake.

Run.

She released the doorknob and turned, her hair brushing lightly against the doorframe.

Suddenly, the back of her collar tightened.

There was no forceful yank, just his fingers hooking casually into the neckline of her knit sweater, as though catching the fragile wings of a butterfly about to take flight.

The grip was light.

Yet half the strength drained from her body in that instant.

Before she could turn her head, her wrist was seized by his other hand.

The same familiar palm.

Slightly rough fingertips.

With a subtle tightening of his grip, he pulled her off balance and turned her around, sending her stumbling straight into the shadow of his body.

“Why are you running?”

“Are you kidding? If you see a ghost, wouldn’t you run?” Wen Qi’s back tingled from the collision. She wanted to rub it, but her hand was firmly restrained. “Let go of me.”

Wei Qingxuan rested his chin on top of her head.

He loosened his grip, only for a moment.

The next second, his hand slid to her lower back and pulled her firmly against him, erasing the last sliver of distance between them.

“The ghost Qiqi mentioned… is that me?”

His expression seemed puzzled, yet the corner of his mouth curved faintly.

“Who else would it be?”

He was holding her too tightly.

For a moment, Wen Qi felt as though she were sinking into a hot spring, warm and suffocating all at once.

“Have you never hugged anyone in your eight lifetimes? I’m suffocating- let go!” she snapped.

Though she couldn’t lift her arms, she pressed her palms against his waist, pushing with what little leverage she had.

“No. Qiqi, I’ve only ever hugged you.”

He lowered his eyes, his tone almost aggrieved.

“But you never let me. Qiqi, be good. Let me hold you.”

He inhaled deeply.

His nose filled with the scent that belonged only to her, gardenia and citrus.

In an instant, his restless body and mind quieted.

“What are you sniffing? Are you a dog?”

Wei Qingxuan laughed softly.

“Then am I a ghost or a dog?”

“…”

While she was distracted, he quietly captured her wrist again.

By the time she realized, he could have twisted her arms behind her back with the slightest effort.

But he didn’t.

He deliberately left her just enough strength to push him away.

Only when she struggled her hardest did he tighten his arms and pull her fully into his embrace.

“Why are you throwing yourself into my arms?”

Wen Qi’s curse was already on her tongue.

But her eyes shifted, and she suddenly said, “Because… I missed you.”

“Wei Qingxuan, I’ve been thinking about you these past two months.”

The sudden change was so blatant it was practically announcing that she had found a new way to provoke him.

Alarm bells should have gone off in his head.

Instead, a trace of indulgence curved at the corner of his lips without him even noticing.

“Really?”

“Yes. I thought about you when I was with someone else. And when I…”

“Someone else?” he cut in sharply. “That dog?!”

“I thought about you when I was drinking with him,” Wen Qi continued calmly.

“What did you think about?”

His smile froze.

His gaze turned colder by the second.

She let out a mocking laugh.

“I thought your alcohol tolerance was pathetic. I thought you were annoying. I thought about how I finally didn’t have to see you anymore… mm-”

The temperature around Wei Qingxuan plummeted.

He didn’t give her another chance to speak.

His left hand captured both her wrists.

His right hand slid to the side of her neck, holding her firmly in place.

His thumb pressed under her chin, lifting her face.

He forced her to look up.

The eyes that usually smiled at her were now tightly drawn, brows furrowed.

“When he kissed you, did you think about me?”

She tried to turn her head away.

He pulled her back without hesitation.

“Yes.”

Her cheeks were flushed from the suffocating heat, yet she met his burning anger head-on.

“I thought about how bad your kissing was.”

Wei Qingxuan lowered his head.

His breath scalded against her reddened lips.

“Finally don’t have to see me? Bad kisser?”

His voice was hoarse.

The roughness of his breathing was almost a warning that his control was slipping.

“Did you compare me to him?”

“Of course. Compared. His kissing is much better than yours.”

His eyes darkened even further.

“Wen Qi,” he said quietly, “try saying that again.”

“I could say it a hundred times and it would still be the same. Wei Qingxuan, I just don’t want to see you.”

She didn’t even try to dodge him now.

Instead, as if afraid he might not hear clearly, she raised her voice with each word.

The kiss came cold and forceful.

His teeth grazed over her unfinished words.

Her breath shattered.

Yet he only found the provocation intoxicating.

Her wrists ached under his grip.

Her back pressed hard against the wall.

She could only endure the possessive, devouring kiss.

The moment she parted her lips to retort, every word was swallowed by him.

His tongue forced its way past her teeth without restraint.

Even her breathing was overtaken.

Anger made her tremble.

‘Wei Qingxuan, you brute. Lunatic. What are you even doing-’

‘Don’t bite my tongue!’

‘Where are your hands going?!’

‘Wei Qingxuan, where are you putting your hands!!!’

Only when her legs weakened did he finally release her lips.

He swept her up in his arms.

His hold tightened.

With a backward kick, bang, the door slammed shut against the frame.

In a few strides, he carried her into the bedroom.

She let out a muffled sound of surprise, her gaze sweeping the room involuntarily.

When she had first rented the place, she hadn’t had time to tidy it.

Back then, there had only been a mattress and a desk.

But now…

Neatly spread blue bedding.

The gray curtains replaced with warm yellow ones.

Two small pots of daisies she loved sitting by the headboard.

Her eyes flicked to the wardrobe.

Through the half-open door, she saw it stuffed full of clothes.

Familiar styles.

Before she could process it, he laid her down on the bed and followed over her.

His gaze was terrifyingly dark.

“Why didn’t you answer what I asked earlier?”

She turned her face away.

Her voice still trembled faintly from the kiss.

“Answer what? Your stupid question? What’s there to answer?”

She deliberately avoided his eyes.

But he stubbornly turned her face back.

The force wasn’t heavy…

Just impossible to resist.

He bent down.

His breath brushed against her ear.

His voice dropped to something nearly like a sigh, yet every word pierced.

“Can’t answer? Is it because you’ve already forgotten what I made you feel before?”

When she remained silent, he continued.

“It’s fine. We can try again. Qiqi, your body should be filled with my scent.”

He easily slipped off her coat.

The movement of him tugging at his own collar carried unmistakable tension.

She had no time to admire it.

As he leaned down again, panic surged.

“Don’t. I have a boyfriend.”

His movements halted instantly.

The shadow in his eyes did not fade.

His voice, however, was unwavering.

“I don’t believe you.”

Dogs didn’t count as boyfriends.

He had never even been her boyfriend.

How could that dead dog qualify?

“It’s true.”

She bit her lip and said something harsher.

“I already like someone else.”

“You like too many people. I can’t even keep track.”

When she was young, she liked people with beautiful handwriting.

She liked handsome boys.

She liked those who smiled with dimples.

Yet she never learned to like the boy who had beautiful handwriting, was handsome, and had dimples when he smiled.

“Qiqi, you don’t really understand what liking someone means.”

“…”

“I don’t understand? How could I not?” she laughed in disbelief.

“If I say I like someone, I like them. Liking someone means wanting to be with him every day. If I don’t see him for even a minute, I feel miserable. That’s what liking is.”

Yes.

That was exactly what liking was.

Wei Qingxuan knew it better than anyone.

That was how he felt about her.

Even so, he stared at her stubbornly.

“I don’t believe you.”

Driven into a corner, she rolled her eyes inwardly and decided to coax him first.

“What if… the person I like is you?”

He froze.

As though he hadn’t heard clearly.

As though he didn’t dare believe it.

A faint haze of uncertainty rose in his eyes.

“…What do you mean?”

“I said, the one I like is you.”

He stared at her without blinking.

A flicker of hope lit in his pupils…

Only to be swiftly covered by self-mockery.

“Liar. You always lie to me.”

Her mouth opened.

The perfunctory words she had prepared stuck in her throat.

With Wei Qingxuan’s monstrous intelligence, she had barely ever succeeded in fooling him.

“I already told you I have a boyfriend. What, are you trying to be my lover?”

He actually laughed.

“Do you think I’d settle for being your lover?”

“Wen Qi, you’re so excessive and fickle. Do you just assume I can’t live without you?”

“You’re just a little more caring. You cook porridge for me. You’re loyal. You’re always the first to rush in when something happens… What else about you is there to like?”

Realizing what he had just said, he lowered his eyes.

She hadn’t even had time to answer.

But he had already taken her silence as consideration.

As if she were truly rethinking that lover remark.

His rigid posture softened slightly.

His back was no longer as straight.

His clenched fist loosened.

He edged closer, his eyes lowered yet still stubborn—

Like a dog who barked harshly but now feared not receiving a response.

His voice was muffled.

“I won’t be your second lover.”

Second?

Did she have a first?

Wen Qi couldn’t follow his train of thought at all.

Had she really implied that?

Wasn’t she trying to awaken his moral conscience?

“As long as you don’t stay with him. As long as you stay by my side. Live here. Wen Qi, I’ll behave. I’ll be your lover.”

“Wei Qingxuan, are you dreaming?”

What kind of lover tied their owner up at home?

Only this lunatic.

She shoved him hard.

Anger flared in her eyes.

“Who wants you as a lover? And this stupid place- I don’t want to stay here for even a single day!”

Her throat tightened from shouting.

He didn’t move.

He simply stared at her.

Clarity and obsession warring in his eyes.

“Wen Qi, you’re not even going to keep lying to me anymore?”

She gritted her teeth.

“Yes.”

Silence fell.

He had many words lodged in his throat.

Yet none seemed useful.

Qiqi wouldn’t even lie to him anymore.

She had truly decided to leave him.

He only answered softly.

“Alright.”

Relief loosened something in her chest.

He had finally come to his senses.

But before she could finish exhaling…

He turned toward the door.

Slow.

Certain.

His fingers hooked the lock.

Click.

He locked the bedroom door from the inside.

When he turned back, his face was expressionless.

He walked toward her at an unhurried pace.

She instinctively retreated until her lower back hit the cold edge of the desk.

Only then did she realize she had nowhere left to go.

“What are you trying to do?”

She met his eyes.

The gentleness from before was gone.

They were like a mist-covered abyss, currents she had never seen swirling beneath.

“You don’t want to lie anymore. Then I don’t want to pretend either.”

“Pretend?” she frowned. “What were you pretending?”

He stepped closer.

The distance vanished.

The cool, sharp pressure of him washed over her.

He didn’t answer directly.

His knuckles brushed lightly over her reddened lower lip.

“Pretending I couldn’t see the panic in your eyes. Pretending to be generous. Pretending I could watch you step away. Wen Qi, I’m going crazy with jealousy. I don’t want to be your lover. I can’t accept someone else in your heart. I only want you to have me. Just me.”

“You think-”

Her words were cut off.

He suddenly lifted her into his arms.

Startled, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

Her palm pressed against the scorching skin at the back of his neck.

She froze.

Their bodies pressed flush together.

She felt the vibration in his chest.

And something else.

Completely different from before.

Like a spark hidden too long finally breaking through restraint.

Heat rushed to the tips of her ears.

She stared at him in disbelief.

In the past, he had always concealed himself.

Even when burning while serving her, he endured alone in the bathroom.

But now was different.

He had made up his mind.

Her wrist was suddenly lifted in his grasp.

She tried to pull back in shock.

He held her firmly.

Slowly guiding her hand.

The scorching heat pressed against her palm.

Blood roared to her head.

Her eyes widened further.

Even her breathing stopped.

No imagined awareness compared to this reality.

All sound faded.

The numbness climbed and climbed.

The restraint he had hidden for so long was laid bare before her.

“Let go.”

Her voice shook, completely off-key.

She struggled to withdraw her hand, overwhelmed by the blunt, undeniable loss of control.

All her previous beliefs about his restraint shattered entirely.

Wei Qingxuan did not release her.

His expression remained calm.

He leaned close.

Warm breath.

Low, hoarse voice.

Both fell against her ear.

“Qiqi… it’s so hot. Touch it, okay?”