Shrine - Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Filming for Non-Desire would move from the Gobi Desert to the city. The story was about a woman's journey from a small town to a metropolis, exploring the changes in her external environment and her own inner freedom. The production team would complete the studio shoots in Shucheng before finally wrapping up in Jiangcheng.
February 16th was the day they were originally scheduled to change locations, but Shi Ran arrived a day early, leaving her with free time.
Xiao Lin helped Shi Ran organize her luggage. She was staying in room 2101 again. After finishing her work, Shi Ran lay on a lounge chair, watching the sunset. The sunset in Shucheng couldn't compare to the one in the Gobi. The sun was meek and unimpressive, as if cowed by the reinforced concrete, having lost the wildness it possessed in the great desert.
That day, she didn't get a call from Ruan Ruan. Instead, she got one from Xin Chen.
On the other end, Xin Chen sounded both exhausted and fired up. She said that since they were all in Shucheng and Shi Ran hadn't started work yet, they should get together for some karaoke.
It was also a chance to scout the market and try to persuade Zhong Yi's family to come and overhaul Shucheng's KTV industry.
Shi Ran was initially uninterested, but then she heard Xin Chen say, "Come see the Little Cat Officer. She's about to fall apart."
"What do you mean?" Shi Ran softened her voice.
"She's been off her game for two or three scenes. I told her off, but I don't know if she even listened. Afterward, she asked me what you and I talked about when you came yesterday." Although Xin Chen was a happy-go-lucky person, she had been in the industry for years. She could tell at a glance that the two were having a fight.
She had no problem with Shi Ran and Ruan Ruan fighting, but it couldn't affect the filming. Money—she'd say it again—every minute was money.
As someone who loved organizing get-togethers, she felt it was her duty to play matchmaker, to build a bridge for the two weaver girls to meet and bury the hatchet.
Shi Ran said nothing more. She asked for the time and place, then hung up.
The KTVs in Shucheng were a far cry from those in Jiangcheng. Even though this was the most luxurious one, the ventilation system was poor, and the air was thick with the lingering smell of years of smoke and alcohol. Shi Ran brought a chill with her as she entered. The private room was brightly lit. The three of them were sitting on different ends of the sofa, playing on their phones as if waiting for a meeting to start. There was none of the intimate atmosphere typical of a karaoke session.
"You weren't photographed, were you? There are people squatting by the main entrance," Xin Chen said, gesturing for Shi Ran to sit.
"I don't know." Shi Ran took off her overcoat and casually draped it over the sofa. Ruan Ruan wanted to tell her she could have a waiter take it away to prevent it from absorbing the smell of smoke, but seeing that Shi Ran wasn't looking at her, she held her tongue.
Shi Ran smiled and greeted Zhong Yi, then sat down on the sofa, about three or four people's distance away from Ruan Ruan.
Xin Chen shelled edamame and coaxed Zhong Yi into picking a song, then started chatting with Shi Ran about a project.
Shi Ran had never listened to someone sing under such bright lights before. Xin Chen went through one song after another, slowly romancing the microphone.
Zhong Yi seemed to have something important to attend to, her head bowed as she replied to messages. Ruan Ruan sat at the very end of the sofa, watching the screen intently.
She was the same as before, with a slight reading difficulty that made her whisper the words on the screen. The light and shadow playing on the bridge of her nose gave her the ethereal beauty of looking at flowers in a fog. Having not seen her for dozens of days, Shi Ran noticed that her face seemed a size smaller. It wasn't apparent on camera, but in person, she looked more delicate, and also more frail.
Ruan Ruan felt someone watching her. She blinked rapidly and glanced over, her eyes meeting Shi Ran's. She sniffed, then leaned forward to grab a beer.
Shi Ran desperately wanted to kiss her. She'd wanted to from the moment she saw her. The skin of Ruan Ruan's neck and behind her ears was so fragrant; kissing her there would instinctively raise little goosebumps on her skin.
She could feel Ruan Ruan's gaze coveting her as well, but it was hesitant, tinged with a familiar yet unfamiliar timidity.
Xin Chen's song reached an instrumental break. She put down the microphone and started eating popcorn.
Ruan Ruan was sipping her beer when her eyes met Shi Ran's again. She thought Shi Ran would look away, but she didn't. Shi Ran held her gaze, then gave a tiny nod toward the space beside her.
Ruan Ruan instantly broke out in goosebumps, and the back of her neck grew hot.
She forced her racing heart to calm down, set down her beer glass, and moved to sit beside Shi Ran. Before she could think of what to say, she suddenly felt a tightness around her waist and a weight on her shoulder. Shi Ran had wrapped an arm around her waist and was resting her head on her shoulder.
Ruan Ruan quickly pressed her lips together, not daring to breathe, instinctively glancing at the other two with her peripheral vision.
Xin Chen, still singing, looked over at them, the corners of her mouth unable to stop from turning down in a pout. Zhong Yi lifted her head for a moment, smiled, then lowered her head and continued replying to messages.
A heart-pounding four or five seconds. A perfectly calm four or five seconds.
Ruan Ruan could hear her own heartbeat. Shi Ran's hair brushed against her neck and cheek, a tingling sensation that was nothing compared to the tingling in her heart. Shi Ran had almost never snuggled up to her like this, like a delicate young girl.
Ruan Ruan remained silent, trying to guess Shi Ran's meaning. To be so unreserved, so intimate—it seemed she had missed her terribly. But then why had she been so distant before?
Shi Ran leaned against her, silently watching the screen. Throughout this gathering, Ruan Ruan hadn't spoken with Xin Chen or the others; her entire focus was on Shi Ran. This knowledge dispelled much of Shi Ran's gloom. She held Ruan Ruan's thin waist, listening to her ever-quickening heartbeat and ragged breathing, and felt a little happier.
She tucked in the corner of her mouth, hiding a smile. She moved away from Ruan Ruan and leaned back against the sofa, listening to the song for a while longer before once again leaning on Ruan Ruan's left shoulder, holding her for the rest of the night.
When the gathering ended, they parted ways in front of the KTV, each getting into their own car and returning to the hotel.
Forty minutes later, Ruan Ruan appeared at 2101. They kissed against the wall of the room, Shi Ran's mouth slightly urgent as she nibbled at the corner of Ruan Ruan's lips before sucking gently, her tongue tracing and lingering, swallowing each other's breath and the gazes they had held back again and again.
They had already made love with their eyes; now they were just letting their bodies catch up.
Ruan Ruan was more overcome with emotion than ever before. As she kissed Shi Ran, she reached up to cup the back of her head and pressed down gently.
The action made Shi Ran freeze. Her slightly damp eyelashes fluttered open. Then she pulled back, leaned her head against the wall, and bit her lower lip.
"You're pressing my head?" she asked, looking at Ruan Ruan, her voice hoarse and laced with aroused desire.
"I… I'm sorry." Ruan Ruan wasn't sure if Shi Ran disliked people touching her head, so she apologized quietly first.
But Shi Ran didn't dislike it.
The action accelerated things, leading them directly to the bed. This time, Shi Ran didn't pleasure her first. She was still on top, as before, taking Ruan Ruan's hand and guiding it to where it needed to go.
She closed her eyes, hiding the nasal sound of being entered within the exchange of breath and tongues with Ruan Ruan.
She had held back for too long, so long that her body and soul felt like they were about to shrivel.
Ruan Ruan's heart felt squeezed once more; the sensation was driving her mad. Her entire body itched, as if she wanted to scratch her skin raw, yet she could only possess Shi Ran slowly, patiently. It was like a form of spiritual cultivation, a trial.
Restraining her movements took every ounce of her strength. Her breathing grew labored. A fire burned from her mouth to her limbs as dryness and emptiness swept over her. Only at her fingertips could she find a thirst-quenching sweet dew.
Deep within the source of the moisture was a slightly rugged hinterland. She ground against it repeatedly, as if trying to drill a well.
Shi Ran looked down at her, her face still seemingly covered in pure white snow, but her brow furrowed slightly. She asked in a breathy voice, disrupted by pleasure, "Where did you learn that?"
"Online." Ruan Ruan pressed with her wrist.
"You found it so accurately. Have you tried it on yourself?"
"No."
"Why?"
"When I learn about something good, I always want you to be the first to try it," Ruan Ruan said, looking at her with the softest of gazes.
Hearing this, a swallow rippled across Shi Ran's collarbones. She came.
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