Chapter 55: What? You Got a Problem With That?
Mu Xiangxiang: “...”
Qiao Nan's tone was fierce. “Well? Say something! Why aren"t you saying anything?!”
Mu Xiangxiang: “...”
The atmosphere suddenly became very strange. Qiao Nan looked like he was picking a fight, his slightly raised face handsome yet intimidating. He shot her a sharp look, his entire expression practically screaming: [If you don't wise up soon, I"m really going to beat you up, got it?]
No matter how devoted Mu Xiangxiang was to studying, she still read novels and watched TV dramas in her spare time. The scene before her was the complete opposite of those moments filled with pink bubbles and romance. Even with a searchlight and a microscope, she doubted anyone could detect even half a femtogram of romance in it. And yet she felt so hot that it was as if flames were wrapped around her body.
Her mind even went blank for a full thirty seconds. She tightened her grip on the dark green wallet in her hand. The uneven woven leather pressed into her soft skin. After a long while, she finally stared blankly at the guy crouching in front of her. “...What exactly are you doing right now?”
Qiao Nan raised an eyebrow, looking as troublesome as ever. “What do you think? Don't tell me you really don"t know.”
This guy...
He was always like this!
Clearly he was confessing his feelings, yet he always acted as though he were the one suffering a huge loss. Every single time, just when she was almost convinced her suspicions were true, he would put on this bizarre attitude!
Couldn't he just say things plainly and honestly for once?! Why was she always the one left guessing? What was that supposed to mean, “What do you think?” What had he meant before by “self-sacrifice”? Why was she expected to understand everything? Keeping her face expressionless, Mu Xiangxiang pressed her lips together. “I don't know!”
Qiao Nan narrowed his eyes. “I think you really want to climb onto my head and take a dump there—”
Mu Xiangxiang: “...”
Qiao Nan continued, “Quit playing dumb. Everybody at No. 12 High School already knows I have a girlfriend.”
Girlfriend...
Mu Xiangxiang's face remained expressionless, but her ears turned even redder. Qiao Nan flashed her a mischievous grin, with the faintest trace of ingratiation hidden underneath. The hand resting on his knee shifted, and he suddenly grabbed the hand holding the wallet. “Don't tell me you're trying to break up with me at a time like this?”
Ahhhhhhh!!!
The skin of Qiao Nan's palm wasn't soft. Years of sports had left rough calluses that scraped against the back of her hand. Mu Xiangxiang shot to her feet. She was so overheated that sweat nearly formed on her forehead. “Who's trying to break up with you?!”
She tried to shake him off but failed. Instead, her hand became completely enveloped in his grip.
Still crouching there, Qiao Nan raised an arm. “Oh. As long as it's not a breakup.”
“...” Mu Xiangxiang felt exasperated. “That"s not what I mean—”
“Oh, come on...” Looking as though he couldn't take it anymore, Qiao Nan squeezed her hand. Crouching beside her leg, he resembled a docile giant dog. “Cut me some slack, okay? It's your brother's big day today...”
What nonsense are you spouting?! What does this have to do with my brother? And what "big day"? You make it sound like he's getting married! This is a matter of principle! Don't think you can muddle through by acting shameless! As if I don't know what kind of person you are. Even if you pretend to be a dog, you could never pass for a golden retriever or a Labrador. At best you're a husky!
Mu Xiangxiang firmly voiced her protest. “—Who said I'm your girlfriend?!”
“...” Qiao Nan's expression became slightly more serious. “Listen, friend. You can joke around about food, but you can't joke around about things like this. I'll give you three seconds to take that back. Three, two, one...”
“When did I ever agree to be your girlfriend?!”
“Fine, make it five seconds instead.”
“Qiao Nan!” Mu Xiangxiang desperately tried to pull her arm back. “I'm being serious! You never confessed to me, and I never agreed to anything. What gives you the right to decide something like this all by yourself?”
She pulled so hard that Qiao Nan ended up using both hands to make sure she couldn't break free. “How did I not do that? Have some conscience.”
“Do what?”
Qiao Nan hesitated awkwardly before answering, “...Confess.”
“How did you confess? What exactly did you say to me?”
“...”
“"Let's just make do and stay together?"”
“...”
“Take this wallet?”
“……”
“...”
“I'll beat up Cao Wei for you?”
“……”
“...”
After a pause, Qiao Nan replied: “Well then, what was I supposed to say to you?”
“With complete confidence, he said: “Besides, after everything we've already done together, isn't making it official just the natural next step? You wasted my youth and toyed with my body—if I don't come looking for you, who else am I supposed to look for?”
"...???" Mu Xiangxiang blinked in confusion. "What did you just say?"
Qiao Nan replied, "Don't try to wriggle out of it. Are you seriously going to claim you've never taken my clothes off? Hmph. You've seen me naked when I bathed, you've seen my body, you've probably even touched me—"
"Aaaahhh!" Mu Xiangxiang immediately bent down and shoved his head. "Shut up—!"
Caught off guard by the push, Qiao Nan toppled backward. But since both his hands were still holding onto Mu Xiangxiang, the force dragged her down with him.
She landed right in his arms.
Mu Xiangxiang immediately struggled to get up, but Qiao Nan spread his arms and pinned her against his chest. Her slender body fit easily within his embrace. Her faint fragrance drifted into his nose. He chuckled beside her reddening ear. "Shut up? How am I supposed to shut up? Are you going to deny pulling down my pants too? Are you backing out already? Don’t tell me your taste is really that bad. Your chest is so small, and I've never once complained about it—"
As he spoke, he released one arm from around her back and raised a hand between them, curving his palm into a hollow shape to demonstrate.
"..." Mu Xiangxiang felt like she was losing her mind. Struggling frantically, she blurted out instinctively, "Shut up! If you're dissatisfied with me, then I'm dissatisfied with you too!"
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt Qiao Nan's body stiffen.
Pressing a hand against his chest, she tried to push herself upright. But in the next second, the arm he'd raised returned to her waist. A powerful pull left her no chance to resist, and she was drawn tightly against him. Qiao Nan lowered his voice near her ear. Something unreadable lurked beneath his tone. "Little girl, watch what you say. You should spread fewer obviously fake rumors. If people get the wrong idea, I might have to do something pretty irrational to prove my innocence."
Mu Xiangxiang froze from head to toe. "..."
Maintaining that position, Qiao Nan tilted his head slightly and blew gently against the edge of her ear. "Did you hear me?"
Mu Xiangxiang slapped a hand over her burning-red ear and, with strength she had never possessed before, tore herself free from his arms.
Qiao Nan simply let himself fall backward onto the ground after being shoved away. Propping up his tall frame on one bent arm, he stared at her with a crooked, shameless grin.
Mu Xiangxiang had become so embarrassed and indignant that she'd gone strangely calm. Covering her tingling ear, she stared expressionlessly at him for a while before turning around and walking off.
Qiao Nan hurriedly rolled to his feet and reached out to stop her. "Hey~"
"I don't want to talk to you. Go away."
"Tsk." Qiao Nan clicked his tongue. "What's gotten into you now? That's enough already. You're not exactly losing out here. Back then, you were the one who admitted you had a crush on me. Round it up a little, and you're basically the one who confessed first..."
What kind of twisted logic is that?!
"I did not!" Mu Xiangxiang raised her voice. "I've told you already! That was before! Before!"
Qiao Nan: "..."
"I repeated it clearly to you twice. I'm sure you heard me perfectly well. That was back in first year of middle school. It was just norepinephrine at work. Everyone going through adolescence experiences that. It has absolutely nothing to do with the problems between us now."
Qiao Nan paused. "...What"s norepinephrine?"
Is that really the important part here?
Mu Xiangxiang shot him a glance and continued walking without answering. Qiao Nan followed after her, muttering, "Wait, wait, wait," and reaching for her arm. But when he saw the determination on her face, the confidence he'd been relying on began to falter. "...No, what exactly are you saying? You don't like me anymore? This is all one-sided on my part?"
...Of course it wasn't.
Mu Xiangxiang was so frustrated she wanted to argue, but didn't even know where to begin. Qiao Nan misunderstood her silence. Recalling something, his expression darkened. "Hey. Was Cao Wei stirring up trouble behind my back?"
"...What does this have to do with him?!"
"Then why are you acting so weird with me right now? If it's not because of him, what, are you just asking for trouble?"
Mu Xiangxiang took a deep breath and turned to face him. "Qiao Nan. Do you genuinely not understand, or are you pretending not to?"
Running a hand through his hair, Qiao Nan met her gaze irritably. "... It's just a formality. Is it really that important? As long as both people know what it means, isn't that enough?"
Mu Xiangxiang's expression settled into seriousness. She looked at him quietly for a few moments, then stepped around him and continued toward the venue.
Three seconds later, hurried footsteps approached from behind. Then a pair of arms wrapped around her from the back.
Warmth pressed against her spine. Strong arms encircled her chest. His clean scent surrounded her. The top of her head bumped against his firm chin. A sigh came from above. "Ah, fine, fine. You win. Listen carefully, okay? Be my girlfriend. Be my girlfriend. Be my girlfriend. Three times. Is that good enough?"
Mu Xiangxiang: "..."
"Or should I say it a hundred times? Be my girlfriend, be my girlfriend, be my girlfriend, be my girlfriend..."
"...Shut up!"
"Hey, what else are you dissatisfied with? Why are you so hard to satisfy? Why don't you just write down exactly what you want to hear and I'll repeat it until you're sick of it."
Lowering his head, he brushed her hair with his nose. As he spoke, he gently smoothed her hair back with his hand. His long fingers threaded through the strands, grazing her scalp. His tone was remarkably helpless. "Hm? Is this acceptable now?"
Mu Xiangxiang stared at the arm wrapped around her front. "..."
"So what's your answer?"
"..."
"You agreed?"
Silently, Mu Xiangxiang pried at his hands. In this situation, Qiao Nan barely resisted before letting go. He had expected at least a few words after releasing her. Instead, the moment his arms loosened, Mu Xiangxiang immediately started walking away without saying a thing.
A vein twitched at Qiao Nan's temple. "...Hey!"
He hurried after her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Where are you going?"
But Mu Xiangxiang only walked faster and faster. She rushed out of the passageway and plunged straight into the crowded sea of people. Qiao Nan thought, Holy hell. I've lived this long, and the first time I actually swallow my pride and confess to someone, am I seriously getting rejected? At the same time, he worried that the crowd of excited concertgoers would knock Mu Xiangxiang around. He forced his way through the masses after her. Not long afterward, he finally spotted that familiar figure. She looked so fresh and clean that she seemed completely out of place among the crowd. Half his anxiety vanished. "Mu Xiangxiang!" he shouted angrily. "There are people everywhere! Why are you running around like this?!"
Mu Xiangxiang suddenly turned around. Qiao Nan froze. The irritation filling him vanished instantly. Because she looked completely different from usual. Her cheeks were flushed red. Her eyes shone brightly.
They sparkled as though filled with light.
Mu Xiangxiang stared at him, pressed her lips together, then stepped backward, clearing a small space in front of her. Qiao Nan saw her mouth form the words: Come here.
So he did. After a brief silence, he asked, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
A small hand tugged on his jacket. The hand was pale and delicate, curling nervously inward. Its owner's voice trembled despite her efforts to hide it. "Crouch down."
"Huh?"
Mu Xiangxiang bit her lip. "...Like before. Hurry. There are too many people here. I can't see the stage."
Three seconds of silence followed. Then came the sudden pounding of a heartbeat.
Looking down into those clear eyes, Qiao Nan paused. Then a cocky grin spread across his fierce face.
He poked her forehead and casually ruffled her soft bangs. "I've noticed you're getting awfully bold lately. Ordering me around more and more. Who spoiled you like this?"
The redness on Mu Xiangxiang's cheeks deepened instantly. She smacked his arm. "Hurry up!"
"Tsk." Qiao Nan curled his lips into a teasing smile as he looked at the utterly unapologetic girl before him. Muttering, "At this rate you're going to end up climbing onto my head and taking a dump there one day," he rolled up his sleeves and crouched down. Then he solemnly began laying down the household rules. "I'm warning you once. Just because I'm your boyfriend and have to indulge you doesn’t mean you can forget basic respect. In a situation like today’s, for example—"
As her feet left the ground, Mu Xiangxiang wrapped her arms around his head. Her face was completely red. Yet she didn't object to the word boyfriend. Instead, she moved one hand from the top of his head to his ear and gave it a tug.
"Hey!" Having his ear pulled like a stubborn donkey, Qiao Nan felt his dignity had been challenged. Raising an eyebrow, he looked up. "Did you hear a single word I just said?"
Mu Xiangxiang ignored him. Qiao Nan narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, the hand holding her wrist shot up. Before she could react, he'd pulled her arms away from his ears. But he didn't release her hands. Instead, he tugged downward. Mu Xiangxiang was forced to bend forward. His palms cupped her cheeks. Turning his head slightly, he kissed each cheek once.
The soft, damp sensation lingered on her skin. It felt completely different from the lucky kisses she exchanged with her little brother.
The entire arm attached to that hand went numb. "What are you doing?!"
"I kissed my girlfriend."
Qiao Nan turned and looked at her provocatively. "What? You got a problem with that?"
Mu Xiangxiang: "..."
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Author's Note:
Qiao Nan [coldly scoffing]: I knew she wouldn't. She respects me too much.
Qiao Nan [brimming with confidence]: This household still runs on my rules!”
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