TFS | Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Where Is This, Look at Me, Okay

Xu Linruan woke again the next morning.

What met her eyes was an unfamiliar room, a pure white ceiling, a vase of lilies still beaded with dew on the cabinet, and a faint fragrance hanging in the air, giving the place a warm, lived-in feel.

Xu Linruan sat up a little. The blanket slipped off her body, and when she looked down, she realized her clothes had been changed.

She was wearing a familiar-looking men’s shirt. The sleeves hung long enough to cover her thighs, and the buttons at the collar had been undone. As soon as she moved, half her shoulder was exposed, and there was a ring of red marks on her chest that made it easy to imagine all sorts of things.

Xu Linruan rubbed her brow, suddenly feeling a little helpless. What was wrong with this guy? Was he planning to play house arrest with her or what?

She walked out of the bedroom and heard someone humming in the kitchen. The melody was unhurried and steady. Xu Linruan looked up and saw Qi Yue boiling milk in the kitchen. He was still wearing black pajamas, tall and straight, an apron tied behind his lean waist, looking for all the world like an accomplished househusband.

When he turned around and saw his girlfriend standing behind him, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

“You’re awake. Go wash up first, dinner’ll be ready soon.”

Xu Linruan ignored him. She glanced around the place, then rubbed her groggy head. “Where is this place?”

Qi Yue turned off the heat, poured the milk into a cup, then walked into the living room and pulled her into his arms. “Do you have a headache? Let me rub it for you, okay?”

Xu Linruan really was a little dizzy, so she rested her head against his chest. She was still baffled, and her mood naturally wasn’t great. “Tell me first. Where is this place, and why did you bring me here?”

Qi Yue was unusually patient today. He softened his tone to coax her. “Alright, don’t be mad yet. This is a private villa I bought before. Didn’t you agree two days ago to come home with me and take a look?”

“This is home,” he said, pressing lightly at both sides of her temples. “I’ve already asked the hospital to give you leave, and I’ve arranged your work for the time being too. We’ve been fighting lately, and it hasn’t been very safe outside these past few days, so I brought you here to relax for a while. Is that really not okay?”

Xu Linruan shot him a look. Whether it was okay or not, he’d already done it. Besides, they’d agreed on next week, and now this guy had gone ahead and locked her up without even considering her feelings. Was that acceptable?

Xu Linruan was genuinely angry now. She shoved him away and looked at him with a cool, distant gaze. “That’s a completely different matter, Qi Yue. Do you even know what you’re doing? This is illegal confinement, do you understand that?”

Her voice was a little hoarse. She hadn’t slept well last night, and she didn’t have much energy right now.

“Don’t make it sound so serious.” Qi Yue sat down on a chair with her still in his arms. His dark brows lifted slightly. “This is just a bit of fun between normal couples to build a stronger relationship. It’s not as bad as you’re making it sound. Ruanruan, you know it’s been a little unsafe outside lately. I was afraid you’d get tricked, so I kept you here. And I’m here with you too, aren’t I?”

“Can you be a little more obedient? Just think of it as spending time with me. We haven’t seen each other in so long. Shouldn’t we be spending some quality time together?” His fingers stroked her arm while one hand held her waist. He didn’t use much force, but she just couldn’t pry him off.

This was clearly not normal.

Xu Linruan calmed herself down. Being angry was useless, and a two-person world wasn’t supposed to work like this. She turned back and asked him, “Then how long do you plan to keep me here?”

Qi Yue changed the subject, lowering his voice to soothe her. “Don’t you like it? A place where it’s just the two of us, with no one else to bother us. Don’t you like living like this?”

Of course she didn’t like it. She had no interest in being controlled by someone.

Xu Linruan looked up. So he had no intention of letting her out for now.

She thought about it carefully. Was there some misunderstanding between them that hadn’t been resolved? She couldn’t think of one. They had explained everything clearly that night. She didn’t like Xu Zhou, and she didn’t believe what he said either, so what exactly was he worried about?

Xu Linruan couldn’t figure it out, but she knew this guy was the type who responded better to softness than force.

So she reached up and hooked her arms around his neck. Her long black hair slid off her shoulder and spilled down, winding around her arm. She saw that the look in his eyes across from her had turned a little dark, but she still went on, “Qi Xiaoyue, tell me. What exactly are you worried about?”

Qi Yue tightened his grip around her waist and hugged her very close. “I’m not worried about anything. This is what I really think. Didn’t you ask me what I went through overseas? Now I have a chance to tell you. Don’t you want to hear it?”

The guy wasn’t stupid at all. He knew how to change the subject, how to act spoiled and soften up and apologize. He knew that when she was angry, he should coax her as hard as he could. He wasn’t being perfunctory either. Although he was keeping her here, he hadn’t done anything too outrageous. He really was just making the two of them stay together and stare at each other while building their relationship.

He lifted her up and sat her on his lap, then started apologizing again. One hand gently patted her back, as if he were coaxing a child. “Sorry. I was wrong to keep tabs on you before. I don’t know what got into me. When I saw you interacting with Xu Zhou, I just couldn’t control myself.”

“Maybe you don’t know this, but during that time overseas, I was terrified. Every day I was afraid I’d never see you again. In order to gather evidence of that group’s crimes, I changed myself according to their demands and did things I hated. I became a little strange. A lot of my thoughts got too extreme. I know that’s wrong, but honestly, I didn’t really feel anything inside.”

“I only care about you. I just want to stay with you.”

“Stay with me, okay? Maybe if you stay with me, my thoughts will slowly be corrected.”

Xu Linruan thought about it. The chance of that happening was slim to none.

She gently held his face in her hands, her long fingers brushing over his features, from his brows to the bridge of his nose and the corner of his lips. Her voice was soft as she advised him, “Why don’t I go with you to see a psychiatrist? I think if this kind of situation isn’t handled well, it could develop into a perversion. You don’t want to carry the reputation of a pervert for the rest of your life, do you?”

The air fell silent for a brief moment.

Qi Yue looked at her, then admitted it without the slightest concern. “You said it yourself. Guys who like uniforms are basically no different from perverts. My hobby can’t be changed. If I’m a pervert, then I’m a pervert. Anyway, I’m not letting you out, and this is just a normal step in a relationship.”

His attitude was firm.

The conversation had completely fallen apart, and Xu Linruan had never run into a situation like this before. This guy was dead set on keeping her here to the end, and that made him hard to deal with.

So Xu Linruan stopped talking. Reasoning with him was useless, and getting angry would solve nothing. More importantly, anger wouldn’t fix anything right now, and the root of the problem lay in their relationship itself.

Seeing that she had gone quiet, Qi Yue simply carried her into the bathroom to wash up.

Xu Linruan gave him a subtle look. This guy was all seriousness. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I didn’t take advantage of you. I just helped you take a bath. I also changed your clothes with my eyes closed. I didn’t touch you randomly…”

Ha, really?

Then were all the marks below her neck made by a dog chewing on her?

……….

Xu Linruan couldn’t be bothered to deal with him. After dinner, she sat on the sofa and watched TV. Her phone had been taken away, and she still couldn’t get out, so she could only calm down and think of a way.

Qi Yue finished tidying up over there, then came over to watch TV with her. He didn’t do anything improper, just talked about their relationship. He knew Xu Linruan was unhappy, but it didn’t matter. She would adapt sooner or later. And right now he was very happy, because no one was disturbing them anymore.

He took a small blue gift box from under the table and handed it to his still sulking girlfriend. “I saw this when I passed by a jewelry store two days ago. I thought it suited you very well.”

“What is it?”

“Open it and you’ll know.”

He was still coaxing her, with not a trace of guilt over confining her.

So Xu Linruan opened it, and inside was a ring. A rare, pure blue diamond, its color beautiful and dazzling under the light, bright enough to be blinding. It probably cost a lot.

Qi Yue reached out and took the ring. While holding her finger, he slipped it onto her ring finger. He studied it back and forth for a long time before finally looking satisfied and interlacing their fingers. “It looks beautiful like this. I like your hand. It feels very soft and nice to touch.”

His gaze drifted to her fingers. The words actually sounded a little suggestive…

Xu Linruan gave him a meaningful look. Qi Yue’s eyes were burning, and she didn’t even need to guess what he was thinking. Once the belly is full and the clothes are warm, the mind turns to lust.

Although they had agreed not to force her to do anything, they were a couple. Of course couples were intimate.

He lowered his head to kiss her hand, biting down lightly with his teeth, or licking, like some large dog eating, nipping carefully at the palm of her hand.

Xu Linruan pushed him away. Qi Yue, still unsatisfied, lifted his head with ragged breaths, his eyes full of displeasure at her resistance, like an animal at dinner suddenly having its bowl snatched away. A deliberately lowered voice slipped from his throat.

After a moment, he calmed down again.

Qi Yue pulled her into his arms and buried his head in her neck. His voice was muffled. “I know you’re angry, so it’s okay if you don’t want to right now. I can wait for you. Just don’t make me wait too long, okay?”

Actually, Xu Linruan didn’t resist this kind of thing. In fact, she was starting to suspect that her repeated refusals all this time had made him think she was just brushing him off, and that was why he’d become so insecure.

Xu Linruan reached out and touched his face. Her slender fingers brushed over his brows and eyes, from the bridge of his nose to the corner of his lips, stroking him gently. Her soft voice sounded beside his ear. “Who said I don’t want to?”

Qi Yue’s gaze darkened a little. Then, thinking of something, he tightened his arms around her waist so hard it almost crushed her. “Don’t try to coax me. Even so, I still won’t let you out.”

Xu Linruan understood and flipped over to sit on his waist. “I’m not coaxing you.”

She planted her hands on him. Qi Yue couldn’t steady himself in time, and she shoved him down onto the sofa. He braced himself with his elbows against the cushion and looked up slightly. The cool, faint scent coming off his girlfriend rushed into his nose, and he reacted instantly.

“Then what do you want to do?” Only after he spoke did he realize his voice was extremely restrained. Being pinned under his girlfriend like this was the kind of thing only he wouldn’t mind.

Xu Linruan leaned in and kissed him. Her thick black hair fell over her chest, and he lifted his head slightly. The buttons on that shirt had loosened a little, and the scene before his eyes was crystal clear.

Qi Yue’s breath hitched. He watched as she slowly pressed closer to his chest, then lowered her head to ask him, “Didn’t you say this kind of thing was very simple? Want to try it once?”

He was a little annoyed now. What did she take him for? Did she think he was that shameless?

He pushed her away and shrank back a little. “I don’t want to. Don’t touch me. I’m not keeping you here for that. I want you to be willing.”

Xu Linruan kissed the corner of his mouth. “When did I say I wasn’t willing?”

“You’re trying to trick me again. Do you think if you sleep with me, I’ll let you out? Dream on. I’m not letting you go.”

Xu Linruan was helpless. “I didn’t think that way. We’re a couple. Isn’t it normal to do this kind of thing?”

“You really think so?”

“Of course.” Xu Linruan nodded, showing her attitude through action.

Qi Yue’s eyes darkened. Since his girlfriend was being this proactive, if he still refused, he wouldn’t be a man. So he scooped her up in his arms and headed into the bedroom. “That’s what you said. Then let’s go inside.”

……….

It sounded nice, but the beginning wasn’t exactly perfect. He hurt her, and his girlfriend kicked him straight off. He begged for several hours before she finally agreed to try again with him.

He whispered softly against her ear, coaxing her, calling her name in a clingy voice and telling her to relax a little. But this kind of thing was nothing like the books made it sound. The moment he started to go in even a little, his girlfriend bit him, and she bit so hard he nearly couldn’t hold back.

……….

After the second time, Qi Yue had experience. He held her in his arms and bent down to kiss her lips. His movements were incredibly gentle. One palm pressed against her soft abdomen as he endured the way it subtly changed beneath his touch. With just a little more force, that place would bulge up.

Later, he lost a little control of himself, and his breathing grew even rougher. So he reached out and gently kneaded her, carefully pressing that spot. “Ruanruan, look at me.”

Look at me, okay?

“…I’m here. Can you feel me?”