Her lips were right there, within reach.

If he just leaned in a little, he could kiss her. He could taste this pretty, adorable girl in front of him. He could stain her with his color, couldn't he?

He just had to nod, right?

But Lin An only looked at her. A trace of weariness suddenly appeared on his face. "No."

"My girlfriend's figure isn't as good as yours, but she's pretty too. And she's gentle. Her values are right. She knows she should study hard and better herself. She knows not to let her parents down. She knows how to work hard. Even dating me took a lot of courage from her."

When he spoke of his girlfriend, Lin An's voice turned very gentle. But seeing that expression on his face, Su Yuejin suddenly found it hard to breathe. It felt like needles were stabbing into her heart, hurting so much she could barely draw breath.

"But this really isn't your fault. My girlfriend grew up in a healthy environment. Her family raised her well. You're different. A person's character is often shaped by childhood. Your family doesn't seem that happy, so... this really isn't on you."

"Some people spend their whole lives being healed by childhood. Some spend their whole lives healing from childhood. So yeah, different people handle things differently. No one is absolutely right. It's just... Su Yuejin, I really don't want you to turn into a bad girl like this."

"You were just saying people are drawn to each other by labels. Your girlfriend is so gentle, but the things you say..."

"So isn't that why I'm about to get dumped?" Lin An answered with a bitter smile.

Su Yuejin froze.

"She saw the hickey on my neck yesterday. If she still loved me, she'd have fought with me. But she didn't say a single word. I guess she's completely disappointed."

"If it weren't for this hickey, I probably would've lasted another week or so. But now... tomorrow or the day after, once the rain stops, she'll probably make it clear."

"So, can you kowtow to me once?" Lin An pinched Su Yuejin's blank face.

"Blame me?"

"Just kidding." Lin An answered helplessly.

"Then you're a bad person too, so you deserve it." Su Yuejin wiped away her tears and muttered.

"It's not that I deserve it. It's that... someone like me really wasn't right for her after all. I could fake the version of myself she liked. Otherwise, how could I have won her over? But that was never the real me. Pretending for love is a very boring thing."

Su Yuejin stared blankly at his profile, but she couldn't understand the melancholy on his face.

"I think... I really do like you a little, Lin An."

"Please don't. You're just caught up in the moment. I'm not a good person. You can still be saved, so don't be stupid." Lin An muttered, but his voice had grown a little weak.

Only then did Su Yuejin notice that his face looked pale.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I probably got a fever and caught a cold from being out in the rain today. Stay away from me. Don't let me infect you." As he said that, he happened to sneeze.

But Su Yuejin leaned closer instead. "I won't."

"You're insane." Lin An couldn't even be bothered with her anymore. He just didn't know why this woman had suddenly stopped crying. There was even a little more smile on her face now.

"I'm a little cold. Can you hold me?" Su Yuejin looked at his face.

"If you're really cold, I'll give you my jacket."

"But how could that be warmer than you holding me?" Her voice turned a little sweeter. Lin An didn't want to do it, but she kept pressing against him. Annoyed, he reached out and actually wrapped his arms around her.

But then he gave her breast a hard squeeze.

Su Yuejin's eyes widened. Her face instantly turned red as she looked at Lin An's indifferent expression.

"Still want a hug?" Lin An asked coldly.

The blush spread across Su Yuejin's cheeks, making her look strangely more adorable. But she lifted her chin. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I? I'm cold. Hold me. Hold me tighter."

Looking at her like this, Lin An finally couldn't hold back. "What, you really want to be a slut?"

"Aren't you the one treating me like one? Huh? And now you don't dare anymore?"

"You think I..." Before Lin An could finish, Su Yuejin suddenly moved closer. She pressed a hand to his shoulder and forced him into the corner against the wall. She leaned close to his face, looked into his eyes, and said each word clearly, "I saw that you're scared."

"When was I?"

"Then keep going. Didn't you say you're a bad person? Didn't you say you're no good? Come on. Kiss me. Hold me. Take me home with you again later. Keep fucking me hard... like before."

"Can't you use nicer words?"

The smile at the corner of Su Yuejin's lips seemed to deepen. "Then... take me home and keep loving me properly, okay? Do you dare? Do you really dare keep going?"

"You're not actually scared, are you, Lin An?"

"You still want the best for me, don't you? You're still scared I'll turn bad, aren't you? You're not scared that... you'll fall for me, are you?" Su Yuejin pressed closer and closer, making Lin An's breathing grow hotter and hotter. Then her lips pressed against his again. Her soft tongue pried his lips apart, lightly scraping against his teeth, while her hand held down his shoulder.

Lin An's breathing turned ragged. But one second later, he bit down on Su Yuejin's lip with sharp decisiveness.

Su Yuejin jerked back at once. Lin An looked a little flustered and exasperated. "Crazy woman!"

But Su Yuejin didn't care at all. Her hand stayed on his shoulder as she kept looking into his eyes. Her gaze seemed to flicker with surging flames. That burning, bright look made Lin An instinctively want to avoid it.

"You're... scared, aren't you? Lin An, so you really will end up liking me, won't you?"

"It's just guilt."

"I don't care whether it's guilt or anything else. You're scared I'll turn bad now, aren't you? Scared I'll really stupidly give myself to someone else? You still want me to become better, don't you? You want me to be a good girl, right?"

"Break up with your girlfriend and be my boy. I'll spoil you, and you have to spoil me too. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. As long as you love me properly, I'll be your good girl in your arms too, okay?"

Lin An felt like a crazed beast was closing in on him step by step. He hated this feeling of being controlled.

"No."

"If you're really that desperate, then come on. Let's kiss, then go to your place, okay? Hm? I'll say this first, I won't take responsibility. We'll have our fun and I'll leave, okay? Hm?" Lin An tried to seize the upper hand again as he looked at Su Yuejin's face.

Su Yuejin looked back at him and tilted her head. "Shall we go?"

Lin An didn't back down. He held her gaze for nearly ten seconds. The torrential rain gradually eased, as if clearing a path for them.

But there was more weariness on Lin An's face now. In the end, he lowered his head.

"Stop messing around. I can't like you. And you don't really like me either. Once this heat dies down, you'll regret it, Su Yuejin."

"Why do you keep thinking that? I never said I'd regret it. I'm saying I love you. Did you hear me? I'm saying I love you!"

"You believe in that stuff. I don't," he said.

Lin An stood up. "I can't keep talking to you. I have a fever. Something's off with me today. I can't argue with you. I need to go home and sleep. Just let me go."

He got to his feet, but his body swayed slightly. At some point, the fever seemed to have gotten worse. The whole world felt hazy and heavy.

Su Yuejin stood up too. She picked up a transparent umbrella and held it over his head. Her hand looped around his arm. "Where do you live? I'll take you home."

"No. Let go of me." Of course Lin An couldn't let her take him home. If she did, she'd find out about what was at his house. That would break the agreement between him and her.

"Then come home with me. I have medicine."

"Not scared I'll eat you up?"

"I already said it, Lin An. If I give you another chance, do you dare take it?" At this moment, Su Yuejin finally seemed a little smarter again. The pride that belonged to her returned to her eyes.

Lin An said nothing. The two of them had already left the school. Su Yuejin's home was near the campus, not far away. It was an apartment her parents had bought for her to make commuting easier.

She lived alone.

So Su Yuejin really did support Lin An all the way to the apartment building. Lin An wanted to go home, but the girl held onto his arm. He had no strength to break free. She brought him into the elevator, up to her door, and then pressed something on the lock before pressing Lin An's finger onto it.

"Now you have a key to my place too."

As she said that, she brought Lin An inside. Su Yuejin's apartment was actually pretty messy. Clothes were piled around, along with all sorts of random things. She settled Lin An onto the sofa, then went to get a thermometer.

"Hold it in your mouth." There was a note of command in Su Yuejin's voice.

Lin An was like a puppet being moved around. He obediently opened his mouth and held the thermometer between his lips. A few minutes later, Su Yuejin took it out.

Thirty-nine degrees.

She got hot water ready and fed him fever medicine. Then she supported him into her room, took off his shoes, and laid him on her bed.

"Why are you... being nice to me?" Lin An's voice was fuzzy, and his vision wasn't clear.

"Because you're my first man." Su Yuejin sat by the bed and lightly brushed back her hair. Looking at how weak and vulnerable he was, she suddenly found him very cute. She really wanted to pull him into her arms and comfort him properly.

She lowered her head and kissed his cheek.

"Go take a shower. I got soaked holding the umbrella for you just now. You stay put and behave. You're not allowed to go anywhere."

Lin An just looked at her and watched her walk out. For some reason, he felt a little disappointed.

But Su Yuejin showered quickly. In just a little over ten minutes, she came back wearing a white slip nightdress. She looked clean and pure, untouched by dust. She sat by the bed and gently pinched his face.

"Hurry up. Say you like me," she murmured.

"No way!" Lin An shook his head like a rattle drum.

"I'll make you say you like me yourself, Lin An." She stood by the window and looked at the rain pouring over the city.

"I already have someone I like... that day will never come." His voice had truly grown weak, but it was still firm.

"But me, Su Yuejin? Ever since I was little, anything I wanted was always mine." Su Yuejin turned around and suddenly smiled.

A moment later, though, she felt like crying again.

"Why did I have to run into a nemesis like you?" Her voice carried a slight sob as she walked to the bed, slipped under his blanket, and wrapped herself around him.

"It's so hot."

"Hot is good. Sweat it out a little and you'll be fine. Other people wouldn't even get the chance to be held by me."

"Be good and go to sleep. Don't talk."

Su Yuejin leaned in and started kissing his neck again.

"Heh."

"You... hurry up and break up with her."

"After you do, come to my side like a good boy, and properly... love me, okay?"

She looked at the now obvious hickey on the other side of Lin An's neck and smiled sweetly.