Chapter 19: Free Hugs

Today’s military training had ended as scheduled. Su Cheng and her good roommates set off on the way back to the dorm, passing a small shop. Su Cheng decided to buy a refreshing drink.

“Boss, how much is a cola?”

“Three yuan.”

“WeChat payment received, three yuan.”

The electronic voice finished broadcasting. Su Cheng put away her phone, unscrewed her cola, and left the crowded shop.

“Whoa, that’s refreshing.”

Su Cheng beamed with satisfaction, rewarding herself with a cola. Her favorite icy cola was truly invigorating.

“Always drinking cold beverages isn’t good for your stomach, you know.”

Lin Shiyue’s voice came from behind. Su Cheng didn’t turn around immediately; instead, she stood in place, continuing to drink her cola.

Lin Shiyue slowly approached Su Cheng, looked at the cola in her hand, and asked curiously, “Do you really like cola that much?”

Su Cheng shook her head in denial: “No… no, I just suddenly wanted to drink it today. I usually only drink it occasionally.”

Lin Shiyue curved her lips: “I thought you drank it often. Wait for me, I’m going to buy a carton of milk.”

“Oh, go ahead.”

Su Cheng obediently waited for Lin Shiyue to emerge from the convenience store. Although she couldn’t understand Lin Shiyue’s thoughts, Su Cheng still wanted to interact with Lin Shiyue as if nothing had happened.

To return to a simple classmate relationship, without getting involved in too many other emotions.

She took a sip of cola and held it in her mouth, wanting to use the sweet taste of cola to wash away the faint strawberry scent.

Unfortunately, the cola in her mouth could never wash away the strawberry scent branded in her mind.

‘That whole thing, it wasn’t an accident, was it?’

‘Lin Shiyue did it on purpose.’

Su Cheng stared at the opening of the cola bottle with mixed feelings, images of her kissing Lin Shiyue flashing through her mind.

Her eyes, her softness, her scent—Su Cheng remembered everything clearly.

The more she tried to forget something, the harder it was to forget. Su Cheng shook her head bitterly, trying to shake off the past.

“Long time waiting!”

Lin Shiyue’s clear voice came, holding strawberry-flavored yogurt drink in her hand.

Su Cheng froze in place, her eyes fixed on the box in Lin Shiyue’s hand, as if she was pinned by that glaring pink.

The cola bubbles she had just swallowed instantly turned into countless tiny needles, pricking her heart.

Lin Shiyue seemed not to notice Su Cheng’s daze, skillfully inserted the straw, and took small sips of the drink.

That familiar sweet strawberry scent permeated the small space, effortlessly tearing open the floodgates of memory that Su Cheng had just tried to seal with icy cola.

Su Cheng remembered the days in her previous life when she bought yogurt drinks for Lin Shiyue.

“What’s wrong? Do you want some too?”

Lin Shiyue tilted her head to look at Su Cheng, the curve of her lips just right, carrying a hint of sharing pleasure, yet her eyes were like a microscope, seemingly wanting to see every subtle change on Su Cheng’s face.

Su Cheng, having snapped out of it, immediately gulped down a mouthful of ice-cold cola, suppressing her nervous emotions.

“My cola is still better, haha.”

Su Cheng’s sudden loud laugh made Lin Shiyue feel strange.

Lin Shiyue quietly watched Su Cheng, watching her flushed ear tips, watching her deliberately avoiding gaze.

Lin Shiyue took a sip of the yogurt drink, the sweetness of strawberry spreading on her tongue, and the smile in her eyes deepened, becoming more complex.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Su Cheng’s voice was low, revealing a hint of unease, as she tightly screwed the cap onto her cola bottle.

“Because you’re pretty. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Go where? Hey, hey.”

Lin Shiyue unhesitatingly grabbed Su Cheng’s small hand, holding it firmly, giving Su Cheng no chance to break free.

Su Cheng stared at Lin Shiyue’s back, her heart filled with doubt.

The streetlights cast a soft, warm golden glow on Lin Shiyue’s body. The way she bit the straw overlapped with countless shy and demure silhouettes from twilight in her previous life.

At that time, Lin Shiyue also bit the straw like this, her eyes slightly lowered, always the one walking ahead.

Su Cheng opened her mouth, but her throat felt blocked, unable to make any sound. She could only silently follow behind.

Lin Shiyue led Su Cheng to a secluded fitness area, found a stone bench to rest on, and sat down.

“Tonight’s moon is truly beautiful.”

Lin Shiyue placed her milk carton aside, looking up at the starlit night sky, genuinely sighing with emotion.

Su Cheng had no mind for moon gazing; her attention was entirely on Lin Shiyue holding her hand.

“Class Monitor, can you let go of me? I want to drink cola.”

“Oh, oh, I forgot.”

The moment Lin Shiyue released Su Cheng, Su Cheng quickly pulled back her hand, unscrewed the cola bottle, and gulped two mouthfuls.

Lin Shiyue kept watching Su Cheng’s every move, as if afraid she would suddenly run away, ready to grab her back at any moment.

Su Cheng felt her cheeks burning from Lin Shiyue’s stare, the temperature still rising, her heart feeling uneasy.

“Class Monitor, what’s wrong with you? Did you hit your head?”

Su Cheng met Lin Shiyue’s gaze, and in those eyes that seemed to see everything, she saw her own slightly anxious reflection.

“You still really care about what happened just now, don’t you?”

Faced with Lin Shiyue’s direct question, Su Cheng felt embarrassed, unsure how to answer for a moment.

Lin Shiyue, seeing her reaction, could guess her thoughts and said softly, “I apologize to you.”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly saying that?” Su Cheng was bewildered, completely lost.

“To be honest, I never expected my mistake to cause you so much trouble.”

“Although I don’t know if that was your first time, it was my first kiss.”

Lin Shiyue took a deep breath, sighed softly, and a layer of dimness appeared in her eyes.

Su Cheng heard this, her heart also feeling somewhat conflicted.

Su Cheng in her previous life had already kissed many girls, but the current Su Cheng, at least to her knowledge, this should be the first time.

But Lin Shiyue’s words had a double meaning; she was asking the current Su Cheng, and also telling the past Su Cheng.

Whether in the past or now, my, Lin Shiyue’s, first kiss was given to you, Su Cheng.

“It was my first time too.”

Su Cheng’s clear voice floated into Lin Shiyue’s ears. The gloom on the girl’s face gradually disappeared, and her eyes regained their luster.

Lin Shiyue turned to look at Su Cheng’s profile, her calm face seemingly covered by a thin mist, a masterpiece adorned by moonlight.

“Then I’m truly sorry to you. A first kiss should be given to a very important person, right? Now it’s been taken by me without clear reason. You must be angry, right?”

Su Cheng shook her head, a faint smile on her face: “How could I be angry? No, I won’t be. I’m just curious, why did the Class Monitor suddenly hug me at that time?”

Lin Shiyue chuckled, shaking her head to herself, her gaze sweeping around, and her burning eyes finally returned to Su Cheng.

Although she couldn’t be certain whether the Su Cheng beside her was the Su Cheng from her previous life, Lin Shiyue didn’t care. She would simply treat her as the Su Cheng from her previous life.

“Because, after kissing you just now, it reminded me of someone I met before. Your scent is very similar to theirs.”

“For a moment, I mistook you for them, that’s why I wanted to hug you.”

“Although I’ve lost them, I really want to go back to that time when I had them.”

“If heaven gives me another chance, I will definitely not lose them again…”

Touching on a sore spot, Lin Shiyue fell silent.

Listening to Lin Shiyue’s words, Su Cheng’s heart fluctuated. No matter how calm her face seemed, her eyes always carried a hint of apology and guilt; she couldn’t hide it.

At this moment, the question in Su Cheng’s heart was answered: the current Lin Shiyue was still the same as her in her previous life.

Lin Shiyue’s eyes were misty, her small hand clenched into a fist, with no mind to ponder Su Cheng’s reaction.

That day, when she received the devastating news about Su Cheng, Lin Shiyue felt as if her world had turned gray and black, devoid of any brilliance.

Sneaking a glance at Lin Shiyue, whose eyes were moist, Su Cheng desperately wanted to give her a hug and comfort her, to tell her the truth.

But doing so would ruin her ultimate plan; she couldn’t tell Lin Shiyue the truth and had to find another way.

“Although you two have separated, I think the person you’re talking about definitely wouldn’t want to see you sad. They surely hope you can move forward happily.”

Lin Shiyue suddenly turned to stare at Su Cheng, while Su Cheng’s face remained calm, as if what Lin Shiyue had just said had nothing to do with her.

Su Cheng met her gaze and continued: “Although I might not be right, isn’t there a lyric that goes like this? ‘There’s a kind of love called letting go.'”

“I can feel that you’re very sad, but they also received their deserved punishment, at the very least, they suffered too.”

“Besides, a crying Yueyue isn’t pretty, you know.”

Lin Shiyue smiled with relief, wiping the moisture from the corners of her eyes. But the address she had just heard, upon closer thought, felt somewhat off.

Su Cheng was suddenly grabbed by Lin Shiyue’s arm, her serious eyes fixed on her face: “What did you just call me?”

Su Cheng was greatly startled, only now realizing that her bad habit hadn’t changed. But to trick Lin Shiyue, she had to stay calm and turn white into black.

“I called you Class Monitor, what’s wrong?”

Lin Shiyue’s tone was solemn: “Didn’t you just call me Yueyue?”

Su Cheng quickly shook her head in denial: “No, Class Monitor, are you hearing things?”

“Really not?”

“Really not, I swear to heaven.”

Seeing Su Cheng’s very serious expression, Lin Shiyue also wondered if she had misheard.

Perhaps it was because she missed her too much that she was hallucinating.

Lin Shiyue let go of Su Cheng with a hint of disappointment, her head slightly lowered.

Su Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, glad she had managed to bluff her way through.

“Then, can I have another hug, just to comfort me?”

Lin Shiyue blinked her large, hopeful eyes, her pitiful expression making Su Cheng fall into thought.

Facing Lin Shiyue’s unreasonable request, Su Cheng of course…

‘Why not agree?’

“Alright, come here, free hug.”

As soon as she finished speaking, before Su Cheng could even open her arms, Lin Shiyue quickly wrapped her in a “bosom hug,” holding her tightly.

With the warm jade in her embrace, although Lin Shiyue was unsure of Su Cheng’s true identity, at least the current Su Cheng could comfort her.

She would use the current Su Cheng to compensate herself.

“Su Cheng, you smell so good…”

“Class Monitor, I’m all sweaty, how can I smell good?”

“I don’t care, you just smell good, slurp…”

“Class Monitor! Mind your image!”