240. Sharing the Same Bed
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The night deepened.
The city, shrouded in a pandemic, had lost its usual hustle and bustle, quiet as a ghost town. From the balcony, one could gaze down and see no cars or people in sight.
In the past, at this hour, the streets would still have plenty of pedestrians. This place was near a walking street, where food stalls could fill an entire block.
After finishing her midnight snack, Lin Nan took a shower, donned fresh underwear, slipped into her pink cat pajamas, and yawned as she pushed open her bedroom door.
The room was dark, lit only by the flickering glow of a phone light swaying on the bed.
“Get off,” Lin Nan said, standing at the head of the bed, urging Chen Yao to move.
“The bed’s big, I’m fine,” he replied nonchalantly.
“Just roll off.”
With a plump little roll, Chen Yao landed on the makeshift bedding below.
With a resigned sigh, Lin Nan climbed onto the bed, inhaling the faint scent of a man lingering there, her drowsiness dissipating, and her body surprisingly stirring to life again.
She started feeling a bit hot, a nameless fire igniting in her chest, her mind becoming increasingly hazy.
This had to be Lilith’s fault, right? It was definitely Lilith’s fault!
It was all her fault for her nightly antics, causing her to get all flustered so easily.
Before Lin Nan transformed into a woman, she hardly ever had any physiological reactions, maybe just a little buzz from looking at some racy pictures or comics.
But back then, she didn’t mind it much; after all, she’d spent so long being a man.
But now, she absolutely detested any kind of female physiological response and would refuse anything that might provoke it.
In the end, she just wasn’t used to being a woman.
Using magic to cool down the heat in her chest, her head cleared significantly, but that also meant she was fully awake now.
Thinking back, the signs had started showing when she first met Lilith. There was the power outage in the dorm and her fleeing due to Chen Yao’s scent.
Even though she lived in a guys’ dorm now, it was hard to have any intimate contact with her gay housemates. She wasn’t the type to just wander over to someone else’s bed, not with all the heavy psychological pressure she was under…
Maybe being too idle was part of the problem; after all, a full stomach leads one to think about… other things.
“By the way, your mom gave me some New Year’s money; you can return it,” Lin Nan suddenly leaned over to Chen Yao on the floor.
“I thought you were just giving it to me…” he replied, somewhat confused.
“I was hoping you could help me return it, alright?” She shot him a glare in the dark.
After reclaiming the red envelope full of money from her aunt, Lin Nan curiously felt around the cash inside, estimating it had at least over a thousand.
This money was just like the last meeting gift; totally not something she could spend.
She’d have to find a sneaky place to stash it away when she left.
Stuffing the red envelope under her pillow, she reluctantly yawned again and collapsed into the warm embrace of her blanket.
Not even a few minutes went by before she rolled over, shifted herself to the corner of the bed, and slightly peeked at Chen Yao’s outline in the darkness.
That made her feel a bit better.
Though this place was gradually giving Lin Nan a sense of belonging, her aunt and uncle were a bit too enthusiastic—so much so that it made her uneasy. If she had anything to hide, she might have thought she had stumbled into a cult.
But it was undeniable that she was growing fonder of this family and was incredibly envious of Chen Yao, who lived in it.
Comparing it to her own home and the treatment she had received there for the past eighteen years…
With the same parents, how could the difference be so vast?
Chen Yao seemed to have fallen asleep.
She looked at his still figure, sighed softly, and carefully climbed down from the bed, afraid to disturb him.
Then, trembling slightly, she lay down next to him, her nervous hand trembling as she grasped his wrist.
If it weren’t for unlocking that new spell…
You can thank me later.
Lin Nan didn’t dare move around carelessly, lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling.
Her aunt and uncle were utterly relentless; even during a pandemic, they risked their lives to volunteer. Lin Nan had gained two pounds under their care; out of gratitude for those two pounds, she felt the need to protect them during this pandemic.
Steam Shield.
Once activated, it can collect the slight steam released from a person’s body heat and cling to the skin’s surface, boasting MAX waterproof capability, and slightly lowering opponents’ other attributes.
While she didn’t know if the various magical shields could fend off viruses, Lin Nan knew that most germs spread through droplets. If they were droplets, then the waterproof Steam Shield should have some effect.
And since the steam shield adheres closely to the skin, even if her aunt noticed, she’d probably just assume Lin Nan had particularly supple skin.
But the unlock condition was to share a bed with a specific male.
Well, sharing a bed was covered; they were on the same bamboo mat. But sharing a pillow… well, not much of a pillow to use!
“What are you doing?”
A deep, sleepy voice suddenly questioned from beside her, startling Lin Nan so much that she stiffened.
“Aren’t you asleep?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.
“I just fell asleep when you started moving around,” Chen Yao responded in a husky voice, rolling over to face her with curiosity, “Is the bed uncomfortable?”
A heavy waft of male hormones hit Lin Nan’s face with his breath, making her blush and her heart race.
She hurriedly flipped over to face away from him, attempting to explain, “I… the bed’s too hot; the bamboo mat is cooler.”
“If you’re not going to sleep, I’ll go sleep on the bed; it’s way more comfortable up there,” Chen Yao mumbled, sitting up, but then realized his wrist was firmly gripped by her hand.
He paused, puzzled about what Lin Nan was up to.
“Did you have another nightmare or just a bunch of random thoughts swirling around?” He didn’t rush to leave, mistakenly thinking she was looking to vent her frustrations.
But Lin Nan just lay there, facing away from him, her hand clutching his wrist tightly, not uttering a word.
Calm down! Calm down! Magic!
Forcing herself to regain her composure, Lin Nan took a deep breath.
So how was she going to explain this next? How to continue unlocking the magic? She calmly pondered.
The moment that question crossed her mind, she noticed she was getting anxious again.
“What’s going on?” Chen Yao scratched his head, deciding to lie back down.
He was incredibly sleepy, yawning often, his brain barely functioning. Within two minutes of lying back down, his breathing steadied again.
Lin Nan, whose muscles had been tense, finally relaxed.
Good thing nothing too outrageous happened.
She turned to face Chen Yao, resting her head on her arm, her gaze showing a complicated mix of emotions as she looked at her long-time buddy for six or seven years.
In the darkness, she could only make out Chen Yao’s silhouette.
I think I might… really like him… She didn’t dare admit this thought, feeling it was a bit perverse for her.
Chen Yao shifted slightly, seemingly planning to turn over, and Lin Nan’s girlish heart raced as she instinctively shrank back.
He reached out his hand, and she tried to dodge.
But then suddenly, she found herself pulled into his embrace.
“!!”
