With that movement, Wen Yifan's fingers brushed against his exposed arm, sending a jolt like an electric current through her. It made her want to pull her hand back, yet she couldn't resist leaning in further.
From this angle, she couldn't see anything.
All she could sense was Sang Yan lowering his head slightly. His chest rose and fell gently, broad and warm. Her breath was entirely filled with his scent.
Cut off from the world around them.
In that instant, Wen Yifan felt as if the missing piece in her heart was slowly being filled by something. A sense of security seemed to materialize, wrapping around her in delicate threads.
Like a warmth only he could transmit.
Just a little was enough.
Wen Yifan forced herself to control her emotions, keeping her breathing steady and even.
She didn't dare hold on for too long.
After all, pretending to be unconscious and doing something like this to someone else wasn't exactly honorable.
Just as Wen Yifan was about to let go,
she caught a glimpse of Sang Yan slowly raising his hand. Her expression faltered slightly as she quickly reined in her emotions, her mind flashing back to what she had once said to him.
—"If something like this happens again, just punch me."
Guilt surged to its peak.
Before his "fist" could land, Wen Yifan pretended to withdraw her hand naturally. Without looking at his face, she turned slowly and walked toward the master bedroom.
Behind her, Sang Yan's voice sounded.
He seemed accustomed to it, his tone casual and lazy, as if it were no big deal: "That's all the time you're giving me today?"
"..." Wen Yifan didn't pause her steps in the slightest.
She reached the master bedroom door.
Following the description her college roommate had once given her, Wen Yifan tried to make her movements appear mechanical and stiff. She slowly turned the doorknob and stepped inside.
Only when the door clicked shut did her nerves finally relax a little.
Wen Yifan walked back to the bed and sat down, her expression dazed. After a long moment, she flopped backward onto the soft mattress, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Three seconds later, as if finally processing what had happened, she grabbed a nearby pillow and buried her face in it.
Wen Yifan rolled over once, then abruptly sat up.
Her entire face visibly flushed red.
She.
Had just.
Done.
What?
Had she really just pretended to sleepwalk and hugged Sang Yan?
Had she really taken advantage of Sang Yan?
How! Could! She! Hug him!
Unable to believe she had done such a thing, Wen Yifan felt utterly distraught. Staring into space, she suddenly began muttering to herself: "I was drunk."
"Yeah."
"I was drunk."
"Alcohol leads to trouble."
"I won't drink anymore."
"If given the chance, I hope the alcohol can go apologize to Sang Yan." Wen Yifan murmured under her breath, "Instead of pushing the blame onto me."
"I can't take the fall for this."
The lingering alcohol left her mind unusually hyperactive, and coupled with the guilt of her actions, Wen Yifan found it even harder to sleep. She kept making excuses, desperately trying to convince herself.
After a long while, Wen Yifan finally calmed down a little and picked up her phone to scroll through Weibo.
She hadn't browsed for long when she came across a confession post.——The guy I've been chasing for so long got drunk last night and kissed me, even said he agreed to be with me. I was overjoyed all night. But today, when I happily went to find him, he told me he was drunk and remembers nothing. TAT
Wen Yifan’s brow twitched as she clicked to read the comments.
[Next time he’s drunk, he’ll probably drag you to bed. Wake up.]
[How nice. Being drunk is such a universal excuse.]
[What a scumbag. Ugh.]
Thud.
The words “scumbag” hit Wen Yifan like two bricks smashing into her face.
She immediately exited the comments, unable to keep reading.
Tossing her phone aside, the self-hypnosis she’d just practiced lost all effect in an instant. She struggled to piece together more excuses—
He used to like me.
But after all these years, he doesn’t anymore. He just felt guilty, and then the alcohol took over…
These justifications quickly fell apart.
One by one, they were overturned by that uncontrollable thought.
Wen Yifan buried herself under the covers, forcibly pushing all thoughts out of her mind.
Nights always make you overthink.
Things will be better when I wake up.
That’s what she told herself, but the incident had shaken her so much that she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. On top of that, she hadn’t managed to drink any water before Sang Yan emerged from his room earlier.
Now, her throat was parched, but she didn’t dare step into the living room again.
Afraid Sang Yan might notice something off.
The next morning.
Wen Yifan adjusted her mindset, pretending everything was normal. She left her room at her usual time and, upon entering the living room, saw Sang Yan already seated at the dining table, eating breakfast.
On the table were just plain congee and eggs.
Their eyes met for a second.
Wen Yifan averted her gaze and calmly walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of milk from the fridge. She paused there for a few seconds, mentally preparing for the questions Sang Yan might ask.
Once sufficiently braced, she returned to the dining table.
Sang Yan casually remarked, “Have some congee.”
Wen Yifan glanced at the pot, still half-full, and after a brief silence, replied, “Okay.”
Silence settled between them.
To Wen Yifan’s surprise, Sang Yan’s expression remained indifferent, showing no intention of questioning her. It was as if her “sleepwalking” embrace the night before had left no impact on him.
His demeanor gave nothing away, leaving Wen Yifan anxious and uneasy. She took a slow sip of congee before cautiously probing, “I think I sleepwalked again last night?”
Sang Yan didn’t even look up. “Yeah.”
“So, this time…” Wen Yifan feigned calm. “Did I do anything?”
“Yeah.”
Wen Yifan stared at him, waiting patiently for his answer.
“Well,” Sang Yan paused, lifting his gaze as if deep in thought, “you hugged me.”
“……”
Sang Yan drawled lazily, “You were pretty restrained last night.”
His account matched exactly what had happened, without a single discrepancy.
It reminded Wen Yifan of the previous times she’d sleepwalked, and how Sang Yan had described those incidents to her. She hadn’t fully believed him before, but now, his straightforward honesty made her waver.
Still, there was no time to dwell on that now.
His tone and expression made it clear he didn’t find anything unusual. Wen Yifan finally relaxed—only for guilt to immediately take its place.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that Sang Yan had been thoroughly taken advantage of and wronged by her.Hesitating, Wen Yifan said softly, "I'm sorry."
Sang Yan: "What for?"
Though afraid that more words might lead to more mistakes, driven by self-reproach, Wen Yifan mustered the courage to continue, "Even though I'm not clear about the situation, I'm truly sorry for behaving like that toward you."
"How many times has it been now?" Having just finished breakfast, Sang Yan leaned back, giving her a once-over. "Why do you suddenly feel guilty now?"
"..."
"Weren't you quite arrogant before?"
"Me?" The word seemed so out of place when applied to herself that Wen Yifan was utterly bewildered. "Arrogant...?"
"Wasn't that the case?" Sang Yan raised an eyebrow, speaking deliberately. "Every time I brought this up before, you'd come up with all sorts of excuses. Taking advantage of being out of it, you'd argue back at every word I said, and in the end, you even tried to settle it with money."
Wen Yifan hadn't realized that from his perspective, she came across like that.
If his resentment was this strong just from her being out of it, she didn't even dare imagine how furious Sang Yan would be if he found out that last night, she hadn't been sleepwalking at all.
"Then from now on," Wen Yifan mumbled, "maybe you should try to stay in your room at night and not come out. If the door's locked, I definitely won't barge into your room."
Sang Yan didn't respond to that. Instead, he asked, "Your sleepwalking is quite special—comes with a habit of taking advantage of people, huh?"
Wen Yifan instinctively explained, "I don't think I used to..." Realizing how ambiguous that sounded, she quickly corrected herself, "I'm not too sure."
"Oh." Sang Yan caught her slip, his brow lifting slightly. "Only taken advantage of me, then?"
"..."
That was indeed the case.
But saying it outright felt somehow inappropriate.
At a loss for how to respond, Wen Yifan stayed silent.
"Wait," Sang Yan chuckled. "Is this some new way of pursuing someone?"
"..."
"Really? You're making me doubt now," Sang Yan straightened up, resting his arm on the table as he leaned slightly toward her. "Were you really sleepwalking?"
Under normal circumstances, Wen Yifan would patiently explain. But now, she had no confidence at all and could only lower her head to sip her porridge, mumbling, "Yes."
"You're unusually quiet today." Sang Yan stared at her intently, as if trying to detect something. "Before, whenever I brought this up, you were full of excuses."
Wen Yifan calmly threw his own words back at him: "Well, it's happened quite a few times now."
Sang Yan looked away. "True."
The conversation ended there.
Sang Yan got up and headed toward the kitchen.
Once he was gone, Wen Yifan, certain she hadn't given anything away, visibly relaxed. At that moment, she felt the relief of having been called on by a teacher and managing to answer the question.
...
They left the house at about the same time.
Inside the elevator, Wen Yifan habitually leaned against the back wall. Noticing that Sang Yan was back in his usual attire, she wanted to ask if he'd found a job.
But because of last night's incident, she felt too awkward to muster the courage to initiate conversation.
The elevator descended.
Around the seventh or eighth floor, Wen Yifan suddenly noticed that Sang Yan had only pressed the button for the basement. Pausing, she took a couple of steps forward to press the button for the first floor herself.Walking to Sang Yan's side, Wen Yifan had just raised her hand when he grasped her wrist. His gaze shifted from his phone to look at her, his expression resembling that of a victim who had just begun to suffer harm, instinctively reacting with resistance.
"What are you trying to do?"
"..." Wen Yifan said, "Press the first floor."
Sang Yan released her hand. "Oh, step back a bit."
Wen Yifan suppressed her irritation. "Fine."
"I'm in a good mood today, and I happen to be heading to Shang'an," Sang Yan said magnanimously, as if bestowing a favor. "I can give you a ride."
"..."
Though it lacked dignity, with a free ride available, Wen Yifan wasn’t keen on squeezing into the subway either. She forced a smile and replied with exaggerated gratitude, "Then thank you very much."
Arriving at the basement level, the two stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the underground parking lot.
Wen Yifan settled into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. Every moment of proximity to Sang Yan reminded her of last night’s embrace, making her completely unsure how to interact with him now.
The car started.
Silence stretched between them.
After a while—
Perhaps sensing her unusual behavior all day, Sang Yan glanced at her several times before finally asking, "Not feeling well?"
Leaning against the window, Wen Yifan replied sluggishly, "No."
She seemed either in a bad mood or slightly unwell.
Another stretch of quiet.
Sang Yan spoke again, his tone teasing, "Did you use up all your energy sleepwalking last night?"
Wen Yifan: "Huh?"
Sang Yan’s voice was lazy and provocative. "You were pretty enthusiastic when you lifted my shirt last night."
Still staring blankly at the scenery outside, Wen Yifan answered without thinking, "I didn’t lift your shirt last night."
Only after a long pause did she belatedly realize the atmosphere in the car had turned strange. She abruptly snapped out of her daze, stiffly turning her head.
Just then, the light turned red.
Sang Yan stopped the car and slowly met her gaze. He studied her meaningfully for a few seconds before saying, "How do you know you didn’t?"
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