Drifting on a String - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Chen Piaopiao felt like she'd had a dream.

She woke up, exhausted and dazed.

She couldn't remember how many times they'd done it last night. Tao Jin had handled her gently, using positions she had and hadn't imagined. She didn't know if the alcohol had amplified things, but she felt that Tao Jin in bed was a little different. She was still considerate, still gentle, but she was no longer bright and sunny. Her muffled moans and gasps lurked in the night, on Chen Piaopiao's body, in the crook of Chen Piaopiao's neck.

Whenever Chen Piaopiao trembled, Tao Jin would pull back her kisses and suckles, give her a small bite, and then gently soothe the spot with the tip of her tongue.

Discovering Tao Jin's kink made bigger waves in Chen Piaopiao than anything else. It was like glimpsing the free and unrestrained hum of a blue whale as it sank to the bottom of the sea.

She unconsciously touched her neck and felt herself getting aroused again.

Without a doubt, she'd had a great time, and so had Tao Jin.

They had done it without any promises, without considering any consequences, without even sorting out the cause and effect or how it all began.

---

Many times.

Some people described such an act as "communication," others as "exploration." For Chen Piaopiao, it was neither. She felt as if Tao Jin had cast a spell on her body. The bedsheet and nightgown covering her felt uncomfortable; she had developed a sense of revulsion toward any fabric that touched her, as if it were a foreign object, because it wasn't Tao Jin's fingers.

When Tao Jin caressed her, she was like a tamed fox. Tao Jin could bite her or pat her; everything she did felt so good.

The pity was, she hadn't yet "tamed" Tao Jin.

She wanted to touch her but lacked the strength. Tao Jin was still like the moon in the sky. The shrouded lake belonged to it, but it only left a reflection in the water.

It had not landed in the lake, had never belonged to the lake.

She was not happy.

After her daze, Chen Piaopiao turned her head to look at the floor-to-ceiling window. The curtains were half-drawn, letting in the blue sky, white clouds, and sunlight. Even the shadows of the trees were vibrant with life. Chen Piaopiao didn't like sunlight. The sun had no desire. Desire was about pressure, about hiding and avoidance. Sunlight was about growth, about leaving nowhere to hide.

The other side of the double bed was empty. Chen Piaopiao had been thinking about so many things just to cover up this fact.

She had noticed it the moment she woke up, but she was unwilling to admit it.

Getting out of bed, she looked for her clothes from yesterday, walking a full circle before finally finding them in the dryer.

She got dressed, took the eye mask holding back her hair, and put it back in the bedside drawer. Slipping on a pair of slippers, she headed for the living room.

The living room was still empty. The faint glimmer of hope was extinguished with a "pop."

Chen Piaopiao plugged her phone in to charge. After connecting the cable, she turned it on. Aside from two messages from An Ran, no one else had contacted her.

It was hot. She lay on the sofa, scratching her neck.

She was about to doze off again when she heard the lock click, followed by the sound of slippers. She deliberately kept her eyes closed, listening as Tao Jin walked over, crouched in front of her, and asked, "You're up?"

Tao Jin was truly wicked. Chen Piaopiao had imagined many possibilities, but with just a few footsteps, she had reclaimed lost ground.

Chen Piaopiao opened one eye.

Tao Jin smiled. Seen through only the left eye, her smile seemed a bit two-dimensional. She asked, "Is this how you say hello?"

"I'm not awake yet," Chen Piaopiao said softly, closing her left eye as well. "So sleepy."

How else was she supposed to say hello? Hey girl, are you also still savoring the memory?

Tao Jin waited quietly for a few seconds before speaking again. "Chuchu and the others are having breakfast at the KFC downstairs. Want to go?"

"You just went to see them?" Chen Piaopiao opened her eyes and looked at her.

Tao Jin met her gaze, thinking of how she had involuntarily pursed her lips last night, and how she had let out an unbearable moan when her neck was sucked.

There was still a faint bite mark on her collarbone, tinged with red.

Tao Jin raised a hand and gently pulled her collar up, covering the mark. "No, I just went downstairs to get a package. It was sent to the Cainiao station, so I had to go get it."

She wanted to kiss her again, but she wasn't sure if Chen Piaopiao wanted to.

The little fox was very clingy after drinking, but after waking up, she was only willing to look at her with one eye.

Chen Piaopiao felt the tingling numbness from her fingertips. She curled up for a moment longer, waiting for her phone to charge to 10% before getting up. "Let's go. Let's get breakfast with them."

"Okay." Tao Jin smiled and stood up to wash her hands.

So composed. She handles even this sort of thing with such ease. Chen Piaopiao watched her back, habitually grinding her teeth against the inside of her cheek.

The two of them didn't say much. They left the apartment normally, took the elevator, and walked to KFC to see their club mates who had pulled an all-nighter with them.

They were gathered around a table near the street, every one of them looking as pale as a ghost.

Chuchu, sporting dark circles under her eyes, greeted Chen Piaopiao. "You're here."

Her voice was hoarse too.

Chen Piaopiao couldn't help but laugh. She sat down next to Chuchu. Tao Jin pulled out a chair and sat next to Chen Piaopiao.

Chen Piaopiao ran her fingers through her hair, watching as Tao Jin, with a hint of languor, greeted everyone, ordered some more food, and then spoke to the Glasses Vice President with a perfectly normal expression.

The Vice President asked her how she slept after getting back last night. Tao Jin said, "Pretty well."

...

Chen Piaopiao fell silent, moistened her lips, and picked up a french fry to eat.

"Sister Jin, what time did you leave yesterday?" Chen Xi asked, yawning as she lay sprawled on the table.

"Hmm," Tao Jin tilted her head. "I don't quite remember. Around three?"

Chen Piaopiao thought Tao Jin would turn to her for confirmation, but she didn't.

She listlessly lowered her head and played with her phone, feeling like she might have been played with like a phone herself.

But she didn't know if a phone enjoyed it. She, on the other hand, certainly had.

Just as she was chatting with An Ran, a gentle voice suddenly sounded by her ear. "Preserved egg and lean pork congee. Want some?"

Chen Piaopiao glanced over. Tao Jin's fingers were on the lid, having just twisted it open.

The white congee was thick and sticky. Tao Jin's fingertips were clean, but a few hours ago, her fingertips had been sticky and not clean at all.

"Yes." Chen Piaopiao put down her phone. Tao Jin handed her a spoon, then a napkin.

Chen Piaopiao took them, tucked her hair behind her ear, and ate in small spoonfuls.

Tao Jin chatted idly with the Vice President. Noticing Chen Piaopiao looking at her, she turned her head to meet her gaze, then offered her a cup of fruit juice. She dipped her chin and asked in a low voice, "Thirsty?"

Chen Piaopiao shook her head. She didn't want it.

The Vice President reached out. "Give it to me, I'll have it."

"Here." Tao Jin smiled and handed it over. Chen Piaopiao's gaze flickered with disappointment. The next second, Tao Jin's hand came to rest on her back, patting it discreetly.

Chen Piaopiao sniffled and focused on her congee.

After eating, everyone was heading back to the university. Chen Piaopiao wasn't in high spirits. With her hands in her pockets, she followed the crowd toward the campus gate. An arm suddenly weighed down on hers. Chuchu skipped over and linked arms with her. "You live on the 11th floor, right?"

"Yeah." In her peripheral vision, Tao Jin was walking with the Vice President, right beside her.

"Then let's go together, I'm on the 10th. Oh, right, I want to go to the Second Canteen to buy a chicken cutlet. If you have time, come with me." Chuchu had her energy back after eating and was chattering away.

"Sure," Chen Piaopiao replied with a demure smile.

What are Tao Jin's plans? The phone in her pocket was even more demure than her disguise; it hadn't vibrated once.

"Huh?" Chuchu suddenly glanced at her legs. "What's wrong? Are your legs bothering you?"

She was walking slowly, listlessly, and a little awkwardly.

Chen Piaopiao snapped back to reality, her ears instantly turning red.

She wasn't injured, but Tao Jin probably knew what was going on. After such a rough first time, she felt that a certain place was chafed and uncomfortable, and she didn't really want to take wide steps.

She moved her neck and replied in a small voice, "No, I'm probably just sore from staying up all night."

"Ah… I'm sore too," Chuchu said sympathetically.

The footsteps beside her stopped, and the Vice President's words trailed off. Chen Piaopiao, walking ahead, heard Tao Jin call her name. "Piaopiao."

"Hmm?" She turned back.

"Didn't you say you needed to buy something?"

Did I?

Yes.

Chen Piaopiao pursed her lips. "Oh, I think so."

"Come on, I'll go with you," Tao Jin said.

Chen Piaopiao agreed. She said goodbye to Chuchu, and the two of them split off from the club members, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

They walked back to the residential complex along the same path they had come. They still didn't talk much. Chen Piaopiao kept her hands in her pockets, walking side-by-side with Tao Jin. They didn't hold hands or have any other physical contact, but she very naturally followed Tao Jin home, watched her open and close the door, and then sat on the sofa, letting out a breath as her shoulders slumped.

Chen Piaopiao walked over, propped a knee on the sofa, and then turned to sit down.

"What did you need to buy?" she asked.

Tao Jin turned to look at her, her gaze soft. "Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

"No." Chen Piaopiao took her hands out of her pockets and propped them on either side of her on the sofa, feeling quite awkward.

But at the same time, she was secretly happy. Tao Jin wasn't acting as if nothing had happened. She was concerned about her, worried about her.

She pressed her lips together and turned her head to look at the dining table, where she noticed a plastic bag. Inside was a cold breakfast. Looking closer, she asked Tao Jin, "Did you buy an egg-filled pancake?"

"Mhm."

"When did you buy it?" It wasn't in the fridge. Is it still edible?

"This morning."

"Huh?" If you bought breakfast, why did we go to KFC?

Tao Jin smiled, looking from the egg-filled pancake to Chen Piaopiao. "When we were in the taxi coming back yesterday, you said the egg-filled pancakes on the street looked really good."

But by the time she bought it and came back, Chen Piaopiao was still asleep. It was cold by the time she woke up, so it probably didn't taste good anymore.

A small, crooked flower inexplicably bloomed in Chen Piaopiao's heart. She stood up, walked over, fiddled with the bag for a moment, looked at it, picked it up, and took a bite. "It's not bad."

"It's pretty good," she said.

Tao Jin smiled again, looking at her with a gentle, tolerant expression.

Chen Piaopiao drowned in her gaze. She licked a crumb from her lower lip, chewed, and swallowed. Then, clutching the egg-filled pancake, she locked her eyes on Tao Jin's, her brow twitching slightly. "Tao Jin."

"Yes?"

"Do you like me?"

As she said this, there was still a bit of cold grease by her mouth. It was low-quality and unhealthy, but it was fragrant—the very fragrance of the street food she had craved in the taxi.

Tao Jin didn't look away. She blinked, held her gaze for two or three seconds, and then a bright smile bloomed on her face. "Isn't it obvious?"

Isn't it obvious? The repeated touches, the acceptance, the drawing closer—if none of that was obvious… wasn't last night obvious enough?

She liked Chen Piaopiao very much. So much that the ten seconds she waited for her to adjust as she entered her felt more agonizing than any other moment.

Chen Piaopiao's breath hitched. Her throat, which had just swallowed the pancake, felt fiery hot.

Tao Jin really liked her. It wasn't a momentary impulse, nor a drunken mistake. It was because she liked her that she had kissed her back, that she had wanted her.

Though her mouth was empty, Chen Piaopiao still swallowed instinctively.

What did she like about her? She wasn't outstanding, had no exceptional talents, and didn't even possess any fine qualities. Was it just because… she was pretty?

Tao Jin watched as the little fox's brow furrowed slightly, lost in confusion again.

She was cutest when she was in a daze, exuding a loneliness that rejected the entire world. She resembled an animal, her fluffy hair like a fur coat for winter.

"You… like me for…"

What?

Chen Piaopiao didn't ask the question out loud. Her heart was pounding, and she felt as if her whole body was ringing like a bell. Taking a deep breath, she put down the egg-filled pancake, lowered her head, and took out her phone.

Her fingers were greasy, smudging the screen, but she didn't care. She expertly opened the forum app and navigated to her account's post history.

Laying herself bare probably required a hundred thousand times more courage than kissing Tao Jin.

Just a single glance made her break out in a sweat. The back of her neck turned red, and the area behind her ears burned.

Chen Piaopiao took her phone, sat down next to Tao Jin, and handed it to her, like a hunter who had deceived a fox, surrendering his shotgun.

Nervous, flustered, a final gamble.

"This is my account. You can take a look. I might not be… the person you think you like."

She said it in a small voice, the end of her sentence uncharacteristically wavering.

It was painful, because Chen Piaopiao suddenly realized she liked Tao Jin even more than she had imagined. She was already reluctant to let go, just as she was beginning to confess.

Tao Jin glanced at the greasy phone screen, then back at Chen Piaopiao. She wasn't the whale hunter she thought she was, but a little fox with drooping ears.

Freshly down from the mountain, baring her teeth and claws, thinking she was clever enough to cultivate nine tails.

A smile crept into Tao Jin's eyes. She paused, then tilted her head.

"Oh, that ID? I know."

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