A Young Woman's Heart

Chapter 334 Back to Back, Head to Head

The TV station was broadcasting the Taiwanese translation of Ultraman Tiga. Sometimes, while listening, Zhou Yong would even have the illusion that he was watching Detective Conan.

Without realizing it, he had subconsciously leaned back on the single sofa. The soft, sandbag-like sofa could be compressed into various shapes, and leaning against it felt as comfortable as lying on a thick ball of cotton.

I don't know what material is inside, but it doesn't really look like cotton.

He felt a faint, refreshing fragrance in the air, which was somewhat intoxicating.

"What's wrong? Are you asleep?"

"Huh? No."

"Your eyes are all squinted."

"Ah...cough, it smells really nice."

"It's floral water."

"Oh...it's just floral water." Zhou Yong was a little disappointed. "Uh...I thought it was your perfume."

“I don’t have any fragrance on me.” Tian Tingchan smiled and leaned back.

Their gazes returned to the television.

A tokusatsu drama was playing on TV, and Zhou Yong's attention was gradually drawn to the tense and dramatic plot, but the TV station abruptly stopped the show just as the plot reached its climax.

Next up, of course, is the commercial break.

"Damn it!" Zhou Yong couldn't help but curse, "It always gets stuck at this moment!"

"Isn't that how it is in TV dramas?" Tian Tingchan said lazily, but suddenly, both of them stiffened.

I didn't notice it while I was engrossed in watching the show, but now I realize that we're sitting back to back without even realizing it. And because the single sofa isn't big enough, our heads are practically touching.

The warmth from the other person seemed to be transmitted to me, and the sound of the advertisement became very low for some reason, as if I could hear the heartbeat in their chest.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

"Boom!" Suddenly, a clap of thunder streaked across the sky, startling the two of them awake. They immediately sat up straight and stopped huddling together.

"Ahem..." Zhou Yong coughed awkwardly, "Sorry, sorry...it wasn't intentional."

Tian Tingchan, who was initially a little shy, frowned slightly: "Why should I apologize?"

"Huh? You're asking me why I'm apologizing? Uh... well..." Zhou Yong froze, unsure how to explain. "Ah... it's always been like this, hasn't it?"

"Hmm...why?" Tian Tingchan moved closer to Zhou Yong this time, and the latter awkwardly moved away.

"Ah...ah...why?" Zhou Yong was a little confused himself. After thinking for a long time, he answered blankly, "Uh, because...well, with my appearance, if I get too close to girls, they'll definitely dislike me..."

"What's wrong with your appearance?" Tian Tingchan's tone was tinged with anger. "At least you have decent features, why do you look down on yourself so much?"

"No? It's just... the truth is, when a good-looking guy touches a girl, it's considered flirting or something, but if he's not good-looking, he'll be looked down upon."

“I didn’t look down on you, and besides, you’ve always called me ‘Brother Chan’.”

"Haha... Well, things are different in reality." Zhou Yong awkwardly shifted his gaze to the window. "Sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong, why are you apologizing?" Tian Tingchan beckoned to him with her finger, "Come here, brother."

"Yes, brother, what's up? Who are we going to chop up tonight?" Zhou Yong immediately turned around, trying to change the subject and liven up the atmosphere.

"Stretch out your arm."

Which one?

"The one on the left."

"Oh... what's wrong, bro? Are you going to chop me up? Holy crap, is that so cruel!"

"Put it down, put it away properly."

"It's all set up..."

"Mmm." So, Tian Tingchan lay down comfortably, resting her head on Zhou Yong's arm. "That's enough for now, let's keep watching."

"what--"

"You only know how to use interjections?"

"Brother Chan, your head is too heavy!" Zhou Yong said quickly, coming up with a solution.

"Nonsense, that's my responsibility."

"Yes, yes, yes, what you say is all right, brother." Zhou Yong quickly replied with a smile. Although it was a joke, it seemed quite genuine.

"If this guy encountered some thugs outside, he'd probably be bowing and scraping like this too," Tian Tingchan thought to herself.

The commercials ended, and the tokusatsu film continued playing, but Zhou Yong's mind had already drifted off to who-knows-where.

A thunderstorm broke out outside, bringing some coolness to this summer day.

Zhou Yong felt a slight numbness in his arm, and the tokusatsu show on the TV had actually ended, and a somewhat childish educational cartoon was playing instead.

Zhou Yong instinctively wanted to change the subject: "Um, on that sill next to the window..."

"That's called a bay window."

"Oh right, there are so many medicines by the bay window. It seems like you've been taking medicine all the time, Chan-ge. It seems like you have more than just a heart problem?"

"Do you want me to have problems all over my body?"

"No, no." Zhou Yong waved his other hand vigorously and smiled ingratiatingly, "By the way, my other hand is numb, can you let me go?"

Tian Tingchan's tone always changed quickly, and now it became indifferent again: "Hmm."

"Thank you, thank you." Zhou Yong withdrew his hand, stood up, and strolled to the bay window as if looking around at the scenery. "These medicines aren't all for treating illnesses, are they?"

"Well, some are calcium or vitamin supplements too." Tian Tingchan gently smoothed her hair with her hand and asked jokingly, "Would you like to try them?"

"Huh? I'm not sick... Ah, I'm not insulting you, I mean, it's not good to take supplements even if you're not sick, isn't it? Don't we always say that you can't overdo it with supplements?"

"Hmm." Tian Tingchan slowly walked to the bay window and quietly pushed some pink medicine boxes under her pillow.

"Ah... the rain outside is so heavy." Zhou Yong continued to search for a topic of conversation.

"Well, it should clear up soon."

"Ah, that should be true." Zhou Yong cracked his neck. "Once the rain stops, I should go home too."

Tian Tingchan pursed her lips and then gently licked her teeth with her tongue: "...Okay."

"By the way, is your medicine bitter? Don't you feel tired taking it every day?"

"It's alright, would you like to try some?"

"Well, then there's no need..."

"There is a medicine that can improve skin."

"Holy crap, is this for real?"

"Ah."

"So I can become a pretty boy too? I think if my skin is better and my face is fairer, I should be able to look decent, right? After all, fair skin covers up a lot of flaws!"

"Perhaps."

"Sigh—Brother Chan, your answer is so perfunctory."

"Yeah, it'll be really cool." Tian Tingchan couldn't help but smile.

"By the way, is this what skin-whitening medicine looks like? It looks like a beauty drug." Zhou Yong suddenly picked up a strip of pills that wasn't in a box. "What's this written in? English?"

"Thai."

"Thai?" Zhou Yong asked, somewhat surprised. "They're all imported. Why not buy American ones?"

"Thailand is closer."

"Oh, so it'll be cheaper, I understand." Zhou Yong looked like he understood.

Tian Tingchan subconsciously wanted to reach out and snatch back the strip of medicine, but then felt that it would be too abrupt, so she restrained herself and instead pretended to be nonchalant and joked, "This is the medicine that can whiten skin, do you want to try it?"

"Why don't we give it a try?" Zhou Yong was actually a little tempted. "It would be great if it could make me more handsome, but skin whitening is good too... Fair skin is all the rage now... I'll give it a try, I don't know if one pill will work."

Then, Zhou Yong actually took a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it up and swallowing it with a 'crunch crunch' sound: "Tsk—the taste isn't very pleasant."

"You..." Tian Tingchan looked shocked, then hurriedly put the medicine away. "Don't take it randomly."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"This medicine was developed specifically for women. Don't blame me if you end up becoming a woman after taking it."

"Fuck!!"

"However, one piece is fine."

"Thank goodness... This was terrifying. Why did they have to develop it for women?"

"Because it's mostly women who want to whiten their skin."

“That seems to make sense…” Zhou Yong didn’t dare to touch it anymore, afraid that something bad might happen. Although he didn’t know that such a magical thing existed, it was like when his family always lied to him as a child, saying that “if you eat watermelon seeds, a watermelon will grow in your stomach.” Without knowing the truth, it still made him feel uneasy and scared.

The thunderstorm came quickly and went quickly; after the thunder gradually faded, the rain slowly stopped as well.

"Ah, I have to go home now, to have lunch. My mom is waiting for me."

"Okay." Tian Tingchan nodded, escorted Zhou Yong downstairs, and opened the door for him.

"Brother Chan, can I come again next time?"

"Of course you can."

"Hehe, I'll bring my classmates next time, it'll be more fun."

"..." Tian Tingchan wanted to refuse, but after her eyes darted around for a moment, she nodded and agreed, "Okay."

She put her hands behind her back, her ten fingers intertwined.

"I'm leaving now, bye-bye!"

"Goodbye." Tian Tingchan watched Zhou Yong get on the elevator, and the smiles on their faces disappeared almost simultaneously after they could no longer see each other.

He became expressionless.