Drifting on a String - Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Chen Piaopiao was in love.
It was different from the first love she had imagined. Her imagination had involved tree-lined paths and bicycles, a period of ambiguous flirting, followed by a red-faced, solemn confession where even holding hands required immense courage.
But her first love was a haze that started in bed and was confessed to out of it—and even that confession wasn't all that clear.
No one had seriously said "let's be together." Tao Jin had simply made her noodles after they were finished.
...
The noodles Tao Jin made could only be described as edible, a far cry from her grandma's, but as Chen Piaopiao picked at the strands, she felt an inexplicable flutter in her heart.
So the "dokidoki" people talked about online was real.
She ate a noodle, then looked at Tao Jin. She raised a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, then demurely pressed the ends of her hair against her chest.
Such beautiful lips, they've held me; such a beautiful pair of hands…
Chen Piaopiao was floating again, her little heart thumping.
After they finished the noodles, Tao Jin went to wash the dishes. Chen Piaopiao stood beside her, her gaze following every one of her movements. Possessiveness sprouted like wild branches, appearing with sudden ferocity. She stubbornly believed that Tao Jin shouldn't even be holding a bowl, chopsticks, or a dishcloth. Her hands should be on Chen Piaopiao's body, and her gentle gaze shouldn't be fixed on the sink.
Chen Piaopiao suddenly realized she had already come to view Tao Jin's affection as her own handful of rice.
Even if a tiny bit slipped through her fingers for something else, it required Chen Piaopiao's permission.
"What are you looking at?" Tao Jin finished washing her hands, the fresh scent of hand soap clinging to them, and gently flicked Chen Piaopiao's forehead.
Her forehead was damp, but Chen Piaopiao didn't wipe it. "Are you going back to the university?"
It was Saturday; she hoped Tao Jin would spend the whole weekend here with her.
Tsk, so what they said online about becoming a clingy mess after sex was true.
"Do you have something to do back at the dorm?" Tao Jin finished drying her own hands, then pulled out another paper towel to wipe Chen Piaopiao's forehead.
Just as she had wiped other places on her during the night.
Chen Piaopiao's ears turned red again. Her gaze softened as she watched Tao Jin's movements. She mulled it over. "Nothing important, but if I don't go back, I should let An Ran and the others know."
Another test. She wanted to hear what arrangements Tao Jin would make for her.
Could she stay here? Or was she just a guest?
Well, a regular guest.
"Then you should tell An Ran," Tao Jin said, seeing right through her little scheme and smiling with her lips pressed together.
"What should I say?" Chen Piaopiao leaned over the counter, unconsciously drawing out her words. "Yesterday was a club gathering, but I don't have an excuse for today."
If Tao Jin wanted her to stay, Tao Jin should be the one to think of an excuse.
Tao Jin glanced at her. "Well, if you want to go back to the dorm, that's fine too."
What did she mean, "that's fine too"? Chen Piaopiao's eyes dimmed.
Her expression made Tao Jin laugh. She tapped Chen Piaopiao's chin with her index finger, her voice as soft as a whisper. "You need an excuse to stay?"
Chen Piaopiao turned her head and nibbled on Tao Jin's knuckle. She didn't know. She wasn't the owner of this apartment, after all.
Even though she'd hit a home run right off the bat, this was still her first time in a relationship, okay?
The excuse Chen Piaopiao gave An Ran was that she had stayed out too late at the celebratory party and caught a cold. She was resting at Tao Jin's place and didn't want to go back in case she infected them.
Lying on the single-seater sofa to reply to the message, the little fox was perfectly at ease. Other people preferred to lie on longer, bigger sofas, but Chen Piaopiao never had, not since she was little. In middle school, she loved to lie on her grandma's single-seater sofa with her bare legs, reading a book. With her feet propped up on the backrest, she would look from her book to the length of her legs, wondering how long they had to grow before she would be considered a grown-up.
Before she could start her own life.
Now, lying in Tao Jin's home, still without any pants on, she peered over the edge of her phone at her propped-up long legs and felt that she had finally grown up.
In the pauses while replying to her own messages, Tao Jin watched Chen Piaopiao. Her ankles were slightly flexed, tracing circles in the air. She was resting her head on the sofa's armrest, and her long, ebony hair cascaded down, swaying gently. It was a good thing she had that jet-black hair; otherwise, squinting in the sunlight, the pale Chen Piaopiao looked as if she might disappear.
Tao Jin felt possessive, too. A proud lion, she cherished unique things more than anyone. And this unmasked, languidly graceful version of Chen Piaopiao, body and soul, was something unique she had never shown to anyone else.
After playing on her phone for a while, Chen Piaopiao grew bored and tilted her head back to look at Tao Jin.
"You're reading, right?" she asked.
"Mhm, what's up?" In truth, Tao Jin wasn't absorbing any of it. She was pretending to flip through the book, but she was actually wondering if it was too quiet. Maybe she should take the little girl, who was in her first relationship, out to have some fun.
"Can I play with your phone for a bit then?" Chen Piaopiao's long hair swayed again.
Tao Jin unlocked it and handed it to her.
Chen Piaopiao took it and, under Tao Jin's watchful eye, opened the QQ group chat and sent a message using T's alt account.
"Hello, everyone."
After typing those words, she glanced at Tao Jin. Seeing Tao Jin smile and lower her head back to her book, Chen Piaopiao felt a sense of comfort. It meant the boundary between them had dissolved a little more.
She could use Tao Jin's account to post messages. Even if it was an unknown alt, it made her feel delighted. It was a feeling that Tao Jin was allowing her to be wanton and unrestrained.
A few group members trickled in to chat, saying she rarely surfaced and asking why she had suddenly appeared.
T: I met someone I like.
T: I've fallen in love.
T: blushing.jpg
After sending them, she held the phone out for Tao Jin to see. She didn't say anything and her expression was neutral. Tao Jin furrowed her brow and gave a helpless smile, but she didn't stop her.
She didn't deny it? Does that mean she admits it?
Chen Piaopiao's gaze hooked Tao Jin's and reeled it in, and her heart felt as if it had been sprinkled with sugar.
It was a childish trick, but it made her happy.
Her pale ankle swayed again. A group member asked: "Wow, what's she like?"
"Is it that intense?"
Paired with her profile picture and ID, it was like seeing an iron tree bloom.
Another T with a buzz cut, whom she had seen at dinner, tagged Tao Jin's alt and said: "Whoa, intense, Lao T."
Chen Piaopiao snorted with laughter. That word, used to describe Tao Jin…
She glanced at her again. Tao Jin was wearing a gray slip dress, looking bright and serene as she read her book.
Catching her glance, Tao Jin grew curious and leaned over to look. Chen Piaopiao pursed her lips and pointed to the bizarre form of address. Tao Jin didn't get angry at Chen Piaopiao's meddling. Instead, she reminded her in a gentle voice, "You should reply."
Then she leaned against the arm of the sofa, craning her neck to wait for the chat to update.
With Tao Jin watching her, Chen Piaopiao quoted the earlier message—"What's she like?"—and typed out, word by word: "Like Rabbit."
When she finished, she didn't send it right away. She left it in the text box and turned to look at Tao Jin.
Tao Jin reached out and, with a press of her index finger, sent the message.
Chen Piaopiao's heart trembled. She was so turned on by the gesture that her gaze went wild. Her thighs shifted, slowly crossing over each other.
The group sprang to life.
"Rabbit?"
"The Rabbit from our group?"
Some of the onlookers started to @Chen Piaopiao.
"Freshman Rabbit, you've charmed another one."
Shimo appeared: "You two met?"
More than that, we slept together.
Chen Piaopiao pursed her lips and replied: "Mhm, we just finished eating."
Her foot flicked up. She nonchalantly exited the group chat and handed the phone back to Tao Jin. Tao Jin glanced at it for a moment, smiled without a word, and set it aside.
They spent the entire two-day weekend holed up in the rental apartment.
Sex, eating, drinking milk tea, sex.
In the spare moments, they played on their phones or watched TV, though they paid no attention to what was on, because whenever they watched, they would start kissing.
They were still too young, perhaps unable to articulate the depth of their affection, but to define it in the popular online parlance, they had a "physiological sort of affection" for each other.
On Sunday afternoon, they packed their things and returned to the university.
The weather had turned cooler that day. Chen Piaopiao was wearing a long-sleeved, zip-up jacket from Tao Jin's closet. She was ten centimeters shorter than Tao Jin, so the sleeves and hem were quite long. Chen Piaopiao hid her hands in the sleeves, swinging them as she walked. As they neared the university gate, she ran off to buy a cup of milk tea.
She stood aside with a sense of entitlement as she watched Tao Jin pay. Biting her straw, Chen Piaopiao thought the milk tea was exceptionally sweet.
Stepping down from the shop's front stoop, Tao Jin tugged on her wrist. Watching her feet, she said softly, "Lift your feet when you walk. Don't be so lazy."
"Oh." Chen Piaopiao lifted her knees a little higher.
After a couple of sips, she didn't want any more. She handed it to Tao Jin to hold, then said she was going to buy some kimbap for breakfast the next morning.
In truth, she was dawdling in front of the various stalls simply because she didn't want to part from Tao Jin.
She quietly watched the woman in gloves place crab sticks and radish strips onto the rice, roll it up, and then slice it into pieces. She felt herself becoming strangely melodramatic, as if what was being cut was the connection between her and Tao Jin.
Unable to stand herself, she raised a hand. Her fingers emerged from Tao Jin's sleeve and idly tugged at the zipper.
Beside her, Tao Jin took the packaged kimbap from the woman and glanced at Chen Piaopiao. "Wear your clothes properly. Don't play with the zipper."
Even her scolding was so gentle, and her hand lightly steadied Chen Piaopiao's back.
Chen Piaopiao zipped up the jacket, bit her lip, and felt very happy.
Besides her grandma, this was the second person to manage her like this. And Tao Jin's way of managing was different. It was like warm water being poured into her heart—it was warm and swelling, making her heart ache faintly.
A pleasant sort of ache.
Not only did she not feel defiant, she actually hoped for more.
#WHIPPED
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