“I’m not… I’m not… No!” In her sleep, Yan began to furrow her eyebrows deeply while talking in a low voice.
Han Qing, who was by the bed, naturally heard her. He thought she was talking to herself, but he was still a little surprised. When he turned over to look at her, he noticed that her eyes were still closed but she was still endlessly muttering. It appeared that she was talking in her sleep.
However, when she said these words, large beads of cold sweat had appeared on her forehead. Her frowning eyebrows looked like caterpillars while her expression showed that she was aggrieved and in pain. “I didn’t! I really didn’t…”
Han Qing frowned as he approached her before stretching out his hand to gently pat her cheek. “Yan? Yan?”
Yan was still dreaming, so Han Qing could only play along. “Alright, alright, you didn’t. You’re just dreaming, so don’t be afraid.” He took out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat off her forehead for her.
Yan had finally calmed down. She stopped talking in her sleep and it was apparent that her mood had returned to normal. After that, she fell into a deep slumber. Ah, this woman really knows how to make my heart ache for her. Han Qing lowered his head and touched the tip of her nose with his thin lips. He held her in his arms to warm her.
…
Yan slept for a very long time this time. When she woke up, it was already dark. The train arrived at its stop at 3 in the morning. It was uncertain whether it was because of the after-effects of dreaming, but when Yan woke up, she felt that the atmospheric pressure was very low. She sat there in a forlorn manner while her eyes were blank and she had no appetite.
Han Qing had coaxed her several times but to no avail. She was now listless and tired. Seeing her in this state, Han Qing did not dare to use that method to force her to eat. He had to softly persuade her before Yan reluctantly took a few bites of food. Then, Yan looked at him with a faint expression on her face. “Han Qing.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you love me?”
Han Qing was caught off-guard. He probably did not expect Yan to ask such a question all of a sudden. He stood there while quietly staring at her with his thin lips pressed against each other. He did not answer.
Yan also looked at him. When she did not receive an answer after a long while, she smiled. “Forget it. I’ve already decided to break up with you anyway, so whether you love me or not, it doesn’t matter.” After that, she appeared forlorn along the way until the train reached its stop.
At first, she wanted to take advantage of the crowd to run away, but Han Qing would always catch her after she took a few steps. “There are so many people here. Where are you running off to? We’ll leave when the people are almost gone so that we don’t separate.”
Yan thought to herself, That’s exactly what I want to do—separate from you! Why would I want to stay with you? She twisted her body and said, “I don’t want to wait. I want to get out of the train now.”
Han Qing frowned slightly. “Let’s just wait for a little while more?”
“No, the air here is making me uncomfortable.”
Feeling helpless, Han Qing could only protect her while getting off the train. Yan, who was being tightly protected by him along the way, was speechless. Is he for real? With him guarding me so tightly, how can I run away? So annoying!
After getting off the train, the air outside was indeed much better than inside of the train. However, the man next to her was still firmly holding onto her wrist and always keeping her within half an inch of him. Yan sighed in her heart. How had she not realized before that Han Qing would be so hard to get rid of?
“The train has arrived.”
She went straight to the point and said, “Don’t follow me anymore. Let’s separate here. We’ll walk our own paths in the future.”
As if he had not heard her, he took out his phone and asked, “Has the hotel been booked?”
Yan was speechless.
“It seems that you haven’t booked it. You silly girl… You ran off in the middle of the night without booking a hotel first. What would you do if you encountered danger?” After speaking, he put away his phone and lifted Yan’s suitcase. “Let’s go.”
“What are you doing?” Yan stopped him. “Go where?”
“The hotel. I’ve already booked it. Someone will pick us up at the exit.”
What? He booked a hotel? When did he do it?
“I booked it while you were asleep,” Han Qing said at the right time. “Go and rest for the night. I’ll bring you around the place tomorrow if we have the time.” His tone sounded very natural—as if the two were on vacation and were lovers without any conflict.
The more he was like this, the more it fanned the flames within Yan. She looked at Han Qing with a fixed gaze. “Did you not hear what I said just now? I’ve already made it very clear. We’ll separate here and will have nothing to do with each other anymore.”
When the words were said, Han Qing’s breath became hitched as he lowered his eyes before saying solemnly, “I’ve also said that I don’t agree to this breakup.”
The two were in a deadlock. At this moment, someone from behind was running toward them.
“Hey, hey! Make way!” The man almost ran into Yan, but Han Qing was quick to stretch his hand out to grab her waist and pulled her into his arms. Thud!
“Sorry about that, brother!”
Han Qing raised his eyes when he saw that it was the previous occupant of the berth he bought who was waving at him. When he met the man’s eyes, the latter gave him a cheering gesture.
Han Qing paused in his movements, then felt the temperature of the person in his arms. The corners of his lips curled up into a smile. Suddenly, he felt that the money he spent was well worth it.
Yan was still in his arms. When she wanted to struggle to get out of his embrace, Han Qing tightly held onto her. “Alright, let’s go to the hotel before talking. There are too many people here. It won’t be good if we get pickpocketed later.”
“Let go of me. I’ll walk by myself.”
“There are many people here. I’ll walk with you in my arms.”
After that, Yan left while in the arms of Han Qing.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Yan looked at the snow-white bed before reacting. Am I not being too easy-going? I’ve already decided to break up with him and to stop being the third party in this relationship, so why did I stupidly follow him here? Am I… being too improper?
Han Qing was tidying up his luggage and took out the clothes he was going to wear to hang them in the wardrobe. Yan shuddered when she saw him hanging his clothes there. “Are you staying here too?”
Han Qing continued to hang his clothes while humming a response.
“Then I’ll go book another room.” However, Yan was dragged back by Han Qing as soon as she walked out of the door. He pushed her against the wall and trapped her there. “I don’t think we need two rooms with the status of our relationship.”
Yan felt that she did not want to emphasize the matter of breaking up with him anymore, so she only said coldly, “I don’t want to stay with you in the same room. Let go of me.”
Han Qing did not let go and was still holding her hand.
“Do you want to bathe first or sleep directly?” Han Qing began to ask as if nothing had happened.
“I don’t want to do either. I’m going to go downstairs and get another room.”
“You can’t book one without an ID.”
“What?” Yan went to look for her ID but found that both her purse and ID were gone.
“You can stop searching for it. They’re all with me, so you can only stay by my side and aren’t allowed to go anywhere else.”
What? He took away my purse and ID? He wants me to stay put and stick to him? Thinking of this, Yan sneered, “What do you think you’re doing? Are you imprisoning me here? What do you take me for?” A prisoner?
“Why would you think like that?” Han Qing asked.
“Then, what should I be thinking?” Yan was furious as she pushed him away.
