Running away from the Love-Brain

Taming Animals

"Are you two getting along now?" On the way back in the car, Chen Wenran finally couldn't hold back and asked.

Ran Yan was driving, and upon hearing this, her gaze glanced over through the rearview mirror. Xijin and Chi Buyu had fallen into the water, and even though they'd just dried off a bit in the sun, it wasn't enough. Now, they sat in the backseat, wrapped in dry towels, no longer dripping but still wearing their damp clothes.

Upon hearing the question, Xijin lifted her chin slightly and, for some reason, glanced over at Chi Buyu awkwardly. At the same time, Chi Buyu also looked her way. Their gazes collided a second later.

Xijin was the first to turn away, and she heard Chi Buyu let out a small huff next to her, as if dissatisfied with Xijin's avoidance. After a moment's pause, Xijin turned back, but this time Chi Buyu wasn't looking at her anymore.

"We weren't even fighting to begin with." Chi Buyu said as she rolled down the window, leaning her face into the sunlight streaming into the car. The breeze ruffled her damp hair, and her ears, slightly red, made the back of her head look a bit like...

A fluffy baby bird facing the wind.

"We're twenty-seven, not seven," Xijin replied, pulling her gaze back and catching sight of Chen Wenran, who had turned her head from the passenger seat to look at them.

Chen Wenran squinted, seemingly realizing that Xijin had been looking at Chi Buyu just now, and clicked her tongue. "I think you two act more like you're seven—actually, even younger."

Ran Yan laughed and slapped the steering wheel, agreeing with Chen Wenran for once. "Yeah, like two kids. You fight, hug, cry, and then make up again."

Hugging... Xijin sharply caught the keyword in that statement. Clearly, they hadn't missed it.

Xijin stiffened, shoving her hands into her pockets, only to find those paper bits in the damp fabric—the same bits that she had held onto when they were hugging each other.

She rubbed the paper bits between her fingers and emphasized, "I just choked on lake water."

Hearing this, Chi Buyu turned her head, squinting at her with still slightly watery eyes. She tugged at her eyelids and mouthed silently back at Xijin: "As if~"

She looked like she'd caught Xijin's little secret, a smug expression crossing her face.

Xijin feigned nonchalance and pretended not to see it.

Chi Buyu stuck out her tongue, making a playful face, and let out a laugh that was barely a sound in the wind. But soon, that laugh faded away, and she turned back to enjoy the breeze, seemingly in a good mood.

After a while, Chen Wenran, sitting in the front, remarked, "If I had known this would happen, I would've just pushed both of you into the pond outside Grandma's house back in Leshan that day. It would've saved Ran Yan and me from walking on eggshells these past few weeks..."

Before he could finish, Ran Yan turned on the stereo, and the car filled with the fresh and bright spring air rushing in, perfectly matching the mood as Jay Chou's lighthearted melody of Sorry played.

By the time the intro ended, the car had turned a corner, moving between buildings that framed a sky as blue as tiles. Chen Wenran and Chi Buyu, sitting one in front of the other, harmonized perfectly as they both belted out, in sync at forty miles per hour—

"A copper coin in the square—"

They only managed to sing this line before the lyrics became a muddled mess, each singing their own version, drowning out Jay Chou's voice.