Chapter 74: Kiss Me
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Now that he was drunk, Lu An found it even harder to suppress his primal urges, especially the longing to kiss Jin Nian. He leaned toward her but stopped. Instead, he flattened Jin Nian’s bangs and said. “Jin Nian,” he began almost casually, interspaced by the occasional hiccup, “I’ll always want you, even if no one else does. I’ll always treat you well; you know that, don’t you?”
Jin Nian rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t come crawling to you, even if no one wants to be with me. You’re annoying, Lu An.” She hated how Lu An seemed to treat relationships like a joke. Who could have known she would end up marrying him in the future?
Jin Nian still had some reservations, so she deliberately kept a distance from Lu An. However, judging from their reactions earlier, Teacher Tan and Old Jin should know they were together. There probably was not any real need for her to pretend otherwise. Besides, they were legally married.
Although Jin Nian had trouble accepting this fact, she knew she had to adapt, even if it meant taking things slow. He wouldn’t divorce her, would he?
If the situation devolved to that extent, Teacher Tan would probably kill her.
Having just come out of a terrible relationship, Jin Nian was in no mood to explore the profundities of love.
It was a good thing she felt comfortable around Lu An. Jin Nian found she did not need to spend too much energy worrying about their relationship, likely due to how easygoing it was. Now that she thought about it, talcing a walk together was not so bad.
As for whether she loved him, Jin Nian left that question for later; she did not want to make things difficult for herself, having spent six years on a fruitless endeavor.
The car was parked beside a big tree by the roadside. Jin Nian lived in the Old Urban District. As they drew closer, she could make out a few finer details. It was a parasol tree with a trunk thick and strong. It was certainly older than she was. One by one, streetlamps flickered to life, their warm light creating mottled shadows of the shifting leaves on the ground. It was beautiful.
When she was still in school, Jin Nian would often bump into couples on dates, enjoying the shade of the trees. She would cover her face in mortification whenever that happened, fleeing before she could interpose in a private moment.
No matter what she tried, Jin Nian could not start the car and eventually gave up. She eyed Lu An’s innocent form while drunk and giggled. Seeing him so relaxed, free from life’s concerns, was rare.
While he appeared cold and aloof, he was actually a big softie on the inside. Teacher Tan once said Lu An was far more sensitive and discerning than she was.
Having received recognition of their relationship from Jin Nian’s parents, Lu An indulged himself, drinking one too many glasses of wine. Ordinarily, Lu An would not have gotten drunk. But he had snuck a few extra glasses with Old Jin when he thought no one was paying attention. Tabaco and alcohol were the two things he could not live without – an unfortunate remnant of his time abroad.
Perhaps he felt the car was a little stuffy, so Lu An rolled down the window, letting his head rest against the hand he propped on the door. Leaning back, he stared into Jin Nian’s eyes and pouted, shamelessly requesting, “Kiss me.”
Jin Nian rolled her eyes and rebuked him. Her outburst did not anger Lu An, and he said, “You scold and scold. Is that all you know how to do? Why don’t you kiss me instead?” When he said that, he did not look drunk at all. It would have been more accurate to describe him as the definition of a textbook villain just moments before he sprung his trap.
Jin Nian was rendered speechless. She tried to compromise, giving Lu An a quick peck on the cheek; however, it was not enough for Lu An. He grabbed her wrist, planting kisses along her arm as he softly coaxed, “Be good. Sit here.” “Noway!”
Jin Nian tried to refuse, citing how spacious the car was – in fact, it was twice the size of her car – but failed. Lu An dragged Jin Nian out of the driver’s seat and onto her lap.
She could feel his cool, minty breath mixed with the sweet scent of mangoes. They kissed. It was not anything more than that. Lu An had no wish to do anything untoward to Jin Nian outside.
“S-stop…” Jin Nian arched backward. She was scared he would take things too far, so she buried her face in the crook of his neck to stop him from planting more kisses. Her traitorous body flashed with heat, an uncomfortable numbness causing her to go limp.
Jin Nian felt a pair of scorching hands roam down her skirt and to her thighs. It was like an itch, one she could not reach, driving her insane! Jin Nian felt like countless ants crawled on her skin, burrowing into her bones.
Lu An stopped. That was as far as he would go. He planned on releasing Jin Nian, who trembled like a startled rabbit in his arms, but not before he could breathe in her delicious scent.
A sweet smell permeated his senses, one much more mellow than his. Lu An inhaled deeply, the last vestiges of his drunken haze dissipating with Jin Nian’s scent. He was half awake by this point, but his breath still carried the stench of alcohol..