TIMO - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
But she couldn’t even see a trace of Shi Nan. This was not a good sign.
Fu Zhao shot to her feet, the fingertips clutching her watch trembling faintly. She bit her tongue hard, forcing herself to calm down, then dialed the Security Department’s number.
She should tell herself she was overthinking it.
She hoped she was just overthinking it.
When Shi Nan regained consciousness, she felt wind rushing into her ears and a basin of ice-cold water being poured over her head.
In fact, it was likely that cold water had really been poured on her.
It was so cold that she had no choice but to open her incredibly heavy eyelids. But even so, her head felt too heavy to lift, and everything before her was abnormally blurry.
Her face, her hair, her clothes-all were soaked with water, dripping incessantly.
Drip… drip…
The sound of water falling.
“You… are… Fu Zhao’s fiancée?”
The voice was muffled, but she still made out those few words.
Thanks to hearing those words over and over again these past few days on Nanke Island-fiancée, Fu Zhao’s fiancée, the Little Island Master’s fiancée-her consciousness slowly began to return.
Right, she had been on her way to the courier station when her vision suddenly went black, and then… she was tied up here.
She barely managed to lift her eyelids, looking at the middle-aged male Alpha before her with his mouthful of yellow teeth and scruffy beard. Only then did she realize she had likely been kidnapped by the courier who had insisted the station was very close and that he needed her cooperation.
She hadn’t thought much of it, not even having had time to open her packages. She had only wanted to quickly fill out the necessary forms and go to rehearsal.
But just like that, she had fallen into a dangerous situation.
She had no phone, no communication devices.
Not even a sharp object. She was tied to a chair, completely unable to move.
She was likely in some kind of warehouse.
She was facing a strong, middle-aged male Alpha, while she was just an Omega being driven mad by the pungent, thick scent of alcohol-like pheromones around her.
Her vision was swimming, her body was weak, she had no strength, and even the figure before her was growing increasingly blurry.
The gland on the back of her neck was burning hot, swollen and painful, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
She knew with absolute clarity that she would soon be driven mad by the pheromones, lose her reason, and completely lose control, dominated by the very pheromones she hated most about herself.
But thankfully… she still had a chance.
She bit her tongue hard, took a breath, and forced her eyes open to look at the Alpha opposite her, sneering, “So you know I’m the Little Island Master’s fiancée. You’ve kidnapped me and are misusing your pheromones. Do you really think you can get away?”
“Damn it!”
“If it weren’t for that bitch Fu Wanqing, I would’ve escaped long ago, but she just won’t let me go after all these days.” The middle-aged man fiddled with a machine in front of him and scoffed. “I was originally going to kidnap her Beta daughter, but I followed her for days and never got a chance. After thinking about it, an Omega is more interesting.”
“And… an untouched Omega at that.”
The man’s smile was pathological. He set up the camera he had prepared and slowly approached, sniffing the air. “Not only that, but her pheromone is lychee-scented. How rare.”
“I wonder if it would smell even better if I injected my Rum-scented pheromone into you?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll record a good video of you in heat, of you going limp and begging me to mark you. Then I’ll send it to that fiancée of yours, and to that so-called equal-rights bitch, Fu Wanqing.”
“I want her to know that Alphas are the most superior species in this world, and all Omegas can only obediently submit at the feet of Alphas.”
“What Ten Standards of Alpha Virtue-it’s all bullshit. It’s you Omegas who should be observing the three obediences and four virtues.”
The man approached with a savage grin, pulling out his belt.
Shi Nan gasped for air, biting her tongue until the taste of blood filled her mouth. “Have you ever heard the saying…”
The man snorted coldly, his face leaning in so close she could smell his nauseating odor. “What saying?”
Shi Nan spat in the man’s face and sneered, “Villains… die from talking too much.”
Then, before the man could react, she lunged with all her might, plunging the razor blade she had secretly hidden in her sleeve toward the man’s chest. The man subconsciously raised a hand to block it, and the blade pierced through his palm.
In an instant, blood gushed out, splattering onto Shi Nan’s face.
Shi Nan quickly stood up, throwing aside the ropes she had already untied. She mustered every ounce of her strength and fled the warehouse, running toward the direction of the streetlights.
The wails behind her didn’t last long. Instead, footsteps immediately gave chase, accompanied by a torrent of vulgar curses.
She was still running with all her might.
But her consciousness was gradually fading. The taste of blood in her mouth grew stronger, and her vision became increasingly blurry. No matter how hard she bit her tongue, she couldn’t regain the clarity she had before.
After all, that struggle had already cost her a great deal of energy.
After all, she still needed to save some strength to kill herself before being forcibly marked.
Shi Nan ran forward desperately. In her dwindling consciousness, a thought suddenly surfaced-the kidnapper had said he originally intended to kidnap Fu Zhao. It was a good thing he hadn’t gotten Fu Zhao, but her instead.
In that case, could this be considered her dying in Fu Zhao’s place?
If there was a next time, would she… no longer owe Fu Zhao anything?
Could she finally be proper friends with Fu Zhao?
But she was still a little reluctant to die. After all, this version of Fu Zhao was the one she felt most comfortable with, the cutest and most likable Fu Zhao.
Honestly, she was reluctant.
And what if, what if there was no next time?
What would she do then?
With these thoughts, she ran onto the main road, but it was deserted. The footsteps and curses behind her grew closer and closer.
It made sense. If she were the kidnapper, she certainly wouldn’t have taken someone to a place where they could be easily seen.
Her clothes were still wet, her hair stuck to her face.
Every inch of her skin was burning.
It was uncomfortable, and not very dignified.
If… if Fu Zhao found her in the end, wouldn’t she look terrible?
As she ran, more and more thoughts crowded her mind, and her steps grew heavier and heavier.
Finally, she collapsed to the ground, with no strength left to move forward.
A buzzing sound had even started in her ears, making her already muddled brain buzz as well.
The pungent, aggressive scent of alcohol assaulted her nostrils, seeping in through every pore of her skin. She could feel her sanity slipping away.
She just wanted… just wanted to be surrounded, to be injected with an Alpha’s pheromones.
Reason and physiology were at war.
She loathed herself in this moment, but there was nothing she could do but watch with cold eyes as the furious man approached.
Her breathing grew more and more rapid, her eyelids heavier and heavier.
Before she completely lost consciousness, she stared in a daze at the man’s raised, blood-drenched hand. To think that this time, too, would not have a good ending…
She was filled with regret.
But the regret didn’t last long, because soon, accompanied by a strong gust of wind and a huge roar, a black, spherical object flashed by at high speed and smashed into the man’s head. The man’s ferocious expression, which had been facing her, froze abruptly.
Time seemed to slow down, and the man’s motion as he fell to the side also seemed to be in slow motion.
“Thud-”
With a dull thud, the man collapsed completely, his body hitting the ground with a heavy sound.
The space before her was suddenly clear.
The roaring sound quickly stopped, and footsteps hurried in her direction.
The steps were fast, carrying the wind, and the sounds gradually became more complex.
She held on to her last bit of strength and looked back. Water was still dripping from her eyelids, whether it was sweat or the water that had been splashed on her, she didn’t know.
Vaguely, hazily, she saw someone in a white shirt running over quickly. Their ink-black hair billowed gracefully in the wind, haloed by the warm yellow light of the streetlamp. As they got closer, she could see that their amber eyes were filled with urgency and anxiety.
In her muddled state, a voice reached her ears, clear as rain, gentle as the wind, more reassuring than any voice she had ever heard before.
She couldn’t hear what the person was saying, but she closed her eyes in peace.
She knew now. The buzzing she had heard earlier wasn’t a hallucination.
It was Fu Zhao.
How did Fu Zhao find Shi Nan?
Number Ten told her.
Number Ten was a top-tier, all-purpose artificial intelligence. It wasn’t just a speaker, but the central control for all of Shi Nan’s home devices, which included her watch.
She had only just learned that the watch was a gift the original host had given Shi Nan before she came to Nanke Island.
If the watch was forcibly damaged by an external force, Number Ten would immediately dispatch a drone to track it and send the real-time surveillance footage from the drone to her device.
-It wasn’t real-time location tracking, but a safety protection device that was only triggered in case of danger. Normally, it couldn’t access private information.
In other words, under these circumstances, if Shi Nan was in danger and the watch was damaged, the original host could rush over at the first opportunity.
Although Fu Zhao had previously despised Number Ten for having a voice similar to her own, this time she couldn’t help but feel lucky. It was fortunate that Number Ten existed, allowing her to get there in time.
She couldn’t imagine how guilty she would feel if Shi Nan had been… forcibly marked by that fugitive just because she came to Nanke Island.
But perhaps… this feeling that was making her heart ache faintly was something more akin to an emotion called “heartache.”
She couldn’t clearly distinguish it.
But she could feel the dense pain welling up from her heart.
Perhaps it was just the residual consciousness of the original host.
She warned herself as such.
She warned herself not to have any other emotions-not heartache, nor any other emotion she shouldn’t have.
She was not the original host.
And Shi Nan was not her fiancée.
She was just an outsider.
With this thought, Fu Zhao took a deep breath, pulled away Shi Nan, who was burning up and constantly nuzzling into her, and then fumbled in her bag for the latest model of inhibitor she had brought, injecting it steadily into the other woman.
The clear liquid was injected into the blood vessel.
Fu Zhao let out a sigh of relief. It was a good thing she had thought to bring an inhibitor when she came, otherwise Shi Nan would have probably suffered even more.
However, she didn’t know if it needed some time to take effect, but the heat from the person in her arms hadn’t subsided, and her rationality seemed… not to have returned yet.
So much so that when the Security Department personnel were loading the unconscious fugitive into the car, they kept glancing over in her direction.
Fu Zhao coughed lightly, and the Security Department personnel instantly dispersed, got in their cars, and disappeared.
Only the doctor, who was also a female Omega, was left. She walked over, steeling herself, and met Fu Zhao’s “clueless” gaze. Her raised hand froze for a moment before she spoke after a brief silence, “Little Island Master, do you need me to check on Miss Shi’s condition?”
As soon as she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of Shi Nan nuzzling against Fu Zhao’s neck. Shi Nan’s face had returned to normal from its earlier flush, but her actions… were still a bit off. She was shrinking into Fu Zhao’s embrace, and as soon as she was pulled away, her hands would climb back up.
The doctor warned herself not to look at what was improper, but as soon as she averted her gaze, she saw Fu Zhao’s face instantly turn beet red. She nearly choked on her own saliva. She never expected that their Little Island Master, who had been like a little adult since childhood, would be so unexpectedly innocent when faced with such a situation. But she still managed to stand up straight, her eyes fixed on the flickering streetlight ahead, completely avoiding the “friendly interaction” between Fu Zhao and Shi Nan.
“Yes… thank you, Doctor Liu.”
Fu Zhao’s tone was a little awkward. She could only forcefully pull away Shi Nan, who was trying to get at the back of her neck, but was suddenly pounced on again by the person in her arms. The hair on the side of her neck was pushed aside, and a delicate, smooth touch came over, like being lightly touched by jelly.
Again and again.
The random touches moved along the right side of her neck, around her shoulder and neck area.
But she knew it wasn’t jelly.
After all, no jelly had such a scalding temperature.
The heat from the few places she was lightly touched slowly spread throughout her entire body, especially to the tips of her ears and her face, which was fully exposed to Doctor Liu’s line of sight. Her temperature instantly soared.
It was as if her whole body had been burned red, and smoke was about to rise from the top of her head.
Fu Zhao closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. When she opened them, she couldn’t help but glance at Doctor Liu, who was standing by, looking straight ahead but almost unable to hold back her laughter. She could only silently stuff Shi Nan, who was still clinging to her, into Doctor Liu’s arms.
“Doctor Liu… you take a look first, help her take a look.”
She passed the person over like a hot potato, then immediately pulled back, awkwardly raising a hand to tidy her hair that had just been messed up. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she still didn’t say anything.
Doctor Liu did her best to suppress the upward curve of her lips, picked up her medical bag, and dutifully rolled up her sleeves, intending to first check Shi Nan’s gland.
But…
She paused, looked up at Fu Zhao who was staring at the sky and the ground but not at her, and sighed softly. “Little Island Master…”
“Hm?” Fu Zhao responded quickly, looking over with a nervous expression. “What’s wrong?”
Doctor Liu glanced at the tightly-closed eyes of Shi Nan, raised an eyebrow, and still stuffed the person back into Fu Zhao’s arms. Shi Nan happened to conveniently wrap her arms around Fu Zhao’s neck.
She nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Fu Zhao, who had instantly frozen and didn’t dare to move, and smiled. “It’s more convenient for me to check Miss Shi Nan’s gland if you hold her.”
And so, the scalding touch pressed against her again. Fu Zhao snapped back to reality as if waking from a dream, not knowing where to put her hands. She could only stand there stiffly, supporting Shi Nan’s shoulders, yet still trying to maintain a distance as if she had touched something she shouldn’t have.
Doctor Liu didn’t notice Fu Zhao’s state, or rather, even if she did, it wasn’t as important as Shi Nan’s current gland condition. She frowned, put on her gloves, and examined it carefully.
After the isolation patch on the back of the neck was removed, the gland was frighteningly swollen and completely red. Fluid was constantly seeping out from inside-not a lot, but after Doctor Liu wiped it with sterile gauze held by tweezers, a little more would ooze out.
Fu Zhao froze for a moment, immediately averting her gaze. She didn’t dare to move, and even held her breath.
It seemed to be the first time she had seen a gland’s condition so directly, which made her subconsciously raise a hand to touch the back of her own neck. The smooth, non-protruding surface reassured her quite a bit.
However, the condition of Shi Nan’s gland didn’t look very good.
Could something bad be happening to Shi Nan…
With her heart in her throat, she watched Doctor Liu’s brow furrow tighter and tighter, feeling increasingly uneasy.
It wasn’t until Doctor Liu opened her medical kit, took out a new isolation patch, sprayed something on it, and applied it to Shi Nan, then glanced calmly at Fu Zhao’s sparkling, nervous eyes, that she cleared her throat.
“It’s nothing serious.”
With those words, Fu Zhao’s heart settled. “Thank you, Doctor Liu. Then I’ll-”
“But…” Doctor Liu paused, deftly packing away the items in her medical kit. “The gland’s condition isn’t as bad as I imagined, but after all, the pheromones that Alpha released were very strong. I had to inject myself with an inhibitor before I dared to get out of the car. Miss Shi must have had a very hard time.”
“And…”
“Judging by the condition around the gland, Miss Shi’s heat might come early this time. Little Island Master, you’ll need to pay more attention recently.” She stopped there, silently glanced at the still-clueless Fu Zhao, and then remembered that this Little Island Master was a Beta. She couldn’t help but add, “What I mean is, you need to be constantly aware that Miss Shi’s heat might arrive early, so… you need to be prepared.”
“For example… artificial pheromones and such.”
She left it at that, deliberately pausing for a moment. After Fu Zhao’s face turned bright red in realization, she appropriately started the next topic. “There are no problems for now. I just applied some medicine to Miss Shi’s gland, and the swelling will go down soon.”
“It’s just… she still needs some time to recover, so she can’t be left alone tonight.”
“But since the inhibitor has been administered, she should recover after tonight. The Little Island Master doesn’t need to worry too much.”
“That’s good…” Fu Zhao secretly sighed in relief, listening carefully to Doctor Liu’s words. “Okay, I understand. I’ll pay attention to… all that.”
She still couldn’t bring herself to say the words “artificial pheromones” so openly.
When she first arrived, she had learned about sexual knowledge between non-A/O partners.
Artificial pheromones were generally used between Alphas and Betas, or Betas and Omegas. Since Betas don’t have pheromones, they are used to soothe their partners during their heat or susceptibility period.
Doctor Liu raised her eyes to meet Fu Zhao’s, looked at Shi Nan who was resting surprisingly peacefully in Fu Zhao’s arms, and then thought about how Shi Nan had been nuzzling Fu Zhao’s neck earlier. She couldn’t help but ask,
“Little Island Master, are you really a Beta?”
Fu Zhao was stunned for a few seconds, her lips pressing into a tight line. “Yes.”
“That’s strange…” Doctor Liu adjusted her glasses and spoke after a moment of thought. “I feel like Miss Shi needs you very much right now. When I said she can’t be left alone for now, I meant that she seems unable to leave you. But you’re a Beta.”
“So this isn’t an Omega’s need for an Alpha’s pheromones.”
“What I mean is, she seems to need you very much right now, but it doesn’t seem to be a physiological need.”
After saying this, Doctor Liu walked thoughtfully toward the convoy of cars, as if this was a question worth pondering.
Fu Zhao stood in place for a while, hesitantly looking at Shi Nan in her arms. Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelashes trembling slightly. Her head rested relaxedly in the crook of her shoulder, and her hands were loosely wrapped around her neck.
This was sufficiently close contact.
For her, and for Shi Nan, it should be so.
She had never held someone this close before, close enough to see the slight rise and fall of Shi Nan’s chest with each breath, close enough to clearly feel Shi Nan’s scalding body temperature slowly returning to normal.
Fu Zhao stared at Shi Nan for a while, then couldn’t help but gently place her hand on Shi Nan’s forehead. After a moment, the frighteningly high temperature had begun to drop, and the flush on her face had started to fade, leaving only a faint afterglow.
She moved gently, brushing away the hair stuck to Shi Nan’s face and taking out a tissue to gently wipe the dampness from her face.
She carried the other woman on her back and walked toward the cars.
After what Doctor Liu had said, she couldn’t help but remember the first time she had rescued Shi Nan by the sea. Shi Nan had also trusted her very much then, sleeping soundly on the back of her little electric scooter.
Shi Nan, it seemed, really trusted her.
Why was that? She hadn’t found the answer to that question yet.
She let out a long breath, listening to the soft breathing of Shi Nan, who was buried in her shoulder, and feeling their hair, scattered by the wind, gradually intertwine. She lowered her gaze and subconsciously blurted out,
“Shi Nan, do you need me?”
Of course, as expected, she received no answer.
In a daze, Shi Nan opened her eyes.
Her eyelids were still very heavy, so heavy that the act of opening them was difficult.
But she forced herself, until her blurry vision slowly cleared, until she could see everything before her clearly: the tall staircase, the pure white iron gate entwined with roses, the alarm system installed on the gate, and the repaired streetlight that always shone with a warm yellow light.
It was the entrance to Building 2.
You could say it was the entrance to her home on Nanke Island.
She was being carried on someone’s back. Her legs were held firmly in warm palms, and her head rested on a warm, soft shoulder. The person carrying her was slender and slim. Their breathing was slowly becoming more rapid, and a bead of sweat had even appeared on their jaw, but they still held on, carrying her up the stairs step by step.
On a summer night, the wind was also warm. Although being pressed together was a bit hot, it was still very comfortable, cozy and more reassuring than ever before.
Right now, her whole body was weak, and her head was dizzy.
But smelling that familiar, rich, and thick tea fragrance, she felt her headache lessen considerably, at least enough for her to lift her eyelids and see everything clearly, to let the sound of Fu Zhao’s softly suppressed breaths knead into her ears.
Before the large bead of sweat on Fu Zhao’s jaw could fall, Shi Nan lifted her still-weak hand and gently wiped away the sweat with her sleeve.
Then, she could distinctly feel the body of Fu Zhao, who was carrying her, suddenly stiffen.
“You’re awake?”
Fu Zhao caught her breath, carefully carrying the person on her back, her steps pausing for a moment.
“Mm…”
A soft sound came from her shoulder, still sounding weak.
Fu Zhao was stunned for a moment, then continued carrying her up, her steps becoming even more careful. “You can sleep a little longer, get some rest.”
“Mm…” Shi Nan only hummed in response. The streetlight ahead hurt her eyes, so she gently closed them again, tightening her arms around Fu Zhao’s neck. “Where’s your motorcycle? You didn’t ride it back?”
Fu Zhao froze, as if she could feel a wave of heat coming from her right shoulder. She glanced at Shi Nan, who was nestled in the crook of her shoulder with her eyes closed, and wondered if she had misheard.
But the next second, Shi Nan slowly opened her eyes. A circle of brilliant, moist light in her tea-brown eyes surged toward her, making her heart race and her head spin.
“Hm?”
Shi Nan tilted her head, blinked, and asked again in a soft, gentle voice.
A warm breath sprayed over, hitting the side of her ear, her neck, and even seemed to slip in through her collar.
Fu Zhao snapped back to her senses, her fingertips stiffening. She quickly turned her head away, her gaze fixed straight ahead, and her tone became a little unnatural. “I thought you didn’t see it?”
“I didn’t see it at first,” Shi Nan said softly, then seemed to remember something happy and chuckled lightly, her voice lazy. “But… how could I miss such a cool motorcycle?”
“It’s not cool,” Fu Zhao replied awkwardly. After a long moment, she forced out another sentence. “It’s just that a high-speed motorcycle is faster, has a wider field of view, and can go down small roads. It’s more flexible than their vehicles. I wasn’t trying to show off.”
As Fu Zhao spoke, the red that had already faded from the tips of her ears quickly crept back up.
Shi Nan stared at Fu Zhao’s ears for a while, unable to hold back her laughter. Her shoulders couldn’t help but tremble, but the slight movement pulled at the back of her neck, causing a twinge of pain. She couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath, clenching her fingertips and unconsciously tightening her grip on Fu Zhao’s neck.
Fu Zhao froze instantly, her steps halting as she looked over nervously. “Are you okay?”
“…I’m fine.” Shi Nan took a moment to recover, but she didn’t dare to move so recklessly anymore. She could only obediently hug Fu Zhao’s neck and stopped laughing. After a while, she spoke in a soft, quiet voice, “I know you weren’t trying to show off. I also know you were in such a hurry that you didn’t even park, you just threw your helmet at that bad guy.”
“I know. This is you being cute, being straightforward, not showing off.”
Even if it was showing off, it was cute, genuine, a synonym for all the simple and beautiful things in this world. She secretly kept this cheesy sentence to herself.
“I feel really lucky because of this. Thank you for saving me again.”
“But what I feel even luckier about is that this time, it wasn’t someone else. It was still you.”
After saying all this, Shi Nan seemed to have used up all the strength she had stored up. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, forcing her to close her eyes once more as her vision plunged into darkness.
Feeling the person on her shoulder go quiet again, Fu Zhao’s fingertips stiffened. She adjusted her position to make it more comfortable for Shi Nan to lie on her back. She didn’t say anything more, just silently climbed the last few flights of stairs.
“Fu Zhao…”
As she stepped onto the last landing, a soft call came from her shoulder again. Before she could react, she felt the grip on her neck tighten, and the voice that reached her ear was impossibly light, made even lighter by the wind. It was soft and delicate, climbing to the very tip of her heart.
“I might… really need you.”
When Shi Nan said this, her voice was so soft that Fu Zhao thought she had misheard. But she could definitely feel it from the arms tightly hooked around her neck-that feeling of being needed.
She could also feel the hairs on her neck stand up as Shi Nan’s breath brushed past.
It was nervousness, and the sound of a heart beating restlessly.
This was normal. When a person is nervous, their heart rate also speeds up.
Fu Zhao was absolutely certain that the heart pounding in her chest was just because of nervousness, fear, and unease.
Just some normal emotions.
That was all.
It wasn’t until she had carried Shi Nan home and called Fu Wanqing to help change her clothes that Shi Nan still refused to let go of her.
Only then did she truly realize the extent of the need Shi Nan had spoken of.
The moment she had the slightest thought of pulling her wrist out of Shi Nan’s hand, it would be gripped even tighter the next second. She even felt that it might be more convenient to just detach her hand and give it to Shi Nan to hold.
“Let’s just leave it like this then.” Fu Wanqing raised an eyebrow, her gaze shifting back and forth between the sleeping Shi Nan with her eyes tightly shut and Fu Zhao, who was frozen in place, staring blankly at the bed. She finally sensed that something was not quite right. She cleared her throat and said nonchalantly, “We can’t keep dragging this out. I’ll just change Nannan’s clothes directly.”
With that, Fu Wanqing rolled up her sleeves and walked to the bedside.
“No!” Fu Zhao shouted. When Fu Wanqing looked over with a teasing expression, she didn’t know why she had stopped her. Her mouth opened and closed, finally forcing out, “You have to let me go out first, after all…”
“After all what?” Fu Wanqing crossed her arms, her eyebrows raised. “Or maybe it would be more convenient for you to change Nannan’s clothes. After all, you two are fiancées. Wouldn’t it be better if you did it yourself?”
“You know that Nannan won’t let go of you right now. How are you going to get out? Are you going to take Nannan out with you?”
This was a troublesome problem.
Fu Zhao felt the wrist being held by Shi Nan start to burn. She stared at the unconscious, sleeping Shi Nan and once again tentatively tried to pull her hand out from the other’s scalding palm. But with just a slight movement, it was gripped even tighter the next second.
But she wasn’t sure.
Was it that Shi Nan’s grip was so strong that she couldn’t break free?
Or was it that she couldn’t bring herself to use her full strength? After all, Shi Nan was currently a patient. She couldn’t use brute force on a patient, could she?
Fu Zhao lowered her eyelashes, not daring to meet Fu Wanqing’s gaze any longer. She resignedly turned around, her eyes fixed on the doorknob, unmoving.
“So that’s how it is…” Fu Wanqing’s voice came from behind, filled with amusement, accompanied by the rustling sound of clothes being removed. “So our Zhaozhao is shy, huh?”
“I wasn’t being thoughtful enough. I thought you and Nannan are both girls, just like Nannan and me.”
Listening to the sounds behind her, Fu Zhao wanted to cover her ears and block out all her senses. But if she really did that, Fu Wanqing would probably laugh at her until tomorrow.
But a person’s thoughts are not so easily controlled.
With her back turned, her ears still pricked up involuntarily, pouring all the rustling sounds from behind into her eardrums.
She could seemingly hear every movement behind her.
This was not proper behavior.
She pressed her lips together, shook her muddled head, and clenched her other hand at her side. After a long while, she finally answered Fu Wanqing’s question. “It’s different.”
“How is it different?”
Fu Wanqing didn’t seem to plan on letting her go, continuing to press, “Are you referring to the fact that you’re a Beta and Nannan is an Omega; or that you two are fiancées?”
This was a truly difficult question to answer.
It was both.
But Fu Zhao knew very well that the biggest reason she didn’t dare to face Shi Nan, didn’t dare to face this situation, was probably neither of the above.
The biggest reason was guilt.
The source of this guilt was perhaps because she was not the original host, or perhaps because of what Kong Weiyan had said to her after rehearsal today.
Not just “judge the matter, not the person,” but also the sentence that followed…
The lights flickered, and Kong Weiyan was haloed in a misty glow. Her expression under the swaying lights became somewhat indistinct, and her tone was more complex than ever before.
“The most important thing is not to let yourself have regrets.”
“By the time you’ve lost everything, by the time there are no more chances, it will be too late.”
At that time, Fu Zhao had been momentarily blinded by a streetlight. She had clutched her bag strap and said nothing, not having had time to think about anything. She had turned to look at Kong Weiyan and said softly,
“I know.”
She remembered that when she left, Kong Weiyan was still standing there, unmoving, as if reminiscing about something.
“Fu Zhao…”
Another soft call.
The memory came to an abrupt halt.
The heat on her wrist gradually returned, and the rustling sounds around her stopped. The room returned to silence. Fu Zhao let out a long breath and came back to her senses, but still didn’t dare to turn around. “Is she changed? Mother.”
Fu Wanqing also seemed to be stunned for a moment, only speaking after a few seconds. “Mhm~ You can turn around now.”
Fu Zhao turned around, her gaze still involuntarily falling on Shi Nan, who was lying quietly on the bed. She was curled up in oversized cotton pajamas, her shoulders and neck looking slender. She was a small bundle under the covers, making her seem tiny and frail.
Her face was pale after the flush had subsided, and the color was gradually returning to her lips, so she didn’t look too alarming.
Her hair had been dried and lay fluffy and neat by the side of her face, outlining its smooth, natural shape.
Her eyelashes trembled lightly, like a tiny, breathing butterfly fluttering upon them.
Her chest rose and fell gently, indicating her current stable condition.
Was Shi Nan always this thin?
Fu Zhao walked closer with light steps, using her free left hand to pull the blanket up for Shi Nan. As soon as she got close, she saw the sleeping Shi Nan’s red lips part slightly, uttering two words,
“Fu Zhao…”
She froze abruptly. Only then did she realize that the soft call just now had also come from Shi Nan, not Fu Wanqing.
Right, Fu Wanqing always called her Zhaozhao.
Thinking of this, she subconsciously met the gaze of Fu Wanqing standing beside her, then calmly looked away. She sat down on the chair by the bed without a word, her eyes staring blankly at Shi Nan.
Fu Wanqing calmly looked at Fu Zhao, then at Shi Nan. It wasn’t that she, as a mother, was overthinking things, but after all, for someone to be sleeping so soundly yet still holding onto her daughter’s hand and calling her name over and over, it was impossible for her not to overthink.
It seemed this engagement probably couldn’t be broken off.
She touched Shi Nan’s forehead, and sighed in relief after confirming she didn’t have a fever. Then she looked at Fu Zhao, who was sitting in the chair and planning to watch over Shi Nan all night, and nodded in satisfaction. “You know, Nannan got into trouble because of us. The kidnapper was targeting me, and also you. So Zhaozhao, taking care of Nannan and helping her recover is our responsibility, and even more so, your responsibility.”
“Regardless of whether you are fiancées or not,” she added, thinking of Fu Zhao’s awkward attitude, giving her a reason she couldn’t refuse.
Fu Zhao looked up as if waking from a dream, looking at her tightly held wrist. The warmth where their palms touched was impossible to ignore, and she couldn’t bring herself to pull away.
Perhaps it was because of the reason Fu Wanqing had just stated.
She paused for a moment. “I know. I will take responsibility.”
Fu Wanqing got the satisfactory answer she wanted. She walked out and leisurely brought Fu Zhao a glass of hot milk and a thermos, gave a few instructions, and then left.
The room instantly fell silent.
Only Fu Zhao, still sitting in the chair, and Shi Nan, calling Fu Zhao’s name over and over, were left.
The voice was very soft, with various emotions mixed in, so complex that Fu Zhao couldn’t tell whether the person Shi Nan was calling was the original host, or her, this “Fu Zhao.”
Fu Zhao clenched her fingertips and took a deep breath. “Xiao An, turn off the lights.”
“Yes, Master Number Two.”
The lights in the room quickly went out, leaving only the dim yellow table lamp by the bed.
Fu Zhao hadn’t figured out why she was “Master Number Two” yet. She frowned and spoke again, “Xiao An, turn off all the lights.”
“Are you sure, Master Number Two? Because Master Number One specifically instructed that this small lamp by the bed should not be extinguished. This seems to be a reserved command in my light-off procedure.”
Xiao An’s voice sounded cold and robotic, certainly less emotional than Number Ten.
Fu Zhao lowered her gaze. “Okay, don’t turn it off then.”
The AI’s voice faded. Under the dim yellow glow of the bedside lamp, Shi Nan frowned, seemingly having a bad dream.
Fu Zhao stared at Shi Nan, unable to resist leaning closer, wanting to smooth the frown on her brow.
Shi Nan must be a very insecure person to sleep with a light on. But such a person seemed to trust her very much, even holding her wrist while sleeping.
But before her fingertips could touch, the person lying quietly called out again,
“Fu Zhao…”
The end of the name was very light, like a murmur, yet also like a soft call.
Softer than any time she had called her before.
It was a similar tone, a similar emotion, to the “Fu Zhao” she had heard when she was carrying Shi Nan up the stairs.
But she still couldn’t tell who Shi Nan was calling in her unconscious state.
In the end, Fu Zhao pulled back her outstretched hand and sat back down in the chair, staring at the hand that held hers tightly, a gentle ripple in her eyes.
It was like a gear being pushed by fate.
She came here, saw the story of “Fu Zhao” and Shi Nan, and everyone around her, either obviously or implicitly, was reminding her not to do things she would regret, that she should cherish everything she had now.
But what was it that she would regret?
The story of Gu Shubai and Fu Wanqing seemed to be playing out vividly before her eyes.
Kong Weiyan also said to judge the matter, not the person, and not to regret it after losing everything when there are no more chances.
But what exactly was regret?
What should she do to avoid future regrets?
She didn’t know.
Ever since Shi Nan came to Nanke Island, everyone around her, including herself, had unavoidably revolved around the story’s female lead, Shi Nan.
When she read the story, she only felt that it was a tragedy.
But now that she had truly become a person in the story, she felt that everything here was complex, not as superficial and simple as it was in words.
She was facing real, living people, and events that had happened vividly before her eyes.
Her thoughts, her emotions, had also become complicated along with the story’s cataclysmic events.
She had been pulled into this story by the hand of fate and could no longer remain a bystander.
Perhaps it should be said that she had to face all of this.
Because now, all the stories were happening right beside her, and she had become a person in the story.
She would feel guilty, fearful, and nervous because of what happened to Shi Nan.
She would also feel warmed by Fu Wanqing’s care.
She had even truly become friends with Jiang Wenqing and Ye Er.
And all of this was not just out of the Little Island Master’s responsibility, nor was it just out of responsibility to the original host.
These were her own emotions. She had to admit that when she heard Shi Nan constantly calling out “Fu Zhao,” she actually hoped, just a little, that the person Shi Nan was calling was her.
This was not a good sign.
She might need to try harder to suppress the emotions that were gradually surfacing.
Fu Zhao sat quietly, her thoughts a tangled mess, taking a very long time to sort out.
By the time the sky began to lighten, she still hadn’t come up with an answer for what to do next. She was always used to sorting out her thoughts and deciding on her attitude before facing anything.
But now…
Fu Zhao looked at Shi Nan, who was not yet awake but had thrown off the blanket with an outstretched hand, and sighed softly. This was the sixth time Shi Nan had kicked off the blanket tonight. The room was at a constant twenty-six degrees, but Shi Nan didn’t seem to sleep very obediently, constantly kicking off the blanket.
She stood up, intending to cover Shi Nan with the blanket again. As she stood, her whole body felt a little sore and stiff from sitting for so long, and a feeling of fatigue and numbness spread from her limbs.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she got close, Shi Nan, who she thought was sound asleep, slowly opened her eyes. Her tea-brown eyes were hazy with sleep, her eyelashes trembled lightly, and then she stared at her without blinking.
She was startled by the sudden eye contact and didn’t know what she had stepped on. Perhaps it was because she had been sitting in the chair for too long, and her legs were sore and weak.
In short, in an instant, like a coincidence that happens in every story, she lost her balance and fell toward the bed.
But thankfully, she was quick enough to support herself with her hands on either side of Shi Nan’s shoulders.
At the same time, a “thump” came from the head of the bed, a loud, muffled sound. Something must have fallen, and it also seemed to be reminding her of the current situation.
With its own sound effect.
And so, without a doubt, they entered a state of staring into each other’s eyes.
Fu Zhao froze, just quietly looking at her own reflection in those tea-brown eyes, as if all her attention had been sucked away by those shining orbs. She didn’t speak, or rather, she hadn’t come back to her senses yet and didn’t know what to say to deal with this awkward situation.
Shi Nan also didn’t speak, just quietly looking at her, still holding her wrist without letting go, the light in her eyes gently swaying.
It seemed she was sizing her up, trying to determine if the situation before her was real.
After an unknown amount of time, Fu Zhao stared blankly at Shi Nan, and the hands supporting her on either side seemed to have become sore.
Only then did Shi Nan gradually regain her clarity. She blinked, a hint of curiosity in her eyes, which was then covered by a smile. The corners of her eyes curved down, and she called out in a soft voice.
“Fu Zhao…”
“Are you going to kiss me?”
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment