Yu Yi's voice was soft and sweet like sugar, reminiscent of how she had spoken to her sister earlier that day.
But she had clearly just called him "A Qiu" - she knew it was him.
Is she being coy with me?
Xue Chenjing lay wide-eyed in the darkness, seeing a flash of white light before his eyes as if fireworks had exploded, making his eardrums ache.
After a long moment, he realized that the wild pounding that made his eardrums throb wasn't coming from anywhere else - it was coming from his own chest.
Instinctively, Xue Chenjing raised his hands to cover Yu Yi's ears, not wanting her to hear.
But his reaction was too slow - Yu Yi had already heard his chaotic heartbeat. In the thick darkness, that passionate throbbing was so close to her, so clear, intense and honest.
Yu Yi didn't want to push him away anymore. After all, she had already allowed herself to indulge in this illusion of "peace and joy," so perhaps it wouldn't hurt to indulge a little more.
Tomorrow, she would come back to her senses.
Having Xue Chenjing here would also remind her that this was all fake.
Yu Yi reached for his hands covering her ears and said with a hint of amusement, feigning innocence: "Did I startle you?"
Xue Chenjing remained silent, holding his breath, trying to suppress his wild heartbeat. But the more he tried to control it, the more uncontrollable it became, and his body grew hot from his frantically beating heart.
A soft thud sounded in the darkness - something had been knocked over. Yu Yi couldn't see, but Xue Chenjing knew that despite his efforts to hold his breath, his tentacles were still yearning for her scent.
His out-of-control tentacles emerged from the void, instantly filling the room. In the darkness, two more objects were knocked over.
Yu Yi tried to prop herself up in confusion, but her back met something soft and cool. The moment it touched her body, as if receiving some kind of permission, it immediately attached itself to her, writhing against her body.
This sensation was all too familiar to Yu Yi.
Tentacles.
The space around her was already packed with tentacles.
Yu Yi instantly got goosebumps, kicking away the tentacles trying to crawl under her skirt. She warned him in a low voice, "My parents and sister are next door. Even if this is in the Human Thought Boundary, if you wake them up, you'll definitely get beaten up."
The dancing tentacles in the darkness immediately became more restrained, carefully avoiding the furniture in the room, no longer making any noise.
However, the tentacles causing mischief between the bed curtains showed no restraint. The cool appendages lingered around Yu Yi's feet, their tips tickling her soles, trying to climb up from her ankles. Yu Yi kicked one away, only to have another wrap around her.
Yu Yi couldn't stand it anymore and called out with contained anger: "Xue Chenjing!"
The tentacles that had wrapped around her knees instantly froze.
Xue Chenjing's hands slid from her ears, brushing away the interfering tentacles, and wrapped around her back, holding her tight. He called out in an excited but hushed voice, "Master, Master, Master..."
He paused, then changed his address, "Yi'er, Yi'er, I knew you recognized me, I just knew it."
Xue Chenjing's arms wrapped tightly around her, even more clingy than his tentacles. He pressed his head against her temple, and as he spoke, his soft lips brushed against her earlobe, his excited yet restrained breath flowing into her ear.
Yu Yi shuddered, a tingling sensation instantly shooting from her scalp down her spine. She hurriedly covered his mouth with her hand, "Don't talk into my ear."
She regretted it now - she should have kicked him off the bed without hesitation earlier.
But now, the bed was full of tentacles, and they didn't even have room to turn over.
But the person beneath her didn't settle down. Xue Chenjing licked her palm, then slipped his tongue between her fingers. Yu Yi's wrist jerked, and she pinched his mouth, saying irritably, "Can't you behave normally?"
With his mouth pinched shut, Xue Chenjing could only grunt through his nose. He was behaving normally - he had always been normal. He had suppressed himself for so long, and he had wanted to do this for ages.
Though his mouth couldn't speak, the high-frequency vibrating tentacles in the air gradually produced a tide of whispers that flowed into Yu Yi's ears: "Yi'er, Yi'er, I want to kiss you, let me kiss you."
Yu Yi firmly refused, "No."
The whispers in the darkness instantly fell silent, and all the excited tentacles in the room deflated dejectedly. Xue Chenjing made two whimpering sounds of disappointment through his nose.
Yu Yi remained unmoved. Even though she allowed herself some indulgence, it was limited. Being this close and intimate with Xue Chenjing had already broken the boundaries of normal human interaction - she shouldn't have done this.
Her rational mind knew she shouldn't be doing this.
But when Yu Yi heard his heartbeat, she still allowed herself to lean against him, saying, "If you keep causing trouble, get out."
Xue Chenjing pulled her hand away and refused just as firmly, "No."
As they were silently at an impasse, there was suddenly a light knock on the door, followed by the creaking sound of someone pushing it open from outside, "Yi'er, I've come to sleep with you. Eh? Did you lock the door? Why won't it open?"
Yu Yi's eyes suddenly widened as she pushed Xue Chenjing away, urging in a low voice, "Quickly retract all your tentacles."
Xue Chenjing reluctantly withdrew all his tentacles from around the room. The blocked door suddenly swung wide open, and the person outside stumbled in, nearly falling flat on the ground.
But she quickly caught her balance, turned to close the door, muttering "what's wrong with this broken door" while walking in the dark, lifting the bed curtain to jump onto the bed.
Before her sister could jump onto the bed, Yu Yi kicked Xue Chenjing to the innermost side, turned around and pulled her sister under the covers, pretending to have just woken up, mumbling, "Sis, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I heard noise from your room and woke up," her sister said, "Then my sixth sense told me you might want me to come sleep with you, so I came. But it seems you don't welcome me? Should I leave?"
"Of course not!" Yu Yi hugged her waist, "I want to sleep with you."
"Don't tickle me - hey, did I gain more weight on my stomach?"
"I don't think so, it feels just right."
Xue Chenjing pressed his back against the wall, curled up in the innermost corner, sulkily listening to them quietly discuss where they had gained weight, how they would start dieting tomorrow, and gradually moving on to topics he couldn't understand - celebrities, new TV dramas, trending gossip - he couldn't understand a single word.
Her sister said, "I got my paycheck, tomorrow I'll treat you and mom and dad to a fancy dinner, we'll watch a movie, and then I'll take you to get pretty nails done."
Yu Yi laughed happily, "Sounds great, sis, you're the best."
So this was her previous life? It sounded lively and colorful.
Xue Chenjing knew clearly that this so-called home, these so-called parents and sister, were all created from her desires.
Yu Yi must have really wished she could sleep next to her sister like this, which was why in the Human Thought Boundary, this sister would fulfill her wish by pushing open her door in the middle of the night to keep her company.
The bed wasn't very wide. Xue Chenjing was trapped against the innermost side, with barely half an arm's length between him and Yu Yi. Her loose hair lay across his wrist, and her scent filled his every breath.
Yet he couldn't do anything, couldn't move at all, and had to carefully control even his breathing.
It was absolute torture.
Finally, their conversation gradually weakened as they were about to fall asleep. As Yu Yi was drifting off, she suddenly tensed - she seemed to have forgotten something, there seemed to be another person in this bed.
Yu Yi carefully reached back, and immediately touched a solid body.
Xue Chenjing quietly reminded her: "Master, it's me."
Yu Yi's consciousness, which had been about to slip away, suddenly became clear. Right, it was Xue Chenjing - he was still here. She had almost forgotten he was still there, had almost forgotten that this home was just a fabricated illusion.
He had been so quiet that she thought he had left long ago! At a time like this, anyone with a bit of tact should have left on their own, right? Yet he had stayed until now.
Afraid of waking the person who had just fallen asleep, Yu Yi dared not speak again, keeping her movements extremely gentle. She found his waist and pinched a piece of flesh, urging him to leave since she no longer needed him.
Xue Chenjing let out a hiss of pain, finally releasing his held breath very slowly. He grabbed her hand, patiently uncurling her fingers one by one, then pressed her palm against his body, guiding her hand to explore beneath his clothes.
Yu Yi: "???"
She immediately tried to withdraw her hand, but Xue Chenjing's fingers tightened, refusing to let go. Even after being pinched multiple times, even as his whole body trembled, he wouldn't release her. In the end, he seemed to find pleasure in it.
She had never met someone so shamelessly brazen.
Finally, Yu Yi found her hand pinned behind her back by him, her palm pressed against his chest. Listening to his barely contained rapid breathing, Yu Yi chose to stop resisting and ceased pinching him—this pervert only seemed to enjoy it more when she did.
Yu Yi dozed off briefly while Xue Chenjing remained awake all night, enduring this sweet torment, never letting go of her hand.
This way, surely she wouldn't forget his existence again.
Yu Yi slept half the night with her arm twisted behind her, and by the next day, that arm was so numb it felt nearly useless. Xue Chenjing gently massaged it for quite a while before sensation returned.
In the dim light filtering through the window, she glanced back at him sideways, gesturing for him to leave.
Xue Chenjing stared into her eyes, asking once more for confirmation: "It's dawn now. You said you would wake up when it's light. You will wake up, won't you?"
Yu Yi looked back at her sister who was about to wake up, conflict visible in her eyes. There was indeed a voice in her heart urging her to delay a bit longer. She had already postponed from yesterday until today, and now she couldn't help wanting to maybe share one more breakfast together—it had been so long since she'd eaten her mother's cooking.
But this home wasn't quite the same as her real one; only the people were those she longed for, their every movement and the surrounding environment felt out of place.
Today, they had nowhere to watch movies or get their nails done.
Xue Chenjing noticed her reluctance and had to remind her: "The longer you delay, the deeper you'll be drawn in, until finally you won't be able to leave."
Yu Yi closed her eyes briefly, her furrowed brows revealing the pain of pulling away from a beautiful dream. "I know."
Xue Chenjing's figure faded from the bed, and before disappearing completely, he left these words: "If you don't come out by 7-9 AM, I'll break in myself."
