Chapter 137: “What… what are you two… doing…”

“Mmph mmph mmph! Ha—wait, Xiao Zi, let me explain!”

Caught red-handed by her little sister in such a scene,
Su Xiaoxiao hurriedly broke free from Evran’s hold.

“Big Brother… Big Brother…”

Su Xiao Zi’s expression was blank.
She stood frozen in place, blinked once,
then silently crouched down, gathered the scattered books from the floor,
and quickly ran toward her own room.

Su Xiaoxiao had expected her sister to explode in anger upon seeing something like this,
but instead there was only an eerie, chilling silence.

She swallowed hard.
Her heart pounded faster and faster.
She could already imagine just how severe the consequences of that scene being witnessed truly were.

Evran had bitten down without any warning.
Before Su Xiaoxiao could even react, the situation had spiraled into this.

She shot a quick glance at Evran,
then immediately chased after Su Xiao Zi.

The two of them ran one after the other into the room.
The door slammed shut with a sharp pa.

Evran, left standing alone in the hallway,
used her slender finger to wipe the lingering trace of blood from her lips,
then delicately licked it with the tip of her tongue.

Tina, who had no idea what had happened outside,
also walked over to take a look.

“Evran. Bad child.”

She delivered the criticism in extremely concise words.

Evran clasped her hands behind her back,
let out a tiny sigh,
and drooped her head like a scolded child who knew she’d done wrong —
looking somewhat dejected.

Yeah…
If the person you like has a very close little sister,
situations like this probably happen often.
The two of them would end up jealous of each other.

Still… the look Su Xiaoxiao had given Evran just now held no real blame.
Instead, it seemed to carry a kind of helpless resignation.

“Listen to me explain — it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“It’s… it’s fine! Big Brother, it’s really fine!
If the two of you truly love each other,
I… I will definitely support you with all my heart!”

“That’s why I’m saying don’t misunderstand!
Calm down a little. Sit down and listen to me explain properly, okay?”

“Mm… mm…”

Su Xiao Zi wasn’t the type of girl to throw a tantrum like “I won’t listen, I won’t listen.”
Hearing Su Xiaoxiao say that, she obediently set the books she was hugging aside
and quietly found a spot on the edge of the bed to sit down.

Su Xiaoxiao finally had a moment to catch her breath.

But before she could organize her thoughts into calm, coherent words,
Su Xiao Zi spoke first — her voice carrying a trace of timidity.

“You two… do that kind of thing… often…?”

“Huh? You mean——? No, what happened just now isn’t what you think.
Evran was just drawing blood from me.
She said she was feeling weak, so she asked,
and I didn’t expect her to suddenly hug me and then…”

“And then you two… were k-k-k-k-kissing…?”

“She bit my lip open a little,
and that’s how she took the blood.
It was like one of her pranks.
Before I could even react, she’d already grabbed me.”

“It was blood-sucking?”

“Yeah. Just blood-sucking.”

Su Xiao Zi’s voice was very soft —
as though she were asking Su Xiaoxiao,
and also asking herself.

“Then why…
why when Big Brother draws blood from me…
it’s not like that…?”

Su Xiao Zi clenched her fists on her lap,
pressed her lips tightly together,
and lowered her head so Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t see her expression clearly.

Su Xiaoxiao froze for about three full seconds.
Her mind blanked — unable to process her sister’s question right away.

Even her usually quick-witted brain encountered a rare stutter.

“Because… because she’s Evran, and I’m Su Xiaoxiao.
That kind of thing… only Evran would do it.
Besides…”

She reminded herself inwardly:

Besides… we’re actually still siblings.
Even though I’m a girl now,
in principle we still can’t do that kind of thing…
Doing it would actually be the abnormal part.
Evran is the special case.
She’s the weird one.

Su Xiaoxiao had never really seen other Bloodkin suck blood mouth-to-mouth either.

I’ll go lecture her later.
Warn her not to do it that way again.
I’d rather expose my shoulder and let her bite there.

“So… so Big Brother isn’t…
you’re not doing that kind of lover-like thing with Evran, right?”

Of course not!
I have zero romantic interest in that girl!
If anything, there’s probably more dislike than like.

“Oh…”

After the explanation,
a mysterious silence fell between them.

Inside the room, even the ticking of the clock’s second hand could be heard crystal clear.

Their heartbeats pulsed in time with the pendulum.

Su Xiao Zi drew her legs up,
curled into a small ball,
and hugged the little bear plush on her bed tightly to her chest.

Su Xiaoxiao stood awkwardly in front of her,
at a complete loss,
staring at the digital clock on the desk —
its numbers blinking on and off.

Su Xiao Zi’s room was decorated in warm tones —
in short, very girly.
It had been set up back in junior high,
when she really loved all things pink and soft.

But right now, that warm atmosphere made Su Xiaoxiao feel a little sweaty.

Back then she’d bought piles of stuffed toys —
enough to form a small mountain in the room.
As she grew older and matured,
she gradually put most of them away,
leaving only the little bear her big brother had given her as a birthday present,
placed in the corner of the bed.

The very one she was hugging right now.

What kind of scene was this awkward silence?
Was it… a family conflict?

Xiao Zi… she understood my explanation, right…?

Is she angry?

Or does she look a little sad?

But… why would Xiao Zi be this angry or upset…?

Suddenly, she felt lost.

I’m sorry, Big Brother… I’m not a good little sister…

Suddenly, the one who broke the silence was Su Xiao Zi.
Of course, only she could break it.
Su Xiaoxiao, as the one explaining, could only wait quietly for forgiveness.

How could that be?
Xiao Zi, to me, is absolutely the cutest, most wonderful little sister in the whole world!
That’s one of the few things I firmly believe in this lifetime.

“That’s only because… Big Brother hasn’t seen the real me yet…”

Su Xiao Zi buried her head even deeper.

Su Xiaoxiao tentatively moved closer,
sat down beside her,
and asked gently in a soft voice:

“I’ve lived by your side for more than ten years.
We’ve been together since we were little — never apart.
Is there really anything about you I don’t already know?”

“There is…”
Because… I always hide the parts of myself I don’t want to show.
That way, Big Brother only ever sees the good side of me.

Su Xiao Zi’s voice trembled slightly.
It seemed this was the first time she’d ever confessed her inner thoughts to her brother so openly.
The worry about how he might react made her extremely nervous.

Su Xiaoxiao paused for a moment,
then showed a faint smile.
She reached out with her small hand and gently stroked Su Xiao Zi’s smooth long hair from top to bottom,
speaking tenderly:

“Then tell me everything.
No matter what it is — the good parts or the bad —
as long as it’s about Xiao Zi,
I’ll accept and embrace it all.
There’s no such thing as a perfect person in this world,
but in my heart, Xiao Zi can always be perfectly flawless.
Because—”

“Because we’re family bound by the deepest ties,
and you are the little sister I love most in the world.”