My Straight Girlfriend with Skin Hunger Syndrome - Chapter 97
Chapter 97
To be in a relationship, Yi Shanshan enunciated each word slowly, a smile dancing on the tip of her tongue, her tone both joyful and resolute.
Ying Yuan found herself trapped in this dilemma, though the answer was beyond doubt.
Of course she wanted to be in a real relationship with Yi Shanshan. Every day spent in such intimate closeness felt like a gift from the heavens, and she was willing to bear all the possible consequences for it.
The crux of the matter lay with Yi Shanshan herself.
Everything they had shared thus far had been Yi Shanshan’s exploration and experimentation with something new. She might be confusing friendship with romance, dependence with affection, physical impulses with emotional longing, even illness with infatuation.
Ying Yuan understood her own feelings clearly. She had pondered, proven, nurtured, and felt her affection for Yi Shanshan in her heart for three hundred days and nights. She could convince herself that she wouldn’t regret her actions in this moment.
Her fear was that Yi Shanshan might regret it.
After all, Yi Shanshan had only learned about Ying Yuan’s sexuality and decided she wanted to be in a relationship with her… a week ago.
It was far too short, far too quick.
Yi Shanshan said she was “totally into it,” and Ying Yuan thought, “She really is.”
It was like a novel and exciting game, intoxicating at first. But after a while, looking back, you couldn’t understand your past self, even coming to despise that infatuated version of yourself.
Ying Yuan didn’t want that to happen. She didn’t want to become a regretful stain on Yi Shanshan’s life.
So she couldn’t reveal the truth yet. She couldn’t confess her love for Yi Shanshan and break down the last barrier between them.
Therefore… according to Yi Shanshan’s logic, she had to do something different today—something uniquely “couple-like”—to prove they weren’t yet in a romantic relationship.
Oh my God.
Ying Yuan frowned, feeling a headache coming on.
This was a complex and perilous game of emotions, one she was terrible at. She was challenging Yi Shanshan’s greatest strength with her own greatest weakness.
Lost in thought, Ying Yuan was led by Yi Shanshan into the ship’s cabin and to the passenger seating area.
As they sat down, the ocean’s waves crashed against the hull, creating a gentle rocking sensation akin to a mild earthquake.
Ying Yuan’s thoughts swayed with the motion. Yi Shanshan tilted her head, gazing intently at her, studying her with meticulous focus.
A long moment passed, and just as the ship was about to depart, Yi Shanshan finally spoke, “Yuan-dear, you’re taking forever to reboot your brain. Still haven’t snapped out of it?”
Ying Yuan snapped back to reality. “Ah.”
Yi Shanshan grinned at her. “Since you’ve never been in a relationship, you have absolutely no idea how to be a girlfriend, do you?”
Ying Yuan fell silent.
That was indeed a major reason.
But hearing it from Yi Shanshan, the most important person in her life, felt like having her abilities invalidated. It stung.
She turned to look at Yi Shanshan, who was beaming with a carefree, fearless air.
Ying Yuan continued to stare, forcing herself to adopt the role of a girlfriend. As her eyelids narrowed slightly, Yi Shanshan’s grin vanished, replaced by wide-eyed curiosity and a hint of apprehension.
“Are you mad?” Yi Shanshan asked softly.
“No,” Ying Yuan replied.
Someone approached, and Ying Yuan stood up. “Come sit inside.”
“Okay,” Yi Shanshan responded, moving to the seat against the cabin wall.
Ying Yuan pressed close beside her, placed Yi Shanshan’s bag on her lap, and shifted her body to completely shield Yi Shanshan from the others.
In the cramped space, Yi Shanshan blinked her innocent, wide eyes.
Ying Yuan leaned closer and whispered in Yi Shanshan’s ear, “I can imagine.”
Yi Shanshan: “Huh?”
Ying Yuan gently kissed her earlobe in a hidden corner, a fleeting touch like an accidental brush.
“Imagining can be just as good,” she said, her voice low and deliberate.
With that, she pulled away.
Shy inside, but decisive in action.
Imagining Yi Shanshan as her girlfriend, Ying Yuan felt an overwhelming possessiveness. For a fleeting moment, she even wanted to lock Yi Shanshan away, where no one else could see her.
This is wrong, her conscience protested.
But her desire swelled, turning every slight movement and every word into a restrained effort.
Suppressed restraint.
Ying Yuan’s throat tightened as her gaze locked onto Yi Shanshan, refusing to waver.
Yi Shanshan, already startled by the sudden contact, now met Ying Yuan’s gaze. Seeing those usually calm, gentle eyes suddenly deepen like a night sea, her heart skipped a beat.
Shrinking back slightly, Yi Shanshan stubbornly retorted, “Then you’ll just have to… keep imagining, won’t you?”
“Mm,” Ying Yuan hummed from deep in her throat, her lips barely moving.
Yi Shanshan: “Why are you staring at me like that~?”
Ying Yuan reached out, her fingertips brushing Yi Shanshan’s cheek as she plucked a stray strand of hair clinging to her skin.
“Hair,” Ying Yuan said.
Yi Shanshan’s lips parted slightly, but she swallowed her words.
Swallowing her words, her gaze wavered, then she straightened her back and blurted out, “What are you really thinking? You weren’t thinking about my hair at all!”
Ying Yuan smiled, leaned back in her seat, and averted her gaze. “I was thinking about your hair.”
Free from that intense stare, Yi Shanshan regained her initiative. She grabbed Ying Yuan’s arm, leaned close, and tilted her head to study her face.
“You’re lying~” she cooed, feigning a tantrum to coax the truth. “What are you really thinking? What’s too private to share~?”
Ying Yuan let Yi Shanshan sway her for a moment, then turned her palm over, pulled back slightly, and captured one of Yi Shanshan’s hands.
Yi Shanshan’s hand was indeed much smaller than hers, with supple joints and delicate skin. When Ying Yuan clasped it, it felt as if she could mold it into any shape.
In the past, Yi Shanshan had loved to play with Ying Yuan’s hands. Now, Ying Yuan finally had the right to reciprocate. She lowered her gaze to their intertwined palms and began to knead Yi Shanshan’s hand, alternating between firm and gentle strokes.
“I can’t tell you,” she murmured, her voice barely audible.
Ying Yuan paused, then added, “I can’t do that either.”
Yi Shanshan’s cheeks flushed crimson.
When Yi Shanshan took the initiative, she felt entitled to full transparency, having anticipated every possible outcome. No matter how Ying Yuan responded, it felt predictable and therefore reassuring.
But when Ying Yuan suddenly took the lead, the already taciturn woman became even more reluctant to reveal her thoughts. She acted instead, channeling unspoken words into the pressure of her fingertips. She withheld complete understanding from Yi Shanshan, leaving her teetering on the edge of knowing, forced to guess.
This deliberate ambiguity made Yi Shanshan’s heart race, her anxiety mounting with each unanswered question.
A faint electric current coursed through her body. Yi Shanshan averted her gaze from Ying Yuan, instead leaning closer.
“I wonder what kind of activities they’ll have at the event,” Yi Shanshan murmured, watching the gently rippling sea through the porthole.
“They’ll announce them after we land,” Ying Yuan replied.
“I wonder how many people will participate,” Yi Shanshan mused.
Ying Yuan squeezed her hand, her thumb pressing into Yi Shanshan’s palm, tracing slow circles. “We’ll win the prizes.”
“Oh~” Yi Shanshan responded, drawing out the syllable with a hint of anticipation, her eyes sparkling with excitement for her newfound girlfriend.
The ferry journey was short, and they arrived on the island before lunch.
The first stop of the couples’ activities was right at the pier.
Scattered across a small stretch of beach were seashells of various sizes. Each shell had a line of poetry written on it, and couples had to find matching pairs of couplets within a set time limit. The more they found, the better their prize would be. Exceeding the highest record earned a special bonus prize.
Ying Yuan picked up the prize list and asked Yi Shanshan, “Which one do you want?”
The sun was scorching, and Yi Shanshan pressed down on the brim of her hat, squinting at the list. She pointed to the rabbit and fox keychains. “These are the prettiest.”
“Okay,” Ying Yuan agreed.
Ahead of them, a couple in their twenties was already participating in the activity.
As soon as the signal was given, the man and woman rushed onto the beach. After picking up a shell, they shouted its verse to each other.
“May my heart be like the stars, and yours like the moon!”
“Huh? Is that the top or bottom line? I’ve never heard that before!”
“Throw it away then.”
“Till death do us part!”
“I know this one! ‘Ask the world, what is love?’ Ah, what is love? Search, search… Can’t find the matching line!”
“Let’s find this one first: I long to send you a letter, my dear… What’s the next line?”
“Ah, ah, I’ve heard it! I’ve heard it! …But I can’t remember it.”
“What can you remember?! You can’t even remember what you ate for breakfast! I’m speechless at your memory.”
“It’s been years since graduation! Who remembers this stuff?”
“If you can’t remember, get lost! It’s embarrassing—you haven’t found a single one.”
“If you’re so smart, why don’t you find them yourself? It’s sweltering out here, and this whole pointless activity was your idea…”
The shouting escalated into a full-blown argument, their faces flushed crimson.
Ying Yuan: “……”
Yi Shanshan: “……”
Ying Yuan slowly fanned Yi Shanshan with the activity booklet. The sun had shifted slightly, its rays now falling on Yi Shanshan’s feet in their strappy sandals.
Ying Yuan gently tugged Yi Shanshan’s arm, pulling her further under the shade of the parasol.
Yi Shanshan frowned, watching the increasingly boisterous couple on the beach. “Is this what real couples are like?”
Ying Yuan: “They’re handling this the wrong way.”
Yi Shanshan: “Yuan-dear, I don’t really want those keychains anyway. The point of games is to have fun.”
Ying Yuan: “Mm.”
“The sand must still be scorching hot right now,” Yi Shanshan said.
“It is,” Ying Yuan replied, opening her backpack and pulling out sunscreen. “Come here, let me apply some more.”
“Okay,” Yi Shanshan obediently turned around.
Sunscreen was essential at the beach—both physical and chemical protection. She held out her hands, expecting Ying Yuan to squeeze the lotion into her palms as before.
Instead, Ying Yuan squeezed the sunscreen into her own palm and directly grasped Yi Shanshan’s arm.
The slippery sunscreen was smoothed over Yi Shanshan’s exposed skin.
Ying Yuan’s palm and fingers kneaded her skin with just the right pressure.
Perhaps due to her massage experience, Yi Shanshan found the touch remarkably comforting.
And this comfort came so suddenly, without asking, without hesitation.
Yi Shanshan blinked, watching Ying Yuan’s gaze lower and focus on her, her thick, short lashes shading deep, dark eyes like bottomless pools. Her heart fluttered gently.
“Ying Yuan~” she murmured softly.
“Hmm?” Ying Yuan finished applying sunscreen to her left arm and moved to the right.
Yi Shanshan: “Do you become particularly bold and forward when you have a girlfriend?”
Ying Yuan didn’t answer, her lashes trembling slightly.
After finishing her arms, she looked up at Yi Shanshan and commanded, “Tilt your head back.”
Yi Shanshan complied.
Ying Yuan stepped closer, her palm settling lightly on Yi Shanshan’s delicate neck. With a single hand, she could easily cut off her breath.
Her thumb paused briefly over the throbbing pulse at her throat.
“You don’t need words to understand what a girlfriend should feel like. Just feel it.”
Her fingertips slid down to the hollow beneath Yi Shanshan’s collarbone. “You can rate me,” Ying Yuan continued. “Tell me what you liked and didn’t like after we’re done tomorrow.”
Hearing the word “done,” Yi Shanshan suddenly felt anxious.
But before she could speak, Ying Yuan looked up, meeting her gaze. “Right now, we’re in character. I’m not someone else’s girlfriend—I’m yours.”
Yi Shanshan froze, stunned.
Ying Yuan crouched down, her fingers brushing Yi Shanshan’s ankle beneath her long skirt. With a deft flick, she unfastened the buckles of her shoes. “Don’t forget the tops of your feet either. Sunburn there hurts.”
The island was lush and verdant, the sea breeze rustling through the trees.
The harbor buzzed with activity, waves of tourists passing by them.
Many eyes lingered on the pair.
Amid this bustling scene, Ying Yuan knelt at Yi Shanshan’s feet, meticulously applying sunscreen to skin that made Yi Shanshan feel so self-conscious.
Yi Shanshan gazed down at her, longing to kiss that ponytail-bound head.
Time was up. The couples on the beach, their feet coated in sand, stomped angrily out of the activity area.
Ying Yuan stood up, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the sticky liquid from her palm.
“You don’t really want to be running around in the sun either, do you?” Ying Yuan asked.
“Huh?” Yi Shanshan’s mind hadn’t quite caught up.
Ying Yuan smiled. “You just want to win.”
Yi Shanshan flinched, feeling exposed. “Hiss…”
Ying Yuan led her toward the activity area.
Upon entering, she grabbed Yi Shanshan’s arm and positioned her by the stone slab at the front. “Just stay here.”
“Don’t I need to go in?” Yi Shanshan protested. “At least find one or two… right?”
Ying Yuan had already stepped onto the sand.
She bent down, swiftly picking up seashells from the ground, glancing at the poetic phrases on their backs before placing them in her palm.
Gathering a handful of untouched shells, Ying Yuan returned to Yi Shanshan and handed them over.
“The keychains require ten shells,” Ying Yuan explained. “Here are twelve, just in case.”
Yi Shanshan cradled the shells, her voice bubbling with excitement. “Do you know all the matching lines?”
“Mm-hmm, I do,” Ying Yuan confirmed.
“Then you go find them, and I’ll read the lines for you!”
Ying Yuan chuckled. “No need to read them out loud.”
“I’ve memorized them all.” She looked up at Yi Shanshan, a rare hint of youthful pride and competitiveness in her eyes. “Your girlfriend isn’t like other boyfriends—she doesn’t have such a terrible memory.”