Chapter 33 The Power Outage: My Heart Was No Longer Open

The torrential rain caused severe traffic congestion, turning a journey that normally takes forty minutes into twice that time. I didn't get home until almost midnight.

After a long day, Lin Yu felt drowsy in the car, but she kept trying to stay awake.

Thinking that she still had makeup on her face and felt uncomfortable with it on, Lin Yu quickly found the makeup remover wipes Jiang Zi had given her and went into the bathroom. After removing her makeup, she looked at her wet face reflected in the mirror, water droplets rolling down her smooth skin, and her eyelashes sticking together in a fine clump. She took out a soft cotton towel to dry her face. Only after all the foundation and makeup were removed did she finally feel a sense of comfort as her pores were able to breathe.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared outside the window, and the wisteria on the balcony trembled and shook its leaves. Lin Yu glanced at Zhou Ke, who was carrying his laptop toward his room. As he passed by her, he paused slightly, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. Lin Yu thought that since he had been away from home for two days, he must have something to say to her. However, he only asked if she wanted to continue filming tomorrow.

"No need." Lin Yu stood still and replied softly, "They will contact me in advance if needed next time."

Zhou Ke lowered his eyes, his long, fine eyelashes casting a faint shadow on his eyelids. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment before finally settling on a single sentence: "It's getting late, get some rest."

His tone was official and distant. Lin Yu stood there, stunned, watching him turn and leave. A sense of bewilderment suddenly washed over her.

Standing under the shower, Lin Yu couldn't help but think of the panting she heard outside the door that day. She couldn't imagine what Zhou Ke's expression would be when he did it. Would his body be tense and his veins bulging? Or would he be restraining himself and breathing erratically?

Warm water cascaded down, and the rising steam swirled and lingered in the small space. In the hazy mist, she suddenly remembered the novels Jiayi had sent her that day. The explicit descriptions in them made her never dare to reread them afterward, but the more she tried to forget them, the more firmly those words were imprinted in her mind.

Memory is like dominoes, one after another, and because of these words, she absurdly recalled those explicit dreams.

She didn't know if Zhou Ke would be willing to help her turn her dream into reality, but right now, all she knew was that her dear brother seemed like a completely different person.

He had been silent on the way back, but this silence was different from the one he had shown at the hotel that day. The latter was due to anger, while she couldn't figure out why he had become like this. But one thing was clear: he seemed to be deliberately distancing himself from her.

...

I could no longer look directly into her beautiful eyes, because my heart had become impenetrable.

At his desk, Zhou Ke stared at the design drawing on the computer screen, his mind filled with that sentence, so much so that the design of the drawing just wouldn't register in his brain.

He was more deeply involved than he realized. Calmness couldn't save him from his irrationality; the moment he saw her, all his suppressed emotions resurfaced.

Zhou Ke sighed deeply, closed his eyes wearily, and gently massaged his brow with his knuckles.

A moment later, a loud rumble of thunder sounded outside the window, followed by a streak of purplish-red lightning that seemed to split the sky in two. With a deafening roar, the night was suddenly illuminated for a moment.

The moment the thunder roared, a scream suddenly rang out from inside the house. Zhou Ke abruptly opened his eyes, a flicker of panic flashing in his dark pupils in the darkness.

The voice sounded like Lin Yu's. Zhou Ke didn't think much of it and got up almost instantly, but soon found that the room had suddenly fallen into darkness. All the lights had gone out and were silent, leaving only the sound of the rain that was particularly clear in the night.

The power went out, but Lin Yu was still in the bathroom.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke picked up his phone, turned on the flashlight, and strode towards the bathroom. His brows furrowed deeply, and the sound of his knuckles knocking on the door was filled with undisguised anxiety: "Lin Yu!"

The bathroom was completely dark, with only damp steam floating in the air. The sudden darkness startled Lin Yu. Her breath hitched briefly and then became rapid and uncontrollable. The sound of rain outside the window was amplified. Lin Yu frantically reached out her arms, trying to grab something, but only touched the cold wall.

"Lin Yu!"

The older brother's voice pierced through the bathroom door, accompanied by urgent knocking.

Lin Yu swallowed hard, her fingertips trembling involuntarily, and in her panic, she touched a soft piece of clothing fabric.

"I...I'm fine." Her voice was so weak that even she couldn't hear it.

Zhou Ke was distracted by her scream. He knew that Lin Yu had been afraid of the dark since she was a child, and this fear had become even more severe after Lin Ye's death.

The bathroom door opened, and the rising steam, carrying the unique scent of her bath, rushed into Zhou Ke's nostrils. Zhou Ke looked up and saw Lin Yu wearing a light blue nightgown. Perhaps because she was too flustered and her vision was limited by the darkness, one button of her nightgown was undone, revealing a faint cleavage. Above that was a stretch of pale skin, with straight collarbones that revealed two deep dimples. A few strands of wet hair clung to her snow-white neck, and her skin, steamed by the water, had a faint pinkish hue. Her eyes were dark and bright, as if they had just been pulled from the water, with water droplets still clinging to her eyelashes, reflecting tiny glimmers of light under the lamp.

Zhou Ke's Adam's apple bobbed, and he quickly looked away. His voice was lower than usual: "The power went out. Did you bump into anything in the bathroom?"

Hearing this, Lin Yu shook her head, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the hem of her pajamas. Another flash of lightning struck, and she flinched, instinctively moving closer to Zhou Ke, murmuring, "Brother..."

Zhou Ke gave a soft "hmm," and as he breathed in, he smelled the rich fragrance of her shower gel, mixed with a faint dampness, which made his temples throb. He looked away, not daring to look at her again: "I'll take you back to your room first, watch your step."

"good."

The flashlight beam cast a soft white halo in the room. Lin Yu followed Zhou Ke, feeling him reserving all the light for her.

She has a history of trauma related to darkness, and after just a short while, her hands began to tremble unconsciously. The light from the flashlight illuminated a corner of the room. Lin Yu took off her shoes, bent her knees, curled up into a ball, and sat quietly on the bed.

The room window was still open, and rain was slanting against the desk. A cold wind, carrying raindrops, rushed into the room, making the curtains flutter loudly. Zhou Ke quickly went over to close the window, and when he turned around, he saw Lin Yu leaning against the headboard, her eyes empty and lifeless.

Zhou Ke lowered his eyes, his gaze falling squarely on Lin Yu's face. This scene undoubtedly reminded him of the period after Lin Ye's death.

For a long time, she was plagued by nightmares. When she closed her eyes, she would see images of Lin Ye dying and Jiang Huifang cursing her.

A clap of thunder outside the window startled her awake. She curled up in a corner, clutching the blanket, and cried incessantly.

That period was the darkest time in Zhou Ke's life. He focused all his attention on Lin Yu, wishing he could have eyes for her. Afraid that she might do something rash again, he stayed by her side all night.

Noticing a burning gaze falling on her head, Lin Yu stiffly moved her neck, tilted her head back, and looked at Zhou Ke, who was standing to the side with an inscrutable expression.

“Brother.” Lin Yu looked at him, her fear making her instinctively not want Zhou Ke to leave, her voice trembling slightly: “Can you stay with me like you did when we were little?”

Zhou Ke saw her pale face and reddened eyes. She curled up like a frightened cub, her knees against her chest and her arms wrapped around her calves.

She tilted her chin up, her bright eyes looking at him, reminding Zhou Ke of that night many years ago. His chest tightened, and the flashlight beam cast interlaced shadows between them. He paused for a few seconds before slowly saying, "Okay."

Zhou Ke dragged the chair from the desk to the side of the bed, sat down, and gently comforted her, "Go to sleep if you're sleepy, don't be afraid."

"Will you stay here forever?" Lin Yu looked up, her bright, dark eyes wide open, biting her lip tightly.

"Of course." Zhou Ke smiled at her, then reached out to pat her head like he did when they were children. But as soon as he reached out, he realized something was wrong. Perhaps they could no longer be as intimate as they were when they were children.

With her arm suspended in mid-air, Lin Yu watched as Zhou Ke's eyes slowly changed before she withdrew her arm.

This made her even more certain that Zhou Ke was distancing himself from her. Lin Yu looked at him in confusion, "Brother, are you still angry with me?"

This was the only explanation Lin Yu could think of. Perhaps what he did with Cong Yi that day went too far, and Zhou Ke's arrogance had not been completely extinguished. Otherwise, why would he suddenly become like this?

Zhou Ke froze, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes before quickly disappearing. He wasn't angry with Lin Yu; he was simply struggling to accept his own reality—falling in love with his sister was practically the only problem he'd faced in his twenty-seven years.

A problem that is entirely grounded in moral and ethical considerations.

If the relationship between siblings is already taboo, then now that the sister clearly has a boyfriend and her own life, his feelings for her are completely wrong.

Darkness gives one the illusion of being on the verge of collapse, and all things, whether absurd or inappropriate, spring up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

After realizing he had fallen in love with his sister, he found himself unable to look her in the eye openly anymore. At the same time, he could not suppress the longing in his heart, and he silently clung to her gaze in their unspoken dialogue.

This is just fine.

They could still sit face to face, watch over her as her brother in the midst of thunderstorms, and look into her eyes without any reservations.

There were only the brother and sister here; there was no third person present.

"Brother..." Lin Yu moved closer to him until she was sitting right across from him, with only inches between them. She spoke softly, "I know I was wrong. Please don't be angry. I promise I'll never do it again."

His throat was dry and itchy, and Zhou Ke opened his lips, then gave a self-deprecating smile: "I'm not angry."

"Then...you..." Lin Yu wanted to press further, but Zhou Ke clearly didn't want to say more, so he quickly changed the subject, "It's twelve o'clock, are you still going to sleep or not?"

Lin Yu wasn't stupid. She could tell that Zhou Ke didn't want to say more, so she pursed her lips, lowered her eyes, and slowly lay down under Zhou Ke's gaze.

"Brother, will you stay with me like you did when we were little?" Lin Yu asked softly.

"Isn't this what it means to be with you right now?"

“No, that’s not right.” Lin Yu blinked lightly: “Brother, when I was little, you would lie in bed and hold me to lull me to sleep.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke's pupils dilated, his breath hitched, and all the blood in his body rushed to one spot. He couldn't believe Lin Yu would say such a thing, but... it was also the truth. However, they were no longer children. How could he still hold her like he did when they were kids?

Zhou Ke pursed his lips, trying his best to suppress the surging emotions, and said in a low, hoarse voice, "You said it yourself, that was when I was a child."

This time, Lin Yu didn't say anything. She thought to herself, it's okay, that day will come eventually.

She compromised and said, "If we don't want to hold it, can we change to something else?"

"What?"

Lin Yu pursed her lips, her expectant eyes gleaming with a faint light: "Can I hold your hand, brother?"

Zhou Ke was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and finally slowly reached out his hand to her. Lin Yu took his hand. She couldn't remember when they last held hands, but in her memory, her brother's palm was always large and always warm.

"Can you take it away after I fall asleep?"

"good."

Time slips away silently.

As Lin Yu's breathing gradually calmed down, Zhou Ke lowered his eyes and stared at her closed eyes. The candlelight danced on her face, illuminating her slightly furrowed brows.

Zhou Ke gazed at the rain outside the window. The night was exceptionally long due to the power outage. The flickering firelight cast warm shadows on her face, and her eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows on her cheeks.

He looked at his sister with longing. When he returned to his room, the moment he pushed open the bathroom door kept replaying in his mind. Something surged up from his waist and abdomen. The air conditioner was on in the room, and it was raining outside, but his body temperature was rising.