The mid-April wind, carrying a damp warmth, swirled the newly sprouted magnolia petals in the courtyard and gently brushed against the window screen of the second-floor study.
Yu Jiuyuan held a fountain pen between her fingers, but her gaze fell on the figure leaning against the pillar outside the window, reading a book. Lin Yanran was wearing a moon-white knitted sweater, with the cuffs casually rolled up to his forearms, revealing his neatly sculpted wrist bones. Sunlight fell on his slightly lowered eyelashes, softening his usual arrogance.
"What are you looking at?" As she pushed the door open, the sound of her footsteps startled Lin Yanran, causing the bookmark between the pages of her book to slip to the ground.
He bent down to pick it up, but paused. Yu Jiuyuan had already picked up the silver bookmark before him; it had a tiny "Lin" character engraved on it, and the edges were worn smooth.
"The student council's spring event plan," he said, his fingertips brushing against her palm as he took the bookmark, his tone as indifferent as ever, "when does President Yu plan to review it?"
No rush.
Yu Jiuyuan shook the notebook in her hand, "I just finished organizing last week's attendance records and found that Lin, the secretary, has a lot of absences this month."
She leaned closer, catching a faint scent of pine on him. "Is there something else at home?"
Lin Yanran's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Ever since the Lin family was implicated in the downfall of the Su family, his father ordered him to restrain his temper and follow Yu Jiuyuan around every day to learn "rules". However, he disliked this feeling of being restrained, especially when he saw her undisguised favoritism towards Rong Shenghan, his chest always felt like it was blocked by a ball of fire.
"Just handling some odd jobs." He looked away, his tone curt.
Yu Jiuyuan seemed not to notice his resistance and suddenly smiled: "Perfect timing, I'm going to the flower shed in the suburbs this afternoon to choose flowers for the event, will you come with me?"
She shook the car keys in her hand, the sunlight dancing on the metal. "I heard they just got a new batch of black roses there. Haven't you always liked this niche variety?"
Lin Yanran was stunned.
He did mention liking Black Rose once, just last month in the student council office. At the time, she was looking down and texting Rong Shenghan, and he thought she hadn't heard him at all.
"Are you going or not?"
Yu Jiuyuan had already turned and walked towards the garage, the hem of her white shirt fluttering slightly in the wind. "If you're not going, I'll have Rong Shenghan accompany me."
"...I'll go."
Lin Yanran practically gritted his teeth as he uttered those two words. He quickly followed her, watching her open the passenger door, and suddenly remembered that last night when he got up in the middle of the night, he had seen her in the kitchen warming milk for Rong Shenghan, the light as warm as unmelting sugar.
He clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed it; at least for now, the spot next to her was reserved for him.
The greenhouse was filled with the scent of soil and flowers. Yu Jiuyuan squatted in front of a row of roses, picking them out, her fingertips brushing gently across the petals.
Lin Yanran stood behind her, looking at the fine golden pollen on the ends of her hair, and suddenly felt that the scene was a bit dazzling.
"These pink roses are so tacky," he couldn't help but say.
Yu Jiuyuan turned to look at him, her eyes filled with a smile: "The event needs to please most people, so we can't just choose your favorite Black Rose for everyone."
She stumbled as she stood up, and Lin Yanran instinctively reached out to support her waist. Through the thin shirt, he could feel her warm body temperature.
He abruptly withdrew his hand, his ear tips burning slightly.
"Thanks." Yu Jiuyuan seemed oblivious to his odd behavior, pointing to the greenhouse not far away, "The black roses are over there, shall we go take a look?"
The greenhouse was dimly lit, with only a few rays of light filtering through the skylight at the top.
The black roses were planted on the innermost flower stand, their dark petals gleaming with a velvety sheen.
Yu Jiuyuan reached out to touch it, but was pricked by a thorn, and a bead of blood immediately seeped from her fingertip.
"Clumsy."
Lin Yanran's voice rang out from behind. He had somehow found iodine and cotton swabs and grabbed her hand without saying a word.
His movements were hardly gentle, even a bit rough, but when wiping the wound, the cotton swabs were incredibly light.
Looking at his downcast eyes, Yu Jiuyuan suddenly said, "Actually, you don't have to be so awkward."
Lin Yanran paused.
“I know you don’t like being in the student council, and I know your father is forcing you to do these things.”
She withdrew her hand and gently pressed the band-aid she had just applied with her fingertips. "But here, no one will force you to do something you don't like."
She cut the most beautiful black rose from the flower stand and pinned it in his breast pocket. "Just like this flower," she said, "it doesn't need to please anyone to grow well."
Sunlight streamed through the skylight, falling directly on the black rose and illuminating Lin Yanran's momentarily stunned face.
He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but found that his throat felt blocked.
Yu Jiuyuan had already turned and walked out, her voice drifting back: "Now that you've made your choice, let's go. Tonight, I'll have Zhang Ma make your favorite squirrel-shaped mandarin fish."
Lin Yanran stood still, her fingertips unconsciously touching the rose on her chest.
The floral scent mingled with her faint perfume, like a sudden spring tide that overflowed the deliberately constructed dam in his heart.
He looked down at his palm, where her warmth still seemed to linger.
In the distance, Yu Jiuyuan turned back and smiled at him. The wind lifted her long hair, like a gentle painting.
Lin Yanran suddenly thought that this spring didn't seem so hard to get through.
(System notification: Lin Yanran's favorability +19, current favorability 81)
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