Your Time
Mu Wan took a quick shower.
The water washed away the dust.
It also washed away much of her exhaustion.
By the time she finished, even her vision seemed clearer.
She dried her wet hair with a towel.
After searching around, she realized there was no hair dryer.
Water continued dripping from the ends of her hair.
Mu Wan rubbed it again with the towel.
Then she reached for the clothes Liu Qianxiu had given her.
The moment her gaze landed on them, heat rose into her chest.
Her face warmed again.
These really were clothes Liu Qianxiu had worn.
She knew because she had seen them on him.
A loose cotton-linen long shirt and matching trousers.
On Liu Qianxiu, they fit perfectly, complementing his tall, lean frame.
Mu Wan picked up the shirt.
The cotton felt fine beneath her fingertips.
As the fabric shifted, it stirred a faint current of air.
A light sandalwood scent reached her.
Even his clothes smelled like him.
Cool.
Restrained.
Almost ascetic.
Mu Wan pulled the long shirt over her head like a T-shirt.
It fit Liu Qianxiu properly.
On her, it was enormous.
The hem fell below her thighs.
The thin fabric brushed against her skin.
Cool.
Slightly rough.
Wrapped in his sandalwood scent, Mu Wan became suddenly, painfully aware of the clothes against her body.
Heat gathered beneath her skin.
She rolled up the sleeves.
Then decided she was being far too shameless.
Mu Wan patted both cheeks and hurried out.
The bathroom had been much warmer than the rest of the apartment.
The moment she stepped outside, cool air swept across her skin.
Her ears finally began to cool.
Then she heard running water from the kitchen.
“Liu Qianxiu.”
Mu Wan stopped at the kitchen doorway and called him.
She had showered quickly.
Liu Qianxiu had only just returned from checking on the cats, and he had barely begun preparing lunch.
He stood in front of the refrigerator holding two bundles of greens.
White paper wrapped the stems, leaving fresh green leaves exposed.
At the sound of her voice, he looked over.
Mu Wan stood there in his oversized shirt.
She had rolled up the sleeves, exposing two pale forearms.
The hem fell just above her knees.
Below it, her calves were straight and slender.
Her eyes were bright.
Like dark ink emerging through distant mist.
Black eyes.
Red lips.
She looked at him.
“Let me help.”
As she spoke, she walked over and took the vegetables from his hands.
A faint scent of freesia lingered behind her.
The greens had just come out of the refrigerator and were still cool.
Mu Wan tore away the white wrapping.
The neatly bundled vegetables tumbled free.
She turned on the faucet and placed them in the sink.
She was not particularly short.
But her frame was so slender that she looked small inside his clothes.
Sunlight poured through the window.
It was not enough to dry her dark hair.
In the quiet kitchen, only the clear sound of running water could be heard.
Her shoulders moved lightly as she washed the vegetables.
After a while, she lifted one wet hand and used the still-dry inside of her wrist to push her hair aside.
It was useless.
The damp strands slipped forward again almost immediately.
Growing annoyed, Mu Wan pulled both hands out of the sink.
She was about to wipe them on the shirt.
Then she remembered whose shirt it was.
Her movement stopped abruptly.
Mu Wan turned toward Liu Qianxiu.
“Do you have some paper?”
She raised her wet hands.
“I want to tie my hair up. It keeps falling forward, and it’s bothering me.”
Liu Qianxiu stood beside the refrigerator.
Tall.
Quiet.
He watched her.
After a slight pause, he closed the refrigerator door and walked over.
“Give me the hair tie.”
Mu Wan looked up.
His expression had not changed.
The small crease between her brows gradually disappeared.
She removed the black elastic from her wrist and placed it in his palm.
Then she looked at him again.
Uncertain.
Yet unmistakably excited.
“You know how to tie hair?”
Mu Wan had a lot of hair.
Even half wet, it was still thick and black, the ends slightly curled.
Liu Qianxiu looked at it.
“I’ll try.”
Mu Wan’s heartbeat immediately lost its rhythm.
Her lips parted.
Then she turned around.
Her entire back faced him.
Liu Qianxiu moved efficiently.
Mu Wan braced both hands against the edge of the sink.
Cool marble pressed into her palms.
Then she felt him gather her hair.
As he moved, his fingertips brushed the base of her neck.
Warmth and tingling spread across her skin.
Mu Wan’s fingers curled slightly.
She was wearing his clothes.
The fabric rested directly against her skin.
Her thoughts became a mess.
Mu Wan lowered her head and tried to distract herself.
“Who are you having dinner with tonight?”
“Family.”
Beneath her black hair, the skin along Mu Wan’s neck was delicate and pale.
A faint blush had begun spreading across it.
“Oh.”
The sound carried no obvious meaning.
Liu Qianxiu threaded her hair through the elastic.
It almost felt as though something else were being caught inside that small black circle.
Mu Wan felt him gather the strands little by little.
She looked toward the sunlight outside.
Her vision gradually blurred.
This was the first time the two of them had ever been together this early in the day.
“Liu Qianxiu.”
The sun had warmed the air.
Even Mu Wan’s voice seemed softened by it.
“Mm.”
His answer came quietly from behind her.
“Can I have lunch with you from now on?”
His hands paused slightly.
Then he pulled her hair through the final loop of the elastic.
The movement was gentle and clean.
Not a single strand snagged.
Mu Wan turned around.
One tall.
One shorter.
They stood face to face.
She tilted her head back and looked directly at him.
Her eyes were bright.
Waiting.
Liu Qianxiu looked down at her.
“When there’s time.”
“Oh.”
There it was again.
A perfectly Liu Qianxiu answer.
Cool.
Reserved.
The breath Mu Wan had been holding slowly escaped.
With her hair tied back, her entire face was exposed.
Every thought showed there.
Nothing hidden.
Nothing disguised.
Liu Qianxiu’s gaze rested on the black elastic securing her hair.
Then he added quietly,
“When you have time.”
Mu Wan’s head snapped up.
The movement disturbed the air between them.
She stared at the man in front of her.
His features remained calm and restrained.
The faint scent of sandalwood lingered around her.
Still.
Distant.
And beneath it, Mu Wan suddenly caught something else.
A scent she had never noticed on Liu Qianxiu before.
Faint.
Warm.
The quiet scent of ordinary life.
— End of Chapter 22 —
Thanks for the chapter! Things are finally starting to move along!
ReplyDeleteStay safe!