Chapter 93: New Year’s Eve
"Ding-dong~"
The doorbell had barely rung once before the door was flung open in excitement.
The first thing An Yuan saw was the girl inside. She was wearing black yoga shorts and a fitted, long-sleeved cashmere sweater. Her legs were shivering from the cold.
The tight shorts hugged her figure, highlighting her curves. Her long, fair legs were wrapped in black thigh-high stockings, and the strip of bare skin between the shorts and stockings looked especially tempting.
"Close the door! It’s freezing~"
Chen Cheng hurriedly shut the door. With the cold wind from the hallway gone, she immediately felt a lot warmer.
"If you're cold, why are you dressed like this?"
"Because it looks good! I like shorts way more than skirts!"
Chen Cheng stood confidently with her hands on her hips. "I had to dig through my whole wardrobe to find these. I probably bought them on a whim, thinking I’d go for a run or something. Look, the tags are still on!"
An Yuan took off his coat and put it on her. "You just recovered from a cold, and you're already being reckless again."
"It’s not that cold with the door closed."
Chen Cheng looked down at the warm coat on her shoulders. It still carried An Yuan’s body heat and even a faint trace of his scent.
She wanted to act natural, but her face started heating up, turning a soft, rosy pink.
She held the coat tightly and turned toward her room. "Is my mom at your place playing mahjong? Did she say anything when you left?"
"Yeah, she told me to help you study." An Yuan lifted the bag in his hand, inside the semi-transparent plastic bag was a pile of homework from the past two days.
"Ugh~ But I wanted to play games with you."
"Let’s do a little homework first, then we can play. Anything you don’t understand?"
An Yuan pulled over a chair and followed her inside. His eyes kept drifting to her legs, the short coat just barely covered her shorts, making it look like she was wearing nothing but an oversized jacket and stockings. As she walked, her full thighs swayed slightly, making the sight even harder to ignore.
He only looked for a couple of seconds before realizing his body was starting to react. Flustered, he quickly forced himself to look away.
Damn, he wasn't some shameless pervert. It wasn't like he was only attracted to her body, okay?!
"The math problem… it’s so hard~"
Chen Cheng plopped down at her desk and shifted her chair to make space for him.
An Yuan sat beside her, their shoulders pressed together. The desk wasn’t that big, so they had no choice but to sit close.
She had obviously just showered, because aside from her usual light floral scent, her skin carried a soft, milky sweetness that was surprisingly soothing.
"Here, this one."
Chen Cheng pushed the unfinished math problem in front of him.
"Alright."
As he looked over the problem, he stole a glance at her face. She was clearly trying to act normal, like she was still just his "brother", but the blush on her cheeks wouldn’t fade. In fact, it seemed to be spreading.
She rested her chin on one hand, tucking her hair behind her ear. A single strand slipped free, and she absentmindedly twirled it around her finger. Her peach blossom eyes stared at him, blinking shyly, long lashes trembling.
She looked just like a mischievous vixen, ready to stir up trouble.
Was she doing this on purpose?!
If he showed even a little embarrassment, she’d definitely tease him to death!
An Yuan took a deep breath, steadied himself, and grabbed a scrap paper. "This problem is actually easy if you draw an auxiliary line—"
"An Yuan, do I look good in shorts?"
"......"
An Yuan instinctively looked under the table, then his gaze settled on the fair legs revealed by her shorts, where a slight bulge showed where the stockings dug in. He forced himself to keep a straight face. "Yeah, looks good."
"Knew it! I used to love looking at long-legged girls in shorts. Now my legs look even better than theirs!"
"But these stockings keep sliding down. It’s so annoying." She tugged at the top of her stockings with a sigh. "Anime really lied to us."
An Yuan tapped the desk with his finger. "Are you listening to me or not?"
"Oh~"
Chen Cheng shut her mouth, but her nose twitched slightly. She was definitely not paying attention.
The air was filled with An Yuan’s scent. How was she supposed to focus like this?!
Especially with his coat draped over her shoulders, carrying that calming, warm, and oddly intoxicating scent. It made her feel restless instead of comfortable, and she couldn’t escape it no matter how much she tried.
An Yuan took about ten minutes to explain the math problem in a clear and simple way. But when he turned to look at Chen Cheng, she just sat there with a blank, confused expression.
"Did you get it?"
"I understood… half of it?"
"Alright, I’ll change a few numbers. Try solving it again so I can see."
"Oh~"
Chen Cheng scratched her head, drawing auxiliary lines on her paper. Every now and then, she’d glance at An Yuan with a pleading look, hoping for help. But instead of paying attention to her, he just leaned back in his chair, playing on his phone, completely ignoring her.
With no choice, she pouted and focused on solving the problem.
"Ding-dong~"
The doorbell rang from the living room, and Chen Cheng immediately jumped up in excitement. "Who is it?!"
"It’s the late-night snack I ordered. Get back to your work."
Before she could run off, An Yuan pressed her back down into the chair, holding her in place. She shot him a slightly annoyed glare, her lips slightly pursed and glistening, making them look incredibly tempting.
"You can eat after you’re done."
"Fine, fine~"
An Yuan had ordered the food before coming over. He even bought some beer, knowing that since it was New Year’s Eve, they’d probably end up staying up all night together.
He went to the living room to grab the takeout and beer, setting them on the table. The TV was playing the local New Year’s Eve countdown show, filling the room with a festive atmosphere.
Thinking back, the last time he and Chen Cheng spent New Year’s Eve together was probably back in high school.
They had snuck out to an internet café, played games at side-by-side computers, lost miserably, got frustrated, and switched to playing Left 4 Dead. Halfway through the game, she fell asleep right at the keyboard.
After that night, their lives took different paths. They got into different universities, walked opposite directions in life, and barely saw each other more than a few times a year.
When An Yuan returned to the bedroom, he saw Chen Cheng lying on her stomach at the edge of the bed, plugging in her phone charger.
It felt like she was doing it on purpose. Her back was curved, and her rear was raised. She even wiggled her bottom when he walked in.
Without hesitation, An Yuan smacked her butt.
"AHHH!!! PERVERT!"
Chen Cheng jumped up, immediately clutching her butt as she spun around to glare at him, her face flushed red with embarrassment.
To be honest, he didn’t even feel much when he slapped her, just that it was soft and bouncy. But her flustered reaction made it all worth it.
An Yuan, completely unfazed, said, "What’s the big deal? It was just a smack. Anyway, did you finish your problem, or are you still playing on your phone?"
"I finished, okay?!"
He grabbed the scratch paper from the desk and glanced over it.
The steps were all correct. The final answer was wrong.
Eh, close enough.
"Come on, let’s go eat. I got some meat rolls for hot pot."
"Oh! Hot pot!"
Chen Cheng instantly forgot all about being mad, jumped off the bed, and asked excitedly, "Did you buy beer?"
"Yeah, but don’t drink too much. You’re a girl."
Chen Cheng eagerly followed him into the living room, where the electric stove was already set up on the table, with tomato broth simmering and various ingredients arranged neatly around it.
She plopped onto the couch, crossed her legs, grabbed a beer, and took a sip. Almost instantly, a rosy flush spread across her cheeks.
Drinking made her feel more at ease.
Maybe it was because they knew each other too well?
Ever since things between them became ambiguous, she couldn’t act as casual around him as before. No matter how much she told herself they were still just "brothers", it never quite felt the same.
Thinking about it, she tilted her head back and chugged the entire bottle of beer in one go.
A little tipsy! Just right!