Shrine - Chapter 22
Chapter 22
The little bread once again applied flavor enhancer to itself, right in front of Shi Ran.
The three bottles of perfume in the display cabinet were placed slightly toward the back, with plenty of volume left, indicating they were hardly used. All signs pointed to the fact that these were unlikely to be Ruan Ruan's favorites or her most commonly used ones. Standing before the cabinet, rather than picking out a perfume, she was meticulously selecting a few perfume names.
Each name carried an appropriate implication, from "Morning," which made Shi Ran slightly happy, to the interrupted, disheveled "Desire," and finally using the scent of lily of the valley to tell Shi Ran that she was looking forward to the weekend.
With so much thought put into it, there was no reason not to satisfy her.
The two sat on opposite sides of the commercial van, looking out at the night view from their respective windows. Midsummer was drawing to a close, the cool breeze acting as autumn's vanguard. A few scattered fallen leaves were swept up, and the streetlights looked as cold as rock candy.
The rustling sounds of packing clothes still echoed in her ears. At that time, Shi Ran stood in the room watching the figure, faintly visible in the shadows, take off her loungewear and change into a slip dress and a casual jacket. Ruan Ruan efficiently packed her toiletries in the dark. Only when the sound of the shower stopped, Wu Mei returned to her room with a slight cough, the lights went out, and absolute silence fell, did Ruan Ruan grab Shi Ran by the wrist and flee outside as if eloping.
Her heart felt like a billiard table had been set up inside, with a novice playing, balls clacking crisply against one another, unsure of which pocket they would fall into.
From the door to the elevator, from the commercial van driven over by the driver to the top-floor suite of Jingyue International.
Their escape route was clear and precise, without a single error.
The door closed, continuing the kiss from over an hour ago, relaxing the tense pulse amid the intertwining of lips and teeth.
Ruan Ruan suddenly broke into laughter, pulling back a bit, looking at Shi Ran softly in the unlit room.
Shi Ran questioned her with a look.
"I just remembered a drama I acted in. I was a student, my best friend came to play with me, and we climbed over the wall to sneak out, kind of like right now."
There was no one else around, yet she kept her voice very low, as if hiding from the air itself.
"Do we look like that? Us?" Ruan Ruan leaned against the wall, pursing her lips.
"I don't know, I don't have a best friend." Shi Ran coldly lowered her eyelashes.
Ruan Ruan peeked at her expression, unsure if she would feel regretful because of this, so she paused for two seconds before saying seriously and quietly, "I can be your best friend, if you don't mind."
Shi Ran didn't speak further, simply turning her face to kiss her.
Ruan Ruan's breath was swallowed up, and she propped her hands onto the sides of Shi Ran's neck.
Her hanging fingers made a weak grasp in the air, and soon enough, her whole body went soft from the kissing.
Her name had two "Ruan"s, so she naturally should be softer than ordinary people. Her moans were soft, her thoughts were soft, even the sweat that beaded on her skin was soft, hanging weakly on her body, ready to slip off at the slightest caress.
The moon on the treetops couldn't hold on either, teased and provoked by the branches, turning into a soaking wet illusion.
They only had enough energy to do it once before wrapping themselves in blankets to rest in the strongly air-conditioned room. They each checked their phones to see if there were any messages to reply to, then set them aside, waiting to recover a little energy before sitting on the bed to talk to each other.
"You packed your things very quickly today," Shi Ran observed, noting that Ruan Ruan's movements when reaching for her phone were also very precise. "It seems you don't need to turn on the lights."
Ruan Ruan lay on her stomach next to Shi Ran, her voice obedient. "I was blind for a period of time when I was little, so I can do things in the dark."
Blind? Shi Ran sat leaning against the headboard, looking down at her.
"Mhm, my brother hit me, accidentally," Ruan Ruan said.
Shi Ran's hand, resting on the pillow, stroked Ruan Ruan's fine, soft hair, then gently lifted, her finger brushing past the small mole under Ruan Ruan's eye.
Her dark pupils were moist and bright, like a pearl that had never been covered in dust.
"You mentioned before that you wrote a character biography for the female lead of Desire," Ruan Ruan gazed at her from the pillow. "Can I take a look?"
She knew how to write biographies too, she just hadn't seen how a Best Actress wrote one.
Shi Ran let her go, motioned for her to sit up, picked up her phone, and sent the character biography file to Ruan Ruan.
Ruan Ruan opened the file, used two fingers to enlarge the text, and craned her neck to read seriously.
She read the characters in the biography, while Shi Ran drank water and watched her. The flush on her face hadn't completely faded, sweat-dampened hair curled at her temples, and her movements even carried a faint scent from deep within her body, smelling very clean, like some kind of pheromone with unknown ingredients.
She looked very cute when she read. Perhaps because she didn't have many opportunities to interact with books when she was young, she always had a kind of reverence for text. The habit of reading silently retained from high school persisted to this day; as her eyes glided over the words, her mouth mouthed them quietly.
Shi Ran gave a brief laugh in her heart, which didn't reach her face. She raised her wrist to take a sip of water.
Ruan Ruan finished reading quickly, bit her lip, and looked at Shi Ran hesitantly.
Shi Ran put down the water glass and heard Ruan Ruan say, "Are you writing about me?"
Her voice was raspy; she was blushing. Shi Ran found her quite interesting. She was bold enough when they were doing it, but at other times, she often made one hallucinate a easily frightened little bunny, the kind in meme stickers with blushes photoshopped onto its cheeks.
"Does it resemble you?"
"Yes."
Shi Ran remained noncommittal, only saying to Ruan Ruan, "I'm sleepy."
Ruan Ruan obediently turned off the light and slipped into the covers. She was originally a bit far from Shi Ran, but remembering the situation last time, she moved closer, pressing against Shi Ran's shoulder.
Shi Ran's face rubbed against Ruan Ruan's forehead, "Good night."
"Good night."
They didn't do it the next morning. Ruan Ruan, wearing pajamas, nestled in Shi Ran's hotel room, imitating the way she wrote character biographies to write one for Qiao Qiao in Shrine. Even though nothing was finalized yet, with every word she typed, she felt a little closer to Qiao Qiao.
Shi Ran was working at the desk, looking up to see Ruan Ruan curled up on the sofa. She went about things quietly and properly, able to calculate the time to order takeout from Qinzhi Buns for Wu Mei even while typing on her laptop.
After eating lunch, they unhurriedly satisfied each other.
Ruan Ruan lay on her stomach on the sofa, hiding her weak moans in the crook of her arm, occasionally furrowing her brows to glance at Shi Ran, before burying her head to press her lips against the fabric of the sofa.
Shi Ran extended her other hand, placing it between Ruan Ruan's lips and the sofa. Ruan Ruan consciously kissed between her fingers, kissing deeper and deeper, until finally, Shi Ran covered her mouth, swallowing the uncontrollable guttural sounds back down.
Ruan Ruan rested her ankles lightly on the sofa, and after ten or twenty minutes, she was full of vibrant vitality again.
She was always like this, like a sweetly blooming gardenia, its branches trembling in the wind, but with a little sunshine, desperately stretching its branches again.
Later, she found a booklet of lottery tickets on Shi Ran's desk. It looked familiar; it was distributed by the production crew.
Usually, when production starts, the crew gives the lead actors a booklet of lottery tickets. If they hit the jackpot, it meant good luck was upon them, and the project would likely be a hit. Of course, this had no scientific basis, so Shi Ran just put it aside after receiving it.
Seeing Ruan Ruan staring at it, Shi Ran handed it over, gesturing for her to help scratch it.
Ruan Ruan was naturally very happy. She had never been a lead actress, so this was her first opportunity to scratch a crew's lottery ticket.
She sat next to Shi Ran, meticulously scratching with a discarded card. There were quite a few 50s and 20s. At first, she would even announce them, but later she stopped bothering Shi Ran. Only after scratching the second to last ticket did she let out a low gasp and smile.
Shi Ran looked over, and Ruan Ruan pointed with her finger: "1000."
"Impressive." Shi Ran gave a faint smile.
Accepting the reward for her merit, Ruan Ruan frankly accepted the praise, pulling two tissues to clean up the scraps on the table. She was worried about the kittens at home, and it was about time to head back, so she asked while cleaning up, "What time is your flight tomorrow?"
"At night," Shi Ran said. "I'm going to the set in the morning."
So she still had scenes scheduled? Ruan Ruan threw away the tissues. "Then, I wish you everything goes smoothly first."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
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