First Frost
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Chapter 41
Be a Little Responsible
Disclaimer : This is strictly a fan-translation. The writer of this blog does not own this story, or profit from any part of this translation.
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Wen Yifan looked away. She didn’t give her opinions on the matter and said a simple “hm”.
She didn’t bother to test the truth behind his words.
She was only confused as to why they would talk about Sang Yan’s high school life at their university graduation dinner celebration. After all, Su Haoan had no idea what happened between the both of them.
In addition to that, the way Sang Yan carried himself in such a proud manner, there was no way he would so easily allow others to see such a weak side of him. He’d definitely not share his heartfelt feelings to others too.
Therefore, Wen Yifan had no idea where all this could have stemmed from.
But… Could he have pretended that it was a joke and spoke honestly instead?
It has been so long since then. It would be reasonable to think so.
Wen Yifan didn’t mull over it for too long, but she did think it was curious.
However, out of all scenarios, she didn’t think that she’d be considered “the best” this way.
(TL/N: Them referring to her as the ‘forbidden fruit’ in the previous chapter.)
“After that, Senior Sang even said that,” Mu Chengyun tilted his head as he stared at her and added, “If he were to meet her again, he’d probably chase after her again, but his feelings for her would’ve changed by then.”
Wen Yifan turned the steering wheel without replying.
Mu Chengyun was silent for a while, seemingly trying to guess what her thoughts were. He smiled a little and said with a carefree tone, “But it was probably all just drunken words, he might not mean it.”
After saying that, silence resumed in the car.
Wen Yifan pondered over it for a moment before suddenly saying, “Didn’t you say before this,”
“Hm?”
Wen Yifan pointed out the fault in his words, “That he had only said a single sentence the whole night?”
Mu Chengyun’s smile faltered for a split second but returned to normal in the next.
“Did I say that? I don’t quite remember it now. Maybe I was drunk at the time and misspoke.”
“You should be more careful about these and not drink too much when you go out. In this line of work, anything can happen at any time,” Wen Yifan reminded. “Plus, it’s fine to gossip once in a while, but you can’t have this habit when you’re a journalist.”
“…”
“What you see and what you hear, it should all be as it is when the articles come out.” Just like she was speaking to Fu Zhuang, she calmly said, “You can’t rely on assumptions and you can’t use the excuse that you misheard, misspoke or remembered it incorrectly. You have to seek out the truth and report it as is.”
Mu Chengyun’s smile dropped completely.
His expression turned serious and immediately responded, “I understand.”
They drove to Nanwu City’s Community Hospital.
Wen Yifan found a parking and they both got the equipment down from the car. Following the signboards, they both headed towards the department of orthopaedics. Wen Yifan took the opportunity to have a peek at her phone to reply to some messages.
Before they came, Wen Yifan had contacted the hospital and the victim’s mother and only came for the interview after gaining their consent. She had gotten a rough idea of the situation. The victim was a year one student in junior high, her name was Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu was born with dysfunctional vocal cords and she couldn’t speak.
On the day of the incident, Zhang Yu had gone for a meal with her friends nearby. She had been on the way home at a later time than usual. When she’d crossed the road, the perpetrator couldn’t brake on time after knocking her down and had ended up running over her right leg.
That instantly sobered up the perpetrator immediately and they got down the care and called the ambulance.
Both of them entered the room Zhang Yu was in.
It was a three-person room and it was fully occupied. Zhang Yu was laying in the bed in the middle. She was already post-surgery and her leg was casted. She had child-like features and her eyes were red and puffy, and it was obvious that she’d just cried.
Zhang Yu’s mother was seated at the bedside, gently comforting her.
Wen Yifan went over to greet them and did some introductions.
Zhang Yu’s mother was Chen Lizhen. She didn’t look like she would have a child that big. Her appearance was well-managed and she had a gentle disposition. She was extremely cooperative with Wen Yifan’s interview and her complexion didn’t turn sour throughout the interview, neither was she impatient.
They had the interview outside the hospital room to prevent agitating Zhang Yu’s emotions.
Wen Yifan took down notes from the interview while she questioned her and Mu Chengyun handled the recording with the camera.
“The saddest one is still the child,” Chen Lizhen’s brows knitted together and her eyes reddened as she spoke. “She just transferred into Nanwu Art School, but everything’s uncertain now. We don’t even know how this will affect her dancing.”
Wen Yifan paused a moment before asking, “Little Yu dances?”
Chen Lizhen looked away and shed a tear. “Hm, ballet. She started when she was seven.”
When she heard this, Wen Yifan glanced at the hospital room.
The girl’s head hung low, her hands intertwined in front of her. Her eyelashes blinked and tears unconsciously rolled out, but she didn’t vent out her emotions. Even her crying was silent.
“Little Yu has always been introverted since she can’t speak. She doesn’t have many friends either,” Chen Lizhen said as she brought out her phone to show some pictures. “When we found out she had a talent for dancing, we found her a class. After she started dancing, she grew brighter.
“The doctor said that they still need to monitor Little Yu’s condition as she recovers. There’s no guarantee right now if it’ll affect her dancing.” Chen Lizhen’s fatigue was obvious in her eyes. “I’ve been having discussions with her father if we should have her transfer back to an ordinary junior high.”
Wen Yifan’s gaze didn’t move. She was in a light daze.
She was reminded of her senior high days.
Back then, Wen Yifan also became an ordinary student from being a dance student due to a similar incident.
During the summer vacation of her first year in senior high, Wen Yifan had participated in an off-campus training organised by the school. Just previously, her knee had been aching lightly, but it got worse during the training period.
Wen Yifan had gone to the hospital being accompanied by Zhao Yuandong.
After an examination, they had found a grade 2 meniscal tear.
The doctor had prescribed some medication and rest for three months. She wasn’t allowed any strenuous exercise during that period of time.
It wasn’t serious, but for a dance student, this wasn’t a light matter either. There was nothing else she could do even if she was worried. She could only do what the doctor had said and hope that she would recover as fast as possible.
She just had to work hard to catch up once she’d recovered.
However, when the new term was around the corner, what caught Wen Yifan off guard was Zhao Yuandong coming into her room one night and asking hesitantly if she was willing to move to cultural studies instead.
It was completely absurd to her.
She had felt that such a small ailment was not enough to throw away almost a decade of dancing.
Wen Yifan refused without a second thought.
However, after Zhao Yuandong had persistently brought the matter up, Wen Yifan had realised that she hadn’t come up with that suggestion out of worry for her injury. Later, she’d overheard the conversation between her stepfather and Zhao Yuandong by chance – the cost of summer training was too high.
Not just this once.
There was training every vacation. There was an expense every time.
It would be too much for them to bear.
Zhao Yuandong didn’t have a job and the savings she had were all left by Wen Liangzhe and it had become shared property in the new family.
Her stepfather was reluctant to come out with the expenses so he’d taken the opportunity to suggest that Wen Yifan transferred back to cultural studies instead. He had been adamant about it with various reasonings. In addition to that, Zhao Yuandong wasn’t an assertive person. After listening to him so much, she agreed.
Wen Yifan’s objection following that was rendered useless.
When the adults had decided on something, no matter how unwilling or how hard the child resists, it would be useless. The small little voice would be no different than something transparent and invisible.
When the new term rolled around in the second year of high school, Wen Yifan went back to cultural studies.
The other students were shocked at the news since it came out of nowhere. It was just as though a third year science student with the best grades deciding to transfer to liberal arts right before the college entrance exams.
Several classmates who were closer to her had took turns asking her about it.
Wen Yifan couldn’t bring herself to say that it was because her family refused to bear the high expenses, so she had lied to everyone, saying that it was a recurrence of her condition.
–Because of the leg injury, she couldn’t dance anymore.
Sang Yan had been the last one to approach her about it.
That time, Wen Yifan was at her seat quietly with her eyes lowered. She didn’t look at him and repeated the same words to him while staring at the textbook in her hands.
Sang Yan had remained quiet for a while before asking, “Are you really not dancing anymore?”
“Hm.”
“Which injury in the world did you get?” asked Sang Yan.
Wen Yifan laughed in spite of herself, “That’s just how it is.”
The boy in front of her fell silent again.
Wen Yifan flipped the page of the book and quietly said, “It’s fine, I don’t like dancing much anyway.”
Soon, Wen Yifan saw Sang Yan lift his hand up from her peripheral vision. He gently tapped the tip of her nose.
She glanced up.
He met her eyes and lightly smirked. “Your nose grew longer.”
“…”
Lying makes your nose grow longer.
Everyone had been fooled by her calm demeanour.
Sang Yan was the only one who pierced through her mask.
“That’s fine, let’s wait,” Sang Yan said as he laid on half of her desk. He looked up at her. “If it gets better, it wouldn’t be too late to transfer back to arts. Look at your grades, it’s a whole mess right now. You should use this opportunity to tidy it up.”
Wen Yifan looked back at him but said nothing.
“If it really doesn’t get better, it’ll be alright to dance every now and then, right?”
“…”
“If that doesn’t work either,” Sang Yan laughed, his tone of voice sounded like he was trying to amuse a child. “Once I learn how to, I’ll dance for you.
Wen Yifan’s thoughts were interrupted by Chen Lizhen’s words.
Chen Lizhen smiled and pulled herself together, “But we still need to see what Little Yu thinks. No matter what she choses, her father and I will support her and respect her choices.”
Wen Yifan looked back at the lady and blinked before smiling.
“Hm, she’ll definitely get better.”
After the interview ended, Wen Yifan ran around a few other places with Mu Chengyun.
They got back to the company around four. In the editing room, Mu Chengyun imported the materials into the system. He occasionally asked Wen Yifan some questions and she answered them one by one while transcribing the recorded material for the manuscript.
By the time the film was ready for review, it was already dinnertime.
Wen Yifan packed up and got up to leave the room.
Mu Chengyun left with her and casually asked, “Sister Yifan, are you going to work overtime tonight? Should we grab a meal together?”
“Yea, I have some work left to do.”
Wen Yifan didn’t actually have any more work left to do. Logically, she should leave work right then, but she was worried about bumping into Sang Yan. “I wouldn’t be eating. You can go ahead.”
Mu Chengyun ruffled his hair and said in a soft voice, “I notice that you often skip meals. That’s not good for the body.”
Wen Yifan smiled, “I know. I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”
“Should I order some takeaway for you?”
“There’s no need.”
“…Alright, then.” Mu Chengyun didn’t push any further and went back to the office with her. “I’ll go to the canteen and grab a bite. I’ll have to stay back to write up some manuscripts too.”
Wen Yifan took out her phone and scrolled through her messages. “Hm.”
She was so busy throughout the day and hadn’t had time to think about anything other than work, but now that she slowed down, everything that happened in the morning came back like a film roll, playing non-stop on repeat in her mind.
Wen Yifan hadn’t thought about how she should sort the matter out when she went home.
However, since she had a whole day as buffer, she wasn’t crumbling mentally as much as when it had just happened.
Wen Yifan’s mind was clearer as she started to think through the earliest incident that occurred. When Sang Yan pulled her back to the bed and hugged her after opening his eyes and looking at her for a second.
She paused.
Something wasn’t right there.
The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it became.
Waking up to see someone of the opposite sex in your own bed, how could you continue sleeping so peacefully?
It didn’t matter if he hadn’t woken up as abruptly as she did, but he even went and did that.
Wen Yifan started questioning life.
She wasn’t sure if it was a problem with her, or if Sang Yan had a bigger problem.
She wanted to ask someone about it, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to mention the incident. Even if she used the “I have a friend” method, the other party would naturally assume that it was her.
And there will be a third person in the world who would know that she sleepwalked and climbed into Sang Yan’s bed.
That she did such a shameless thing.
Suddenly, Wen Yifan remembered the forum she’d seen before.
She hesitantly opened Wiebo and found the forum. She slowly typed into the dialog box. She didn’t dare to tell the complete truth, in case Sang Yan coincidentally followed the forum too.
After contemplating it for a long time, Wen Yifan came up with a different scenario.
"Anonymous post, but I went out for a party with a group of friends some time ago. We went for a karaoke session in a private room. Most of us were drunk so we spent the night there. When I woke up, I found myself lying with a male friend who was hugging me. When I was about to sit up, he stirred and glanced at me. He didn't look like he was much awake and hugged me again and went back to sleep. My question is, is this a normal reaction when a normal person wakes up and see someone of the opposite sex next to them?"
After writing it out, Wen Yifan went through what she had written. When she saw the word ‘hug’, she felt uncomfortable. She dwelled on it for a while before resigning to submit it.
At the same time, she received a message.
Wen Yifan tapped on it.
It was from Sang Yan.
SY : 【When are you coming back】
He sounded like he finally had time and was ready to pursue an explanation. Wen Yifan was getting a headache thinking about it and glanced at the couch in the lounge and made her decision.
WYF : 【I still have some work left.】
WYF : 【I may not make it back.】
WYF : 【Why don’t you just lock up?】
Half a minute passed.
SY : 【Wen Yifan】
Then stopped.
It was a little scary to just call someone by their full name without saying any more.
Wen Yifan uneasily waited for five to six minutes.
It took that long before he continued.
SY : 【Be a little responsible.】
“…”
Now that Sang Yan’s said it, Wen Yifan felt like she was being very shameless. Plus, if she considered it, she couldn’t stay in the company without going home. She’d have to face it eventually.
There was no use to escape.
It’d be better to solve it as soon as possible.
After seeing his message, Wen Yifan calmly replied.
WYF : 【I’ll try my best to finish up and get back.】
In order for her message to be believable, she only left the office an hour after she sent her last message. All she did was to think about what to say when she reached home.
Formulate her wording before reaching home.
It wasn’t enough to just think about it. Wen Yifan decided to be adequately prepared in case she forgot what she had in mind to say. She took out her phone, opened the memo app and typed it all out just like how she would a manuscript.
When she got back home, Wen Yifan had already drafted out a very sincere statement.
Wen Yifan put on her indoor slippers and glanced at the living room.
Sang Yan was nowhere to be seen.
Wen Yifan sighed in relief. She walked to the sofa and took a seat, pouring water into a cup. She paid attention to her surroundings and heard the sound of water running in the bathroom.
Oh.
He was in the shower.
Wen Yifan took a sip of water and calmed herself down. She unlocked her phone again to silently recite the memo she had written a moment ago.
She only put her phone down when she heard the bathroom door being opened.
Then the sound of Sang Yan’s slippers sliding across the floor.
And in the next moment, Sang Yan appeared in front of her eyes.
He had a towel over his head. His upper body was bare, only having a pair of shorts on. He had a sturdy build, revealing his toned abs. When he saw Wen Yifan, he didn’t panic and merely raised his eyebrows.
“You still know about coming back?”
Blood rushed to her head at the sight.
She averted her eyes abruptly.
Whatever calmness that had layered up was wiped away by him. She held it in and reminded him, “Sang Yan, we’ve agreed to dress modestly in shared areas.”
“Oh,” Sang Yan pulled over the short sleeve shirt nearby and put it on before saying, “Hadn’t I already resigned myself to my fate?”
After she saw him all changed from the side of her eyes, she looked at him. “What?”
This time, Sang Yan didn’t sit at his usual seat, but he sat next to her. He conveniently got himself a cup of water and slowly said, “You’ve already kissed me, felt me up, is there a difference now whether I’ve a shirt on?”
“…”
They got closer.
Wen Yifan instantly smelled the scent of sandalwood from his body and the faint smell of alcohol in the mix.
She pursed her lips and asked, “Have you been drinking?”
Sang Yan tilted his head and replied lazily, “Yeah.”
“I won’t take up too much of your time then. Let’s quickly talk about this issue so you can rest earlier.” The closeness was somehow causing Wen Yifan to get nervous. She met his gaze and calmly said, “So here’s what happened, after the incident this morning, I just realise that I’ve no sense of direction when I sleepwalk.”
Sang Yan’s eyes were dark as he stared straight at her.
“It’s not really useful for me to block my door with the chair. In the meantime, you should remember to lock your door,” Not wanting him to think that she felt guilty, Wen Yifan didn’t avoid his eyes. “I’ll get it checked out at the hospital soon-“
Before she got to finish, Sang Yan suddenly lifted his hand.
Staring at his action, the rest of Wen Yifan’s sentence got stuck in her throat.
Sang Yan’s movements seemed to have been slowed down by a few times and his expression was pretty relaxed. He slowly touched her cheek, his fingertips were ice cold.
He only touched it for a brief moment before removing his hand.
“You’re blushing.”
TL/N : I’m blushing…
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