Love for One Night

Ch 2: Over-the-Shoulder Throw (5)

Sandra's finger was still pointing at April's boyfriend, but her face was turned towards the poor guy she had thrown over her shoulder, frozen in a petrified expression.

"April!" Yao's shout didn't stop the girl who turned and sprinted away, but it snapped Sandra back to reality.

She withdrew her pointing finger, clenched her fist, and waved it slightly in front of her face, unclear whether she was threatening the two men towering over her or psyching herself up. With a light hop of her heel, she dashed off in the direction April had run.

Yao didn't know these two men, nor did he see any reason to stick around. But he couldn't figure out what Sandra's last gesture meant. Mimicking her, he pointed at the two equally bewildered men and cryptically said, "You two... be careful."

Sandra recognized that face twisted in a mix of pain, anger, and exhilaration.

It was him.

How could it be him?

How was it even possible that it was him?!

" Sandra, where are you running to?" Yao called out to her as she sprinted past April—her original target—and kept running.

Sandra turned back, looking at Yao, who had caught up, and April, who had stopped, confused after being passed by. A sudden awkwardness struck Sandra, as if her secrets had been laid bare.

There's no way they'd know. They can't possibly guess. Calm down, calm down, Sandra reassured herself.

"April, why are you running?" Sandra forced a smile, pretending to be calm as she walked over and patted April on the shoulder.

April's eyes glistened with tears. She looked at Sandra for a moment, her gaze shimmering, and then abruptly turned and ran again.

"Hey, April..." Sandra started to chase but was pulled back by Yao. Frustrated, she shrugged off his hand and glared at him. "Why are you stopping me?"

Yao, watching April's figure vanish around a corner, tried to console Sandra. "Just let her go."

"But she didn't bring her glasses! What if she gets lost running around like this?" Sandra worried.

"This is her school; she knows it better than you," Yao reassured her.

"But..." Sandra hesitated. "She spends all her time cooped up at home. She might not know the campus that well..."

"You're not her mom," Yao interrupted. "Why are you meddling so much in other people's business? Like earlier, you were way too impulsive. You made her and her boyfriend fall out with each other."

The moment he brought up what happened earlier, Sandra fell silent, tilting her head to the side. But a tight knot of frustration in her chest made her mutter in defense, "You saw it too. It was A... that guy who made the first move on April. I just..."

"Still, you didn't have to make such a big scene," Yao said, recalling the earlier commotion with a smirk. "You've never thrown me around like that before."

Sandra swatted at him with a playful palm strike, which Yao blocked with ease. Suddenly, his expression turned serious, and he grabbed her hand, pulling her along as he walked briskly. This guy changes moods faster than flipping pages, Sandra thought, stumbling to keep up. She tried to pull her hand away while complaining, "Hey, why are you walking so fast?"

Without turning back, Yao tightened his grip. "I'm hungry. Come with me to eat."

"Didn't you say you were afraid I'd eat you broke? Trying to save you some money for your future wife, I should head home to April," Sandra teased.

Hearing her bones crack under his grip, she gave up trying to free her hand and pleaded softly, "Could you loosen up a bit? My hand's about to break."

Yao sighed and relaxed his grip slightly. As soon as his hand loosened, Sandra's hand slipped away like a slippery fish. Before he could process the disappointment, pain erupted in his lower back like a firework.

Turning around, Yao saw Sandra still posed with her fist raised, a sly smirk tugging at her lips as she tilted her head mockingly. "Do you think you can just grab my hand whenever you want?"

Yao frowned, holding his lower back. "You almost broke my kidney. If I can't marry anyone because of this, who else can I hold but you?"

"Don't confuse cause and effect," Sandra retorted, lowering her fist and walking away. "You know the legal system here, don't you? Clearly didn't study well, though, with logic that bad. Me hitting you was self-defense. If I overdid it, at most it's excessive defense. In the future, hold whoever you like, just leave me out of it."

Yao followed Sandra, irritated but keeping pace as she walked off triumphantly. How did he end up with such a ticking time bomb?

As the pain subsided, Yao's mind started working again. Remembering earlier events, he caught a detail and asked curiously, "You know that guy?"

Sandra's back stiffened noticeably, but she played it off, brushing him off with a casual, "He's a friend of April's boyfriend."

"Then why did you hit him so hard?" Yao sped up, walking parallel to her and glancing down at her face, trying to read her expression.

"One shouldn't dally a friend's wife. I couldn't stand the way he was bothering April," Sandra replied. Though she hadn't recognized him at the time, now the memory of him holding April made her inexplicably angry.

"So, does he know you?" That was Yao's main concern. The way the guy had pointed at Sandra with such a complicated expression earlier stuck in his mind.

"How would I know?" Sandra dodged the question. "Maybe he's seen me with April before."

What nonsense, Yao thought. April was a homebody; unless they were at the art studio where Sandra was working as a tutor, no one would see the two of them together. That guy didn't look like the type to be dragged to weekend painting classes by his parents.

Suddenly, Yao stopped Sandra, holding her by the shoulders and turning her to face him. With utmost seriousness, he said, "Sandra, I've decided. For the sake of all men, from now on, you're only allowed to beat me up. Okay?"

Sandra looked up at him, her face filled with exaggerated admiration for his self-sacrificing spirit. Her wide eyes and slightly parted lips made Yao momentarily dazed.

As the saying goes, "Lust blinds wisdom."

The next thing he knew, Yao was clutching his head in pain, his backpack spilled all over the ground. Sandra burst out laughing, pointing at him in delight. "Yao, oh, Yao, who would've thought—you're an M (masochism)!"