*
On her eighteenth birthday, Xin Xiangnian wore a thin nightdress and knocked on the door next door in the dead of night.
The door opened. The scent of shower gel from someone who had just bathed wafted straight into her nose. She raised her lashes and saw You An's handsome, icy face.
You An's gaze swept over the faint outline of her figure beneath her nightdress, but he made no move to let her in. He stared at her, waiting for her to speak.
Xin Xiangnian curled her fingers around the hem of her dress and said softly, "I watched a horror movie. I'm a little scared."
"And?"
"Can I come into your room?"
*
They wouldn't see each other again for two years.
Sometimes Xin Xiangnian was egotistical enough to think that he had gone abroad because of her, but she quickly dismissed the idea. After all, how could a clown like her be worth making such a choice for?
So she found an excuse to avoid him on the day he returned to the country, until late that night, when someone knocked on her bedroom door.
You An pinned her against the wall, his right hand gripping her throat as he watched her with amusement. "What are you pretending to be this time?"
"I'm not pretending."
Xin Xiangnian looked away. Though she wasn't actually struggling to breathe, his tightening fingers and their close proximity still made her uncomfortable. She tried to push him away and frowned. "Ge, let me go."
You An didn't move. The brief hesitation could just as easily have been imagined. He only gave a cold laugh. "Don't call me that. You don't deserve to be my sister." He brushed the back of his left hand across her face. "I just came to tell you something."
"Remember this: you'll never get away from me, not in this lifetime."
Theme: None at present.
