Chapter 25: Chapter 24: Worse Than Beasts
"Chuchu, are you still awake?" Xiang Ri whispered in the dark.
"Zzzzz..." There was no response, only the soft rhythm of her breathing.
"Sleeping so deeply?" Xiang Ri quietly reached out his hand.
He touched an arm—soft and smooth—and after squeezing it for a while, he realized she wasn't responding.
Growing bolder, Xiang Ri turned on the light. The girl's eyes were closed, her long lashes trembling gently in sleep. Her nostrils flared slightly with each breath, and her rosy lips parted ever so slightly. Her delicate face looked unbearably adorable.
Her breathing was steady, but most of her towel blanket had slipped off, revealing a narrow tank top. Her chest rose and fell with her breaths, and beneath the short skirt were pale, round thighs glowing with a honeyed sheen.
Xiang Ri almost had a nosebleed. Even in her sleep, this girl was so enticing—it was unbearable. Without thinking, he spread his fingers and gently placed his hand on her smooth leg.
Chuchu's foot twitched, as if the rough hand made her uncomfortable. Startled, Xiang Ri glanced at her face and found her eyes still closed. Relieved that she hadn't woken, he continued to touch her.
But something seemed off. As he examined her more closely, he noticed her face was growing redder, and her breathing was no longer as smooth as before.
She's pretending to be asleep! The thought sent a thrill through Xiang Ri. Isn't this an open invitation? It would be foolish not to take advantage of this! With her enticing red lips right before him, and the girl's silent consent, Xiang Ri couldn't hold back any longer. He leaned down and kissed her.
"Mm!" Chuchu thought he would just touch her a little and then fall asleep, but she didn't expect him to be so bold, launching a full-blown night attack. This was her first kiss! She opened her eyes wide in shock, struggling to push him away.
With her soft, fragrant body in his arms, Xiang Ri had already transformed into a beast. No matter how hard the girl pushed, it was futile, and her resistance only fueled his bolder advances.
Before they knew it, they had stripped off all their clothes. Her pale skin gleamed, making the man dizzy, and the sight of her crimson-tipped breasts made her even more alluring. Her long, smooth legs exuded an endless temptation. Xiang Ri couldn't help but marvel, "So beautiful..."
Gently prying apart the girl's legs, which were futilely pressed together, Xiang Ri entered her.
"Ah—be gentle!" Chuchu frowned and moaned softly.
"I'll be very gentle," Xiang Ri murmured, biting her alluring red lips, one hand caressing her firm chest, moving slowly and deliberately...
...
"Idiot!" A sharp pain in his arm woke Xiang Ri from his slumber. He opened his eyes to find the girl glaring at him with rage.
"Let me sleep a little longer, I'm so tired!" Xiang Ri brushed her hand away and pulled her back into his arms to continue sleeping.
"You bastard! Let go of me!" Chuchu screamed.
"It hurts! Can't you just stay quiet for a bit?" Xiang Ri pulled his hand back, grumbling.
"Hurt? You know what pain is? Do you know how much I hurt last night?" Chuchu became more agitated, grabbing his hand and biting down on it without mercy.
"Ow, okay, how about we call it even? But seriously, I'm exhausted. Can we just—"
"Go to hell! No sleeping! You owe me an explanation. You promised not to cross the line, and yet you still bullied me!" Chuchu's eyes filled with tears, her voice trembling with grievance.
"Hey, hey, it's my fault. I apologize. I'll take responsibility. Hit me, scold me, I accept it all."
"Bastard! Do you think a simple apology will be enough?" Tears welled up in Chuchu's eyes.
"Don't cry, don't cry. It's all my fault. I'm the worst. I shouldn't have coveted Chuchu's beauty and had such wicked thoughts in the middle of the night—"
"Stop talking!"
"I won't say another word!" Xiang Ri felt utterly frustrated. This kind of thing usually requires both parties to be willing, yet now it was all being blamed on him. How was that fair? But no matter what, he would never dare voice that thought aloud. Otherwise, being kicked off the bed would be the least of his worries; the real nightmare would be never being allowed back into it again.
"Do you think I might get pregnant?" After a moment of silence, Chuchu suddenly asked.
"I'm not sure," Xiang Ri replied with a bitter smile. They had been intimate twice the previous night without any precautions, so the possibility was high.
"Damn it! I don't want to have a child this early. I'm only 19! People will laugh at me, and it's all your fault. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be worrying about this at all. You jerk! You big pervert!" Chuchu was so angry she almost bit him again.
"Hey, you can't put all the blame on me!" Xiang Ri protested.
"So now you're saying it's my fault?" Chuchu's eyes flashed coldly, and her teeth clenched with a grinding sound.
"No, no, that's not what I meant. It's just... Chuchu, you're so beautiful, I couldn't help myself. You know how weak men are in situations like this. I'm not some saint, and when we're sharing the same bed, well..."
"Well, starting tomorrow—no, starting today—you are no longer allowed in my bedroom. Go sleep in your own room!" Chuchu declared firmly.
"Ah, Chuchu, darling, you can't be that heartless, can you?" Xiang Ri, having just tasted the sweetness, couldn't bear the thought of sleeping alone again.
"I mean what I say. If you dare bully me again, I'll bite you to death!" Chuchu swore.
"Chuchu, look into my eyes!" Xiang Ri suddenly said seriously.
"What sneaky plan are you up to now?" Chuchu grumbled but still met his gaze.
"What do you see?" Xiang Ri tried to look as sincere as possible.
"Your eyeballs!" Chuchu replied, annoyed.
"And in the eyeballs?" Xiang Ri asked, full of anticipation.
"Pupils!" Chuchu answered quickly.
"Is there really nothing else?" Xiang Ri nearly spat blood—this girl was getting back at him.
"Go to hell!" Chuchu turned her head away.
Xiang Ri panicked. His future happiness was at stake! He immediately grabbed her face and looked at her intently. "There's something in my eyes, something called devotion, and it exists only for you. Did you see it?"
"Ugh, that's so cheesy, I'm covered in goosebumps," Chuchu pretended to be disgusted, but a glimmer of happiness sparkled in her eyes.
"I've got a poem for you," Xiang Ri recalled a love poem he'd read years ago that had once won him a high school girlfriend.
"I'm not interested, but since you seem so sincere, let's hear it."
"Ahem, here it goes." Xiang Ri cleared his throat. "If a hundred people love you, I am one of them. If ten people love you, I am one of them. If only one person loves you, that person is me. And if no one in the world loves you anymore, it means I am no longer alive."
"I feel like I've heard that somewhere before," Chuchu eyed him suspiciously.
"How could you? I just made it up!" Xiang Ri brazenly claimed someone else's words as his own.
"Really?" Chuchu was still skeptical.
"As real as it gets!" Xiang Ri said confidently.
"Real, my foot!" Chuchu ignored him, grabbed her phone from beside the pillow, and exclaimed, "Do you even know what time it is? It's almost 9 o'clock, and you're still not going to class!"
"Why aren't you going?" Xiang Ri looked at her, disgruntled.
"My body's injured. How can I go? But you have to! Yesterday you made such a big deal about going to bed early so you could attend class today. You made me miss the end of my TV show! Now get up and go to your class!"
"Injured? Don't think that only women get hurt—men bleed the first time too!" Xiang Ri retorted loudly.
"Are you going or not? If not, don't even think about getting back into my bed again!" Chuchu blushed as she scolded him.
"So, what you're saying is, if I go to class, I can sleep with you tonight?" Xiang Ri's eyes lit up mischievously.
"No!" Chuchu's face turned crimson, almost dripping with embarrassment.
"Your objection is invalid! You said it yourself, my dear wife. I've received your message loud and clear, I'll go to class now, and tonight we can—"
Before he could finish, Chuchu reached out with her slender fingers, twisted his arm sharply, and gave it a 360-degree spin.
"Ah!" Xiang Ri cried out in pain and, without bothering to put on clothes, fled the scene naked.
Chuchu spat in his direction, cursing the pervert under her breath.
"By the way, darling, I think I must tell you a joke," Xiang Ri said as he re-entered her room, now fully dressed.
"What joke?" Chuchu peeked her head out from under the blanket.
"It's about a couple sharing a bed. The girl drew a line down the middle and said, 'If you cross this line, you're a beast.' The next morning, she woke up and found that the guy hadn't crossed the line."
"That's great! That guy's a gentleman, unlike you, you big rogue," Chuchu rolled her eyes at him, thinking of herself.
"I haven't finished the story. Guess what the girl did next?"
"She probably praised the guy," Chuchu replied confidently.
"Wrong! She slapped him hard and said, 'You're worse than a beast!'"
"Get out!" Chuchu, realizing the implication, blushed furiously and threw a pillow at him.