Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 46

[I’m returning to Country Z.]

It was eleven at night, and the flight from Country M to Gangcheng would take off in five minutes.

At the front of the cabin, a beautiful flight attendant wore a professional smile as she checked each passenger’s luggage and seat belt.

Taking advantage of the final five minutes before departure, Ling Yu turned sideways with her back to Gu Qing.

Her slender fingers hovered over the chat window for a long time before composing a farewell message with no particular focus. She then sent it all at once to the friends she had contacted most recently.

Perhaps it was because the person sitting an arm’s length away was Gu Qing and the distance between them was simply too small.

The woman’s scent flowed clearly into Ling Yu’s nose, relentlessly asserting her presence.

Ling Yu felt uncomfortable.

Remembering the kick she had just delivered to Gu Qing, she suddenly found her own behavior exceptionally childish.

Perhaps she had overreacted.

Ling Yu was genuinely worried Gu Qing might misunderstand again.

She was not someone who returned to an old flame.

Had that earlier incident involved anyone else, Ling Yu would ordinarily have smiled, pressed herself against the woman’s chest, and said:

“Go ahead and shout. I want to sit here.”

But because it was Gu Qing, Ling Yu had no patience for such jokes.

Her shamelessly devoted behavior from two years ago was still vivid. It would hardly be surprising if Gu Qing once again mistook her for a piece of sticky candy clinging without shame.

And Ling Yu’s earlier reaction had looked no different from an unreasonable tantrum born of embarrassment.

Ling Yu felt a trace of regret.

Maintaining her distance was now her only intention toward Gu Qing.

Unfortunately, their seats were so close that distance could not be created merely by wishing for it.

Whenever Ling Yu’s gaze drifted sideways unconsciously, it met the icy blue eyes of the woman beside her.

Ling Yu worried that if her resolve wavered for even a moment, Gu Qing might once again assume—as she had several minutes earlier—that Ling Yu still wanted her.

That would be absurd.

So Ling Yu simply stared at her phone to distract herself.

She assumed no one would respond to her farewell message so late at night, but two unread messages quickly arrived.

Q: [Understood.]

Q: [Have a safe journey.]

The darkness outside carried a lonely chill.

Accounting for the time difference, it should have been around five in the morning in Country Z.

Ling Yu vaguely remembered that whenever she sent Q a message, the woman always replied quickly.

No matter how late or how early it was.

During Ling Yu’s first three months in Country M, she had been unable to speak the language.

Once, she encountered trouble while handling some paperwork. Every classmate she knew was attending lessons, and no one answered her calls.

Helpless, Ling Yu sent Q a voice-call request.

When Q answered, Ling Yu heard her lower her voice and say hoarsely:

“Pause the meeting.”

At the time, Ling Yu’s problem had required immediate attention. She had not asked what Q was doing.

Looking back now, Q must have been in a meeting.

An older online friend willing to pause an entire meeting for her…

Ling Yu thought Q probably doted on her as though she were a daughter.

After hesitating for a second, Ling Yu lowered her head and typed:

[Sister, let’s meet after I return. I’d like to treat you to a meal…]

About ten seconds passed after she sent the message.

No reply came.

Instead, something heavy struck the floor beside her with a sharp crack.

The sound of a screen shattering interrupted Ling Yu’s thoughts.

She turned her head.

At some point, the woman beside her had sat upright. Her clear eyes stared blankly at the floor.

At her feet lay a tragically shattered phone.

Ling Yu gave it a lazy, disinterested glance before turning away.

The professionally trained flight attendant approached their row, stood in the aisle, and asked Gu Qing whether she needed assistance.

Ling Yu only heard Gu Qing respond coldly and request a packet of wet wipes.

Ten seconds later, when Ling Yu’s peripheral vision drifted sideways again, she saw the broken phone held between Gu Qing’s slender fingers.

The woman’s eyes were lowered, concealing her thoughts.

With a wet wipe wrapped around her fingertip, she slowly and meticulously cleaned the shattered screen.

Ling Yu marveled inwardly.

If 008 had not severed their connection and could still speak to her, she would have liked to ask whether the system had chosen the wrong person.

Could a miser like Gu Qing genuinely be the female lead of a no-romance power fantasy?

She was so stingy that she could not even discard a shattered phone.

Of all the female leads Ling Yu had encountered during her career as a novelist, Gu Qing possessed the least dignity.

Ling Yu received no reply from Q.

The flight attendant repeatedly reminded everyone to switch off their phones.

Ling Yu stopped waiting and decided to check Q’s response after landing.

She reclined her seat, turned toward the window, and closed her eyes.

Ten minutes later, she fell asleep without difficulty.

Just as Ling Yu had personally declared before leaving two years ago, the next time she and Gu Qing met, their relationship would already be severed and both would be free to go their separate ways.

Ling Yu did not need to spare Gu Qing another glance.

It did not matter that the woman sat beside her, her presence so strong that even the slightest breath carried the crisp, cool fragrance of her body mingled with tobacco.

So what?

Ling Yu had merely encountered Gu Qing when she reached the end of her rope. To remain alive, she had pestered her relentlessly.

Somewhere amid that shameless pursuit, a trace of admiration had become intertwined with other, unnecessary feelings.

Perhaps it began on the night their bare skin touched.

Ling Yu had remembered the cool, satin-smooth curve of Gu Qing’s back, her slick, shapely hips, and those restrained, repressed eyes…

Gu Qing was a woman kissed by God.

Every inch of her skin and bone was so perfect that it inspired the urge to conquer her.

Anyone would feel that impulse toward Gu Qing, and Ling Yu was no exception.

That was why she eventually stopped concealing her true nature.

Perhaps it was also why, on the day Gu Qing fell from the roof, Ling Yu had inexplicably followed her over the edge.

She must have wanted a different ending.

Instead, she received Gu Qing’s disdain, her resolute departure, and the look in her eyes—as though Ling Yu were filth she could not cast away quickly enough.

Ling Yu did indeed like women of Gu Qing’s type.

But she was not the sort to seize someone by force.

The day of H University’s graduation ceremony had been the final chance she gave herself.

The instant she turned and left, Ling Yu cut cleanly through her desire to conquer Gu Qing.

There had once been a Gu Qing in this world whom Ling Yu sincerely pursued for one second.

But it had only been a second.

Far too brief.

Once Ling Yu turned her back, she faced the sea, where spring bloomed warm and bright.

Gu Qing had been buried beneath the dust of her memories.

So thoroughly that earlier, even while standing beside her and finding her figure vaguely familiar, Ling Yu had failed to recognize her.

The memories were too distant.

She had forgotten.

Ling Yu slept deeply, her breathing long and even.

Gu Qing asked a flight attendant for a blanket and covered her with it.

The next moment, Ling Yu rolled over.

The blanket slipped from her shoulder.

Her loose, sleeveless dress had a low neckline, leaving far too much skin exposed.

Perhaps because she was lying on her side, her soft curves pressed together, revealing a deep, enticing line between them.

The air-conditioning was on. Before long, the fine translucent hairs across that pale, tempting skin stood upright.

Gu Qing pressed her dry lips together.

Her fingers curled inward as she restrained their trembling.

Leaning over, she slipped one arm around Ling Yu’s waist and the other beneath her knees.

Moving as gently as possible, she lifted Ling Yu and adjusted her sleeping position.

The action was more difficult than it should have been. A fine layer of sweat covered Gu Qing’s palms.

She wiped them against the edge of her pencil skirt, then covered Ling Yu with the blanket again.

Her eyelids half lowered, she stared at Ling Yu’s closed eyes for a very long time.

Only when a flight attendant approached with a reminder did Gu Qing return to her seat.

Outside lay an endless expanse of oppressive darkness, the night as thick as ink.

Gu Qing’s eyes were silent.

Remembering the unfamiliar way Ling Yu had looked at her, she wanted to smoke again.

For the past two years and six months, Gu Qing had experienced her episodes at the beginning of every month.

She had visited hospitals.

The doctors said her condition was unprecedented.

Lacking empathy was not itself an illness, but a congenital psychological deficiency.

The hospital had no medication capable of treating her. Nor could hypnosis provide a place of peace within her mind.

Her individual will was too powerful, making her instinctively resistant to hypnosis.

To remain a good person who kept her promises, Gu Qing had stopped using syringes on laboratory mice during her episodes.

To restrain the destructive urges inside her, she had forced herself into becoming a heavy smoker over the past two years.

Gu Qing raised an arm and instinctively smelled it.

A faint tobacco scent clung to her body, impossible to scrub away.

She glanced across the aisle at Wei Minjun, who wore headphones and an eye mask, oblivious to everything that had just happened.

Gu Qing narrowed her eyes, crushed the wet wipe into a ball, and flicked her wrist.

It struck Wei Minjun squarely in the face.

Feeling the cold impact, Wei Minjun removed her eye mask in confusion.

Her angry eyes swept around before meeting Gu Qing’s indifferent gaze in midair.

The curse lodged in Wei Minjun’s throat.

With great social awareness, she transformed her expression into a twisted smile.

“Attorney Gu, did you need something?”

Gu Qing raised her eyelids and glanced at Wei Minjun’s handbag.

“You… hm?”

Wei Minjun looked baffled, wondering if she had missed something important.

“What?”

Gu Qing licked her dry lips and asked unhurriedly, “Do you normally wear perfume?”

“Of course.” Wei Minjun looked at Gu Qing as though she had asked an absurd question.

Probably because she was nervous, she spoke too quickly and nearly blurted out what she was thinking.

“Even someone like you wears it, so of course I—”

Gu Qing lifted her eyelids.

She was naturally tall. Even while seated, she towered over Wei Minjun. When her gaze drifted over, her inherent superiority carried a casual, oppressive arrogance.

Wei Minjun forcibly swallowed the remainder of her sentence.

“Someone like me?” Gu Qing asked in her usual cold, emotionless voice. “What kind of person am I?”

Wei Minjun wanted to slap herself twice.

Looking slightly uneasy, she apologized.

“Sorry, Boss. I was only running my stupid mouth. You’re generous enough not to hold it against me…”

“I forgive you.”

Wei Minjun choked.

She looked so frightened that she might faint.

What the hell is happening?

Under normal circumstances, Gu Qing would never say that.

She appeared icy, but she was not a boss incapable of accepting criticism.

On the contrary, the more fiercely someone criticized her, the more calmly Attorney Gu would glance at them—before proving them wrong repeatedly over the years that followed.

Wei Minjun might worry that Gu Qing would retaliate, but she had never expected her to respond directly.

Even someone as socially skilled as Wei Minjun suddenly found herself unable to converse with a Gu Qing who refused to follow the usual script.

For a long time, she could not squeeze out a single word.

Gu Qing’s gaze repeatedly wandered over the handbag resting on Wei Minjun’s seat. A trace of hesitation appeared on her cold face.

After a moment, she shed some of her frosty presence and addressed Wei Minjun in an extraordinarily gentle—and terrifying—tone.

“Would it be convenient to lend me your perfume?”

Wei Minjun’s face cracked.

Gu Qing has been replaced. This is absolutely a soul swap.

Before Wei Minjun could react, a shadow suddenly fell across the aisle between them.

“Use mine.”

Gu Qing raised her eyelids.

At the same time, a beautifully packaged, unopened bottle of perfume from a famous brand appeared before her.

Luo Huihui stood there with the brim of her cap pulled low.

One woman stood while the other sat, giving Luo Huihui a sense of superiority as she looked down at Gu Qing.

She initially believed she had gained the upper hand.

But when their eyes met and she encountered Gu Qing’s cool, distant gaze, an invisible pressure seemed to take physical form.

Luo Huihui’s aggressive provocation lasted less than ten seconds.

She scoffed inwardly.

Why is she acting so superior? A pretentious fake immortal dares to trespass on my territory?

She had seen this woman lift Xiao Yu in her arms and adjust her sleeping position.

Her gaze had been gentle and lingering—nothing like the way one looked at a stranger.

Had the aircraft not entered turbulent clouds earlier, with the crew ordering everyone to remain seated, Luo Huihui would have come over long ago.

Even slapping this woman twice would not have relieved her anger.

How dare she grope Xiao Yu?

What a perverted old lecher.

Just because she wore an icy exterior did not mean Luo Huihui could not see through her.

Luo Huihui’s gaze swept brazenly over Gu Qing.

Now that the plane was flying steadily, she braced one arm against Gu Qing’s seat and introduced the perfume with a smile.

“This is Diro’s newest fragrance. It isn’t too strong or too faint, so it’s suitable for everyday use.”

Gu Qing said nothing.

Luo Huihui’s smile grew brighter.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean anything else. Our Xiao Yu is sitting beside you, so I’ll have to trouble you to look after her.”

Our Xiao Yu?

Gu Qing raised an eyebrow and gave her a look inviting her to continue.

Luo Huihui choked.

She had the distinct feeling Gu Qing was telling her:

Go on. Keep performing.

In truth, Luo Huihui’s instincts were correct.

Wei Minjun recognized Gu Qing’s standard expression and nearly burst out laughing.

Naturally, she could not actually do so.

Otherwise, Boss Gu might exile her to some remote border region to raise pigs.

The strangeness lasted only a moment.

After a brief silence, Luo Huihui summoned another provocative smile.

“My surname is Luo. Consider this perfume a gift. Let’s be friends.”

Discord between the women filled the air.

Without changing expression, Gu Qing accepted the challenge Luo Huihui had initiated.

She nodded faintly, lowered her long eyes, and glanced at the perfume being offered.

Then she smiled.

As though she had eyes in the back of her head, Gu Qing extended one long arm toward Ling Yu and carefully tucked in the edge of her blanket.

“She’s impossibly delicate. You probably haven’t known Ling Yu for long. She rarely wears perfume—not because she dislikes it, but because she isn’t accustomed to ordinary brands.”

Gu Qing spoke slowly, a faintly intimate note threading through her voice.

She glanced at Luo Huihui’s stiff face before looking coolly toward Wei Minjun.

“Forget it. Attorney Wei’s perfume probably isn’t of particularly good quality either. This woman…”

Gu Qing raised her chin and gestured toward Ling Yu, then lowered her voice in distaste.

“If you don’t give her the best, she’ll probably wake up and throw a tantrum. She’s terribly spoiled. Attorney Wei, bring me the bottle of DK that Michael Corporation’s chief director gave us today.”

DK was priceless and nearly impossible to obtain.

Only one hundred bottles were produced each year.

Who the hell actually used something like that?

Luo Huihui’s face shifted between green and white.

Gu Qing’s casual scrutiny left her thoroughly humiliated, but she still refused to surrender.

“Xiao Yu told me she doesn’t know you.”

“Oh.” Gu Qing replied, “You’ve probably never experienced lovers quarreling.”

Wei Minjun’s eyes nearly fell out of her head.

She watched as the woman Gu Qing had just called her lover slowly raised her eyelids, revealing pitch-black eyes fixed on the back of Gu Qing’s head.

Her sixth sense detected the sudden danger.

Kindly, she winked at Gu Qing in warning.

Unexpectedly, a normally astute woman like Gu Qing seemed to have been blinded by jealousy and completely ignored her.

Maintaining her noble, coldly beautiful expression, Gu Qing gestured politely toward the crew member standing behind Luo Huihui.

“Miss, you should return to your seat. Please don’t make things difficult for the cabin crew.”