Song An'an was confused after being kissed by Pei Kuang. How could she possibly sleep now?
The way Pei Kuang looked just now almost made her think he was going to... But for some reason, he only kissed her in the end.
Could it be because of her initial resistance?
But that wasn't because she was unwilling. She just wasn't prepared and reacted reflexively.
Song An'an suddenly recalled his earlier words - "Did I make you feel uncomfortable or repulsed in any way?"
So he must have gotten the wrong idea, right?
As she looked at Pei Kuang's eyebrows up close, she seemed to make a decision and said, "If..."
But before Song An'an could finish, Pei Kuang interrupted her, "No ifs. Go to sleep."
He couldn't bear to go further.
Pei Kuang gently stroked her eyebrows and smiled. "Don't overthink. It's not time yet."
Song An'an blinked. Not time yet?
Then when would it be time?
Maybe she was too tired from traveling all day. With this doubt in mind, she fell asleep unknowingly.
Hearing the light breathing beside him, Pei Kuang opened his eyes.
A small nightlight was on, emitting a dim yellow light.
He lay on his side, looking at Song An'an's sleeping face, the flickering lamp light reflecting in his eyes.
After a while, he whispered with a smile, "Thank you for coming today."
The moment he saw Song An'an appear on set, Pei Kuang had to admit, the feeling of being liked by the person you like felt really good.
-
The next morning, when Song An'an woke up, Pei Kuang had already washed up and was eating breakfast not far away.
"What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked while rubbing her eyes and getting out of bed.
Pei Kuang smiled and said, "It's not even 7 am yet. I have an early call today, go back to sleep."
Hearing it wasn't even 7 am yet, it was indeed still early. Although awake, Song An'an didn't plan on sleeping anymore.
"I won't sleep anymore. I can nap later if I'm tired during the day. I don't have anything to do anyway."
After saying that, she went straight to the bathroom to wash up.
By the time Song An'an finished washing up and came out, Pei Kuang had already finished breakfast.
He came over and kissed Song An'an's forehead, looking apologetic. "Sorry, you came all this way yet I can't accompany you."
The drama was currently at a critical filming period and Pei Kuang, as the male lead, had a heavy workload. It was very difficult to ask for leave at times like this. After all, the production was burning money every day. Delaying shoots was no small matter.
Of course Song An'an understood this. She shook her head and said, "You don't need to accompany me. I'm the one who came to celebrate your birthday after all."
Pei Kuang was indeed very busy. Liu Hao soon knocked on the door.
After leaving the hotel, the two went straight to the car parked at the entrance and drove towards the set.
Sitting next to Pei Kuang, Liu Hao noticed a scarf around his neck. "Hey, Pei-ge, when did you buy this scarf? I don't recall seeing it before."
Pei Kuang glanced at him. His eyes were full of smugness. "Does it look good?"
Looking at the obviously unattractive scarf, Liu Hao looked uncertainly at Pei Kuang.
Pei Kuang didn't even wait for him to say anything. Stroking his beloved scarf, he went on to say, "An'an personally knitted this for me. It's really warm."
Liu Hao: "..."
-
Song An'an took 3 days off this time. She was in no hurry to return and stayed at the hotel the whole time.
Pei Kuang had originally wanted Li Dong to take her around nearby, but after considering it, Song An'an didn't go.
There were quite a few attractions near the studio, but there were also many tourists every day. It would be troublesome if she got recognized.
After staying for two days, Song An'an had to go back on the third day in the afternoon.
She was originally going to have Li Dong send her to the airport, but Pei Kuang suddenly returned at noon that day saying he got two hours off from the crew and wanted to send her to the airport himself.
The whole ride there, Pei Kuang tirelessly went over various minor details, like setting the air conditioning on the plane too high, remembering to ask the flight attendant for a blanket, and so on.
The car soon arrived at the airport. Pei Kuang couldn't go in, so he could only see her off at the entrance.
Before getting off the car, Pei Kuang anxiously told her, "Message me when you land, let me know you're safe."
Song An'an obediently replied, "Got it."
Li Dong sat in the front passenger seat, looking up at the sky speechlessly.
Yesterday, Liu Hao joked that Pei Kuang was a "dad" style boyfriend. It seemed he wasn't wrong at all.
Judging by how he was acting, if he really could make time, he would definitely have personally sent her back to campus.
But seeing Song An'an's lack of impatience at his nagging despite being his artist, Li Dong was quite surprised.
But how would he know this was thanks to Song Linchuan? With such a veteran caretaker figure since she was little, Song An'an was long used to scenes like this.
-
Three hours later, Song An'an arrived at the B City airport.
Right after getting off the plane, Song An'an took out her phone and texted Pei Kuang: "I'm out of the airport, about to take a taxi out."
Pei Kuang almost instantly replied: "Okay, be safe, contact me anytime if anything comes up."
With little luggage and none checked, Song An'an followed the signs and went out, then got into a taxi.
Of course, she also heeded Pei Kuang's instructions and took a photo of the license plate number to send to him before getting in the car.
Although she felt this was a bit unnecessary since she was already an adult and couldn't possibly get kidnapped.
But she never minded going the extra mile for those who cared about her, and wouldn't try to explain it away, because she understood their relationship and was happy to accommodate to ease their worries.
Not long after, the taxi arrived at the gates of B University. After paying the driver, Song An'an got off the car.
When she returned to her dorm room, Li Sirui was curled up in bed watching dramas. Seeing Song An'an come in, she bolted upright in bed.
"An'an, you're back!"
Song An'an smiled and replied, "Yup, I'm back. I bought some food at the school gates, have you eaten dinner?"
Li Sirui whined twice, "Little An'an, you're too nice!"
Saying so, she climbed down from the top bunk and scurried over excitedly asking to be fed.
Song An'an was also a bit hungry herself, so she first went to wash her hands before coming back to chat and eat together.
Naturally, their conversation revolved around Song An'an's recent trip.
When she found out Song An'an had shared a room with Pei Kuang the past few days, Li Sirui was no longer calm at all.
"What?! You and Pei Kuang shared a room!" She looked at Song An'an in utter disbelief.
Song An'an let out a sound of affirmation, clearly not understanding why she reacted so strongly. She had told Li Sirui about this before!
That first night she went, Li Sirui had asked where she was staying and told her to lock the door and be safe. She said she was rooming with Pei Kuang and told her not to worry.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you before?" she said.
Li Sirui was stunned for a few seconds and replied, "I thought it was a suite room or something!"
They did stay separately when filming shows together in the past after all. Of course she wouldn't find that odd.
Song An'an: "..."
Alright, her bad for not being clear. Awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds.
Li Sirui looked at Song An'an meaningfully but hesitantly: "Although my principle as a fan has always been to keep a distance from idols' private lives, aside from being your fan, I'm also your friend. So it shouldn't be overstepping to ask you these things, right?"
Song An'an: "???"
So what exactly did she want to ask?
Li Sirui struggled for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and asked, "It's just, did you guys, you know... do that?"
Song An'an didn't react at first and blurted out, "Do what?"
But as soon as she spoke, she instantly understood what Li Sirui was implying and her face flushed crimson.
"Wha- What are you thinking! Of course not!"
Li Sirui immediately relaxed. "You scared me. For a second I thought Pei Kuang had indecent designs on you."
Song An'an explained, "It just so happened there were no more rooms that night. Pei Kuang didn't feel assured letting me stay at a cheap hotel, so we ended up sharing. It's not what you think!"
Li Sirui nodded solemnly, "That makes sense. You've only been together for what, a couple months? It'd be too beastly of Pei Kuang if he actually... Yeah, way too fast."
Come to think of it, they had only been together for a little over two months. It would indeed be too fast if they already went that far.
Song An'an was taken aback for a moment and asked back, "Then... how long would be appropriate?"
As for this question, Li Sirui wasn't too sure either. She was a lifelong single, how would she know about stuff like this!
Song Anan nodded her head in a daze.
Half a year, huh. Okay, she now had a rough idea in mind.
After returning this time, Song Anan resumed her busy days of rushing between the hospital and medical school.
Before long, she was rotated to a new department and separated from Li Sirui. However, their departments were close, so they could still get together for meals occasionally.
After December passed, the New Year arrived.
On New Year's Eve, Song Anan was on duty at the hospital. Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan were also not back.
Typically, as the top celebrities in the entertainment industry, major satellite TV New Year's Eve stages would definitely want them on New Year's Eve, a holiday night like this.
But this year, the two had clearly shifted their career focus. They declined the New Year's Eve invites early on, ignoring things outside and diving into filming.
Pei Kuang had been doing this for several years, but it was Song Linchuan's first time, also a step forward in his formal transformation.
After New Year's Day, days went on as usual.
The Spring Festival was approaching in the blink of an eye.
According to the nature of the hospital, most people worked during the Spring Festival holiday at the hospital. Departments and wards might take shifts, and outpatient services would also adjust accordingly.
Although Song Anan was still an intern, she also had to take shifts according to the rules, so she couldn't go back to S City for the New Year this time.
When her eldest brother and sister-in-law heard that she couldn't go back for the holiday because she was on shift rotation, they immediately said in the family group chat that they would take a vacation to an island beach to spend the holiday.
As for Song Linchuan, this uncaring dad, he could only take the few days off the crew had barely given him to see his auntie in B City.
Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan's situations were similar. Their crews hadn't finished shooting yet and could only come back for a few days close to the New Year, but the specific dates of their returns were still undetermined.
So, if nothing unexpected happened, the three of them would naturally spend the holiday together this year.
Coincidentally, on the 28th day of the lunar calendar, Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan's planes landed one after the other at the B City airport.
Both took the VIP passage. When they saw each other, they were clearly both surprised for a moment.
Song Linchuan asked, "My auntie said you could only come back tomorrow?"
Pei Kuang was rendered speechless for a moment. "...The director let us off early."
Then he couldn't help asking, "What about you?"
If he remembered correctly, Song Linchuan had said in their group chat yesterday that he could only come back the day after tomorrow.
Song Linchuan glanced at him and said coquettishly, "Unlike you, of course I'm here to surprise my auntie."
Pei Kuang: "..."
He wanted to say he was here for the same reason!
Since they had bumped into each other and lived in the same complex, there was naturally no need to take two cars back.
So Song Linchuan directly got into Pei Kuang's car, while his driver was sent straight to the assistant.
In the black SUV, Pei Kuang and Song Linchuan sat side by side in the middle row, Liu Hao sat in the back, and Li Dong sat in the front passenger seat.
The air conditioning in the car was very strong. Pei Kuang took off the scarf around his neck and folded it neatly on his lap.
Song Linchuan glanced at the scarf and said sarcastically, "Can you even handle it? You're not that old yet you're already wearing this kind of thing?"
Pei Kuang lightly cleared his throat and replied, "It's fine, I have been a bit susceptible to the cold these past two years."
After speaking, he somewhat guiltily shifted the scarf a bit farther from Song Linchuan.
Song Linchuan tsked twice but didn't say anything more.
About a minute passed.
"No, Pei Kuang, I really wanted to say when I first saw you," he glanced at the scarf again, and couldn't help but start ridiculing.
"This scarf of yours is truly ugly. Even if it's for keeping warm, you should pick a better looking one, don't forget you're a celebrity."
Pei Kuang glanced at him. "I think it's fine."
Song Linchuan looked completely uncomprehending. "Your taste is dead."
Pei Kuang: "..."!
