Chapter 114
The next day, it was Father Gu himself who drove Zhuang Chi to the high-speed rail station. He seemed to be in a rather good mood along the way, proactively striking up a conversation with Zhuang Chi. “Stay a few more days next time you come. We didn’t get to properly host you, and we’re all quite sad to see you go.”
…The words were very cordial, but no matter how she thought about it, they seemed more like polite pleasantries. After all, Father Gu didn’t look like he was sad to see her go.
It seemed that although she had gained his approval, the old father still held some complicated feelings toward his daughter's lover. Zhuang Chi found it understandable and said with a smile, “Not at all, I feel I’ve been very well hosted.”
Aside from those minor incidents, she had indeed been treated with exceptional hospitality. Thinking back carefully, so much had happened in the little over a day that Zhuang Chi had been in this city. She had originally just impulsively wanted to come and see Gu Ximian, but not only did she see her, she also gave Gu Ximian a temporary mark, met her parents, and even discussed the matter of a permanent mark…
As Zhuang Chi thought about this, she stole a glance at Gu Ximian, who was sitting beside her. Gu Ximian, who had insisted on coming to see her off, had her eyes quietly lowered, her gaze slightly focused, as if she were pondering something.
Ever since their chat yesterday, Gu Ximian would occasionally show such an expression. When Zhuang Chi asked, she wouldn’t elaborate, only saying vaguely that she was thinking about something but hadn’t figured it out yet. But no matter how Zhuang Chi thought about it, she felt that what Gu Ximian was thinking about was most likely related to the “permanent mark.”
After she had presented her theory yesterday that “wearing a ring and a permanent mark are of equal significance”—honestly, thinking back on it now was quite embarrassing, it was simply like a marriage proposal—Gu Ximian hadn’t continued the conversation. After a long silence, she had leaned over and kissed her lightly, a soft sigh held between their touching lips as she murmured her name, ‘Zhuang Chi…’
But after calling her name, there was nothing more. And Zhuang Chi, spinelessly, was quickly pulled into the romantic atmosphere by Gu Ximian, lost in that kiss, with no mind to consider anything else.
And now, Zhuang Chi knew that there was no use in asking too much about things Gu Ximian didn't want to talk about. Even though she was a little worried that Gu Ximian might be overthinking, she still felt that she should trust Gu Ximian and give her some space to think independently. So she didn't ask any more questions, only quietly reaching out to take Gu Ximian's hand, which was resting on the car seat. When Gu Ximian looked at her, she squeezed it a little tighter without a word.
Gu Ximian looked at her and smiled softly. She changed their hand-holding to an interlocking of fingers and turned sideways, wanting to move closer to Zhuang Chi.
“Ahem, we’re here.”
The car stopped at that moment. Both of them tensed up. Amidst Father Gu’s deliberately raised voice, Zhuang Chi abruptly let go of her hand, blinked embarrassedly, shouldered her backpack, said her thanks, and opened the door to get out. After closing the car door, just as she was about to turn and say goodbye to them again, she saw Gu Ximian get out from the other side and look over. “I’ll see you off.”
…But the station entrance was already right in front of them, how much further could she be seen off? Zhuang Chi looked at Gu Ximian, who had walked to her side with a straight face, then stole a glance at Father Gu, who had rolled down his window. She saw him pout and try to reason with Gu Ximian, “…You can’t park here for too long.”
“Is that so.” Gu Ximian looked around and sincerely proposed a solution, “I’ll be as quick as I can. If that really doesn’t work, could you maybe drive a lap and come back?”
Father Gu fell silent, silently waving his hand to signal for them to hurry along.
Zhuang Chi wanted to laugh. She tried her best to hold it in and walked toward the station entrance with Gu Ximian. It was only a few steps before they arrived. She stopped and turned to look at Gu Ximian. “Is there something you want to say to me?”
Gu Ximian slowly came to a stop beside her. After a moment of silence, she tugged at the scarf around her neck and asked, “Should I give this back to you?”
She looked as if she was about to untie it, which scared Zhuang Chi into pressing down on her hand and shaking her head forcefully. “No… no need, you can keep it.”
…It had only been a day, and the mark on Gu Ximian’s neck hadn’t even faded yet. If she took the scarf off now, wouldn’t everyone passing by see it? The thought alone made Zhuang Chi feel that this was not okay. Gu Ximian, however, had only been making a gesture and had no real intention of taking it off. She gladly accepted Zhuang Chi’s gift, then raised her eyes to look at Zhuang Chi fixedly.
“A temporary mark… lasts for about a week,” she said softly, speaking to Zhuang Chi, but the latter half of her sentence was so quiet it was as if she were talking to herself. “The mark is about the same, it will always fade away…”
Hearing the words “temporary mark” still made her a bit shy. Zhuang Chi didn’t quite understand what Gu Ximian meant by bringing it up at this moment, so she just answered thoughtfully, “It’s enough… the susceptible period is only three or four days long—and you already took suppressants. Actually, if I hadn’t come over, I feel like this temporary mark wouldn’t have even been necessary…”
As she muttered these things, she heard Gu Ximian let out a faint sigh, who then smoothly threw the topic back at her. “What about you? Has your susceptible period arrived yet?”
Zhuang Chi faltered, shaking her head sheepishly. Unlike Gu Ximian, who, as an S-class Omega, had a very regular susceptible period once a month, the interval for Alphas was generally longer. She had heard that it was usually once every three or four months, so it really wasn’t time for Zhuang Chi yet. Gu Ximian hummed softly, raised a hand to press on her collar, and said in a low voice, “…Then the clothes I had you take back with you before… have you taken them out?”
The implication in her words was so strong that Zhuang Chi’s face flushed red in an instant. She hurriedly tried to defend herself, “I… I didn’t do anything weird with your clothes…”
Only after the words left her mouth did she realize they sounded wrong. Zhuang Chi was stuck for a long moment, the tips of her ears so red they looked like they would drip blood. When she spoke again, her voice was pitifully softer. “…By weird things, I mean, biting it and stuff.”
Yes. Before the holidays, to avoid a situation where Zhuang Chi entered her susceptible period during the winter break while Gu Ximian wasn’t around, Gu Ximian had lent a piece of her clothing to Zhuang Chi, just in case. Zhuang Chi’s face had been beet red when she put the clothes in her suitcase, and for a moment, she didn’t know which was more embarrassing: getting through her susceptible period with Gu Ximian’s clothes, or having Gu Ximian herself help her.
As for Gu Ximian, who had lent the clothes, she had seemed much calmer about the matter from beginning to end. Right now, she just curled her lips into a faint smile and replied, “If you want to bite it, that’s fine too.”
It was as if there was a hidden subtext: “That was the purpose of lending it to you anyway.” Zhuang Chi couldn’t find a response, only shaking her head sullenly, not daring to look at Gu Ximian. But soon, Gu Ximian held her face and made her look up. Just as Zhuang Chi tilted her head up in compliance with Gu Ximian’s movement, she heard a soft spritz. A cool, moist mist touched her neck, followed by a familiar, cold fragrance wafting by.
“Returning the favor. You gave me a temporary mark, so I have to let you be scented with some of my smell too.”
“If I used pheromones… it might be a bit troublesome for you on the high-speed rail, and it might affect other people,” Gu Ximian said, tucking the small bottle of perfume back into her pocket with a normal expression. “But perfume should be fine.”
“I was originally going to give you this bottle of perfume directly, but I’ve changed my mind.” Gu Ximian looked at Zhuang Chi’s neck and raised her hand to spread the not-yet-dry mist. Her fingertips, barely touching, traced up the side of Zhuang Chi’s neck until they reached the leather edge of the inhibitor collar. She said softly, “The scent of perfume only lasts for a few hours at most. I think I’d rather have you remember… that you can only smell this scent when you’re by my side.”
Her fingers pressed a little more firmly, slowly sliding to Zhuang Chi’s throat, allowing her to clearly feel Zhuang Chi swallow. Gu Ximian looked up at her, tilting her head slightly. She withdrew her hand and placed it on her shoulder, like a silent invitation.
Of course, Zhuang Chi understood her meaning, but before leaning in, she couldn’t help but glance toward the side of the road and say in a troubled, soft voice, “…Uncle Gu… he’s been watching us this whole time…”
“…” Gu Ximian pursed her lips and glanced over. The wide-open car window shot up as if by remote control. She looked back at Zhuang Chi and tilted her head as if taking credit. “There.”
…No, actually, this just meant they couldn’t see Father Gu anymore, right? The window rolling up didn’t stop Father Gu from continuing to stare at them from inside the car. Zhuang Chi was torn between laughter and tears, but her lover saw no problem with it at all and was already starting to look a little unhappy, reaching out to pinch her cheek. “What’s wrong? If you don’t… I’m leaving.”
How could she let her leave upset? Zhuang Chi smiled, reached out to pull Gu Ximian into her arms, and soothingly kissed her forehead, then her eyes, her cheeks, and finally, properly, her lips.
Since they were still outside, Zhuang Chi kept it brief. She then took Gu Ximian’s hand, brought it to her lips, and placed a kiss on her knuckles. Her voice was warm and soft. “Alright, I have to go back now.”
“Just like how a temporary mark will expire, a mark will fade, and perfume will dissipate… the holiday will also pass quickly, and we’ll see each other at St. Blaisedon very soon.”
“And I will always miss you… and always like you,” Zhuang Chi’s face flushed slightly, still not quite used to such direct words, but she still said them with clumsy earnestness. “You know that won’t change, right, Gu Ximian?”
Gu Ximian stared at her, her eyes shimmering with fragmented points of light.
“I know.”
She leaned in to hug Zhuang Chi, to hug this bright and clear love, and murmured, “…I know.”
Even if things continued just like this without any changes, Zhuang Chi would always stay by her side—Gu Ximian was deeply convinced of this.
But the more she thought this way, the more she felt… perhaps she should give Zhuang Chi something better, as a way to repay this love.
…A permanent mark? Gu Ximian thought.
She had, of course, been resistant to it at first. But after falling in love with Zhuang Chi, she actually found that she didn't mind it. There was even a period of time when she maintained a laissez-faire attitude. Whether it was during Zhuang Chi’s susceptible period or yesterday’s temporary mark, Gu Ximian always had this unspoken thought in her heart: if Zhuang Chi lost control and gave her a permanent mark, it couldn’t be helped, it would be normal.
She would choose to accept it and would never blame Zhuang Chi. Just as she had once said to Zhuang Chi on the morning after she got drunk, Gu Ximian truly meant it from the bottom of her heart: ‘Even if you did something, I wouldn’t blame you.’
But Zhuang Chi had stubbornly held back. She was an S-class Omega, her allure already extraordinary, not to mention Zhuang Chi was addicted to her. She didn’t know where this person got such good self-control, but she was able to restrain herself from biting down. And the more times Zhuang Chi successfully held back, the more it stirred ripples in Gu Ximian’s heart. It seemed she herself would feel happy about it, would like Zhuang Chi a little more because of it—
—So, did she actually want Zhuang Chi to give her a permanent mark or not?
Gu Ximian was starting to get confused. She had originally thought that Zhuang Chi hadn’t thought about this in detail either and was just holding back on instinct, but she never expected to hear such words from Zhuang Chi yesterday—this person had clearly thought it through, equating a ring with a permanent mark, carving out a second path for Gu Ximian.
If Zhuang Chi gave her a ring, Gu Ximian thought, she would of course say yes. In fact, she had to give her one. At this point, she couldn’t bear the thought of Zhuang Chi loving someone else. Zhuang Chi’s marriage partner could only be her. Otherwise… she didn’t know what she might do.
The effect of the temporary mark was still present. When she was close to Zhuang Chi, Gu Ximian would feel a tangible dependence. The gland under her inhibitor collar throbbed faintly with joyful contentment. Gu Ximian knew that the pheromones Zhuang Chi had carefully injected yesterday were still at work, proof of being carefully cherished… proof of being treasured and loved.
She took a deep breath, inhaling the faint, bitter fragrance on Zhuang Chi’s collar, and slowly closed her eyes.
Perhaps she should seriously give this matter some proper thought. For her own sake, and for Zhuang Chi’s.
Post a Comment