In the morning, Xue Guangli woke up next to a sleeping Long Huojin. The drapes were open from the way she left it the night before. The sunlight peered through, s.h.i.+ning on his face.

In her view, he held her tightly. Long Huojin"s lashes fluttered; his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Xue Guangli"s gaze lowered from his face when she realized that she could see more skin than she expected. Indeed, he was only in boxer shorts, and the rest of him was naked.

Xue Guangli blushed at the sight of him.

She then ran a hand around his tatted upper arm. It was a thin serpent coiled around his bicep with its forked tongue sticking out. She remembered that he had it since high school, as he removed his s.h.i.+rt for sports. But, back then, he also had piercings and longer hair.

She chuckled slightly at the memory. Even back then, Long Huojin was annoyingly handsome, and he attracted people all over. But now his hair was cut short, still long enough to fall over his eyes. His ears had the markings for piercings, two for each lobe, and one cartilage on his right ear. Though they were empty, and most likely closed. The only thing that remained from his younger self was that tattoo.

Long Huojin"s eyes slowly lidded open, most likely from feeling her movements. She was still running her hand over the tattoo, staring at the art, admiring the detail of the serpent"s rough belly scales. She could feel Long Huojin watching her without saying a word.

"I"ve never seen it up close like this before," she said.

Long Huojin smiled, but his expression deepened. Her eyes then shot up to meet his, and she smiled. "How many girls have swooned over you, s.h.i.+rtless?" she questioned.

Long Huojin"s lips upturned. "Many," he admitted.

Xue Guangli rolled her eyes, propping herself on an elbow, chuckling. "I would like to see you wear studs again," she pouted.

Long Huojin captured her nose, "Then I would have to re-pierce them, and I don"t feel like going through that again."

"I remember it was against the school rules," she said.

"Mhm. That"s why I did it. And my father had to donate money to the school in compensation. He was furious when he found out about the tattoo."

Xue Guangli laughed, and her head fell back onto the pillow. She smiled sheepishly. "You are still handsome, as you were back then," she admitted.

She half-expected Long Huojin to tease her for what she said. But instead, his eyes darkened as his line of sight focused solely on her. Her pulse sped up. She hated that feeling. She knew him all her life but even now, her chest thundered nervously.

He reached out to give her a fleeting peck on the cheek before he shuffled out of bed. "I"m going to wash up, and then you can go in afterwards," he said.

Long Huojin headed towards the bathroom, and she heard the water turn on.

Eh? Xue Guangli thought. Just a peck?

What"s up with him?

Like all men trying to burn out the flame of desire, Long Huojin took a cold shower.

After he finished, Xue Guangli was still sitting on his bed, scrolling through her phone casually. She was laughing, and he realized that she was watching funny videos. He then strolled over, and she showed him a video of cats and their owners that she thought were funny and adorable.

Long Huojin laughed too, but when Xue Guangli looked him, she thought, "Holy f.u.c.k."

There was something about wet hair that made people attractive, but Long Huojin looked refreshed. He was also only wearing a towel over his waist. She began to feel strange...

She then jumped out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, locking the door shut behind her. Her heart pounded furiously. So this is what desire felt like, she thought.

Their moments before now were fleeting to her. She kissed other boys before, w.a.n.g Weimin included, but this...and just by looking at him, too, was enough to stir her.

Xue Guangli turned on the sink to rinse her face of cold water, trying to calm the pace of her heart.

After was.h.i.+ng up some more, Xue Guangli went back into the guest room she was supposed to sleep with to find a fresh pair of clothes from her night bag.

She changed into a casual white s.h.i.+rt and paired it with a tawny-coloured skirt. Xue Guangli needed a hair tie, but since she didn"t have one, she began to look around the room for something to bound her hair.

She scoped the room, checking the vanity drawers and cupboards. Her eyes then shot to a dresser and looked through. Inside, she found women"s clothing, all with new tags, unworn. A bag caught her eye and went she through it to find anything that could act as a scrunchy; she found something else instead.

The bag held some sketch pads and shading pencils, as well as paintbrushes. Xue Guangli felt warm throughout when she ran her fingers through the papers and bristles.

"I bought them in case you ever feel like it," said a deep voice behind her.

She turned, startled to see Long Huojin quietly standing at the threshold, fully clothed.

Xue Guangli looked at the brushes again and smirked. "There"s no paint," she said.

Long Huojin shot her a smug expression. "That"s because they"re downstairs at the sunroom."

"What?" Xue Guangli said more than asking.

Long Huojin stretched out a hand. He then led her to a room, pa.s.sed the living room that had floor-to-ceiling windows all around. In the middle was a blank canvas on an easel that held it. On the side were boxes.

When she opened it, it filled with bottles of paint in different colours. There were many, and not just ordinary secondary and tertiary colours; but ones that were shades lighter and darker like her favourite, vermillion, and others like saffron and cerise, and cerulean, the colour of Long Huojin"s eyes.

She looked through the colours excitingly, reading each label. She then turned to face with Long Huojin with such warmth. She had never received a gift like this before. She had bought the paints and colours herself alone. But they were expensive, and sometimes she didn"t want to overspend, so she didn"t, and settled for primary colours.

Xue Guangli rose. She approached Long Huojin, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. She circled her arms around his shoulders and tip-toed to kiss him lightly on his lips. He bent down so she could stand flatly, and he responded to the kiss enthusiastically.

They both began to feel warm as Xue Guangli pressed against his body. She was sure now, more than ever, that she liked him. She liked him a lot.

How could she have ever hated this handsome, vulnerable, and caring man?

Xue Guangli broke off the kiss and said, "Thank you." She crossed her arms behind her back and began walking around the sunroom. "I didn"t expect my boyfriend to have given me something this nice. It"s a wonderful gift, indeed," she said casually.

Boyfriend.

The word struck him like an arrow. Long Huojin had to keep himself from looking like a lovesick puppy, but his lips curled nonetheless.

"Anything for my girlfriend," he responded.

At that, Xue Guangli felt suddenly shy and embarra.s.sed. It was too much for her. It felt new also to her, the feeling of new love and embarra.s.sment.

She flushed before Long Huojin continued. "You don"t have to start painting. It"s for when you are ready," he said. "I picked the sunroom because it has the best lighting."

Xue Guangli nodded and smiled. She then walked with Long Huojin towards the kitchen to grab a meal.