Spoiled Eldest Miss x Two-faced Madman

CHAPTER 74: A Hopeless Flirt Who Falls For Everyone She Sees.

　　When you lose your sight, your other senses go into overdrive.

　　Your hearing sharpens, your sense of touch heightens, and even your sense of smell gets ridiculously sensitive.

　　Stuff you’d normally ignore suddenly floods your brain all at once.

　　Like the soft feel of the girl in his arms, the faint fragrance in her hair, the warm, tender brush of her lips. He could even taste a bit of sweetness on his tongue, which for some reason reminded him of the sticky rice cake she once stuffed into his mouth during that noisy lantern festival.

　　Soft, smooth, and sweet, the sensation lingered on his lips.

　　Right now, Pei Ji's mind was a total mess. It felt like a pot of boiling soup, bubbling over with random flashes of memories.

　　Even though a tiny bit of clarity remained, it wasn’t exactly rational.

　　That last shred of clarity was desperately craving something.

　　There was this voice deep in his heart, nagging him nonstop, telling him to get closer, press harder, and go deeper.

　　To grab the girl in his arms, take her whole, swallow her down, break her apart piece by piece, and fuse her into his very being.

　　As if only by doing that could he finally feel complete.

　　That one thread of sanity he had left?

　　It was all about her.

　　“Mm… P-Pei Ji… you—stop…”

　　The girl was struggling nonstop, turning her face away, only to have it forced back by his cold fingers gripping her jaw.

　　She pressed her lips together tightly, but he just started gently grazing them with his teeth, over and over, until she couldn’t take it anymore and opened up, letting him in.

　　“Mm…”

　　A soft, helpless sound escaped her lips. She used every ounce of her strength, channeling it into her hands—and shoved him away!

　　And then came a loud, sharp slap.

　　Smack—

　　His head snapped to the side. The sting across his cheek cut through the fog in his mind, forcing him awake. His frozen thoughts finally started turning again.

　　What the hell… did he just do?

　　“Pei Ji, snap out of it!”

　　Her clear voice hit his ears like an alarm bell, shattering the haze clouding his brain.

　　He slowly turned his head and met a pair of tear-filled eyes.

　　She was biting her lip, her face full of nervous tension. She was the one who’d just been hurt, and yet her gaze was filled with… worry for him.

　　Those big, dark eyes full of shimmer were looking in his direction, wet with tears, showing a mix of fear, panic… and concern she didn’t even realize she had.

　　“P-Pei Ji… are you okay?” She’d just slapped him, and now she was already worrying about him again.

　　Because she couldn’t see, she had to stay really close to him, as if being a little closer might help her see better.

　　But no matter how close she got, she still wouldn’t be able to make out his face.

　　Pei Ji, on the other hand, could see everything clearly.

　　Her lips were slightly swollen from his earlier biting, her peach blossom eyes still misty with tears, her expression holding a subtle shyness, her lashes trembling… all of it laid bare before him.

　　His gaze locked onto her delicate, beautiful little face, and suddenly his throat felt unbearably dry.

　　In that moment, Pei Ji felt like a man lost in the desert, wandering for days under the scorching sun with death breathing down his neck.

　　The pain tearing through his body felt like wildfire, like a sun that never set, burning everything inside him and leaving only suffering and a desperate thirst.

　　The cure was right in front of him. All he had to do was reach for it, and he’d be saved.

　　But that brief moment of clarity didn’t last. Pei Ji was pulled right back into the hallucinatory agony caused by the poison.

　　It felt like he was trapped in a dream. His breathing got faster. And without thinking, he reached out toward the only thing that could quench his thirst.

　　The girl had no idea she was in danger. She was still worried about him, leaning in and softly asking if he needed help.

　　“Give me… water…” he murmured, his voice low and hoarse.

　　“Water? I don’t have any. I’ll call someone—”

　　She didn’t get to finish.

　　He grabbed her again. His cool lips pressed against hers, desperate and hungry, like he was trying to drink the water straight from her mouth.

　　And the moment he touched her, all the fire raging inside him seemed to calm down. The pain vanished in an instant, and all that was left in his world was the sweet warmth of that small, enclosed space between them.

　　But he was way too weak, so not long after, the girl managed to push him away again.

　　This time, she was on guard. The moment she broke free from his grip, she jumped aside like a quick little rabbit, slipping right out of his arms.

　　Pei Ji instinctively reached out, but all he caught was a bit of soft, silky fabric slipping through his fingers like water.

　　“Don’t… don’t go…” he struggled to say.

　　The girl stood to the side, tense and nervous. She could hear his heavy breathing, ragged and broken, like he was on the verge of dying. It sounded like a worn-out bellows, the kind that might give out at any second.

　　“Why did you do that… Pei Ji, what’s wrong with you?”

　　She had already been locked up here for who knows how long without seeing anyone, and now this was happening, surrounded by endless darkness. She was so scared that tears started falling on their own, her voice shaking and laced with sobs.

　　But the only answer she got was his labored, uneven breathing and the occasional low, pained sound from his throat, like he was trying to endure something unbearable.

　　In the midst of it all, An Jiu heard the faintest, nearly inaudible whisper, something you’d miss if you weren’t paying attention:

　　“…Please… help me…”

　　Standing all alone in the dark, the girl wiped the tears off her face.

　　“How… How am I supposed to help you?” she asked, choking on her own helplessness.

　　But Pei Ji didn’t say anything else.

　　She went quiet too, listening to the increasingly urgent breathing echoing in the dark. After a moment of hesitation, it was like she made up her mind. She bit her lip and slowly stepped back toward where she remembered he’d been lying.

　　Her outstretched hand brushed against something—and before she could even react, the next second she was yanked into something like a beast’s grasp. Her fingers were suddenly trapped, and a strong force pulled her back into that cool, bitterly-scented embrace.

　　Long, powerful hands clutched her waist tightly.

　　His slightly rough fingertips urgently brushed her cheek. A few strands of her hair slipped down the side of her face, and then came the warm, damp rush of his breath.

　　Probably from spending so much time around medicine, his breath carried a faint herbal scent.

　　She reached up and grabbed his hand, turning her face away to avoid his lips. Cautiously, she asked, “Pei Ji… are you lucid right now? Do you know who I am?”

　　He didn’t answer, just held her tightly like a wild beast that had completely lost control.

　　She could feel how desperate he was, his sharp, high nose brushing along her cheek as if he were searching for a place to sink his teeth into, like a beast marking what belonged to it.

　　“I’m just helping you, okay? Just think of it as me being nice. Don’t pull at my clothes…”

　　Before she could even finish her sentence, it was completely swallowed up.

　　One of his hands pressed against the back of her neck, his cool fingertips slowly stroking her soft skin, as if he were trying to soothe something—or maybe it was just an instinctive need to stay in control.

　　An Jiu’s skin instantly broke out in goosebumps.

　　When his hot lips finally came down, she vaguely heard a satisfied sigh.

　　That night felt like it lasted forever… and somehow also ended too quickly.

　　When An Jiu woke up, she still looked a little dazed. It wasn’t until she felt the warmth beneath her that she finally remembered what happened the night before.

　　She suddenly sat up straight and, in the dim light, saw herself curled up in his arms, completely sprawled on his firm, broad chest. One arm was wrapped around his neck, and her head was resting on his shoulder, exactly how she’d fallen asleep.

　　The wheelchair had turned into a rocking chair at some point. There must have been some mechanism built into it, tilting the back so they could both lie comfortably together. 

　　The whole scene screamed way too close, like seriously can’t-tell-where-one-ends-and-the-other-begins kind of close.

　　Realizing that, An Jiu jumped up like she’d just gotten shocked.

　　Pei Ji, who had been awake for a while and silently waiting for her to get up: “…”

　　Watching her act like he was a poisonous snake, his brows twitched slightly. But for some reason, he didn’t say anything.

　　He just slowly sat up, his deep black eyes quietly fixed on her.

　　An Jiu blinked back at him. Their eyes met—and before Pei Ji could even say a word, she quickly blurted out,

　　“I-I know your condition last night was… special. I thought you were gonna die, so I helped you, okay? You… you know what you have to do now, right?”

　　Pei Ji’s eyes flickered a bit. His gaze dropped to her flushed cheeks, and in a raspy voice, he asked,

“…What do I have to do?”

　　The girl’s face had somehow turned bright red, and she looked away, avoiding his gaze. Puffing up her cheeks, she mumbled, “J-just pretend nothing happened, okay? Don’t go around telling people. I was just being super generous helping you out this once, so you’re not allowed to say anything! Anyway, nothing happened between us last night, got it?!”

　　Normally, the young miss would’ve said something like this with her chin up, all bossy and commanding. But today, her words were a mess—completely jumbled and stammered.

　　After she finished, she quickly glanced up at him, and her usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes shimmered with a watery glow, like sunlight dancing on a lake.

　　“D-did you hear me?” she asked, puffing up a little when he didn’t reply, raising her voice in a not-so-convincing attempt to sound fierce.

　　But with those bright eyes and flushed cheeks, she didn’t look intimidating at all.

　　Pei Ji’s dark eyes dimmed slightly. He stared at her for a long while, his Adam’s apple bobbing before he finally replied in a low voice, “…Got it.”

　　Maybe it was because he knew her too well, but Pei Ji wasn’t all that surprised by An Jiu’s reaction today.

　　He had kind of expected her to act like this.

　　What he hadn’t expected… was that she’d actually come to save him last night.

　　Pei Ji had always thought that a girl like An Jiu would just stand there and watch him suffer. She was never the soft-hearted type, and she’d never treated him nicely. When she thought he liked her before, she even acted super grossed out.

　　But last night, even after he lost control and nearly did something to her… she still chose to help him.

　　He couldn’t lie—he was really surprised.

　　Ever since waking up this morning, he’d been wondering why she did it.

　　In the end, Pei Ji figured… maybe it was because he’d saved her life before. So now, she saw this as paying back that favor.

　　Other than that, An Jiu was never like the usual kind of girl anyway.

　　She barely knew Fei Yi before she threw herself at him, always teasing and flirting with her words. Even when she was around Pei Ji, she never acted shy or cautious like most girls would. Back at Jinshe Villa, she was often seen hanging out with Ming Yi, and when she met Fei Chen, she boldly showed interest right from the start.

　　Thinking about it now, this woman was basically the type to fall for anyone, totally wild and flirtatious by nature.

　　Of course she wouldn’t care about things like reputation or virtue.

　　So when she saw Pei Ji looking pitiful and decided to help him out of ‘kindness,’ it kinda made sense.

　　There’s just no way it was because she liked him.

　　After all, she said it herself that she’d never go for a cripple.

　　Pei Ji’s eyes dimmed completely without him even realizing it.

　　Even though the poison had passed, there was still a burning feeling in his chest, making him restless and irritable.

　　He’d always known she wouldn’t fall for him… but why did it hurt so damn much to be reminded of it now?

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