Chapter 26: The You in the Story (3)
Yin Guo’s gaze lingered at his waistband, not daring to look any lower.
She played dumb and asked a new question: “Down there… how did you get it done? A design this big must’ve taken multiple sessions?”
“Just pull it down to about here,” his fingers slid to a certain spot, his lips curling into an obvious smirk. “The one on my waist was done in one go. The one on my arm took two sessions—bigger design.”
She nodded.
He had already reacted—Yin Guo noticed—and the mere thought of what lay beneath his waistband made her face burn crimson.
A persistent buzzing vibration filled the air—his phone ringing nonstop.
Yin Guo’s phone was set to ringtone mode, so she knew it had to be Lin Yiyang’s phone making the noise. But the man lounging beside her showed no intention of answering. Desperate for an excuse to escape, she asked, “Your phone’s ringing?”
Before he could respond, she scrambled off the bed to search for it. It had fallen out of his pocket during their earlier tussle and was now wedged behind his back. She pressed answer and handed it to him.
Lin Yiyang’s hand pressed firmly against her waist, making her arms buckle. She collapsed onto his chest.
He gripped her wrist, holding the phone to his ear with a low, “Yeah?”
Yin Guo could hear the voice on the other end—speaking Chinese—but she didn’t pay much attention. Her hand was still trapped, her body pinned against his, held tight in his embrace.
For what felt like an eternity, Lin Yiyang listened as his classmate asked about his plans to pursue a Ph.D. at Duke, never once chiming in.
He was going for a Ph.D.? Yin Guo lifted her eyes to look at him.
Lin Yiyang met her gaze.
Finally, he spoke to the person on the line: “Not doing it anymore.”
The person on the other end was stunned, firing off rapid questions—had something happened at home? It was such a rare opportunity to pass up.
“Wasn’t set in stone anyway,” he continued. “Gotta go. My girlfriend’s here.”
And just like that, he ended the call.
He tossed the phone toward the edge of the bed, where a sofa sat.
Yin Guo had no idea how much effort Lin Yiyang had poured into applying for that Ph.D. program. He’d already secured the offer and had even told Wu Wei to go back to China first, not to wait for him—he’d return after finishing his studies.
But everything changed the moment Yin Guo appeared at Union Station. Lin Yiyang overturned all his plans himself.
His parents’ early deaths had shaped his mindset—to treat every tomorrow as if it might be his last, to live today to the fullest. Back then, he had drifted aimlessly, doing whatever he pleased. Now, it was no different.
He had fallen for a girl. He didn’t want to waste another day here, nor did he want to continue his studies.
Yin Guo tried to move away, but Lin Yiyang held her tighter, pulling her even closer.
Her head spun. If they kept talking like this, she was sure something would happen.
Yet, against her better judgment, she still spoke: “You’ve really never seen one?”
Lin Yiyang had been ready to let it go, to lay Yin Guo back on the bed and pull the covers over her. But her question made him pause. “You mean in real life, or…?”
Was he hinting at adult films?
Well, forget him—even she had seen those. Born into the digital age, even if schools didn’t provide proper sex ed, dormmates made sure to cover all 360 degrees of it…The first time Yin Guo saw it was during lunch one day. She was wandering around her dorm with a takeout box in hand, listening to the heavy breathing and exaggerated moans of men and women, utterly curious. Three of her dormmates were huddled together studying a video on the computer, and she stole a couple of glances too. In short—well, it wasn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing.
“I’ve walked in on the real thing a few times,” Lin Yiyang continued. “The first was in middle school, at a skating rink before it opened for the day.”
Yin Guo opened her eyes, lifted her head, and gave him a skeptical look. “...You’re lying, right?”
Lin Yiyang laughed under her gaze. Why would I lie?
He recounted it to her: “They were people I knew. At first, I didn’t expect that guy and his girlfriend to go so wild, so openly, just doing it right there. I didn’t watch for long before leaving. It wasn’t interesting anyway—just the same motion over and over.”
...
His description was blunt and crude.
Yin Guo blinked, speechless, then coughed lightly.
To her, such an experience was unimaginable. But to Lin Yiyang, a kid who’d grown up rough on the streets, there wasn’t much he hadn’t seen.
Those who put on such public displays were, at their core, driven by the inexplicable “personal heroism” of adolescence—craving attention in any form, whether through sex, fights, or even more dangerous things.
Lin Yiyang never liked keeping his belt on when resting. Leaning against the headboard, he unfastened the buckle, pulled the belt free, and tossed it onto the sofa beside the bed. With a clatter, the metal buckle hit his phone.
The motion was undeniably provocative.
Yin Guo rolled over, turning her back to him, making it clear she was ready to sleep.
“Done talking?” he asked from behind, his warm breath brushing her ear in slow, deliberate waves.
She hummed in response.
There was an unintentional hint of coquetry in that sound.
That hum was like a spark, reigniting the fire in him that had just begun to fade. Like adding kindling to embers on the verge of dying out, a new flame suddenly flared to life.
Lin Yiyang stayed silent for a few seconds before rolling off the bed and heading to the bathroom. Under the warm yellow light, he turned on the faucet.
He washed his face first, then lathered his hands with soap, scrubbing them thoroughly.
When he returned to bed, he wasted no words, simply wrapping his arms around Yin Guo from behind.
“Sleep later,” he said.
Her body grew even warmer.
His hands moved to pull off her shirt, but she pressed them down. Lin Yiyang chuckled, turning her face toward him. Before she could even get a clear look at him, he was already kissing her, wordless and deep.
His tongue pressed further in, teasing the base of hers, sending a full-body shiver through her.
Lin Yiyang’s denim-clad leg pinned hers down, along with the knees he’d already kissed into weakness.
...
The hotel’s central air conditioning hummed from the vent, set to 25 degrees. It was impossible to tell if it was blowing hot or cold air. Either way, she was starting to sweat.
...
When Yin Guo woke up, it was seven o’clock.
Outside, the sky had darkened.
A desk lamp glowed in the northeast corner of the room, its light brightest at the center and dimmer by the time it reached the bed.
Lin Yiyang sat on the sofa beside the bed, freshly showered, bare-chested and still in his jeans, scrolling through his phone. The lamplight barely reached him, casting a faint, golden-white glow on the tips of his hair.Damp short hair. Water droplets still dripped from the ends.
"Awake?" he asked hoarsely.
Yin Guo didn't respond, pushing herself up with her hands only to find her phone missing.
Lin Yiyang tossed the phone onto the sofa and searched around the bed, lifting the blanket to help her look. When he still couldn't find it, he grabbed one end of the blanket and gave it two firm shakes on the bed—the phone fell onto the carpet.
He bent down to pick it up and handed it to her.
Her first instinct was to pull the cotton blanket over herself.
Lin Yiyang chuckled. She hadn't even taken anything off—what was there to cover?
Yin Guo's gaze slid over his jeans.
Young women often misunderstood men. They thought that if a guy got aroused, he had to act on it or take care of it himself—that he couldn't hold back. But the truth was, if women could resist, so could men. Holding back desire was far easier than holding back tears.
Right now, she assumed he'd taken care of it in the shower. But for Lin Yiyang, all he needed was to settle his mood and distract himself for a while—the urge had long passed.
He'd showered because he felt he smelled bad, especially since he planned to take her out later.
Lin Yiyang brought her downstairs to the hotel lobby for a meal.
After eating, they stepped outside, but he didn't tell her where they were going.
He popped two throat lozenges between his teeth, one after another, to keep his voice steady a little longer.
A tour bus rounded the corner from a distance and stopped in front of them. The doors opened, and the driver waved at them from inside, greeting Lin Yiyang in English, "Hurry up and get on! I've got other passengers to pick up."
Lin Yiyang led her onto the bus and had her sit in the first row, leftmost seat by the window near the door.
He settled beside her, exchanging a few words with the driver.
Yin Guo could tell they were old acquaintances. Once the driver started driving and fell silent, she whispered, "Where are we going?"
"Taking you on a night tour."
"Night tour?"
"A tourist route in D.C.—specialized for seeing the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, and other landmarks. There are daytime routes, but also nighttime ones," he explained briefly. "I used to work nights as a tour guide, with this very driver."
While Yin Guo had been asleep, he'd specifically arranged for the driver to let him take over as guide for the evening—he wanted to show his girlfriend around.
Yin Guo had mentioned that her first two visits had been rushed. This third time, she'd come for him, so he had to show her the city. It was also a chance for her to learn about his past—what he'd once done for work.
By the time the bus reached the passenger pickup spot, a crowd was already waiting in line.
Lin Yiyang stepped off the bus, and the moment his feet hit the ground, he transformed into a professional, standard short-distance tour guide. He ushered everyone aboard, checking names against the roster one by one.
Yin Guo rested her forehead against the window, watching him through the glass.
So handsome. She couldn't tear her eyes away—didn't even want to blink.
But this man was also a master of disguise.
The big rogue from the hotel room had turned into a tall, striking Chinese-American tour guide the moment he put on clothes. A few girls at the end of the line were already chatting about him.
The entire night, she stayed in the front row while Lin Yiyang effortlessly revisited his tour guide days, narrating in English about each illuminated building under the night sky to the bus full of tourists.
When he spoke on the bus, she leaned against the railing, watching him.
When he spoke outside, she followed at a distance, still watching him.Yin Guo followed behind tourists of various skin tones, listening to his explanations and watching his back, as if seeing the Lin Yiyang of the past.
The final stop was the Lincoln Memorial. Yin Guo's feet ached from walking, so she didn’t follow the group off the bus, choosing to rest on the vehicle instead.
As the tour guide, he couldn’t stay on the bus. Even if he was only responsible for this one trip, he had to see it through to the end, ensuring all tourists returned to the bus before his job was done.
Yin Guo sat alone in the first row. The bus lights were off, and two other passengers, also too tired to move, stayed behind, waiting for everyone to return and conclude the night tour.
Leaning against the window, Yin Guo had initially wanted to ask Zheng Yi about Duke, but Zheng Yi was far more interested in the details of their relationship.
When Yin Guo mentioned how he had deliberately washed his hands before returning to be intimate with her, Zheng Yi immediately gave Lin Yiyang a perfect ten-star rating—he clearly knew how to cherish a girl.
Suddenly, the glass window to her right was tapped.
She turned to look outside. Lin Yiyang stood there, hands in his pockets, smiling at her through the window and gesturing for her to come down.
She hopped off the bus.
“Have you seen Forrest Gump ?”
“Yeah, when I was little.”
“There’s a famous scene at the Reflecting Pool,” Lin Yiyang pointed into the distance. “I’ll take you there. It’s right in front of the memorial.”
He had seized the free time during the tour to come back for her.
Yin Guo followed him down the stone path cutting through the lawn, matching his steps. Truthfully, the pool and the movie were just excuses. After being apart for barely over ten minutes, he already missed her.
She couldn’t help wondering whether those two girls who had shown interest in him would try to strike up a conversation or ask for his number.
Yin Guo had never imagined she could be this petty. Just knowing others noticed him made her uncomfortable—deeply uncomfortable. Lin Yiyang led her to the Reflecting Pool, its surface perfectly still under the night lights. Behind them, tourists—men and women alike—snapped photos and ran up and down the steps.
The wind tousled her hair. As Yin Guo smoothed it down, Lin Yiyang offered her a piece of dark chocolate.
She took a bite, watching as he popped the rest into his mouth.
The gradually regrouping tourists behind them witnessed this scene, marveling inwardly: That was fast! A handsome face really is unstoppable. Just a two-hour night tour in Washington, and the guide already charmed a girl?
“Where to next?” she mumbled through the chocolate.
He crumpled the wrapper in his hand. “Where do you want to go?”
“My feet hurt. Let’s just head back. We’ve seen all the famous spots anyway.”
“Okay.”
“When we get back, I really need to sleep,” she reiterated.
“Okay,” he chuckled.
...
“I’m sleep-deprived,” she protested quietly. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
And the afternoon had drained her completely.
He nodded. “I’ll let you sleep.”
...
No matter how she thought about it, Yin Guo was certain history would repeat itself the moment they returned to the hotel—what happened in the afternoon would inevitably happen again at night.
As her mind wandered, Lin Yiyang showed her his phone screen.
In the dim light, she peered at the screenshot displayed—two tickets for tomorrow morning’s return trip. Wait, weren’t we supposed to stay for the weekend? Her original plan was to leave on Sunday morning, and tomorrow was only Saturday."You can't focus here, and while it doesn't bother me, you still have competitions," he turned off his phone. "I'll take you back tomorrow, all the way to New York, then I'll return."
Lin Yiyang noticed her silence and knew she was upset.
When he bought the train tickets that afternoon, his heart had ached too. At that time, Yin Guo had been hugging the blanket, her face buried in the pillow, eyes closed with motionless lashes, fast asleep.
"Are you unhappy?" He shoved his hands in his pockets, feigning nonchalance as he slightly bent to meet her eyes at her level.
She shook her head—she wasn't unhappy. "Just take me to the station. Why go all the way to New York? It's too much trouble."
She could guess Lin Yiyang was worried about affecting her competition performance. She just didn't want to leave.
"Listen to me," he said. "I want to take you there."
He knew this arrangement was unreasonable—accompanying her to New York only to turn right back was something only a madman would do.
But he couldn't think of a better way to spend a few more hours with her.
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