steal a kiss

With cleaning staff coming and going, Bai Yixia didn't rush to Zhou Qingchi's house. After the assistant and the staff and trash left, she quickly took a shower before planning to go find Zhou Qingchi.

After taking a shower, I wrapped myself in a bathrobe and rummaged through the closet for a long time. The nice clothes were piled high on the bed.

Bai Yixia frowned and looked around, feeling that perhaps she didn't need to dress too formally. At least not completely.

After thinking it over, Bai Yixia decided to keep it casual, since she was at home. Humming a song, she gathered the clothes that had been scattered on the bed into the closet, happily thinking that she could worry about what to wear on her next date.

A date. Bai Yixia savored the word, the upturned corners of her mouth not fading even as she left the house.

Both houses had their heating on, and she slipped away to Zhou Qingchi's doorstep wearing a light pink, thin loungewear set.

I pressed my finger on the door, and the latch clicked crisply.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Qingyan was the only one in the living room. He was engrossed in playing a game with the controller in hand, only glancing up briefly when the door opened.

"You're here, Sister Xiaxia." He called out loudly without taking his eyes off the screen.

Bai Yixia nodded. "Where's your brother?"

Zhou Qingyan happened to be controlling his character and fell into a pit. He slammed the sofa down with his fist, but now he had the mind to reply to Bai Yixia.

"He's in his room, probably talking to his mom on the phone."

"Oh, why did you only tell him?" Bai Yixia walked closer, leaning against the backrest and teasing, "Did you say something that upset Aunt Jiang again?"

Zhou Qingyan gave her a reproachful look. "Why are you saying that about me?" He scratched his nose. "It's just that I talked to her a lot, about all sorts of things..." including but not limited to what to eat in the morning and when she would get hungry at night.

"Well, anyway, she sent me a big red envelope and then dismissed me." Zhou Qingyan shrugged. "Very Jiang Yinghua's style."

Bai Yixia took out her phone and chuckled, "Aunt Jiang also sent me a red envelope."

Zhou Qingyan said, "That's unfortunate. I took two, and Aunt Lin and Uncle Bai gave them to me as well." He raised an eyebrow. "Next semester, I can't expect my brother to come back on weekends and treat me to better meals."

Bai Yixia said helplessly, "Isn't our food delicious enough?"

Zhou Qingyan laughed and pointed to Zhou Qingchi's room, "You should go find my brother."

Bai Yixia used to be very familiar with Zhou Qingchi's room, but after puberty, it was like an automatic program that prevented her from recklessly going straight in whenever she needed to find someone.

But now, Bai Yixia stood at the door, her heart filled with conflict.

Now that their relationship has progressed to the next level, it wouldn't be wrong for them to just walk in, right?

Thinking this to herself, Bai Yixia was still a little unsure. She raised her hand and gently knocked twice on the door. "Zhou Qingchi, I'm coming in."

After speaking, she received no immediate response. Bai Yixia blinked, pursed her lips, pressed the handle, and stepped into the room.

"what you do--"

Bai Yixia was now in a dilemma, unsure whether to go in or not.

Her knuckles tightened around the handle as she stared blankly at the person in front of her, thinking to herself that she was going to see that clueless brat outside as a mere eighteen-yuan idiot.

Didn't you say you were on the phone with your mom? Why aren't you even dressed properly?!

In the room, Zhou Qingchi's house shirt was half-open, revealing his still-wet abdomen, with his six-pack abs exposed straight to Bai Yixia.

He had a towel draped around his neck and was haphazardly drying his hair. When he saw Bai Yixia come in, his expression went blank for a moment.

"I..." Bai Yixia didn't know what to say for a moment. She always joked that Zhou Qingchi wanted to see her abs, but when she actually saw them, her eyes were still flustered and her face turned red.

Zhou Qingchi threw the towel aside, lifted his foot and walked towards Bai Yixia. He reached out and pulled Bai Yixia into the room, gently pried open her fingers that were tightly gripping the doorknob, and then slowly closed the bedroom door.

The moment the latch clicked softly, Bai Yixia jerked abruptly. She raised her hand to cover her face and mumbled a few words, "Something's not right."

Zhou Qingchi braced himself against the door, trapping her in his narrow embrace. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin, leaned closer to Bai Yixia, and whispered, "What's wrong?"

His hair wasn't dry, and a drop of water from the ends fell between the two of them with a patter. Bai Yixia stared at the dark water stain for a long time, then suddenly rubbed his face hard, raised his head as if he was going to risk it all, but his nose brushed against Zhou Qingchi's chin.

The person in front of her seemed to have just come out of hot water, her whole body steaming. Bai Yixia's face, which had finally faded a little, turned red again.

This time, there was nothing to risk. Bai Yixia quickly lowered her head again, her hair sliding down her body and tickling Zhou Qingchi's chin.

He couldn't help but laugh, raising his hands to cup Bai Yixia's face and make her look at him. "My goodness, when did our Xiaxia become so shy?"

Upon hearing a completely unfamiliar word in those words, Bai Yixia's eyes suddenly lit up. Forgetting all about being shy, she excitedly moved closer to Zhou Qingchi, "Xiaxia? You called me Xiaxia?"

Zhou Qingchi was taken aback. Looking at her excited expression, he awkwardly tilted his head and muttered softly, "Can't I call her that?"

Bai Yixia had no intention of discussing this. Her mind quickly searched through her memories of the day, and she realized that Zhou Qingchi had called her that before. However, at that time, she was still thinking about her uncle and hadn't noticed at all.

Her eyes were brimming with laughter, and her limbs were no longer stiff. She grabbed Zhou Qingchi's arm with both hands, pulled him closer to her, and asked excitedly, "Why? You never called me that before."

"...Don't you like this?" Zhou Qingchi couldn't understand her thoughts and answered hesitantly.

How could Bai Yixia not like it? She was absolutely overjoyed. Of course, it was fine that Zhou Qingchi called her that before, but she still missed the Zhou Qingchi who called her that when they were little.

"Why didn't you call me that before? I thought you didn't want to be that close to me." Bai Yixia's tone carried a hint of complaint.

Zhou Qingchi looked down at her without saying a word. After a while, under Bai Yixia's urging gaze, he pulled her into his arms. "Because everyone calls me that... I want it to be different."

After a moment of stunned silence, Bai Yixia slowly came to her senses. She could hardly believe that Zhou Qingchi had said those words. She tried repeatedly to make herself not seem so pathetic, but the corners of her mouth only turned up higher and higher, with no chance to calm down.

So she quickly gave up, burying herself in Zhou Qingchi's arms with a grin, and chuckled for a while in his chest.

Perhaps Zhou Qingchi's words were too pleasing, Bai Yixia couldn't help but snuggle into his arms. After a while, she raised her face with her messy hair and bright eyes, "Zhou Qingchi, why are you like this!"

Zhou Qingchi was complained about for no reason, but he couldn't feel any displeasure. He just gently tugged at her face.

Bai Yixia asked in a muffled voice as he pinched the soft flesh on her face, "Then why don't you want it now?"

Zhou Qingchi pursed his lips slightly, and under Bai Yixia's questioning gaze, he honestly and quickly said, "I'm not the only one who calls you that."

Bai Yixia was so popular that even when she went out to buy groceries, the vegetable vendor would affectionately call her "Xiaxia." People around her addressed her in a similar way, with a few sticking to the tradition of calling her by the last two characters of her three-character name, calling her "Yixia," while others simply called her by her full name.

For a moment, Bai Yixia couldn't recall anyone besides Zhou Qingchi who had ever called her "Xiao Xia." Her friends didn't call her that because it might lead to misunderstandings about her surname, so it was really rare.

Seeing Bai Yixia's puzzled expression, Zhou Qingchi silently let go of her, turned around, picked up the towel on the bed, put it on his head, and whispered a reminder, "That cosplayer who asked you to take pictures before."

Bai Yixia suddenly realized, "Qi Wang!"

The moment she remembered, another thought also surfaced in her mind. She quickly moved closer to Zhou Qingchi, lifted the towel covering her face, and asked, "Are you saying this because you're jealous?"

Zhou Qingchi's ear tips, hidden beneath her hair, slowly turned red. This mischievous little kitten in front of her spoke with such certainty, clearly already understanding, yet she still insisted on asking him. He wanted to give her face a good squeeze, but seeing her earnest expression, Zhou Qingchi couldn't help but feel a flutter in her heart.

Bai Yixia was still waiting for Zhou Qingchi's reply when the man suddenly raised his hand and covered his eyes.

Not understanding what was going to happen, Bai Yixia panicked and was about to grab his hand when she felt something wet and soft brush against the corner of her mouth.

Bai Yixia froze, stunned in disbelief. All the jokes she had in mind vanished.

She let out a soft "ah," and slowly lowered the hand that had been blocking her eyes. At the same time, Zhou Qingchi's breathing became heavier, and she heard him whisper a jealous remark in her ear.

"Yeah, I really hate him."

This was practically an out-of-character (OOC) scene. Bai Yixia suddenly thought to herself, then forcefully pulled down Zhou Qingchi's hand, looking at him with fiery eyes.

Contrary to her expectations, Zhou Qingchi showed no signs of shame or indignation; in fact, she seemed quite at ease, giving him a questioning look with a nonchalant air.

Bai Yixia's eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She said, "Really, so you were already like that back then..."

Zhou Qingchi helped her complete the sentence, "I already like you." He traced Bai Yixia's face with his gaze and smiled slightly.

"I like you, Xiaxia." He pulled her into his arms and took a deep breath. "So thank you for liking me."

Bai Yixia felt that they might have used up all their good luck at the beginning of the year, so she reached out and wrapped her arms around Zhou Qingchi's waist.

After embracing quietly for a while, Zhou Qingchi seemed to suddenly remember something, pulled Bai Yixia's hand to his abdomen, and said seriously, "Didn't you say you wanted to see it during the video call? Now you can not only see it, but you can also touch it."

Bai Yixia paused, wondering how he still remembered this. But she had to admit that the feeling of doing something and doing something with your eyes were different, though her mind didn't seem to be on it. She exclaimed, "You're really amazing, Brother Zhou."

After saying that, she stopped her hand on her abs, raised her head to look at Zhou Qingchi, her ear tips slightly red, as if she couldn't help herself, "Could I kiss you again just now?"