Chapter 162: Needing Clarity

（1）

Pei Du's pupils shrank slightly, and he suddenly felt that the scene before his eyes and the fleeting touch on his cheek were still his imagination.

Fake, illusory.

Yet the hand supporting his chin remained; Pei Du endured the itch on his cheek, slowly lifted his gaze to the hand's owner, and called out:

"Yinyin."

"Hmm."

"What did you do? I didn't see clearly." Pei Du made a request: "Could you… do it again?"

"Oh."

Shu Shu lowered her head again and pecked the same spot on the boy's cheek.

"Did you see clearly this time?"

"Hmm."

I saw it clearly, and also felt it clearly.

She really kissed him——

Pei Du asked in an ambiguous tone:

"So, Yinyin, do you know what you're doing?"

"I know."

While answering Pei Du, Shu Shu extended her index finger to finish the mischievous act she had failed at earlier—she brushed his sparse and dense eyelashes.

"I haven't drunk either." She met his gaze without pressure, paused, and said: "Well, just now your look at me wasn't just about wanting to hug me."

"There's also a bit of wanting me to kiss you, so——"

So I just kissed you.

A surge of intense emotion rose from his chest; Pei Du's Adam's apple rolled with difficulty as he suppressed the feeling with an extremely aloof demeanor.

He gently pulled Shu Shu's hand from his eyelashes, waited for it to fall into his palm, then firmly gripped it and spoke solemnly:

"There's something I need to make clear to Yinyin."

"What?"

"That day, Yinyin asked me if I especially liked you, and my answer was: yes, I like Yinyin, very much, especially, considerably."

Pei Du said this without any pause, full of affirmation; after finishing, he countered: "And then, Yinyin?"

"What do you feel toward me?"

Before Shu Shu could speak——

"Before Yinyin answers me, I might need to explain first."

Pei Du's pupils were jet black, his deep gaze gripping the girl before him; before he spoke, his eyes already revealed undisguised frankness:

"When I say I like Yinyin, I mean the kind of liking that wants to be with Yinyin."

"……"

Shu Shu felt as if a single word from Pei Du had blown her mind apart.

For some reason, she especially wanted to look at Pei Du's ears, to see if the little rascal's ears, which she had teased into confusion with just two sentences, had turned red.

But they hadn't.

Meanwhile, his expression and posture were completely composed, utterly unlike his simple appearance that day at Rosy Cloud Ridge.

Back then, their distance was very close.

He sat, she half‑stood.

The boy wore a thin white shirt, its hem tucked into tight waist pants, and his long legs were wrapped in well‑pressed, high‑quality trousers.

He lifted his head to look at her, his whole presence exuding an indescribable aggressiveness unique to adult men.

She rested one leg on the sofa as a support, leaning closely against his trousers, her hand held by him, her whole body within the sphere he could easily arrange.

Shu Shu heard his calm voice and continued:

"I know, Yinyin has feelings for me."

"But if this fondness is only because I cook well, or due to some other external factor, and Yinyin's judgment was clouded by a passing emotion, I can forget everything that happened in the past ten minutes."

"If Yinyin doesn't want to mention it, I will never bring it up either."

"……"

He gave her a chance to retreat completely, and he would fully obey her.

But is the fact really like that?

Is it thoughtful? Is it gentlemanly? Is it the conduct of a noble person?

None of the above.

This person is playing the victim, exploiting the existing situation to extort sympathy.

The established fact is that Shu Shu has already kissed him twice, and Shu Shu is not someone who would act on such impulse just because of shallow affection.

It's practically asking the question while already knowing the answer.

If Pei Du could truly be so candid and indifferent.

Then, first of all, when saying this he should have let go of Shu Shu's hand instead of holding on and refusing to release it, constantly trying, intentionally or not, to place himself on her.

"……"

To watch the meteor shower, Shu Shu brewed honey water and then turned off all the lights in advance.

The only light to support visibility was the faint glow of stars scattered across the night sky overhead.

Probably because of that, the person before her had exceptionally bright, dark eyes.

Thus he stared at her, focused and eager.

Shu Shu had no idea; the little bastard she was talking about was silently weaving a net.

Then.

She was thus successfully bewitched.

The girl was stunned by Pei Du's solemn words, and she proactively declared:

"Although I've never liked anyone before and have no experience, Pei Du, I'm fully aware of what I'm doing."

"You... don't... uh, don't have a sense of security, do you?"

She even seriously pondered: "Is just kissing the cheek not enough to prove anything?"

"Well—"

As she spoke, Shu Shu's gaze slowly drifted to the boy's lips of moderate thickness; though she had seen them before, now she noticed her own cheeks inexplicably flushing.

She asked in a particularly soft voice: "So... should we kiss?"

Pei Du pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

Shu Shu felt she should state her stance properly; her other hand unconsciously curled, and the girl leaned in for the third time—this time it wasn't just a cheek kiss.

As Shu Shu approached Pei Du, he remained still, but when she was about to kiss him, the boy turned his face away, and their lips missed each other.

She didn't manage to kiss him.

Shu Shu froze.

"..."

Not enough, not enough, still not enough; even if we could kiss, it would still be far from enough.

Shu Shu said a lot, but she didn't give Pei Du the answer he wanted.

He didn't want ambiguity; he wanted something definite and unwavering.

"No kissing."

Pei Du turned his face, uttered two words, then asked in a low, hoarse voice:

"Yinyin, tell me first—what are we?"

"Here."

Only then did Shu Shu finally react, she lightly laughed: "Let's call it our first day—"

"Boyfriend."

She couldn't finish saying the last word before Pei Du lunged in and kissed her.

His distinct-knuckled hand pressed her slender, fair neck, he tilted his head, closed his eyes, and their lips met.

After just a slight shift, Pei Du opened his eyes, pulled back, glanced at Shu Shu, then leaned in and kissed her again, then glanced at her once more.

The two locked eyes at close range.

Pei Du's gaze scrutinized, drawing some information from the girl's lovely peach-blossom eyes; almost the next second, he forcefully pulled her onto his lap.

Before Shu Shu could steady herself, her vision went dark, and she was kissed again.

The corners of her lips involuntarily moistened and parted.

(2)

By her ear came the faint sound of water droplets intertwining.

That was.

the sound of kissing.

Tonight's breeze was clearly cool, yet Shu Shu felt her ears and neck being baked by a surge of heat.

The hand at her side, which had been holding hers, gradually turned into interlaced fingers, just like the ongoing kiss.

Affectionate, reluctant to part.

It seemed true to what Shu Shu said—Pei Du really seemed lacking in security, clinging to her tightly; it was that sort of airtight kiss, one press after another.

Breathing was obstructed.

Shu Shu could hardly bear it; her free hand unconsciously grabbed the person's shoulder, and the boy's shirt instantly creased under the girl's delicate fingers.

At the same time she instinctively tried to pull back, but the sensation in her lips withdrew first.

Just as she was about to slightly relax, her ear tip also grew hot.

"..."

Pei Du's shirt became ever more wrinkled.

"... Pei Du."

"Mm."

The boy's response was vague; his low, pleasant voice brushed against Shu Shu's neck, and moments later he lightly pecked her cheek, then returned his focus to the previous spot.

Shu Shu's sluggish thoughts realized.

Pei Du wasn't kissing enough; he seemed merely to be giving her time to breathe.

Shu Shu was a bit puzzled.

After arriving here, Pei Du sat down and blew the wind for a while; the faint scent of alcohol on him had mostly dissipated.

But but she felt he seemed even more drunk than before.

Shu Shu involuntarily lifted her eyelids a bit, wanting to sneak a peek to find out.

However, not looking wouldn't matter.

A glance and she plunged straight into those twin eyes, dark as ink and thick as lacquer.

Throughout this kiss, Pei Du watched her the whole time; in other words, he took in every state of hers.

Not a second was missed.

"..."

Heat surged straight onto Shu Shu's cheeks.

You little brat, how can you have no shame at all!

Shu Shu immediately broke free of their clasped hands, used both hands to push against Pei Du's shoulders, and shoved him away.

Because the motion was too sudden, a thread linking the two—exceedingly fine, so fine it was hard to catch, glowing with light—snapped unexpectedly in the air.

"Yinyin?"

Pei Du felt a little upset at being pushed away, stunned for half a moment, and then, still wanting more, wanted to continue.

Just then.

Shu Shu's phone on the coffee table rang.

It was an alarm.

It was a reminder alarm set for five minutes before the meteor shower.

"Meteor shower's here." Shu Shu wiped the wet trace on her lip with the back of her hand, turned her gaze away unnaturally: "... I'm going to watch the meteor shower."

Pei Du's voice low and hoarse: "Okay."

…

Shu Shu turned off the alarm and got up to walk over.

But after just one step, she couldn't move.

Her sleeve was tugged, and Shu Shu turned her head.

Pei Du sat, brows furrowed, and asked: "Yinyin, did you forget to bring something?"

Shu Shu couldn't grasp it at first: what did she need to bring?

Then the stern-looking young man spoke up, quite seriously reminding: "Yinyin forgot to bring her boyfriend along."

As he spoke, his gaze seemed to question her—we just finished kissing, are we going to renege? Are we just going to toss him aside? How could we do that?

Shu Shu: "……"

She reverted to being that clingy, handsome block of wood.

"Well, let's go, boyfriend?"

Shu Shu shook her arm, gesturing for Pei Du to follow, but Pei Du didn't budge; he loosened his hold on her sleeve, placed his hand back on his thigh, and waited.

She understood what he was waiting for, so she reached for his hand and took it: "Is this okay, boyfriend?"

"Hmm."

Then Pei Du stood up.

…

Near the railing, a soft bench was also placed, for two.

Actually, Pei Du had no interest in the meteor shower and no plan to watch it, but if Yinyin invited him, that would be another matter; thus his original plan was to sit behind and watch Yinyin watch.

But now, his status is different.

He can now openly sit beside Yinyin.

Considering the large day‑night temperature difference near the mountains and forests, Pei Du had prepared a blanket in advance on the soft bench.

The heat faded, and Shu Shu really felt a bit cold; the girl kicked off her slippers, spread out the blanket, and was about to crawl in.

A faint voice came from beside: "Yinyin's boyfriend is cold too."

Then Shu Shu lifted the blanket, doubling its width to cover both of them, and asked patiently:

"Is the boyfriend still cold like this?"

"Not cold anymore."

Shu Shu glanced at the time; the countdown had two minutes left.

She tilted her head back, gazing expectantly at the sky.

No wonder, being far from all kinds of pollution, thin clouds drift with the wind, the boundless night sky like a dark curtain, clearly dotted with twinkling stars.

"Pei Du, you can make a wish when a meteor streaks by—what do you wish for later?"

"……"

No answer was given.

Shu Shu glanced sideways; the boy beside her wasn't looking at the sky at all, his posture somewhat casual as he leaned against the chair back, his gaze steadily fixed on her.

"Your lips are really red."

Shu Shu: "……"

"Also a bit swollen." Pei Du rose from the chair back, his gaze falling on the girl's crimson lips, and asked softly and sincerely: "Just now, did I kiss too hard?"

Shu Shu: "……"

Pei Du said: "Yinyin said it's her first time liking someone; I'm the same, so sorry, I also have no experience."

That's why he kissed so hard.

Ah ah ah ah ah shut up shut up shut up ah you little brat!

How could someone explain this so seriously!

Shu Shu reached around from behind Pei Du's neck, backhand covered his mouth, afraid he'd say something else embarrassing.

"From now on, your mouth is confiscated—focus on watching the meteor shower."

"……"

"Alright."

Pei Du compromised, then reached out and directly encircled the girl's waist, his head naturally nestling into the crook of her neck.

A faint citrus scent—that's Yinyin's scent.

The boy's nose twitched slightly.

It smells really nice; I don't know if hugging a bit tighter would let me get a bit of it on him.

Pei Du lowered his cold white eyelids, thinking silently.

He really didn't want to watch the meteor shower; he just wanted to kiss Yinyin.

But Yinyin wanted to watch the meteor shower.

Then, let's kiss again later.

But Yinyin's mouth is swollen; does he need to restrain himself a bit?

That thought had just arisen when Pei Du rejected it.

Oh, he really didn't want to restrain himself; he still wanted to kiss.

He really liked the feeling of kissing Yinyin; just kissing a moment ago wasn't enough.

Why hasn't the meteor shower come yet?

So, what's there to see about the meteor shower?

Actually, he wanted to ask Yinyin if she could let go of his mouth; he could promise not to speak anymore, so it wouldn't interfere with her watching the meteor shower.

All he wanted was to kiss her ear.