Chapter 40: The Emperor's New Clothes

Like a dream, like an illusion.

Shadows of lights intertwined.

This night seemed exceptionally enchanting and long.

Shen Huai, who had only just realized what was happening, felt a burning, stinging pain in his back.

He got up, intending to flip the power switch, but was grabbed by Lin Yeman: "Don't turn on the lights."

Shen Huai was stunned for a moment.

Looking down at Lin Yeman's somewhat pleading eyes, Shen Huai nodded silently.

He understood that once the lights were on, all the beautiful illusions before them would vanish.

Their relationship would return to being colleagues, return to being business partners, and return to being ordinary friends.

After a bout of pleasure.

Came a long silence.

In the darkness, the two sat back-to-back before the floor-to-ceiling window, hugging their legs.

"Shen Huai, have you ever had feelings for me?"

After a long period of stillness, Lin Yeman suddenly spoke, asking out of the blue.

"Isn't that a redundant question?" Shen Huai's gaze darkened as he took a deep breath.

"So, was it that you liked me, or that you didn't?"

Lin Yeman was relentless.

"..."

Shen Huai did not know why Lin Yeman had to harp on this question.

What if he liked her? What if he didn't?

Even if he had liked her, that was already in the past.

He, Shen Huai, never wallowed in the past.

Feeling the increasingly rapid breathing coming from the back pressed against his own.

The cold words on Shen Huai's lips softened in his throat: "Naturally, I have liked you."

Hearing these words.

Lin Yeman fell into another long silence.

Just when Shen Huai suspected that Lin Yeman might have fallen asleep.

Lin Yeman suddenly took a deep breath, her tone lower than ever before.

"Shen Huai, do you know why I never wanted to make our relationship public before?"

"... Why?"

"Because I was afraid."

Lin Yeman said these four words very plainly.

Yet Shen Huai inexplicably heard endless sorrow within them.

After a pause, Lin Yeman continued: "I am a complete pessimist; in my view, all beautiful things are ultimately fleeting."

"The more beautiful something is, the shorter the time you can possess it."

"So I was afraid. I was afraid that after declaring to the world that it was my possession, it would leave me all the faster."

As she spoke, Lin Yeman suddenly turned around and gently hugged Shen Huai from behind.

"I know you might think my way of thinking is simply that of a madwoman, but that is truly how I believe."

"At the time, I was paranoid, thinking that as long as no one knew about our relationship, we could maintain a friendship."

"If we were just friends, I would surely be a witty, humorous, and perfect companion who was incredibly compatible with you."

"But if we were in a romantic relationship, I would turn into a mental patient."

Lin Yeman's cheek rubbed gently against Shen Huai's back.

The arms holding Shen Huai's waist tightened slightly.

"Shen Huai, stable emotions and intense love cannot coexist within me, do you understand?"

"Love makes me go crazy, makes me lose my reason, and makes my possessiveness explode."

"I can't help but want to repeatedly get feedback and confirmation from you, just like this."

After she finished speaking.

Lin Yeman forcefully turned Shen Huai's face toward her, climbed onto his neck with her hands, and covered his lips once more.

Feeling the force of this kiss.

Shen Huai's throat felt dry; his primal physical reaction made him unable to stop himself from responding for a few seconds.

But the next moment.

He grabbed Lin Yeman's arms with both hands and forcibly pulled her off his neck.

To tell the truth.

This was the first time Shen Huai had heard Lin Yeman speak to him in such a humble tone.

Looking at Lin Yeman's affectionate eyes, filled with genuine emotion at this moment.

For that instant, Shen Huai was moved. Once he realized it, Shen Huai immediately extinguished this troublesome sentiment.

There was no other reason.

It was simply a case of once bitten, twice shy.

Lin Yeman's way of speaking was always thirty percent truth and seventy percent lies.

As time went on, Shen Huai no longer knew which of her words were true and which were false.

Nor did he know how much of her affection for him was hidden behind a sense of amusement.

After all, in Shen Huai's eyes.

Lin Yeman had always been unwilling to acknowledge his status as her boyfriend.

When he first entered the university as a freshman, he hadn't even had time to find his dormitory.

A girl with an outstanding temperament and off-the-charts looks walked right up to him, smiling as she asked if Shen Huai needed any help.

Later, Shen Huai learned that she was the famous Student Union President, Lin Yeman.

At that time, he was just a freshman.

While Lin Yeman was a senior, already in the process of contacting various organizations for internships and taking certification exams.

Back then, Shen Huai still held fantasies about true love.

He would rush out to work part-time as soon as class ended, wanting to love Lin Yeman in his own way.

Yet, he hadn't expected.

That this pure-hearted young man's heart, before it could even be warmed, would be ruthlessly shattered by Lin Yeman.

That night.

The Qixi Valentine's Day.

In a hotel, on just such a spring-filled evening.

Lin Yeman lay in Shen Huai's arms with a look of satisfaction, lightly and casually saying five words: "Let's break up."

What is the experience of having your mood ride a roller coaster? Two words: wanting to die.

Shen Huai refused to accept it and pressed for the reason, but received only two even colder words: "I'm bored of you."

These seven words.

Directly caused Shen Huai to start doubting life itself.

First, he reflected on whether he hadn't done well enough.

Immediately after, he suspected whether Lin Yeman had fallen for someone else.

Then, he began to blame heaven and others, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, and indiscriminately hating all women.

Finally, he simply locked his heart away and stepped into the mundane world.

From that point on, the pure-hearted young man ceased to exist, and a peerless scumbag was born into the world.

Shen Huai grabbed Lin Yeman's hand and slowly pressed it down: "Have you heard the saying, deep affection that arrives late is worth less than grass."

"If you had said these things to the me from before, perhaps I wouldn't have understood."

"But now, I think your approach is fine."

"Without a title, there is no need for responsibility; just enjoy the present, right?"

"Since we have both made this choice, then we should just maintain our mutual understanding, don't you think, Team Leader Lin?"

As he spoke, Shen Huai looked at Lin Yeman with deep eyes.

This time, Lin Yeman, for once, did not smile.

She scrutinized Shen Huai deeply, seemingly wanting to see a hint of other feelings in his gaze.

But unfortunately, Shen Huai hid it very well.

She saw nothing at all.

"You really are a qualified 'friend'."

Lin Yeman lowered her eyelashes slightly, her smile faint, "Since that's the case, then I can rest easy."

"Can I come over once a week from now on?"

"No, I need to rest."

Shen Huai refused without a second thought.

Once a week, does she take him for a slave? There's still another one next door.

A flash of disappointment crossed Lin Yeman's eyes.

But soon she put on a charming smile again and said flippantly: "What kind of... uniform do you like now?"

Shen Huai sighed.

He knew it; this woman wouldn't give up.

"I like the Emperor's New Clothes," Shen Huai's eyes flashed with a meaningful glint, "Do you know what that means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means wearing nothing."

(End of chapter)