Chapter 20

Chen Hang, trying to make up for it, now looked very much like a dog eagerly wanting to get close to humans. After looking around, he picked up Luo Zhuowei's backpack and looked at her: "Then can I walk you home?"
They were already tacitly understood, legitimate new boyfriend and girlfriend, but for some reason Chen Hang still used a questioning request.
Luo Zhuowei couldn't help but laugh. Although she was still a bit red-faced, seeing Chen Hang looking even more nervous than her, those fragmented unease and hesitation seemed to pop like bubbles, disappearing without a trace.
"Of course."
When she agreed, she unconsciously tightened her grip on Chen Hang's right hand that was still holding hers. Chen Hang seemed to just realize he had been tightly holding Luo Zhuowei's hand all along. He stiffened, then relaxed as if nothing was wrong. That puppy-like helplessness on his face became even more obvious.
This nervous, innocent sweetness was really troubling. You wanted to distance yourself slightly so your heart wouldn't overload, but also wanted to get closer to make this heartbeat completely overload.
Luo Zhuowei thought about it, then hesitantly let go. Chen Hang, feeling the force in his palm quietly leaving, also obediently relaxed his fingers. Regret and relief surged in his heart simultaneously. Unexpectedly, the next second, his wrist was touched by the other's pale fingers.
She had almost no force, just brushing past for a moment. Her tone was no different from when they usually talked: "Let's go."
But right now, the distance between them was different, the atmosphere was different, and Luo Zhuowei's expression was no longer that uniform gentleness.
Chen Hang looked into Luo Zhuowei's eyes. Her soft brown pupils were full of only him.
#31
Bus.
A bus during rush hour on a weekday was the most brutal sardine can in the world. Squeezed among office workers, even the handrails were scarce items.
Luo Zhuowei tried hard to stabilize her body that was involuntarily swaying with the bus. Unfortunately, her current position wasn't by the door or by the window. The handrails she could reach were all occupied by office workers' hands. She could only try to maintain balance among people to avoid rudely falling onto someone.
Luo Zhuowei felt slight embarrassment and awkwardness.
Of course not because she was somewhat awkwardly holding her backpack while squeezed on the bus—this kind of hardship was actually routine for her. Luo Zhuowei, who took the bus to and from school, had long been used to this rush hour predicament.
What was embarrassing was that today Chen Hang was walking her home—all the way to her doorstep.
There were really too many people on the bus, so Luo Zhuowei was forced to be very close to Chen Hang.
Boys in puberty probably always had body temperatures like puppies—slightly high. Just this extremely close contact was enough to make Luo Zhuowei feel a subtle heat. She didn't know if it was psychological, feeling the other's body heat, or if her own flushed temperature had steamed onto her face.
Being too close, even looking at the other became somewhat embarrassing. Luo Zhuowei had to avert her gaze from Chen Hang's, who was looking down at the ground, and let it fall aimlessly on the scrolling ads on the bus display.
"!"
Suddenly, the bus's occasional swaying and the inertia from turning made her momentarily unsteady, almost falling into Chen Hang's arms. Chen Hang reacted quickly, one hand immediately firmly grabbing her elbow, the force stabilizing her incredibly strong.
But even so, the inertia from the crowded bus was greater than imagined. Luo Zhuowei staggered, her nose tip gently brushing past Chen Hang's school uniform shirt collar. Her hands, at the last moment and extremely ambiguously, pressed against his chest.
"..."
The incident was sudden. Both were somewhat caught off guard. Luo Zhuowei especially felt Chen Hang's tension in that moment. The force gripping her elbow couldn't help but tighten slightly.
Should she say sorry at a time like this?
Luo Zhuowei raised her face, wanting to pull back a bit before talking to Chen Hang. Unexpectedly, this journey seemed determined to play dramatic jokes. The bus immediately turned again. The distance she had just pushed away was completely negated. This time, she really buried herself firmly in Chen Hang's chest.
Chen Hang, with soft fragrance and jade in his arms, stammered innocently: "A-are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Luo Zhuowei answered softly, feeling her heartbeat was a bit fast to an absurd degree. Her face was still trying to maintain her usual expression.
She didn't really want to show weakness in front of Chen Hang, so she raised her hand, which had been hanging limply at her side from the sudden incident, and tried to pull away again by holding Chen Hang's arm.
Her hand had just touched Chen Hang's jacket, hadn't had time to look up, when Chen Hang suddenly stopped her. Besides his right hand that was already gripping her elbow, his left hand skillfully supported her right shoulder, somewhat clumsily preventing her from raising her face.
Luo Zhuowei paused, then obediently didn't move: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Luo Zhuowei found that her gentle cooperation seemed to make Chen Hang even more troubled instead. He rarely spoke with hesitation, not noticing that his breathing when speaking would gently brush her forehead. After helping Luo Zhuowei move to a corner, he continued: "Don't want you to see my expression."
This kind of flustered, blushing expression from slight contact—not cool at all.
Actually, Chen Hang showing this expression wasn't bad at all. His non-aggressive appearance made him look like a small animal when embarrassed, giving a fluffy feeling.
Moreover, after moving to stand in a corner by the window, Luo Zhuowei could actually glimpse a bit of Chen Hang's expression from the slight reflection in the glass window.
She wouldn't tell him. Luo Zhuowei readily said okay.
#32
"Here is fine."
Luo Zhuowei stopped and pointed to a beautiful flower shop not far ahead, then turned to look at me: "That's my home."
I did remember seeing Luo Zhuowei's address registered as this flower shop in the contact book. I felt relieved, and couldn't help but unconsciously imagine what it would be like for Luo Zhuowei to help watch the shop at home.
A beautiful girl and flowers in all kinds of poses—however you thought about it, it was quite pleasing to the eye.
I nodded, planning to watch Luo Zhuowei enter her home before leaving: "Go on back."
"Then see you tomorrow." Luo Zhuowei smiled at me and turned to enter the flower shop.
Watching her back push open the warmly decorated glass door of the flower shop, I took out my phone to check the time. Just as I was about to call a taxi, Luo Zhuowei pushed the door open again as if remembering something and gently called my name: "Chen Hang."
Luo Zhuowei half-leaned out. Her ponytail drooped with her movement. Coincidentally placed at the shop entrance were several bouquets of lilies with water droplets, sharing the same purity as her face under the night and warm light.
"This Saturday... do you want to go out together?"
She asked.
After extending the invitation, Luo Zhuowei felt somewhat nervous for the first time in a while. She absentmindedly organized the homework she had just finished, opened her schedule book, trying to keep her gaze from looking at the phone placed to the side. But attention couldn't be deceived. While marking today's schedule, Luo Zhuowei clearly felt part of her mind was constantly paying attention to that motionless phone screen.