Chapter 15

"………………"
The low fever's temperature was also adding fuel to the fire. I felt like I was about to boil over like that already-burnt noodles.
Plus, I didn't dare to abruptly get up and push Luo Zhuowei off me. I could only self-deceivingly turn my face away, not looking at this too-stimulating scene above me.
My almost deathly still reaction made Luo Zhuowei realize at this moment just how indecent the position she and I were in. Her fair face reddened at a visible speed: "...Sorry!"
Before I could say "it's fine" like a belated attempt to fix things, I suddenly froze.
!
Before that heat could completely rush to that place it shouldn't go, I pushed Luo Zhuowei away.
#22
She wasn't without awareness.
The moment she felt Chen Hang's arm around her waist, Luo Zhuowei had already anticipated how ambiguous and awkward the two of them would be.
When they fell, she heard Chen Hang grunt, but being held in his arms, she didn't feel much obvious pain.
Luo Zhuowei naturally reacted first that she couldn't lie on top of Chen Hang, but the gaze after the world spun, and the distance between them that had been drastically shortened, all caught her off guard.
What her hands touched was a warm, very alive body—one she had imagined many times.
In her flustered state, she tried to prop herself up, but her trembling hands defied her will's commands. They seemed more greedy for the hazy touch from her dreams than her innocent fantasies. Her fingertips uncontrollably slid from the exposed collarbone, across the chest rising and falling with nervous breathing, to the boy's supple abdomen hidden under the hoodie—something she had glimpsed before.
The moment her fingertips passed over it, Luo Zhuowei felt Chen Hang's slight tremor.
Unlike her trembling, that was restraint pushed to the limit.
She was almost straddling him with her legs spread, kneeling on top of him.
Endless shame surged back like a tide, attacking her unusually clear sense of propriety. Her voice when apologizing was already off-key.
What would his reaction be?
Luo Zhuowei's mind had flashed through countless assumptions, but she hadn't imagined being pushed away by Chen Hang.
He had still controlled his strength. That light push holding her shoulders wouldn't cause pain, but the fatal part of this action was psychological. It was a disguised rejection.
So the shame in her heart turned into embarrassed anger—anger that could easily bring tears. Not at him, but at her own behavior and shameful thoughts.
Had he noticed?
Was she being disliked?
As Chen Hang helped her up, Luo Zhuowei couldn't help but break free from his hand.
The highland flower's cold exterior was shattered. Luo Zhuowei didn't know what expression was on her face now, and she didn't dare look at what expression Chen Hang had: If she caught even a hint of trouble in his expression, it would be enough to make her want to disappear immediately.
A seventeen-year-old's self-esteem was both reserved and fragile. Beauty's enhancement of self-esteem couldn't be offset by her gentle nature—it only made her psychological defenses more fragile.
So she had to carefully build her defenses, because she knew her own fragility. She understood her defenses weren't rock, just straw.
Love was a thorny rose growing on the heart—you wanted to touch it, but it would cut your fingers. It was also an unavoidable flood and wild beast. One careless moment would trample the straw castle she had carefully maintained.
Noticing her expression wasn't quite right, Chen Hang, whose hand had been broken free from, quickly called out to her: "Wait!"
But why call out to her now?
Luo Zhuowei wordlessly picked up her bag from the sofa. She just wanted to escape from here, escape from this atmosphere where she would likely be unable to control her tears.
The end of the entryway was that door that had originally filled her with anticipation to open. Luo Zhuowei stopped, her right hand on the door handle, her left hand gripping the bag strap tightly.
The door handle was installed with a safe, reliable electronic lock. Without Chen Hang's help, she couldn't open it. She actually understood this was just deceiving herself. Next, she would have to face all the questions Chen Hang might have.
Luo Zhuowei gently closed her eyes, trying to force back the hot, sour tears in her eyes.
"Luo Zhuowei."
Sure enough, he would definitely come after her. But Chen Hang stopped at a distance of two steps from her. He looked at Luo Zhuowei's back, noticing that very straight spine was actually trembling slightly: "Listen to me first..."
Luo Zhuowei refused to turn around. She didn't reply either.
She desperately suppressed the inevitable trembling from her emotions, her gaze tightly locked on that dark door.
Was a girl's back this slender?
Chen Hang looked at Luo Zhuowei's back, unwilling to turn around, his thoughts mixed.
He could vaguely guess the reason for her sudden reaction, though he wasn't certain: The moment he abruptly distanced himself from Luo Zhuowei, he had seen the expression on her face.
Her face, which had reddened in an instant, didn't show shyness, but panic, confusion, and a tiny bit of embarrassment, as if some secret had been discovered.
Luo Zhuowei, who had lost her usual gentle, calm facade, was vivid beyond belief. No longer a lotus on a snowy mountain, but an iris in the rainy season—fragile, yet with a beauty that had human warmth.
Impossible to describe in words, and also impossible to ignore.
"Listen to me first, okay?"
Actually, the dizziness from the low fever wasn't small. Plus the earlier accident, Chen Hang still felt very dizzy.
But he couldn't ignore Luo Zhuowei's abnormality.
Even though she stubbornly had her back to him, Chen Hang felt that slight trembling was about to tremble into his heart.
Was she crying?