#22: You provoke me everywhere

Qiao Yunmiao looked over.

Si Tingyan was indeed looking at her, his eyes calm, yet inexplicably sending shivers down one’s spine.

Just one glance, and Qiao Yunmiao’s arrogant demeanor immediately diminished considerably.

Suddenly, a bottle of cola appeared in her hand. She was startled; Si Tingyan had put it there.

Si Tingyan quickly looked away, no longer looking at her.

Qiao Yunmiao’s clique of girlfriends were usually a bit intimidated by Si Tingyan. They dared to tease and joke in front of Qiao Yunmiao, but not in front of Si Tingyan.

Now, they just stood behind Qiao Yunmiao, exchanging glances, not knowing what to say.

Cheng Mi stood aside, taking it all in, and looked at Si Tingyan.

Si Tingyan seemed to not want to stay there for a moment longer and left.

Cheng Mi watched his retreating figure, then glanced at Qiao Yunmiao and her friends, whose spirits were clearly dampened. She said nothing, turned around, and followed Si Tingyan.

The last class had already ended, and the school was filled with people carrying their backpacks and walking out.

The setting sun began to appear, and the school path was lush with green trees.

Cheng Mi and Si Tingyan maintained a not-too-far, not-too-close distance, with figures constantly coming and going between them.

As soon as school was out, both inside and outside the campus were bustling. Street stalls, newsstands, bus stops—everywhere was crowded with chattering, noisy figures in school uniforms.

Cheng Mi walked behind Si Tingyan, and the two of them quietly and tacitly passed by these lively scenes together.

They didn’t take the bus, walking home instead.

Many people lived in their area, but there were only a few Fenggao students in their building. As they walked back, the number of Fenggao uniforms around them gradually decreased, and by the time they reached their building downstairs, they didn’t see any, leaving only the two of them.

Those who had finished work hadn’t returned yet, and the stairwell was so quiet that only their footsteps could be heard.

Cheng Mi arrived at the door later than Si Tingyan. Before she got close, she heard Si Tingyan pressing a switch in the entryway.

Even though it was a strong dusk outside, there were many residential buildings around, and the old house’s lighting wasn’t very good. Half of the balcony let in a dim yellow light, and where the setting sun didn’t reach, it was gray and dark.

Si Tingyan flicked the light switch twice, but there was no response.

The power was out.

Cheng Mi leaned against the door, watching him.

Si Tingyan seemed quite used to the occasional power outage. He didn’t try to turn on the light again. After changing his shoes by the shoe cabinet, he went inside.

Cheng Mi watched him for a while, then also went inside and headed to the kitchen.

Usually, Si Huiru would boil some water at home for later use, so there wouldn’t be a lack of water when needed. But today, unfortunately, there wasn’t a drop of water in the glass bottle.

If only she had known, she would have bought a bottle of mineral water at the downstairs supermarket. Cheng Mi, without water to drink, came out of the kitchen.

Si Tingyan wasn’t in the living room; from the sounds, he had returned to his room.

His backpack was on the sofa, zipper open, probably because he had just taken something out.

Cheng Mi didn’t intend to disrespect Si Tingyan’s privacy by prying into his belongings, but the problem was that when she came out of the kitchen, from that angle, she could clearly see what was inside his backpack on the sofa.

The books must have been taken into his room, and his school uniform jacket, stained with cola, was half draped over them.

And inside lay a bottle of mineral water.

It was a brand Cheng Mi often bought at the school shop. For some reason, a sentence that she shouldn’t have noticed suddenly popped into her mind.

If she hadn’t seen this bottle of mineral water, she might have just forgotten it after hearing it, like she did at the small shop that afternoon.

Cheng Mi walked over and took out the mineral water, not bothering to be polite, and twisted open the cap.

When Si Tingyan came out of his room, he saw this scene: Cheng Mi standing by the sofa, about to drink mineral water.

The sofa was near the balcony, and the twilight bathed half of her face.

Seeing him come out, Cheng Mi paused the mineral water she was bringing to her lips.

She stared straight at him: “Did a girl ask you for this water?”

Si Tingyan had changed into a white hoodie. He looked at her but didn’t respond.

Cheng Mi said, “And you didn’t give it to them.”

She didn’t ask him if it was true; her tone was as usual, but there was certainty in her words.

Si Tingyan walked over towards her.

Cheng Mi looked at him and asked, “Why?”

Si Tingyan quickly walked up to her, taking the water from her hand.

A boy’s knuckles were more defined than a girl’s, and when they brushed against hers, they felt slightly rough on her fingers.

He said, “No reason.”

Cheng Mi didn’t take it back from his hand, lifting her eyes slightly to look at him: “Really? Then why didn’t you give it to them? You weren’t going to drink it anyway.”

After saying that, she didn’t actually expect Si Tingyan to answer, and her gaze crept back to his eyes.

“Si Tingyan,” Cheng Mi called him, “How did you know I hadn’t had water all day?”

Si Tingyan just looked at her.

He could have denied it, could have said he didn’t know, but he didn’t. His gaze was simply fixed on her eyes.

Cheng Mi also kept her eyes on him, not moving an inch. After speaking, she raised her hand and climbed onto the hand holding the mineral water.

Her fingertips touched his knuckles, where he had just touched her.

The mineral water was open, and she slowly leaned closer.

Si Tingyan didn’t move away.

Cheng Mi leaned in and drank the water from his hand. The mineral water still had a lingering coolness from being chilled.

Across the air, their gazes were locked.

The orange-red sky fell into Si Tingyan’s eyes, his face was pale, and compared to the setting sun and his face, Cheng Mi could only see him.

As she watched, the water was barely tasted before Cheng Mi’s lips left the bottle opening, turning to approach him instead.

As she leaned in, Si Tingyan’s eyelashes lowered slightly, observing every part of her face.

Their breaths quickly drew close enough to touch, intoxicatingly hazy in the light.

Cheng Mi’s gaze finally left his eyes, her eyelashes falling to cover half her view, landing on his lips.

Her red lips were slightly wet, and she leaned in to lightly touch the pale skin around his mouth.

It was cool, unable to quench thirst.

Si Tingyan’s gaze remained low, looking at her, not rejecting her.

Cheng Mi’s breath gently escaped from the narrow gap between her lips, clinging to his face fleetingly. She leaned in a little closer, then gently kissed him again.

Then she looked up, meeting his eyes.

There was no longer the setting sun in Si Tingyan’s eyes, only a blackness that was almost intoxicating.

The surrounding light was slowly cooling, the twilight almost devoured by darkness, hazy, blurry, and unclear.

Cheng Mi’s eyes had already moved to another part of him, her lips slightly parted, leaning towards Si Tingyan’s lips.

His thin lips carried an air of indifference; just looking at them made emotions surge uncontrollably.

She wanted to crush that layer of indifference, to see him lose self-control, to see someone like him caught between ice and fire, unable to bear her.

A distant bus horn blared from outside the building, long and piercing through the tall buildings and alleys.

Cheng Mi felt an intense gaze on her neck and face.

Her hand was still gripping Si Tingyan’s hand, just as her lips were about to meet his.

Si Tingyan suddenly lowered his head slightly, his lips grazing her chin, then landing on her neck and face.

A sharp sensation, as if he was about to bite through her skin.

A stinging pain shot straight to Cheng Mi’s head. She lightly bit her lip but couldn’t suppress a small sound, deliberately letting it out, and didn’t push Si Tingyan away.

As her voice faded, Si Tingyan paused for a moment.

Then, someone who seemed like such a good student, excellent in both conduct and academics, intensified the pain there the next second.

Cheng Mi felt as if that piece of flesh on her was almost being bitten off by him.

The hand gripping his couldn’t help but inflict pain on him, digging into his hand.

She asked, “This afternoon in the stairwell, was this what you were looking at on me?”

The pain there became even more merciless.

A shiver went through Cheng Mi’s back.

She knew what was there.

There was a scar on the side of her neck and face, almost faded to invisibility, smaller than a finger, left from an accident when she was a child.

Usually, if you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t find it; it was a secret little hidden mark.

And Si Tingyan’s lips and teeth were resting precisely on it.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Si Tingyan’s pale cheek, his eyelashes lightly brushing her cheek.

Suddenly, that spot was released. His voice wasn’t particularly far from her ear, the tone cool and distant, yet with a hint of restraint.

“Cheng Mi, do you know you’re very annoying?”

The pain gradually turned into a tingling sensation; the air around them seemed to be warming up.

Cheng Mi’s hand climbed onto his shoulder and neck, her fingertips tracing the back of his neck.

“Why?”

“Because I annoy you, don’t I?”

Si Tingyan said, “Speak again.”

Cheng Mi didn’t listen to him.

She asked, “Si Tingyan, have you ever liked anyone?”

“Do you know why this is?”

It was a simple sentence, meant to draw him into a trap, but for some reason, it displeased him, and that spot was bitten again.

Cheng Mi found Si Tingyan’s actions really ungentlemanly.

As if expressing anger.

Cheng Mi winced in pain, slightly turning her shoulder: “What exactly did I do to provoke you?”

Si Tingyan: “You provoke me everywhere.”

After saying that, he finally let go of her and stood up.

The sun had already set, and outside the balcony, night had fallen, leaving only a faint glow. Si Tingyan walked through the living room and back to his room.

The room door closed. The living room was silent. The bottle of mineral water was still in Cheng Mi’s hand.