After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

Lin Ye looked down at her.

Zhao Xiaoyue lifted her eyes from his waist, and the pinkish-purple light shone on her face.

Her bangs were askew to the right, revealing her entire left forehead and brow bone. It was a face he had never really seen clearly before; not particularly stunning, but very clean.

She looked at Lin Ye for two seconds.

Lin Ye's breathing became completely disordered.

He heard his own voice emerge from his throat, low and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against wood.

He didn't recognize the voice. It wasn't like his usual voice, nor his singing voice, nor even any voice he had ever heard of himself. It was another version of himself, one summoned from the deepest part of his body by the pinkish-purple light and her lips.

Her breathing became rapid, and the breath she exhaled from her nose hit his lower abdomen, warm and moist, the rhythm perfectly synchronized with her movements.

The voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet living room. Lin Ye could hear what it contained—not pain, not discomfort, but a complex emotion she couldn't quite explain, a mixture of nervousness, shyness, anticipation, and a secret joy.

Lin Ye's fingers slid down her hair, past her earlobe, past the thin vein on the side of her neck, and stopped on her thin shoulder.

His fingers pressed against her shoulder, feeling the contours of the muscles slightly bulging under the thin skin as she strained.

"Zhao Xiaoyue".

He called her.

The sound was very low, so low it sounded like a vibration coming from deep underground.

She lifted her face from his waist, the pinkish-purple light shining into her eyes.

There was a thin layer of watery light in those single-eyelid eyes.

She looked up at him, like a child who had done something wrong and was being called by their full name by their parents, waiting for the verdict.

Lin Ye's hand slid from her shoulder to her face.

He brushed aside her bangs that were askew to the right with his fingers, and tucked the few stray hairs that were covering her eyes behind her ear.

Her forehead was fully exposed, and the outline of her brow bone was clearly visible in the pinkish-purple light. Her single-eyelid eyes appeared larger and deeper without the bangs covering them, more like two dark stones washed by rain.

"Zhao Xiaoyue".

He called again.

This time his voice was even softer, as soft as if he were calling the name of a newborn baby.

Zhao Xiaoyue's lips curved slightly against his skin.

She lifted her face from his waist, got up from the floor, her knees hitting the wooden floor, but she didn't care.

The hem of her white spaghetti strap nightgown bunched up at her waist, revealing two gleaming white legs and a pair of faded cotton panties.

She looked down at the forest, and pinkish-purple light poured in from behind her, coating her silhouette with a fuzzy halo.

His black hair fell down from his shoulders, the ends brushing against his chest, tickling him.

Her hands rested on the back of the sofa on either side of his head, her whole body like a bridge above him.

Zhao Xiaoyue was stunned for a moment.

She looked down at herself, then at him, and her face flushed instantly.

The heat spread from my neck to my ears, and from my ears to my cheeks, turning the once-white skin below my collarbone pink.

Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something but swallowed it back, finally squeezing out a very soft sound from her throat, like the sound a kitten makes when its tail is stepped on.

"Brother...I'm sorry...I didn't..."

Lin Ye reached out and grasped her waist.

Her waist was incredibly narrow in his palm, and he could feel the muscles on her sides trembling slightly with tension through the thin white slip dress.

This time it's different.

This time it was accurate.

It was as if she had been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time, until she herself thought it would never come, and then it suddenly came. All the anticipation, all the tension, all the fear were released in that instant, turning into a trembling sigh squeezed out from the deepest part of her chest.

Her fingers gripped the fabric of the sofa back, her knuckles turning white, and the muscles in her forearms were clearly visible from the force she was exerting.

Her face was tilted back, her black hair fell down from her shoulders, revealing her entire face. Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes were trembling, and her lips were slightly parted, revealing a glimpse of her white front teeth.

Lin Ye moved his hand from her waist to her back.

His palm was pressed against the outline of her spine, and he could feel the skin on her back taut with tension. He could feel her heartbeat traveling through her ribs to his palm, as fast as a bird in a cage.

"Zhao Xiaoyue".

He called her name, his voice very low, as if he were only saying it to her.

Zhao Xiaoyue opened her eyes.

The pinkish-purple light fell into her eyes, making the thin layer of moisture shine even brighter.

She looked down at the forest and stared for a moment.

This time it wasn't a sigh, but a hum, a soft, drawn-out hum squeezed out of the nose, like the purring sound a kitten makes when it's being stroked, carrying 100% satisfaction and 300% awkwardness of a first experience.

Lin Ye's hand slid from her back to her waist, his fingers hooking around the inward curve of her waist.

His thumb traced circles on the skin of her waist, a skin without any tattoos or scars, as clean as a piece of paper that had never been written on.

Her hair brushed against his chest, his chin, and his lips.

Her breathing became more and more rapid, and the breath she exhaled from her nose hit his face, warm and moist, with a faint, indescribable sweetness.

Her hand slid down from the back of the sofa and rested on his chest.

With my palm pressed against the area below his collarbone, I could feel the force of his heart pounding in his chest and the frequency of his heartbeat.

Her fingers curled against his chest, her nails digging into his flesh, leaving several shallow crescent-shaped marks.

"elder brother……"

She spoke, her voice squeezed from the deepest part of her throat, trembling with sobs, but there were no tears in her eyes.

"My name is Zhao Xiaoyue...you...you remember it..."

Lin Ye reached out and pulled her down.

She lay pressed against his chest, her black hair falling down from her shoulders, obscuring their faces behind a black curtain.

Pinkish-purple light seeped through the gaps in her hair, casting delicate, interplay of light and shadow on her face.

Her face was very close to his, close enough that he could see the tiny mole on the bridge of her nose, close enough that he could see the dry, chapped skin on her lips, and close enough that he could see the fine, slightly forked strands at the tips of her eyelashes.

"Zhao Xiaoyue".

He called her name.

Her eyes lit up for a moment.

Then she buried her face in his chest, her lips pressed against the skin below his collarbone, her voice muffled and indistinct, but every word seemed to be dug out from the deepest part of his heart.

"Brother... my name is Zhao Xiaoyue..."

Lin Ye kissed her.

It wasn't a kiss on the lips; she buried her face in his chest, and he lowered his head to kiss the top of her head.

His lips brushed against the whorl of her black hair, the origin from which all her hair grew. His lips touched that small patch of warm, slightly damp scalp. She could feel his lips opening and closing on the top of her head, as if he were saying something, but his voice was so soft that she couldn't hear it herself.

Her fingers gripped the collar of his T-shirt, her nails digging into the fabric fibers, stretching the already loose ribbing even further.

Her face was still buried in his chest, her breath hitting his collarbone, rapid and hot.

Her voice came from his chest, muffled, with a sob, a laugh, and all the emotions she hadn't had time to process.

"Brother...do you know...the first time I saw you...I felt you...were different..."