First Frost
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Chapter 43
Come Over If You Dare to
Once the words left her mouth, Sang Yan’s eyebrow twitched and his hands which were playing with his phone stopped.
The atmosphere froze over.
Wen Yifan realise that her words were much more straightforward than Zhong Siqiao’s given example. Staring at his deep dark eyes for two seconds, she calmly shifted her gaze away.
The last time something like this happened was when they first met again at the OverTime bar.
However, at the time, Wen Yifan thought that Sang Yan couldn’t recognise her and felt that the situation as a whole was difficult to explain, so she just gave up, saying, ‘That’s a bit of a pity’, thinking they would never meet again.
Right now, however, both of them were sober and clear-minded.
Without any obstacles.
Unsure if this round of testing was successful or not, Wen Yifan felt that she should stop there. She stood up, maintaining her normal expression and said, “You should be more careful in the future. I’ll head back in to rest first.”
She took a few steps.
Sang Yan spoke up behind her, “Wait a sec.”
Wen Yifan pursed her lips and regulated her emotions before turning her head.
“Let’s hear it,” Sang Yan looked her in the eyes and sat up straight. His tone of voice wasn’t serious, “What sort of crime are you afraid that you would commit?”
“…” Wen Yifan held it in and said, “I’m just using your words.”
Her implication was that, I’m not sure what sort of crime you’re referring to when you said that your face was desirable enough for others to commit crimes.
“Oh,” said Sang Yan, “You want to k-“
“…”
Kiss?
A flicker of discomfort flashed across Wen Yifan’s eyes. She didn’t think that far. She’d only borrowed his words to gauge his attitude towards her.
She was about to retort, but Sang Yan hadn’t finished.
“-cause an offence against me.”
Oh.
Not ‘kiss’, it was ’cause’.
‘You want to cause an offence against me’.
…
A sudden heavy weight piled up on her body.
Wen Yifan was stunned and was frantically searching for words to reply and make him understand that the crime she spoke of was not to that extent.
In the next moment.
Before she could string her words together.
Sang Yan suddenly tossed his phone aside and leaned back on the backrest. He raised his head and stared directly at her. His fine, black hair was tousled over his forehead and his pupils reflected the lights in the living room. It looked like a challenge, but it looked like blatant seduction at the same time.
“Come over if you dare to.”
Back in her room.
Wen Yifan shut the door and leaned against it, slowly breathing out. She steadied her breathing and entered the washroom to wash her face. Her heartbeat was the only thing she could hear in her ears.
And it just wouldn’t go away.
Wen Yifan closed the tap and tore a piece of tissue to wipe her face. She stared at herself in the mirror and her thoughts started floating away again. The last six words Sang Yan had said stuck to her mind like glue and it kept lingering around.
“Come over if you dare to.”
How could she dare to.
How in the world would she have that sort of courage!!!
Thinking of that, Wen Yifan washed her face again, trying her best to regain some form of sanity.
Wen Yifan only recalled forcing out a ‘that’s not what I meant’ sentence before turning to return to her room without stopping. It only happened a few minutes ago, but she was already unsure how she should control her emotions.
Should she remain as calm as ever.
Or should she just give up and run away.
Wen Yifan sighed, not knowing if whatever he did was just an act of impulse.
Since she left Zhong Siqiao to go home, Wen Yifan’s mind was preoccupied with Sang Yan’s blind date, even though it had nothing to do with her.
It was Sang Yan’s business.
It was reasonable for his family to arrange a meeting with someone since they felt that he was of age. She should act as she always would – listen to it, and let it pass. No questions ask, no need to intervene.
However, after what had happened tonight, Wen Yifan realised that a lot of her actions were out of her control.
Even if she felt that it wasn’t right, that she should do that, she could still be affected by certain things and rashly cross the line. Turns out, every word she said, every action she took and every emotion she showed could be irrational at times.
She, too, had emotions.
She had these unexpected desires too.
She also wanted to… Lean a little closer in his direction.
But she was also afraid that this was all out of her reach.
Sang Yan has a good household and he lived well too. He managed to open a bar at such a young age, and he was better than his peers on the career ladder. Whatever he wanted, he would be able to achieve without any failure.
He ticked all the boxes of an excellent prospect and he held himself highly.
But she was different.
Although Wen Yifan didn’t really have a good gauge of appearances, she knew from what others said that she was indeed good-looking. However, she didn’t think that this was much of a selling point.
There are many good-looking people around, after all.
Apart from her steady job, Wen Yifan had nothing. She lived frugally. Dancing was her only commendable talent yet she’d long given it up. Her character was mediocre and boring too.
Wen Yifan never once thought that, she’d be someone who would leave a strong and lasting impression on others.
She wasn’t sure if Sang Yan treated her differently now.
Was he interacting with her because of their reunion;
Or maybe she was just a hurdle that he hasn’t overcome yet.
Just from the test she did tonight, Wen Yifan still couldn’t understand Sang Yan’s thought process.
But he wasn’t resisting much, neither did he deliberately divert the topic. Instead, he faced her head on. She didn’t even know if he understood what she was trying to express.
Wen Yifan couldn’t really tell the difference.
Does he think that she was just copying what he’d said before, or does he notice anything odd.
Do I have to test it out a few times?
Wen Yifan was just a completely inexperienced newbie in this regard.
She sighed and left the washroom.
And thought of Sang Yan’s expression and tone of voice when he said the last sentence.
Huh, he’s really…
Like a star.
The first frost of every year never happened on the same period between the 23rd to 24th of October.
This year, Wen Yifan’s birthday fell on a day after the first frost of the year. In previous years, she either stayed home for a day, or had a meal with her colleagues after getting off work to have a casual celebration.
Coincidentally, Wen Yifan ended her break this day and left early for work. By the time she was done with working overtime and on the train home, it was already almost eleven at night.
She’d told Sang Yan in advance that she’d be home late.
Sang Yan only replied with a: 【Hm.】
Other than that, there were quite a few unread messages on her chat list.
It was all birthday wishes.
Wen Yifan thanked them one by one, except for Zhao Yuandong. She didn’t even click into her chat. She stared at her foggy reflection on the window. Only a moment later did it sink in that she was now a year older.
Without knowing, she was already 24 years old.
Sang Yan was her age.
24 wasn’t that old, right?
Why is he going off to blind dates.
She wasn’t sure if he’d met a suitable girl.
Wen Yifan let her thoughts run wild throughout her way back and snap herself out of it when she reached home. It was already late so she gently shut the front door to not disturb Sang Yan and locked it.
She only noticed that Sang Yan was still in the living room staring at his phone when she turned towards the sofa.
Wen Yifan didn’t bother him and decided to head straight to her room.
Right then, Sang Yan called out to her, “Wen Yifan.”
“Huh?”
“Do me a favour,” said the young man lazily, “Get the box in the refrigerator for me.”
“Sure,” Wen Yifan said and hung her back at the side and went to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and glanced over its contents, seeing a cake box at the upper shelf. She froze for a moment before reaching out to it.
It was a paper box and she couldn’t see its contents.
It seemed to a birthday cake.
Wen Yifan stared at it for a while before bringing it back to the living room. She placed it on the coffee table, unsure if the cake was for her. She said, “I’ll turn in for the night, alright?”
“…”
Sang Yan looked at her and said, “Let’s eat it together.”
Wen Yifan mumbled an ‘oh’ and sat down. She scratched her head unnaturally and glanced at him, asking calmly, “Did you get it for me?”
Sang Yan leaned forward and opened the box, saying, “I just got whatever.”
Seems like he silently admitted to it.
Wen Yifan blinked. “Thanks.”
It was a 6-inched strawberry cake.
It looked exceptionally good. The white cream was decorated with strawberries in a circle. There were even rose-like flowers scattered over it. A small sign was stuck on it, with a ‘Happy Birthday’ written on it.
Sang Yan quietly took out the candle.
It’s been years since she received a birthday cake.
Wen Yifan stared at the cake, before looking back up. “Can I take a picture?” she asked quietly.
Sang Yan glanced at her. “Take.”
Taking out her phone from her pocket, Wen Yifan took a few pictures of the cake seriously.
Sang Yan watched her actions from the side. After she was done, he placed a candle into the cake and brought out a lighter from his pocket to light the candle.
“Make a wish,” he said lightly.
Wen Yifan recollected herself, tilting her head to think about it before she quickly blew out the candle.
Sang Yan casually asked, “What did you wish for?”
“Wouldn’t it not come true if I say it out loud?” asked Wen Yifan.
“If you don’t tell me,” laughed Sang Yan. “How am I going to make it come true for you?”
“…”
Wen Yifan’s heart started racing when she saw his appearance right then. She pursed her lips and looked away. Grabbing the cake knife, she blabbered, “It’s work-related.”
“Huh.” Sang Yan took out the paper plates from the bag, and said with a taunting tone of voice, “And here I thought you’d want me to be your lover.”
“…”
Wen Yifan’s movements ceased at his words without looking at him. She ignored it, put a slice of cake on the paper plate and placed it in front of him.
“I’ll give you just this much? It’s not good to have too much cake so late at night.”
Staring at her expression, Sang Yan’s mind seemed to be filled with thoughts.
After a while, he agreed and didn’t say any more.
Close to midnight, Wen Yifan finished up her cake and tidied up the table. She returned the leftover cake to its box and stood up.
“It’s almost 12, you should rest soon.”
“Yeah.”
Returning to the kitchen, Wen Yifan put the cake where it was before. When she came back out, ready to get back to her room, she bumped into Sang Yan who was also returning to his room.
Sang Yan’s footsteps stopped and blocked her way.
Wen Yifan stopped too.
He called out to her again, “Wen Yifan?”
“What’s wrong?”
Three-seconds silence.
Sang Yan glanced at the hanging clock for a brief moment.
“Present’s at the coffee table,” Sang Yan lifted his chin. “Get it yourself.”
Wen Yifan hadn’t registered what he said.
In the next second,
he suddenly bent down to her eye level. Their eyes met for two seconds. He casually raised his hand and brushed the top of her head.
“Happy birthday.”
Sang Yan removed his hand after saying that and went back to his room.
Right after closing his door, his phone in his pocket started ringing. Bringing it out, he walked to his bed and sat down before glancing at the screen.
It was Su Haoan.
Sang Yan picked up the call.
“Come out for drinks tomorrow night, I’ve found new love,” giggled Su Haoan. “My girlfriend’s friends are quite good-looking too. Come, I’ll introduce them to you so you can get off the market as soon as possible.”
“Huh, what’s that gotta to with me,” said Sang Yan. “I’m hanging up.”
“Are you even human? What’ve you been up to recently?! How long has it been since you last came to OverTime?” Su Haoan was very unhappy. “Hurry. I’ll kill you if you don’t come tomorrow.”
“I’ve been recently trying to confirm something.” Thinking about what just happened put Sang Yan in a good mood. “I won’t be free within this short period of time. You, on the other hand, enjoy your new found love, enjoy your drinks, don’t bloody bother me.”
Su Haoan said, “What are you on about?”
Sang Yan pursed his lips and said no more.
“What’ve you been trying to confirm!” Su Haoan was intrigued. “Let’s hear it, and let this brother of yours give you some advice.”
Sang Yan still didn’t say a word.
Su Haoan asked a few questions more, but got angry when he didn’t get a response. “The hell, are you going to say anything or not?!”
“Fine,” Sang Yan reluctantly said, “I’ll just let you in on a few sentences.”
“?”
“Well, recently, there has been this young lady who’s trying to pick me up,” Sang Yan said slowly, “I don’t have time to deal with anyone else, understand?”
TL/N: /screaming
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