After Marrying the Cold and Elegant Beauty, I Fell in Love (GL) - Chapter 18

These words were truly hard to say out loud.

Shen Yuru saw Han Shuangshuang suddenly freeze, her expression turning stiff. She assumed Han Shuangshuang was regretting her choice to follow her instead of leaving with Shi Nianxue.

The thought made Shen Yuru feel an unbearable restlessness. She had always hated being dragged into this kind of drama.

“What’s the point of showing me that sour face? If you didn’t want to come with me, you could have just gone back.”

Han Shuangshuang was even more conflicted by Shen Yuru’s inexplicable comment. She wasn’t making a sour face; she was just thinking intensely about how to deliver a line that would definitely be misunderstood the moment it was heard. “Why are you being mean to me again, Sister Shen?”

Internally, Han Shuangshuang was pulling her hair out, but on the outside, she managed to look relatively calm—pouting slightly with a hint of reluctance.

Shen Yuru felt the irritation in her heart reach a breaking point. It was strange; she never used to show her emotions so easily in front of outsiders. Usually, even when she was unhappy, she could maintain a faint smile. But facing the seemingly mindless Han Shuangshuang, she found she couldn’t keep up the act anymore.

Just as Shen Yuru was about to demand an explanation regarding her relationship with Shi Nianxue, Han Shuangshuang suddenly grabbed her hand. With those puppy eyes wide and round, the girl took two steps toward her, closing the distance instantly. It was so close that Shen Yuru could see her own reflection in those bright eyes.

Shen Yuru completely ignored their joined hands. Her breath hitched because they were so close—she could even smell the very faint, clean scent on Han Shuangshuang. It wasn’t like perfume; she couldn’t describe it, but it felt warm and sunny.

It made her whole body feel comfortable.

The moment the thought occurred—that being near Han Shuangshuang made her heart feel better—Shen Yuru suppressed it. She instinctively denied it, yet she didn’t withdraw her hand, waiting to see what Han Shuangshuang would do next.

Han Shuangshuang: “Sister Shen, I know saying this might be a bit impolite, but I hope you’ll forgive my rudeness.”

[System: Host, your “wind-up” is way too long. Can you just get on with it?]

Han Shuangshuang bit the bullet. Come what may.

“I want to… to… eat… eat… eat you up, Sister Shen, to repay you. It’ll make you feel very ‘comfortable.'”

Han Shuangshuang bit her tongue the moment she opened her mouth. Her tongue felt twisted and she couldn’t speak clearly, but she managed to get the general meaning across.

As brilliant as she was, Shen Yuru understood instantly. Han Shuangshuang watched as those phoenix eyes visibly darkened. However, after saying it, Han Shuangshuang—for once—didn’t immediately rush to explain it was a misunderstanding.

Shen Yuru felt like she could no longer hear the noise of the students on the playground. She could only hear the thundering thump-thump-thump of her own heart.

“Holy crap, isn’t that Shen Yuru and Han Shuangshuang?” “It really is! They’re actually together. Standing that close in broad daylight… are they gonna kiss in the next second?” “I can’t believe Shen Yuru would fall for Han Shuangshuang. Han’s pretty, sure, but she’s got no brains—a total ‘straw-filled’ beauty. How can she stomach that?”

Wang Yahong stood nearby, scowling. She was still bitter about Han Shuangshuang kicking her into the water nearly a month ago and had been looking for a chance for revenge. She never expected Han Shuangshuang to be so calculating. Han had pretended to be on her side regarding Long Aodi, but was actually targeting Shen Yuru. Han had tricked her into harassing Shen Yuru just so she could play the hero, and even dragged Senior Long into the mess, causing him to be cold to her for a long time.

She’s clearly a loose, seductive tramp, but now she’s playing the “pure and innocent” act in front of Shen Yuru? That fawning smile is disgusting.

Unable to hold back her resentment, Wang Yahong walked past Shen Yuru, pretending it was accidental, and slammed her shoulder hard into Shen Yuru’s.

“Oh, isn’t this Senior Shen? So sorry! Han Shuangshuang and I are very close friends; surely you won’t mind, Senior?”

The collision was forceful. Since Shen Yuru had been focused on Han Shuangshuang’s eyes, her center of gravity was off, and she pitched forward into Han Shuangshuang’s arms.

Han Shuangshuang’s first instinct was to open her arms and steady her, but this inevitably led to close contact. To onlookers, they were embracing tightly, inseparable and intimate.

Han Shuangshuang was furious. She glared lethally at Wang Yahong. She had worked so hard to clean up the original host’s image in Shen Yuru’s mind, and here was Wang Yahong throwing fuel on the fire.

Han Shuangshuang kept one arm around Shen Yuru’s waist and decided to stop pretending. She used her other hand to press the back of Shen Yuru’s head, burying the woman’s face in her chest, and then glared at Wang Yahong with a dark expression.

“Don’t try to act like we’re close. What makes you think you can call me ‘brother’? You just liked taking small advantages, and I was generous enough to let you leech a few meals off me. Don’t think for a second that makes us associates. Do you even know the status of the Han family? You aren’t worthy.”

Wang Yahong didn’t expect Han Shuangshuang to turn on her so fast. “What are you acting for? You’re as obedient as a dog in front of Shen Yuru. Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to drag her into the woods and kick her into the lake? You just changed your mind halfway and now you’re pretending to be a good person!”

Han Shuangshuang sneered. “That was just me beating you at your own game. Who knew you were so stupid? Your head is so full of Long Aodi that you believed me. If I didn’t play along with your plan, how would Sister Shen have known people were trying to harm her?”

As the crowd grew, more of Long Aodi’s “fangirls” arrived. Once Wang Yahong’s name was linked with Long Aodi’s, the focus shifted to Wang Yahong’s unrequited crush on him. The fans began to look at Wang Yahong with disdainful eyes.

Fuming but helpless, Wang Yahong turned and fled.

Meanwhile, buried in Han Shuangshuang’s chest, a rare flush of crimson crept onto Shen Yuru’s pale face. Even the tips of her ears felt burning hot.

This was her first time being so seamlessly intimate with another person. She could even feel Han Shuangshuang’s body heat through her cheek.

Shen Yuru’s cool index finger twitched. Her ear felt a bit itchy from a couple of stray hairs, but she felt too embarrassed to raise her hand at this moment.

What is this Han Shuangshuang doing? Creating these opportunities for physical contact over and over again.

If she weren’t so physically weak, she wouldn’t have let Han Shuangshuang succeed so easily. But besides Han Shuangshuang, it seemed no one else was bold enough to touch her so directly.

The way Han Shuangshuang had glared at Wang Yahong—like a vicious dog seeing something filthy—showed no mercy, releasing all the anger she had built up over the past few days.

As the crowd dispersed, Shen Yuru listened to Han Shuangshuang defending her without a second thought. The sound of her thundering heartbeat almost drowned out Han Shuangshuang’s voice.

For some reason, her heart began to beat faster in sync—one pulse after another, as if an inexplicable emotion was flooding in, filling her heart with a sour, swelling sensation. She couldn’t say if it was comfortable or uncomfortable.

Her throat felt constricted and breathing was a bit difficult. Her nose, luckily, hadn’t taken a hard hit thanks to Han Shuangshuang’s chest padding.

“You can let go now.”

Shen Yuru’s voice was muffled, as if she were running out of air. Han Shuangshuang snapped back to reality and immediately let go.

Because of their similar heights and the way she had been pressed down, Shen Yuru had been slightly hunched over; to straighten up, she had to lift her head. Han Shuangshuang, terrified that her earlier “repayment” line had ruined her progress, immediately looked down to explain: “Sister Shen, I—”

As it happened, one looked up while the other looked down.

By sheer coincidence, their lips met again.

The only things that stopped were their shocked breaths; the only things that sounded were the gasps of the onlookers.

Han Shuangshuang’s unfinished words were shoved back into her mouth. This accident wasn’t sweet at all—they bumped teeth, and it actually hurt.

Shen Yuru’s face was flushed, her ears burning, as she stared at Han Shuangshuang with burning phoenix eyes. She immediately stepped back two paces and asked with an “amiable” yet interrogative tone:

“Han Shuangshuang, did you do that on purpose?”

Truly, one cannot trust a dog that wags its tail to please you, because dogs eat meat.