Chapter 18

The dim night-light blurred the hospital room’s cold white tones. Crisp linen sheets, a soft goose-down pillow, and a pale blue silk summer quilt—Su Yi lay there as if she were sleeping in her own bed, lazily letting out a yawn.

The sound of that yawn echoed through the quiet hospital room late at night, and for some reason, it gave Bian Lu a strange, disorienting sense of having crossed through time and space.

No, not disorienting.

She really had crossed through time and space, returning to six years ago.

Bian Lu looked at the tote bag, then looked at Su Yi. She reached out and picked up the bag, but she did not pull out the handles.

“What do you need the rope for? Don’t tell me you want to… tie me up?”

Su Yi glanced sideways at her.

“Congratulations, you got it right. Hurry up. You may not be sleepy, but I am.”

“Then sleep.”

“With you standing there like that, how am I supposed to sleep?”

“Then I’ll go home.”

It would have been fine if Bian Lu had not said that. The moment she did, it was like stepping on a cat’s tail. Su Yi snapped irritably, “Go home so it’s convenient for you to fool around?”

“Then…”

“Then what? Give me the rope!”

After going around in circles, they had returned to the same point.

Bian Lu said gently, “Sleep peacefully. I promise I won’t touch you… my body again.”

Su Yi rubbed the yawn-tears from her eyes. Sleepiness had clearly swept away most of her reason.

“Peacefully? Can I sleep peacefully? Also, why did you specially emphasize that it’s read the original at bailiantales.comyour body? Are you trying to say that since it’s your body, you can touch it however you want, even if I’m the one inside?”

“Mm.”

“You ‘mm’? You actually dare to ‘mm’?!”

Su Yi was so angry she stopped yawning.

Bian Lu said, “Be reasonable. Don’t be so double-standard.”

Su Yi said, “How am I not being reasonable? How am I double-standard? You were clearly the one who touched me while I was asleep, and you still won’t admit it.”

“I didn’t refuse to admit it. I’m just discussing the matter as it is.”

“Heh?”

That cold laugh from Su Yi was very spirited.

Bian Lu suddenly realized that no matter how she explained, Su Yi would never believe her.

That was why she should have asked herself: why had she gotten curious about what her own lips felt like for no reason?

But why was Su Yi so hung up on this matter? Normally, when someone of the same sex encountered this kind of situation, the first reaction would usually be to think there was something dirty on their mouth, right?

They were both omegas, and that was even Su Yi’s own body. How had Su Yi’s thought process suddenly become so strange?

Even if Su Yi was someone who cared greatly about privacy, at a time like this, shouldn’t the point of Su Yi’s anger be that Bian Lu’s finger had been sullied?

After all, Bian Lu had used “Su Yi’s” finger to touch “Bian Lu’s” lips.

She thought again of Su Yi’s strange lingering at the villa door. Originally, after seeing that Su Yi was fine, Bian Lu had not wanted to investigate further. But now she wanted to know again.

If Su Yi refused to say it, then she could only use other methods to investigate.

She had paid special attention to the surroundings earlier. There were no cameras inside the villa, but there were several in the courtyard, and there was also one at the villa entrance.

Once she went back and checked the surveillance footage, perhaps things would become clear.

Bian Lu said, “Back when you asked me to help you bathe, that wasn’t what you said. Washing away dirt from your whole body doesn’t count as touching randomly, but wiping something dirty from your mouth does? What kind of logic is that?”

Su Yi returned a smile that did not reach her eyes. “Didn’t you say I’m unreasonable and double-standard? Fine. I’m unreasonable and double-standard! You, Sun Da-Lu with your fiery golden eyes, pull out those bag handles and give them to me right now!”

Sun Da-Lu…

That really was a bit ugly-sounding.

“What if I don’t?”

“Don’t?” Su Yi hooked her lips into a rather chilling smile. “You can refuse. I have plenty of ways to make you obey.”

Bian Lu raised her brow slightly. “For example?”

“For example, I’ll use your identity to make a real-name post. The title will be: ‘How I Went from Olympiad Champion to Being Kept by Multiple Alphas.’ I believe that will definitely stir up a thousand waves with one stone. Then you’ll be famous beyond the school.”

That was indeed something Su Yi would say. Whether at twenty-one or twenty-seven, Su Yi never let herself suffer a loss and could always easily seize the commanding height. In her previous life, Bian Lu had been led around by Su Yi far too many times.

Bian Lu said, “But you don’t know my experiences.”

Su Yi said coolly, “I can make them up.”

Bian Lu said, “Then what if we can’t switch back?”

Su Yi said, “Then I’ll drag you down with me.”

Bian Lu nodded. “Oh, right. Dying together. You said that before. But I don’t believe it, you know.”

Su Yi frowned. “I’ve told you hundreds of times. Don’t use my face to say sentence endings in such a weird tone!”

“I can’t even say ‘you know’?”

“You can’t say it so softly and lightly, like you’re flirting!”

“Did I?”

“Yes!”

“Oh. Then I’m sorry.”

Su Yi looked at her with an expression too complicated for words. So angry that she lay flat and glared at the ceiling, sulking by herself for a long while, as if Bian Lu’s apology had somehow offended her too.

So hard to please.

“Now. Immediately. The rope. Give it to me. Don’t force me to make that post, and don’t think about copying me and making a post to smear yourself. You and I are different. The body you’re using is…”

“Here.”

Bian Lu pulled out the two braided ropes and handed them over.

Su Yi’s mouth was still open mid-sentence. She stared at Bian Lu in disbelief.

(Su Yi: Just how many people [read the original at bailiantales.com]has she played tie-up games with? I haven’t even finished talking, and she’s already impatient?!)

Bian Lu blinked. Her hand, which had only stretched out halfway, paused in midair.

Why is she looking at me like that? Isn’t she in a hurry to sleep?

Bian Lu said, “You… weren’t finished?”

Su Yi: “…”

Bian Lu said, “Go on. I’m listening.”

She drew her hand back and smiled, patiently waiting to listen.

The line of Su Yi’s jaw seemed to tighten. Bian Lu really did not know how she had made Su Yi unhappy again.

Bian Lu said, “What’s wrong? Continue.”

Su Yi: “…”

Bian Lu: “???”

After seeing so much of the twenty-seven-year-old Su Yi, rational, ruthless, and coldly sarcastic, looking at this twenty-one-year-old Su Yi, temperamental and a little childish, Bian Lu did not find her annoying. She only found her interesting.

With a Su Yi like this, even going in circles with her until dawn would be fine.

But Su Yi was truly sleepy. One yawn followed another. Her stomach pain had tortured her for so long, and she had just drunk sleep-inducing porridge. Now that she had finally settled down, she must really want to sleep.

Better let Su Yi sleep quickly.

“Su Yi?”

Su Yi finally spoke expressionlessly.

“…The body you’re using right now is mine. As long as there are remarks unfavorable to me, even if I’m the one who posts them, a professional PR team will still intervene. I can also have them shift the blame onto you. When that happens, you’ll become a rat crossing the street. The school will make you withdraw, and you won’t be able to find work either. Your life will be completely ruined.”

Bian Lu was afraid of cutting Su Yi off again, so she waited a few seconds. Seeing that Su Yi had stopped speaking, bailiantales.com she finally said, “Finished?”

“Finished.”

“You’re not going to say more?”

Su Yi took a deep breath. “I. Am. Not. Saying. More!”

(Su Yi: What’s with that face of a good teacher and helpful friend listening attentively? I’m threatening you! Not having a heart-to-heart with you!)

Since she was not saying more, then…

Bian Lu cooperatively widened her eyes. “That’s too frightening. The Su family really can’t be provoked. You should tie me up. I wouldn’t dare go against you.”

As she spoke, she handed over the braided ropes again.

Su Yi: “…………”

(Su Yi: Can that acting get any faker?)

Su Yi did not take the ropes. Bian Lu lifted her eyes in confusion and looked at her.

Did she think me handing them over with one hand isn’t respectful enough?

Bian Lu stretched out her other hand as well and solemnly held out the two milky-white braided handles in both hands before Su Yi.

This should satisfy her, right? Even an imperial edict would be presented like this at most.

Su Yi: “………………”

(Su Yi: Just how eager is this woman? Hm? How eager? She’s even holding them out with both hands?!)

(Su Yi: Originally, I was only deliberately picking a fight and using this as an excuse to tie her up for half the night, as revenge for making my stomach hurt and getting me detained. Now it seems tying her up isn’t revenge on her—it’s revenge on me!)

(Su Yi: This woman is sick. She’s a pervert. She’s an M! She’s polluted my body! How am I supposed to go back later?!)

(Su Yi: This is too upsetting.)

Bian Lu: “???”

She still isn’t taking them? Still not satisfied? Is it because I’m handing them over while sitting? Do I need to stand up and be respectful?

In her previous life, Su Yi did indeed have many rules. For example, she would absolutely never have a meal alone with someone.

But Bian Lu had never heard of so many rules just for handing something over.

She was about to withdraw her hands again when, unexpectedly, Su Yi suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, smiling through gritted teeth.

(Su Yi: I really want to strangle her. No, this is my body. I have to endure!)

“Why are you so casual?”

“Mm?”

“Do you have no dignity?”

“I…”

“I say I’m going to tie you up, and you just let me? You don’t resist at all?”

“?????”

So cooperating is wrong too??

“Earlier, you even said you couldn’t do it, but then without a word, you grabbed me and kissed me. Do you have no shame?!”

(Su Yi: Hm? Why did I suddenly bring that up?)

“Huh?”

Why did she suddenly bring that up?

“What ‘huh’? Stop pretending to be innocent!”

Su Yi leaned against the headboard, so angry she tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. Bian Lu’s long hair spread smoothly over her shoulders. Under the dim night-light, that graceful figure looked like a beautiful silhouette.

After a moment, Su Yi did not look at her and only asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

“…I guess.”

“Guess?”

“I am!”

“What are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid that if I don’t listen to you, you’ll take revenge on me. After all, the Su family has hands and eyes everywhere. If I offend the Su family, how would I still have any way to live?”

“But you’re the one who’s Su Yi now, aren’t you? And if I really push your body into that kind of desperate situation, then if we don’t switch back, won’t I be the one suffering?”

Bian Lu sighed.

Why does it feel like the more we talk, the harder it becomes to end the conversation?

Bian Lu said, “I just think there’s no need for us to make things reach that point. Isn’t it better if we’re both fine?”

Su Yi said, “Both fine? You think being tied up doesn’t count as anything? Just how many people have you played tying-and-being-tied games with to be this indifferent? This is half a public space. Doctors and nurses could come in at any time!”

Bian Lu said, “I know. But aren’t you uneasy? Once you tie me up, I can cover it with clothes. You can sleep properly.”

Su Yi lay down irritably and pulled the quilt over herself.

“I’ve never seen anyone like you!”

“What did I do?”

“You let yourself be tied up just because someone says so. You don’t even resist. It’s boring!”

Bian Lu said in surprise, “You like… forced play?”

Su Yi yanked open the silk quilt and glared at her fiercely. “Can you not be so filthy?!”

Bian Lu sighed helplessly. It seemed she had overestimated herself. Twenty-one-year-old little Su Yi seemed even harder to understand than the twenty-seven-year-old one.

No matter what, Su Yi finally quieted down. She no longer mentioned tying Bian Lu up. Covered by the quilt, she seemed to have fallen asleep.

Bian Lu sat for a while, but eventually she could not sit upright anymore. At some point, she fell asleep leaning against the side of the bed.

When she woke again, it was already seven o’clock. The corridor was full of footsteps. Cleaners were doing their rounds, and nurses were entering room after room, drawing open curtains and calling patients to wake up.

It was almost time for rounds.

Bian Lu yawned, got up, went to the bathroom, and washed her face, waking up a little. Then she used the disposable toothbrush Su Yi had brought to brush her teeth.

Su Yi was still asleep. The noisier it became, the more peacefully she seemed to sleep. The brows that had been furrowed all night had now relaxed.

I should go buy her some breakfast. If she doesn’t eat, her stomach will feel uncomfortable again.

Bian Lu turned and opened the ward door, about to leave.

When she lifted her eyes, she met a pair of eyes so dark they were almost abyssal.

This was… Cen Qingke?!