TIMO - Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Fu Zhao froze almost instantly.

Her gaze couldn't help but linger on the person before her, as if trying to confirm that the person in front of her was really Shi Nan-the very subject of their recent discussion.

Her breathing unconsciously grew erratic, and her fingers, hidden in the hot spring, quietly clenched.

In that instant, the water in the spring seemed to grow hotter, so hot that her face burned and steam felt like it was rising from her head.

She calmly averted her gaze, her throat bobbing unconsciously a few times. She stared intently at the coat rack directly in front of her-it was made of warm-toned wood, with a few hangers scattered on it.

Two towels.

One was hers, and the other…

Fu Zhao's eyes scanned the room. Sure enough, Kong Weiyan and Jiang Wenqing had already snuck out, leaving only her and… Shi Nan. Which meant the other towel had to be Shi Nan's.

Having figured this out, she gently closed her eyes and spoke,

"It counts. Of course, it counts."

The moment she finished speaking, a soft, warm touch pressed against the side of her shoulder, making solid contact.

The bath robe was made of a light material. Soaked through with hot water, it felt as if only a thin layer of gauze separated their skin, almost negligible.

It was too close. So close that the wild thumping of her heart was nearly impossible to hide.

So close that their breaths intertwined over the steaming surface of the water. She couldn't even tell if the breathing she heard was her own or Shi Nan's.

"Did you use your move again?" Shi Nan let out a soft laugh, her shoulders trembling slightly. A rich, sweet fragrance wafted over with the rising steam.

The trembling was slight, not even as pronounced as the beating of her own heart.

But Fu Zhao felt a tingling numbness spread from her shoulder where they touched, paralyzing her entire arm.

She bit the tip of her tongue hard. The numbness in her arm gradually faded, and her thoughts returned. An idea suddenly popped into her head:

Maybe now was the time for the element of surprise.

So, without a second thought, Fu Zhao looked over, met Shi Nan's beautiful, misty eyes, and spoke softly,

"Shi Nan, I like you."

Just as she expected, the wavering light in Shi Nan's eyes suddenly stilled, tinged with surprise. A few seconds later, the surprise was replaced by delight, and her gaze began to dance again, filled with joy.

"Once you've said it, you can't take it back," she said.

Fu Zhao nodded lightly, her expression calm and her tone relaxed. "Mm, I won't."

Fu Zhao's casualness struck Shi Nan as a little odd. She tilted her head, biting her lower lip gently. "What do you mean by this?"

Fu Zhao's lips curved into a smile. It was as if a great weight in her heart had finally been lifted with those words. She swirled her hand in the water, sending ripples across the surface.

"I mean that I like you."

The next second, her hand was lifted from the water and settled into a soft palm. It was squeezed gently, carrying warmth and the soft sound of dripping water.

"I suggest you say a little more."

A weight settled on her shoulder as a damp, warm cheek pressed against it. A languid voice sounded in the quiet room, "Don't just say nothing for the sake of being surprising."

"That won't do, because I want to hear it."

Fu Zhao couldn't help but smile. "What do you want to hear?"

"What I want to hear…" Shi Nan repeated softly, looking up at her. Her curled lashes were dotted with mist, making them look even more alluring. "There's too much. You can start with what you want to say."

Fu Zhao paused for a few seconds, then looked down in thought. "I have a lot to say, too. Where should I start?"

"How about we just don't say anything?" she asked.

Shi Nan glanced at Fu Zhao nonchalantly, her misty eyes clearly saying, "If you're serious, I'm going to get mad." "You'd better explain yourself."

"I won't agree to anything if it's not clear." Her face tapped lightly against Fu Zhao's shoulder. "I'll give you one more chance."

Feeling the soft, delicate touch, Fu Zhao quietly held her breath and soothingly hooked her fingers around Shi Nan's. "Do you know when I started to like you?"

"Hmm…" Shi Nan drew out the sound, seemingly in thought. "We didn't interact much before. Was it after I came to Nanke Island?"

Fu Zhao tilted her head to look at her. "Why would you think that?"

Shi Nan looked back, her gaze wavering. "Of course I'd think that. Weren't you so adamant back then, saying you didn't like me and I didn't like you?"

Fu Zhao froze, suddenly remembering. Back then, she hadn't recovered her memories, and her mind was consumed with avoiding that ending. Naturally, she hadn't wanted any connection with Shi Nan.

Thinking of this, she pressed her lips together.

"Although I did say those things, wasn't I… suffering from amnesia back then?" After much thought, amnesia was the only way she could describe her reactions at the time.

"So, it actually didn't happen after you came to Nanke Island."

"What happened?" Shi Nan asked, feigning ignorance, her tone laced with an unconcealable smile.

Fu Zhao lowered her voice. "The matter of me liking you."

"Who likes me?" Shi Nan asked again, the corners of her eyes crinkling, her voice tender.

Fu Zhao's mouth felt a little dry. Without even looking in a mirror, she could imagine how wide her smile was. She said softly, "I like you."

"Mhm~~"

Shi Nan nodded in satisfaction. She lifted her hand from the water, creating splashes and ripples, and patted Fu Zhao's cheek. "Then keep going. When did you start to like me?"

"I can't say for sure, actually."

Fu Zhao gave this answer, her voice soft and her eyes flickering as if recalling the first stirrings of her feelings. "But it must have been a long time ago. Middle school?"

"Some things are hard to explain, especially this kind of sudden feeling."

"When I first met you, you left me an umbrella and cleaned my wound. At that time, I just felt that even though we were under the same umbrella, and you were standing right in front of me, you still seemed very far away." As she spoke, she lowered her eyes, a little sad.

But the next second, she felt a tickle in her palm as it was gently scratched.

The tears welling in her eyes were soothed. She paused for a moment, then continued.

"After that, I found myself always paying special attention to you. I envied you, envied how many people liked you. Then I started watching you almost every day. Maybe I just watched you too much and ended up liking you."

"So? Is the answer really boring?" She slowly leaned back, the stiffness in her body easing a little.

Confessing really took a lot out of a person.

To repeatedly say the "I like you" that had been hidden in Number Ten's highest directive was difficult before starting, but so relaxing after it was done.

And she wouldn't just be saying it this one time.

"It's not strange." Shi Nan shifted, adjusting into a comfortable position leaning against Fu Zhao's shoulder. Her damp, warm shoulder moved back and forth, the heat transferring through the fabric of their robes. "There's no specific moment when you start liking someone."

"By the time you realize you like them, the feeling has already taken root in your heart."

"That's true," Fu Zhao agreed, glancing sideways at Shi Nan. She spoke softly, as if in casual conversation, "Did my confession not meet your expectations?"

"Was it too plain, or too brief?"

"Who said that?" Shi Nan looked over, the light in her tea-brown eyes shimmering with a tender glow, unrestrained and moist. "Who says a confession has to be flashy? You prepare a surprise, I prepare a surprise."

"Before, I was just going along with you, wanting you to fulfill your own expectations."

"As for me…" she drew out the last word, a soft laugh spilling from her every syllable, "just hearing you say 'I like you' is more than enough to satisfy me."

"That's what's most important." She lowered her voice, her eyes clear and bright, as if holding the purest spring in the world.

"Fu Zhao, I don't really care about other things. Just hearing those words is enough for me."

"I don't need you to prepare a bunch of surprises, and I don't need you to be unpredictable. From the very beginning, I never thought about competing with you to see who could give the most perfect surprise. In fact, even before you said it, I was already thinking of giving you my answer first."

Shi Nan bit her lower lip gently, her gaze growing misty. "I know that you actually know what my answer is…"

She paused for a few seconds, and when she spoke again, her voice was incredibly soft. "The answer is, I'm willing to be your girlfriend, I'm willing to be your fiancée, and I'm even more willing to be your future wife."

Fu Zhao stared blankly for a few seconds. Meeting Shi Nan's gaze, a scorching heat slowly welled up in her eyes.

When she'd said it, it had been pure emotion overriding reason, a situation she wouldn't have imagined happening even half an hour ago.

But just as Shi Nan said, even before the confession, their answers had already been laid bare to each other.

With the order reversed, she had instead gotten tangled up in it, agonizing over the most perfect confession, yet hesitating to say the words.

But clearly, the words "I like you" were the most important part of a confession.

She kept thinking of various ways to confess, then kept overturning her own conclusions, getting stuck on this trivial point and overlooking the most important thing.

And Shi Nan?

Shi Nan had played along with her ideas, never blaming her for getting her priorities mixed up. Instead, she had indulged her, even accommodating her little schemes.

Shi Nan was probably the best person in the entire world. Fu Zhao came to this conclusion.

Her fingers were clasped tightly. The soft, smooth touch slipping between the gaps reminded her of the fact that their fingers were intertwined.

Fu Zhao took a deep breath, calming her erratic breathing and steadying her slightly trembling voice.

"I'm sorry, I might have… made you wait a little too long."

Her voice came out with an unconscious sob that she couldn't control.

"Silly~~"

There was that name again. The final sound lifted gently, tender and affectionate, making it impossible to hold back the moisture in her eyes. Instead, more heat welled up.

"Even if you didn't say it, I knew."

Shi Nan said this, leaning closer. Her eyelashes fluttered, and when she looked up, her pupils were filled completely with Fu Zhao's reflection. "So there was no rush."

"I'm just happy that you were able to say it."

"I don't care about any other formalities."

The tears that had pooled in Fu Zhao's eyes finally spilled over at Shi Nan's words, falling and dripping onto the water's surface, creating ripples.

She raised a hand to wipe away her tears. The water on her hand mixed with the tears streaming from her eyes, making it impossible to tell which was which. She wasn't one to cry; she hadn't cried through all the things that had happened before.

She hadn't even cried when she died in Shi Nan's arms in her past life.

But now, after just a few sentences, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

Perhaps it was because the process of saying those words hadn't been so difficult after all.

The relief after saying them was also completely unexpected.

"I… I…"

Fu Zhao wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. The few words she managed were halting and clumsy.

The next second, she felt warmth on her face as a damp, soft palm covered it.

The sound of splashing water grew louder, splash, splash.

The figure in front of her drew closer, her breath carried on the steam, scorching and hot.

Her face was tilted up, and her gaze fell into those deep, soft, wavering eyes.

Her vision was blurred by the tears welling in her eyes.

But she could still see the figure slowly growing larger, and as it drew near, the fair, delicate skin, so smooth it looked like a peeled egg.

Their foreheads touched, and she could feel the heat from her body. This was the first time she had ever been this close to Shi Nan.

So close that if she just lowered her head, she could kiss Shi Nan.

And the next second, she did.

A damp, soft, and fervent sensation touched her lips.

It was a long, soft kiss. The movement seemed much gentler, yet it was so much better than the light touch from before.

Heat climbed up her spine.

Her hands, hanging at her sides, clenched unconsciously. She should be doing something, but Fu Zhao's mind had gone completely blank. She didn't know how to react.

Perhaps because her reaction was too slow, her lip was gently bitten, then released.

Their eyes met. The eyes before her were now veiled with more mist and haze. Wet strands of hair fell across a slender neck, accenting the fair, translucent skin.

Her hand, which she didn't know where to put, was taken and gently guided to rest on a slender, soft waist.

Her eyes widened as a soft, warm voice whispered in her ear,

"When you kiss me, you have to hold me."

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