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3/8
This isn’t quite right.
Lin Yuzu opened the poetry book in her hand and laid it on the tarp on the ground.
Xiao Xiao next to her moved more skillfully than she did, and the books were arranged one by one, spreading their pages under the warm sunlight.
She turned to look at Lin Yuzu, her eyes gazed over the neat column of books as her snow-white eyelashes gently blinked. From her delicate and soft eyebrows to her the slightly raised corner of her lips, there was a pleasant sense of relaxation.
Really. . . not quite right.
Lin Yuzu supported her face, her line of sight fell on that relaxed smile that her hands unknowingly stopped.
Xiao Xiao had to look back after placing a few more books and soon realized that Lin Yuzu was distracted. That pair of lake blue eyes held clear light. Although she looked her way, her figure that reflected was only shallow as if floating only on the surface.
“. . .”
She held the book in her hand and also stopped moving.
Lin Yuzu didn’t respond.
Xiao Xiao tilted her head, gently moved closer, and gently bumped Lin Yuzu’s forehead with her own.
Xiao Xiao saw the lake blue eyes looking at her in surprise. She then immediately withdrew and covered her face with a book, revealing her slightly bent eyes.
The fleeting moment of contact was like gentle butterflies passing by.
Lin Yuzu suddenly looked back and touched her forehead. The other party’s cool temperature seemed to linger on the place where she had been lightly touched.
She looked at Xiao Xiao, who was hiding behind a book, and let out a dull voice, “. . . what’s wrong?”
Xiao Xiao paused for a moment, and the smile in her eyes slowly faded away and was replaced with suspicion.
She put down the book, leaned forward a little, narrowing the distance between the two, and observed Lin Yuzu’s expression from top to bottom. Her eyes gradually colored with worry, “. . . Yuzu, no spirit?”
Because they were so close, Xiao Xiao’s soft hair and covered the back of Lin Yuzu’s hand. It was cool to the touch, like newly fallen snow in the early spring.
Lin Yuzu\s gaze shifted from the ends of her hair to Xiao Xiao’s face.
Her pale blue skin is smooth and delicate and the prismatic crystals on her forehead shone like diamonds, adding a dazzling radiance to her already beautiful silhouette, but what’s even more dazzling is the sunlight reflected in the pupils of her ice-blue eyes.
She looked so gorgeous that people would find it difficult to take their eyes off her.
This was what Lin Yuzu always thought.
People always appreciate beautiful things, and as usual, she was attracted by Xiao Xiao’s pretty appearance. While Xiao Xiao seemed to be unconscious of her own beauty who’s staring at her intently.
“It’s probably because I didn’t sleep well yesterday.”
Lin Yuzu answered as such and Xiao Xiao didn’t doubt her. She simply let her go to rest for a while, and pursed her lips after being rejected, accelerating her hand movements.
Lin Yuzu heaved a sigh of relief after turning her face away.
That’s right. . . as usual.
After lining up the books in the clearing to dry, they sat outside on the exposed roots to read.
Now that they have so many books to choose from, there isn’t a need for the two of them to squeeze together to read the same one, but Xiao Xiao still sat intimately beside her that their shoulders touch to the point that Lin Yuzu could feel her breathing gently.
Thankfully, Lin Yuzu had already gotten used to Xiao Xiao’s closeness.
Although she doesn’t say anything, Lin Yuzu actually likes it when the two of them stay together like this. Even if they don’t do anything, there’s a pleasant feeling that’s as light and soft as tasting the cream on a cake.
It didn’t start today, but as usual. . . Lin Yuzu couldn’t stay calm.
Xiao Xiao was quietly flipping through the book beside her. What they read was [Wilde’s Fairy Tales]. It was a story that Lin Yuzu couldn’t remember much after leaving school. Xiao Xiao most likely has read it as well, but she still read it very seriously.
Lin Yuzu, who was frequently distracted while holding the book, couldn’t understand what she was reading. Even though she had just flipped the page, she couldn’t remember what she read, so she turned it back to read it again. . . it was still the same.
After a few more times, Lin Yuzu sighed in her heart and gave up.
When Xiao Xiao was reading, she would concentrate on reading to the point that she would be immersed in the book. Lin Yuzu, on the other hand, couldn’t concentrate, but it also didn’t bother her. She simply adjusted her posture to lean to Xiao Xiao more comfortably before losing herself in a daze.
The wind blew through the shade of the trees above them. The leaves rustled and swayed while the dappled sunlight swayed gently along with it.
The exposed roots of the giant tree intertwined with one another and were covered with large patches of moss. Lin Yuzu’s eyes wandered aimlessly and found a short, fat, white mushroom in the corner of the forked roots. Its white body paired with its round and lovely umbrella cover looked very delicious.
Make a mushroom soup for lunch, or just roast it. . . Xiao Xiao should be very happy.
Near the white mushroom were the two green and white slender birds, nestled on the roots of the tree.
They seem to be familiar with Xiao Xiao. They flew down when they saw her drying the books and playing around her for a while. Lin Yuzu was also able to touch their smooth wings as one of them rested on her belly and stayed there while being fluffed. After staying there to rest, it didn’t fly away again.
At this moment, their bodies clung to each other, slightly bending their long and thin necks while their heads were pressed together.
Even if Lin Yuzu hasn’t studied a bird’s body language, she could still understand their intimacy.
Wife. . .
Lin Yuzu looked to her side, Xiao Xiao leaned her upper body and pressed the side of her face on Lin Yuzu’s shoulder. Xiao Xiao’s snow-white hair tangled with her black hair on her shoulders while the dappled sunlight swayed slightly in the wind and fell on them.
She sighed again in her heart.
Lin yuzu had long since passed her teenage years where she was still ignorant of her feelings. She never considered this direction before. Once she realized the difference, even if she had no love experience, she wouldn’t be confused about her feelings.
However, at the same time as realizing this sweet feeling, she also tasted its bitterness.
Xiao Xiao’s likes and dislikes are pure and straightforward.
Lin Yuzu had read her diary. Her memory started two years ago after she woke up in the lab and although she retained her former common sense and knowledge, it was also her first time being exposed to the world.
Xiao Xiao likes her, so she’s attached to her.
In her diary, she wrote; [I want to stay by your side.], [I like your scent.], [What I like most is spending time with you.].
Lin yuzu doesn’t know where this kind of affection came from, but it isn’t the time of affection towards a lover. She’s close to Lin Yuzu like family. . . but Lin Yuzu can’t treat her like a simple family member.
That’s why she can’t let things continue like this.
Lin Yuzu lowered her eyes and the dense black printed words on the pages of the book were crowding her vision, overwhelming her. She snapped the book close, startling Xiao Xiao as she sat up straight and looked at her blankly.
What’s wrong?
Lin Yuzu could hear her question upon seeing her expression.
Lin Yuzu smiled as if embarrassed and used the book to cover the lower half of her face, an action she learned from Xiao Xiao, “The contents make people a little angry.”
Xiao Xiao glanced at the title of the book, {The Runaway Wife is a Little Sweet], pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Lin Yuzu didn’t intend to continue reading, so she stood up and said, “I’ll go look for ingredients to use for lunch.” As she spoke, she had mercilessly plucked the fat white mushrooms on the side.
The two slender birds that were snuggling with each other tilted their heads and looked at her curiously.
Xiao Xiao also looked at her from the side, confused by her sudden interruption of their reading time, “Now?” She seemed to be asking questions out of confusion and had no intention to object as she stood up after closing the book.
Lin Yuzu pushed her down, “I’ll just walk around here, you continue reading.”
Xiao Xiao didn’t think much of it and obediently sat back down.
Lin Yuzu didn’t go far and just picked up the mushrooms in the surrounding area. Xiao Xiao sat don’t the roots of the tree to read a book but she lost her usual concentration and seemed worried, occasionally looking up as she looked for Lin Yuzu’s silhouette.
Lin Yuzu turned her head several times, their gazes happened to meet and Xiao Xiao responded with a bright smile.
Ugh
Lin Yuzu also couldn’t help but smile and sigh in her heart while laughing.
Their progress of drying books was much faster than they thought. They dried a batch in the morning and another one in the afternoon. Only a small part of the total books haven’t been exposed to the sun. It was still early before the day ends, so Lin Yuzu cooked dinner in advance. After eating, she pulled Xiao Xiao who was going for a walk to digest their meal.
Lin Yuzu cleared her throat, “Actually. . . I’m a little worried about the house, so I want to go back first and have a look.”
Xiao Xiao looked at her in confusion, “Tomorrow, go back?”
She didn’t understand Lin Yuzu’s meaning or she subconsciously felt that they should act together. It was difficult for Lin Yuzu to say what she wanted and under Xiao Xiao’s puzzled gaze, she slightly looked away, “I mean, I’ll go back first to check. . .”
Xiao Xiao didn’t respond.
Lin Yuzu gritted her teeth and moved her gaze back to meet Xiao Xiao’s eyes.
Xiao Xiao seemed to still be in a daze because of her words and her eyes were at a loss when she looked at Lin Yuzu. This kind of aggrieved look like a lost little animal immediately defeated Lin Yuzu.
She repeatedly strengthened her will in her heart,
I can’t be soft-hearted.
The two were facing each other in a stalemate.
Lin Yuzu didn’t say anything. Xiao Xiao waited for a moment before lowering her eyes in disappointment, and when she raised it again, her last bit of helplessness was brushed away. Xiao Xiao pursed her lips and didn’t stop Lin Yuzu. Her ice-blue eyes looked at her quietly, as if judging her determination.
“Now, go back?”
“. . . En.”
Xiao Xiao silently nodded and beckoned the two slender-necked birds, “Let them, send you.”
The slender-necked birds obediently followed her. Lin Yuzu packed up her things, walked out for a while, and looked back. seeing a slender white figure standing alone on a high place, gazing in her direction.
Lin Yuzu felt bitter and almost couldn’t stop herself from going back.
But she held herself back.
Leaving the area covered by the giant tree, the cyan slender bird immediately flew to a high place and hovered in the air to scout while the white one surrounded Lin Yuzu. Every time it flapped its wings, fragments of ice crystals would fall.
When Lin Yuzu saw its pure white feathers, she remembered Xiao Xiao’s long snow-colored hair.
How is Xiao Xiao now? What is she doing?
They only just separated and yet Lin Yuzu has been this shaken.
She recalled the hurt look in Xiao Xiao’s eyes when she left and began to wonder if she had done something wrong.
If she hadn’t realized her feelings and still thought that she was treating Xiao Xiao as a companion or a family member, would she have found this over-dependence problematic and deliberately act separately?
Just as the sun was setting in the west, Lin Yuzu looked at the setting sun in the sky. She remembered that it was the same time when she first came to this town. The same scenery, the same person walking on the road, but the mood is quite different.
Lin Yuzu smiled bitterly, her expression formed halfway, but it froze.
She walked on the town’s asphalt road. Although the buildings are dilapidated, most of the road is still unobstructed since no one really uses it now. And on this section of the road that shouldn’t have been used, Lin Yuzu noticed an inconsistency.
Four long traces appeared from the side of the road and dragged towards the other end of the road as if something had passed by here, leaving behind a trail of mud from the wilderness.
Lin Yuzu squatted down to study the tracks carefully.
She wasn’t mistaken, it was four-wheeled tracks.
The author has something to say:
Yuzu’s mood is like: She’s technically still young, so isn’t this a crime (?)
Xiao Xiao: . . . . ??
Okay, it’s good and all that Lin Yuzu finally realized her feelings, but I kinda am more intrigued by the discovered tracks. . .
Not to mention the birds are totally making Lin Yuzu jealous by being all lovey-dovey in front of her hahahahaha!!
Well, she and Xiao Xiao are technically also being lovey-dovey, but the birds are more intimate since they’re aware it’s mutual, hahahahaha!!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did!!
May the abyss be with you~!
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Nihilum Creations 