Chapter 30: That Temptation
“…How is it? Do you feel okay?”
After they got home, Xiao Yuze finally confirmed that Mu Le was really drunk. Because if she were pretending, she wouldn’t have run to the bathroom and started throwing up right away.
“I-I’m fine…”
After vomiting, Mu Le leaned on the sofa and shook her head. Her face looked pale.
Seeing her like that, her words were not convincing at all. Xiao Yuze frowned slightly. “If you feel bad, I’ll go buy some hangover medicine.”
“No need.”
Mu Le gently patted her face. After throwing up, she actually felt much better, though her head was still a bit dizzy. But the smell of alcohol on her body still made her uncomfortable.
“I want… to take a shower.”
“Are you really okay?” Xiao Yuze still looked worried when he saw her walking unsteadily.
Mu Le glanced at him and snorted lightly.
“You’re so annoying. Are you an old grandpa or something? And don’t peek later.”
“……”
Watching her walk unsteadily into the bathroom, Xiao Yuze smiled helplessly. He wasn’t that desperate.
Inside the bathroom, Mu Le leaned against the frosted glass door and gently pressed her forehead.
“So this… is what being drunk feels like?”
Before, she had a good alcohol tolerance. No matter how much she drank, she would only feel a bit dizzy.
But this time, the feeling of everything spinning and her whole body feeling bad… it was her first time experiencing it.
At first, she was still okay. At least before getting in the car, she knew what she was doing. But when getting out of the car, if Xiao Yuze hadn’t supported her, she might have fallen to the ground.
After standing quietly for a while and feeling a bit better, she slowly took off her clothes. She neatly placed them aside.
After becoming a girl, Mu Le had been quite uncomfortable with bathing at first. Even though looking at her new body didn’t give her any strange feelings like in novels, it was still very different from before, so it felt a bit awkward.
But not wanting to shower and not needing to shower are two different things.
It was summer now. Even with air conditioning, just looking outside made everything feel sticky. And Mu Le actually cared about cleanliness.
In summer, taking a shower every day was basically necessary.
So in the end, she just needed to get used to it.
Many things may feel hard to accept at first, but once you get used to them, you’ll think, “Oh, it’s actually not a big deal.”
After taking off everything, Mu Le walked under the shower.
She preferred baths, but right now she didn’t want to wait for the water to fill up.
After adjusting the water temperature, the warm water flowed over her skin, making her feel very comfortable.
Even though she had already washed her face earlier, her head was still a bit dizzy, so she splashed water on her face a few more times.
She let out a comfortable sigh. Her whole body relaxed.
“…Okay, I understand. It’s fine. Let’s meet another time. Bye.”
In the living room, Xiao Yuze put down his phone.
He looked toward the bathroom. It had been almost half an hour. Other than the sound of running water, there was no movement.
Nothing bad happened, right?
Just as he was thinking, suddenly—
Bang!
A loud sound came from inside the bathroom, like something had fallen.
Xiao Yuze frowned and quickly walked to the door. Since it was frosted glass, he couldn’t see inside, so he knocked.
“Lele, what happened?”
There was a short silence, then Mu Le’s slightly weak voice came from inside.
“It’s nothing… I just knocked over the body wash.”
Hearing that she was fine, Xiao Yuze finally relaxed a bit.
“Good. I thought you fell.”
“Huh? I’m not a kid.” Her voice sounded clearer now. “I know this bathroom so well, even with my eyes closed I wouldn’t—ah!?”
Xiao Yuze: “……”
Ten minutes later…
Mu Le sat on the sofa, looking a bit embarrassed. She avoided eye contact with the man in front of her.
But soon, her expression changed. She looked at Xiao Yuze with teary eyes and said pitifully, “It hurts… be gentler!”
Hearing this, Xiao Yuze paused his movement.
He put down the cotton swab with medicine on it and sighed helplessly.
“I mean, you knew the shower gel spilled on the floor would make it slippery, yet you were still so careless.”
As he spoke, his eyes couldn’t help but fall on her fair legs.
She had just taken a shower, and a light, pleasant smell still lingered on her body. She was only wearing a loose white shirt.
Because her knee was hurt and needed treatment, she was only wearing underwear underneath. With the shirt covering her, it looked like she was wearing almost nothing.
Mu Le coughed awkwardly and touched her nose.
“It’s because of you. I got distracted talking to you, otherwise I wouldn’t have fallen… ah, I said be gentler!”
“…Yes, yes, it’s all my fault.”
Xiao Yuze rubbed his forehead. After cleaning the wound, he took a large bandage from the medical kit and carefully put it on her knee.
“You hurt your knee, so don’t walk around for now, or it might get worse. But it’s not serious. It should heal in a few days.”
“Not allowed to walk?” Mu Le frowned at the bandage on her knee. “You’re not going to make me sit here the whole time, right? I still need to write.”
Xiao Yuze looked at her, then suddenly stood up.
Before she could react, he lifted her up in a princess carry.
“…Eh? What are you doing? Put me down!”
Mu Le tried to struggle, but one calm glance from him made her go quiet.
“Don’t move. I’ll carry you to your room.”
“…That’s really not necessary. It’s just a small injury, not like I broke my leg. I can walk. Hurry and put me down.”
“Be quiet.”
Ignoring her protest, he carried her toward the room.
Only after he gently placed her on a comfortable chair did Mu Le finally react.
She looked up at him with a strange expression and said, “Um… are you just taking advantage of me?”
Hearing this, his lips twitched slightly, and there was a hint of guilt in his eyes.
He coughed and turned away. “What nonsense are you saying? You threw up everything you ate earlier. I’ll go buy you some porridge. Wait here.”
Without waiting for her reply, he walked out.
Mu Le watched him leave, then smiled slightly after he was gone.
“Hmph, you’re clearly just shy. At least my effort wasn’t wasted… Wearing only a shirt and underwear after a shower really is super tempting.”
As she spoke, she didn’t even notice her face turning red.
The strange feeling still left on her waist and thighs made her swallow unconsciously.
She slapped her cheeks lightly, but the heat didn’t go away.
“Ah… what am I thinking? No, no… how can I fall this fast? Stay calm, stay calm…”
Meanwhile, outside the room, Xiao Yuze didn’t go to buy food.
He went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.
“Calm down…”
But even as he said that, the heat in his body didn’t fade.
It felt like a fire burning inside him, as if it would burn both his body and soul.
The feeling was so strong, almost like he had taken some kind of drug that stirred desire.
Breathing a little heavier, his eyes unconsciously moved to his fingers.
The soft, lingering feeling still seemed to remain there, like feathers lightly brushing, making his heart restless.
To be honest, if his self-control wasn’t strong enough just now, even he didn’t know what he might have done.
He had fallen… truly fallen.
Just this level of contact was enough to make him like this. If it went further…
“……”
Before his thoughts went too far, Xiao Yuze quickly shook his head and forced himself to stop.
If he kept thinking like this, he might really lose control and do something that would scare her.
At least, not now.
After splashing more cold water on his face, he finally regained some calm.
Yes… if he really did something like that, there might be no turning back.
Even though, deep down, he wanted more than anything to pin that girl down and teach her the “price” of teasing someone… making her unable to get out of bed for days.
“…Damn it, my thoughts are going in the wrong direction again. Calm down… I have to calm down.”
Even someone as calm as him couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
Because his mind kept imagining things on its own.
He felt like he was poisoned, deep to the bone. Otherwise, how could just that little contact, and those occasional glimpses of her skin, affect him this much?
It was unbearable… yet also strangely exciting.
As for what he was expecting… even he didn’t know.