That evening, when Xue Ji and Sha Ya came home, the kind of ambiguous atmosphere between them made Xue’s mom suspicious.
Xue Ji’s slightly swollen lips had already given everything away. But if Xue’s mom knew this was because Sha Ya had just bitten her, I wonder what she would think.
“Did you go see Ling Xiaoxiao again?”
“No, Mom. Please stop asking.”
Seeing Sha Ya run into the bathroom like she was trying to escape, Xue’s mom actually felt relieved.
Good. At least this little cutie wouldn’t be able to bully Xue Ji.
Unable to stand her mom’s scrutinizing gaze any longer, Xue Ji quickly ran into her room.
Once she calmed down and saw more than a dozen missed calls from Ling Xiaoxiao on her phone, her head started to ache.
What kind of mess is all this? Xue Ji stared at her lit-up phone screen, and her stomach started hurting too.
Her phone rang. It was a call from Xia Jin.
With a nervous feeling in her heart, Xue Ji answered.
“Hello, is this Xue Ji?”
“Yeah, it’s me. What’s up?”
“Xue Ji, listen to me carefully! The young lady already knows about you and little Sha Ya. Please be careful and protect yourself!”
“Who are you talking to?” came a familiar voice from the other end of the line.
“No one, no one. I was just chatting with a classmate. Do you need something, young lady?”
“Never mind. The training room is a bit messy. Remember to clean it tomorrow. Oh, and don’t let any stray cats or dogs in lately.”
“Got it, young lady.”
A full minute of silence passed on the other end of the line before Xia Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “Anyway, that’s the situation. The young lady hasn’t been in a good mood lately, so Xue Ji, you’d better not come see her.”
“Oh, right. It seems you two haven’t been seeing much of each other lately. Did you have a falling out?” Xia Jin quickly changed the subject when she noticed Xue Ji wasn’t responding.
A falling out? No. Ling Xiaoxiao is just afraid that meeting again might hurt me, so she’s been holed up in that villa.
Xue Ji understood this perfectly well, so she also knew how disappointed Ling Xiaoxiao was with her right now.
After her bath, Sha Ya leaned against the door outside Xue Ji’s room. Once she had calmed down, she also realized how reckless she had been.
She had originally wanted to take things further and sleep together with Xue Ji, but she chose to give up on that chance.
It somehow felt like an unfair victory. If she snuck in and claimed the “home base” while Ling Xiaoxiao was away, it would go against her own principles.
She wanted to defeat her opponent head-on and savor the victory that rightfully belonged to her.
Still, a little taste couldn’t hurt. Hearing that the phone call inside had ended, Sha Ya opened the door.
“Ah Ji, help me blow-dry my hair.” Sha Ya stood at the doorway, looking at her with pleading eyes, like a child who had done something wrong.
Xue Ji simply couldn’t refuse. It’s just drying her hair, no big deal.
Skillfully, she ran her fingers through Sha Ya’s silvery hair.
Sha Ya always ended up with messy, frizzy hair after washing it, and she wasn’t very good at managing it. Recently, Xue’s mom had been the one doing her hair for her.
After using warm air to dry her hair thoroughly, Xue Ji took out a comb and began brushing Sha Ya’s hair.
The girl with wolf ears was quite a handful to brush, since those ears often got in the way of the comb.
It took Xue Ji quite a while to finish.
Sha Ya looked at herself in the mirror, caring about her appearance this much for the very first time.
“Ah Ji, by human standards, am I pretty?” She leaned her head back, just barely brushing against a soft, tender something.
“Of course you are. You’re as perfect as someone who just stepped right out of an anime.”
“I think you’re much prettier than me. Like that starry sky… equally beautiful.”
Xue Ji didn’t say anything. Her heart was a tangled mess. The Sha Ya in front of her was starting to unsettle her heart, while the phone call from earlier had yanked her back to reality.
She felt like a person being torn apart by two forces, her heart nearly splitting in half.
Seeing that she didn’t respond, Sha Ya gave a little hop and pushed Xue Ji down onto the bed.
“Were you thinking about her?” Her clear, bright eyes saw right through Xue Ji’s thoughts.
“She’s not here right now. And I’ll give you time. You don’t have to overthink things right now.”
Don’t have to overthink? For the moment, Xue Ji was seduced by the sound of Sha Ya’s voice, and her psychological defenses crumbled.
Sha Ya cupped Xue Ji’s face in her hands and planted a kiss directly on her soft lips.
She had been way too impatient earlier. Just as she went to kiss Xue Ji, her mouth instinctively opened and bit down instead. The romantic, starry-night atmosphere was ruined by that single bite. Even Eva, who had been secretly recording the moment, lost all interest because of this abrupt turn of events and left, disappointed.
For Sha Ya’s species, the mouth was a weapon meant for tearing and biting. But now, driven by all the impulses that had built up within her since her transformation, she was experiencing, over and over again, another way to use her mouth.
Sha Ya’s kisses could only be described as terrible. Xue Ji felt like she was Sha Ya’s prey, being gnawed on. They hadn’t even kissed for long before her lips went numb.
After the first round, Sha Ya sat up with a confused look on her face and grabbed her phone to look up kissing tutorials.
“This isn’t right. How come I didn’t feel any of the things it says here?”
She skimmed through quickly, then pushed Xue Ji, who had just sat up, back down again. Xue Ji had just been about to get up for a drink of water, but she ended up getting gnawed on by Sha Ya all over again.
After the second round, Sha Ya started to panic. Her movements as she handled her phone became clumsy, and she even failed to unlock it several times.
Xue Ji couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She reached out, snatched Sha Ya’s phone away, and tossed it aside.
She flipped Sha Ya over and pinned her down, reversing their positions. The attacker became the defender, and the defender became the attacker.
“Let me do it instead.” Xue Ji’s gaze was a bit unsteady, looking slightly unsure of herself.
“Alright.” Sha Ya couldn’t hide her disappointment, but since Xue Ji was the one taking the initiative, she couldn’t help but feel excited about the upcoming kiss.
Xue Ji cupped Sha Ya’s face. Sha Ya stared straight at her without blinking.
“Are you not going to close your eyes?” Xue Ji said, a little awkwardly.
Only then did Sha Ya realize what she had forgotten. She quickly shut her eyes. The way her hands and feet were all tensed up actually made Xue Ji feel nervous too.
“Relax. Don’t be so tense.” Xue Ji kissed her cheek first, then said.
Then, their lips finally met without any trouble. This time, no teeth got in the way.
It felt like touching a cloud—light and soft.
Under Xue Ji’s guidance, Sha Ya wrapped her arms around Xue Ji’s neck and immersed herself in this brief contact.
After her first taste, Sha Ya began to explore on her own.
Xue Ji felt a soft little something nudge past her teeth and tangle with hers.
The feeling of being pressed together was addictive to Sha Ya. She wished they could just melt into one another and never, ever separate.
Using lips and teeth to convey feelings—what a wonderful sensation.
This kiss lasted a full half hour. In the second half, Sha Ya took over the lead. Xue Ji had gotten on the wolf and couldn’t get off.
“Haaah… haaah… Sha Ya, do you not need to breathe?” Xue Ji once again felt like she was on the verge of suffocating.
Sha Ya didn’t answer. Her gaze was still fixed on Xue Ji’s lips, like a predator locking onto its prey, her intent clear.
“Wait, hold on— Mmmph—”
