Gloves - Chapter 21

Trying to hold onto someone who wants to leave might temporarily delay their departure, but someone as broken as An Chujie doesn’t even have the strength to bind them. With a gentle lift of Shang Zhuoxi’s foot, it easily slips out of her weak grasp. Shang Zhuoxi crouches down, compassionately caressing An Chujie’s head. Suddenly, with a firm grip on An Chujie’s hair, Shang Zhuoxi forces her to look up. An Chujie raises her feeble eyelids, only to see Shang Zhuoxi’s ever-present red lips. In her mouth, she spits out sharp little knives, and softly says, “That’s your problem.” Releasing An Chujie’s hair, Shang Zhuoxi pats the places where An Chujie touched her, opens the door, and walks away without even glancing back…

…….

“Zhuoxi, Zhuoxi…!” An Chujie sits up in shock, her shirt dampened with tears. It was all just a dream. Looking at the empty room, used cotton pads and medicine bottles scattered on the bedside table, along with a few bottles of menstrual pain relief medication she had consumed before. Shang Zhuoxi had indeed left, but it’s still better than being kicked away by her.

“I don’t want you. Do you think I would willingly give you to someone else?” That’s what Shang Zhuoxi tells herself in her mind. An Chujie finally breaks down, crying. It’s exactly what she wanted, to tell her that being good to herself isn’t because she feels indebted. This way, Shang Zhuoxi would win, right? But gaining this so-called victory in such a manner brings Shang Zhuoxi no joy, just more guilt. She has shattered her beloved woman into pieces, but she lacks the ability to put her back together.

“I wanted to spend my life with you, protecting you.” Those were the words Shang Zhuoxi could easily say four years ago. But things are different now. She herself is on the verge of a cliff, barely holding on. How could she free up her hands to protect An Chujie? Everything Shang Zhuoxi did in the lab today was like driving a car without brakes, rushing from one cliff to another. If by that one in a million chance she manages to grip the steering wheel tightly, succeeding amidst the danger, then she’ll be greeted with a paradise. But what if she’s not that lucky one? She doesn’t dare and doesn’t want to take the risk with An Chujie, because what awaits her is an abyss. An Chujie should shine in the artistic realm, not follow her into darkness, a never-ending cycle of suffering.

Just like An Chujie said, Shang Zhuoxi is a selfish person. She covets and relies on the warmth An Chujie provides. She wants to possess everything about An Chujie, what she cannot give herself, she won’t allow others to give either.

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“The price of contentment often comes with enduring the lonely darkness. Don’t you even care about yourself?” Qi Ruan shakes the martini in her hand, the dim light at the bar illuminating her face, making her heavily made-up features appear less harsh than during the day. She pouts and says, “Hmm… the way they make this cocktail is really strange.”

“But I care more about her,” An Chujie replies, taking a small sip of the clear liquid. The sharp, stimulating sensation causes her to furrow her brows slightly.

“Heh, what is there for you to care about her?” Qi Ruan looks at An Chujie’s desolate profile and gets a bit irritated when she remembers the doctor she mentioned. “Forget it, I didn’t bring you out here to think about those things. My two friends will be coming soon. By the way, you should know them,” Qi Ruan changes the subject.

“Oh really? How would I know Director Qi’s friends?” An Chujie adopts a more relaxed tone.

“If I ever hear you calling me Director Qi or anything like that…” Qi Ruan lifts her lips and leans forward, causing An Chujie to immediately shrink back in fear.

“I won’t hesitate to kiss you without any reservations. When you’re weak and unable to push me away, I’ll kiss every inch of your body until you’re soaking wet from the inside out. And then…” Qi Ruan continues to say some explicit and shameless words, while An Chujie’s gaze keeps avoiding her. Qi Ruan bursts into laughter and looks behind An Chujie, saying, “They’re here.”

“Meowjie really knows how to find a sexy bar,” Yang Yiluo comments, surveying the environment. The DJ’s mixing sounds like a horror movie, and the lighting changes in a strange and provocative way, almost like a bad connection. Looking at the waitstaff, they seem like characters from various mystery TV shows mixed together.

“Tsk! Xiaoluo! How many times have I taught you the art of speaking? How can you talk to Meowjie like that? It’s clearly a themed bar! Meowjie, you have such great taste,” Tu Yi says, his flattery resembling that of a brothel owner in Dongguan.

An Chujie hears a familiar voice and is initially surprised. When she turns around, she smiles at the two of them, a smile that warms Tu Yi’s heart and makes it flutter.

“Poor little thing, she actually got called out by her,” Tu Yi lovingly cups An Chujie’s face and caresses it.

“Hello, beautiful. I’m Yang Yiluo. Last time we met, we didn’t even say hello, did we?” Yang Yiluo really likes An Chujie’s eyes, or rather, he likes any girl with big, watery eyes.

Watching Yang Yiluo lazily lean against the bar with his hands in his pockets, An Chujie suddenly bursts into laughter. Birds of a feather flock together, no wonder the first time she saw Qi Ruan, her posture reminded her of this redhead woman.

“Are you laughing at me? What’s so funny?” Yang Yiluo asks with a frown, a mix of displeasure and confusion on his face, but his heart melts at the sight of the girl’s upturned eyes.

“Let’s go sit somewhere else,” Qi Ruan says as she stands up and lights a cigarette.

Qi Ruan leads them to the crowded corner of the bar. An Chujie doesn’t know what she said to them, but the group of people laughs and clears some space for them.

“Little thing, sit with me later. Big brother will protect you,” Tu Yi says, afraid that An Chujie will be devoured by the two women across from them. As Shang Zhuoxi’s subordinate, he feels a sense of duty.

“Little thing, after tonight, we’ll officially be friends,” Qi Ruan adds.

“Mhmm,” An Chujie responds.

“Do you know why she’s called Meowjie…”

……..

An Chujie listened to them talking about interesting things and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She had gained a deeper understanding of these three individuals. For example, Tu Yi used to be a model and he doesn’t only have an interest in men. Yang Yiluo, on the other hand, had watched Tu Yi grow up and An Chujie herself is pursuing a lawyer who is gradually accepting her. And Meowjie, she’s a loyal and trustworthy woman, among other things.

An Chujie’s laughter had a magical effect on them because they had never seen her genuinely smile before. An Chujie always seemed to give off the impression that a smile from her was already a rare occurrence.

“…You haven’t seen the bear-like appearance of that man, haha…” Yang Yiluo reminisced about the melodramatic scenes they had created together with Qi Ruan in the past. He was thoroughly amused. “Anyway, once Meowjie is back, our springtime will come!”

“If you become my woman, I’ll make sure every day feels like spring for you,” Qi Ruan playfully looked at An Chujie, her left hand fiddling with the ring on her right middle finger. When Qi Ruan found out that the doctor An Chujie mentioned was a woman, she felt much more at ease.

“Hehehe, Meowjie is joking again,” Tu Yi raised his glass and drank alone. It took courage to have a conversation with Qi Ruan. He was afraid that An Chujie wouldn’t be able to handle her provocative remarks. An Chujie simply smiled awkwardly. After all, this woman had spoken to her in such a teasing manner more than once.

Because they had relatively regular sleeping schedules, An Chujie was feeling a bit tired at this point. Combined with the fact that her menstrual cycle hadn’t completely ended, her eyelids were becoming heavy. She sat in Qi Ruan’s car, feeling drowsy.

“I see that she didn’t come to pick you up,” Qi Ruan said as she drove. In the three times she had spent time with An Chujie, they were always late, but she never saw the doctor come to pick her up.

“She’s busy with work,” An Chujie explained, deceiving both Qi Ruan and herself.

“Is that so? Doctors are always swamped… Aren’t you afraid of what I might do to you?” Qi Ruan pointed out that An Chujie had willingly gotten into her car late at night.

“After spending some time together, I’m not afraid anymore,” An Chujie honestly expressed her thoughts. Qi Ruan didn’t say anything further. She stepped on the accelerator, driving quickly, which reminded An Chujie of Shang Zhuoxi, who also liked to drive fast during late-night drives.

They arrived at the entrance, and An Chujie got out of the car, with Qi Ruan following suit.

“I’ve safely brought you back so late, don’t you want to show some gratitude?” Qi Ruan leaned in, pressing her hand against the car door, trapping An Chujie.

“Thank you… Qi Ruan,” An Chujie said helplessly, unable to resist.

“Is that all?” Qi Ruan moved closer, and An Chujie realized she had no way to retreat.

“Do you know that you exude a submissive aura all over your body?” Qi Ruan breathed in her intoxicating scent.

“Submissive?” An Chujie sniffed around, but besides the scent of the other woman and her own perfume, she couldn’t detect any other smell.

“Hiss… with that submissive look, I really want… I really want…” Qi Ruan took a deep breath, suppressing her desires. She knew that if she wanted to have this woman in front of her, she couldn’t act impulsively.

“Taking without asking is stealing. I think Director Qi should understand this phrase,” a cold voice came from behind Qi Ruan as the light from the street lamp was blocked, casting a shadow over An Chujie’s face.

The woman with short hair curled her lips, knowing that the show was about to begin. She let go of An Chujie, who was trapped like a rabbit released from its cage, her leg injured, and obediently ran towards the person behind her, standing by their side:

“Zhuoxi, I…” Before An Chujie could finish her sentence, Shang Zhuoxi’s hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her in.

“Director Qi is indeed very charismatic. She can have any woman she wants, so why bother coveting someone else’s possessions?” After saying that, Shang Zhuoxi let go and whispered to the person in her arms, “Baby, you go home first.” An Chujie looked at the two of them for a moment, feeling puzzled, but obediently went back home. She couldn’t help but think about Shang Zhuoxi’s words. Was she declaring that An Chujie belonged to her?

Qi Ruan looked at the incredibly compliant An Chujie, then glanced at Shang Zhuoxi, and sneered, “I guess the great President Shang only sees her as an object, right?” Qi Ruan lit a cigarette, and Shang Zhuoxi raised her hand to gently cover her nose. She couldn’t stand the smell of smoke.

“My woman and how I treat her is none of your concern. I just want to warn you, if I ever see you laying a hand on her again, you should worry about your precious right hand!” Shang Zhuoxi remembered that more than one girl had come to her hospital, crying and shouting for this Director Qi to accompany them in the ward and even one attempted suicide for her, which made the headlines of the morning newspaper the next day.