Incurable Chapter 12 Part 1

Mu Wan ordered stir-fried asparagus with shrimp and salt-seared chicken wings.

After deciding on the dishes, the two of them went to the same supermarket as yesterday.

A little past seven, the store was packed—shoulder to shoulder. In the sea of people, Mu Wan was like a drop of red ink falling into water: impossible not to notice. Like a kite, she pulled eyes after her wherever she went… and the place that kite always ended up drifting back to was right beside Liu Qianxiu.

She’d dressed up on purpose today. Liu Qianxiu only glanced at her once, as if unmoved.

Mu Wan didn’t mind.

She liked him. That was the whole point.

If he wouldn’t look at her, then she’d look at him. Easy.

In the produce section, Mu Wan pushed the cart, her pale, slender arms resting on the handlebars, watching Liu Qianxiu stand there choosing green bamboo shoots.

The shoots were long and even, narrow at the top and wider at the base, cleaned and neatly packed in plastic trays, sealed under cling film that caught the overhead lights with a faint shine.

The man holding the tray—his cool white fingers—looked almost like the shoots themselves: clean, long, and sharply defined at every knuckle.

So good-looking.

Mu Wan’s eyes were clear and bright, and the fondness inside them was impossible to hide.

Liu Qianxiu sensed her gaze and turned his head to look at her. Mu Wan immediately shifted her eyes away, lips still curled in a smile she hadn’t bothered to conceal. Heat crept up into her ears.

Liu Qianxiu turned back and kept choosing vegetables.

Mu Wan turned back too—and kept watching him.

Back and forth like that, again and again, Mu Wan felt herself blooming inside.

Once they’d bought the vegetables, Liu Qianxiu pushed the cart to the checkout line and waited. Mu Wan stood behind him and lifted her eyes to the crowd around them.

The queue was long. In it, there were a few people as tall as Liu Qianxiu. Mu Wan looked up at his straight back and quietly compared their widths—if he turned around, he could probably wrap her up completely.

As she was thinking that, Liu Qianxiu turned around.

Mu Wan’s gaze stalled. Light as a feather, she redirected it toward the small rack beside the register.

The rack was crammed with snacks: gum, breath mints, little candies, chocolate-coated beans—red, green, and all kinds of bright packaging that made your eyes swim.

Her attention settled on a matcha-flavored chocolate bean. The bottle was clean, fresh, green, simple, and neat. On the label, dark chocolate beans were shown coated in chocolate, with pale green matcha inside—cool, refreshing colors.

Mu Wan was reading the net weight, mentally calculating how many pieces might be inside, when a hand reached into her field of view.

Long fingers, distinct knuckles, slightly curled—he took a bottle.

In the blink of an eye, that bottle appeared in front of her.

Mu Wan’s heart jumped. She looked up and met the man’s eyes.

His gaze was still calm. He only looked at Mu Wan, then gave the bottle a small shake. The beans clicked crisply against the plastic.

“Want it?” Liu Qianxiu asked.

Something in Mu Wan’s chest melted like chocolate.

She smiled. “You’re buying it for me?”

“Mm.”

“Then I want it.”

With her answer, Liu Qianxiu withdrew his gaze, turned, and set the bottle into the cart.

A soft click.

Mu Wan leaned slightly to peek past him at the chocolate bottle now surrounded by vegetables—also green, but a much lighter shade.

Tilting her head, she looked up at him with laughter shimmering in her eyes.

“Why’d you buy me this?”

He didn’t turn back. Only glanced sideways at Mu Wan. After meeting her gaze, he looked away again, voice flat.

“You were staring at it.”

What I was staring at was you. Can I have you too?

Mu Wan smiled, but Liu Qianxiu couldn’t tell what it meant. She drew herself back, then—behind his back—loosely wrapped her arms around the air where his shoulders would be.

Then you’re mine too, now.

After paying, Mu Wan held the chocolate. Liu Qianxiu carried the groceries. One after the other, they got into the car and went home.

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