Extra 2 Part 1
Qiao Yu x Lin Qing in the Parallel World
“Are you feeling unwell?”
The perfectly timed concern, the flawless expression, no one could tell what was wrong.
However, Lin Qing fell into an indescribable panic.
“Qiao Yu, I…”
When Lin Qing tried to grab Qiao Yu’s hand, she subtly dodged. Pretending to be intimate, Qiao Yu raised her hand to check Lin Qing’s forehead temperature, but Lin Qing felt the coldness of ice from the touch.
“Ah, sorry, my hand is too cold.”
Qiao Yu quickly realized the issue and withdrew her hand, looking at Lin Qing with concern and a hint of a gesture.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
She asked again. Lin Qing knew her words were urging her to explain and not to worry the adults. However, Lin Qing couldn’t help but repeatedly replay the scene of Qiao Yu avoiding her in her mind.
“…It’s nothing, probably just a bit of sleep deprivation.”
Lin Qing heard herself saying this to reassure the unaware adults. After Qiao Yu said, “That’s good,” she swiftly averted her gaze from Lin Qing, looking at the table with an expression that was hard to decipher.
No, Qiao Yu, don’t be angry. Look at me, please.
An indescribable panic stuck in her throat. Lin Qing’s rationality allowed her to maintain a proper smile at the dinner table, but inside, she was already a chaotic mess of anxiety.
For the remainder of the dinner, Qiao Yu didn’t glance at her again.
Almost immediately after leaving, Lin Qing forcefully grabbed Qiao Yu’s hand.
“Qiao Yu, listen to me—”
“Calm down.”
Lin Qing was visibly panicked. Reflecting on her reaction at the dinner table, Qiao Yu gently said,
“Let’s talk at your place.”
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Qiao Yu’s calm demeanor seemed to comfort Lin Qing, who slackened her grip but still held Qiao Yu’s hand as they walked home together.
Once they were both seated, Lin Qing tried to explain something, but Qiao Yu spoke first.
“No need to explain, I understand.”
“You must think it doesn’t matter whether you meet or not. Aunt Lin is someone who responds better to a soft approach rather than a hard one. It’s harder to refuse her than to refuse a blind date. So, you just go, and each time you come back saying it wasn’t suitable, you can reasonably get some peace for a while.”
“It also saves you from conflicts at home, which is quite good.”
Qiao Yu earnestly analyzed the situation, thinking this was very much Lin Qing’s style. After all, Lin Qing was quite experienced in rejection; going on a blind date just to refuse later wouldn’t be difficult for her.
“…I should have told you earlier, it’s my fault…”
“No, it’s not.”
Lin Qing’s voice beside her was inexplicably uneasy, slightly trembling. Qiao Yu blinked gently and shook her head.
“There’s nothing wrong about it. This isn’t something that must be told to others. Whether to say it or not is a personal choice, and no one will blame you for it.”
“…You’re not ‘others’…!”
As if angered by her choice of words, Lin Qing suddenly leaned towards her. Qiao Yu had to step aside, but Lin Qing, even more flustered, grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to turn around.
Why, why does she look like she’s about to cry?
Qiao Yu stared at her for a long moment, then averted her gaze from Lin Qing’s teary eyes, lowering her eyes tiredly.
“Does this title really matter so much, Lin Qing?”
“…”
The grip on her shoulders tightened, causing Qiao Yu to feel pain but she didn’t mention it and instead changed the subject.
“I’ve been thinking we should find an opportunity to talk properly—you know, about the things that have happened recently.”
“But now it seems… maybe there’s no need to talk anymore.”
Qiao Yu suddenly felt an absurdity, showing a self-deprecating smile. Lin Qing urgently wanted to argue but was interrupted by her.
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“Lin Qing, I think we both know that no one will immediately reciprocate feelings just because someone else says they like them.”
“…Qiao Yu…”
The voice calling her name grew weak, tinged with a plea. Qiao Yu stubbornly avoided her gaze and continued.
“I once convinced myself that you actually liked me all along, just didn’t realize it.”
“But… Lin Qing.”
Qiao Yu’s throat choked for a moment. She struggled to calm her emotions and spoke in a low voice.
“If someone has someone they like, they wouldn’t easily accept their family’s arranged dates, right?”
“…It’s not like that, why, why can’t it be?”
To Lin Qing, these words almost seemed like unreasonable nonsense without logic or order. Qiao Yu smiled and did not respond.
“It’s okay, Lin Qing. Like I said, it’s all personal choice. No one will blame you for not loving me.”
“I guess I put too much pressure on you before, making you feel that if you didn’t love me, you’d lose a friend. So you forced yourself to believe you loved me.”
“Qiao Yu, don’t… make assumptions!”
Lin Qing’s voice was still trembling, but she firmly turned Qiao Yu’s face towards hers, making her face Lin Qing’s teary expression.
“I like you, why do you get to deny that? Why don’t you believe me?”
“You like me…” Qiao Yu suddenly smiled, her eyes curving, but her words were far less warm than her smile, “I believe you like me. But.”
“This liking is the same as your liking for cats, the teddy bear you had since childhood, and the perfume you’ve always used.”
“It’s just that I was lucky enough to be in the position of a childhood friend, so my importance is a bit greater than those things. When you have to give it up, the pain is more intense, making you mistake this pain for love, and then using it as a bargaining chip to make me stay.”
Seeing Lin Qing’s pupils slightly dilate, her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t make a sound. Qiao Yu’s eyes gradually dimmed, and she took a deep breath.
“I know all of this is hard to distinguish.”
Her voice was low, the emotions in her heart hard to discern. She could only let everything stick in her throat, uttering pale words.
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“We’ve known each other for so long and have never been apart. Facing separation would naturally be overwhelming. Our feelings are deeper than friendship,” Qiao Yu paused, adding an explanation, “Maybe it feels more like family to you, like sisters.”
“To me…?”
Lin Qing, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, suddenly moved. Her eyes were already red, and now she seemed to muster a bit of spirit to question Qiao Yu, her questions sharp, like a double-edged sword that makes no distinction between friend and foe.
“Then what about you?”
“Why are you so sure that what you feel for me is real love?”
“…”
This time, it was Qiao Yu who fell silent. Lin Qing almost thought she had won.
But she felt no joy from this victory. Instead, she felt a strange pain, like being finely shredded by a blade, every breath bringing stinging agony.
Lin Qing suddenly felt a sense of vertigo, as if she were about to fall from the clouds in the next second. She weakly let go of Qiao Yu’s shoulders.
Just before her hand slid off Qiao Yu’s shoulder, Qiao Yu quietly leaned in.
Lin Qing didn’t resist. She didn’t have time to react before Qiao Yu gently grasped her shoulders, laying her down on the sofa. Qiao Yu looked down at her, supporting herself with one hand beside Lin Qing’s head.
“…You asked why I am so sure?”
Qiao Yu’s voice was different now, containing a certain intense emotion. Her eyes were deep, and her gaze moved from Lin Qing’s eyes downward, palpably, making Lin Qing’s heart throb with inexplicable heat.
Not just her gaze, but Qiao Yu’s free right hand also gently stroked, barely touching the corner of her eye, then slowly moving down.
Cheek, nose tip, lips.
Her fingers paused slightly on the lips, then continued downward.
Chin, throat, collarbone.
Qiao Yu’s fingers lightly brushed over the mole above Lin Qing’s collarbone, pressing deliberately, causing Lin Qing’s skin to tingle. Even after Qiao Yu’s hand moved away, the sensation lingered.
Everywhere Qiao Yu touched seemed to be tingling with an inexplicable heat, a burning sensation that made Lin Qing feel dry-mouthed and at a loss.
She didn’t understand what was happening. Her body reacted in a strange way, a deep itch that couldn’t be alleviated. Lin Qing didn’t understand the nature of this feeling but instinctively had one thought.
—Qiao Yu should touch there again.
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She was startled by her own unspeakable thought, while Qiao Yu’s fingers leisurely slid over her collarbone, finally stopping at her neckline.
Qiao Yu’s cool fingers hooked Lin Qing’s collar and gently pulled down.
Lin Qing instinctively tensed her body, her mind hazy from the unusual heat, yet she made no move to resist, only slightly parting her lips, breathing a bit heavily.
She was an adult; she knew what this gesture meant.
Her heart surged with a multitude of complex emotions, but she had no thought of avoiding or resisting. She just quietly watched Qiao Yu, her mind blurry, waiting for something to happen.
But Qiao Yu withdrew her hand at that moment.
She released her grip, sat upright, then quickly stood up as if to escape, walking swiftly to the door.
“…I can be sure of my feelings for you.”
As the heat source suddenly moved away, Lin Qing’s foggy mind cleared a bit. She propped herself up from the sofa, instinctively touching her collar when she heard these words.
Qiao Yu’s voice was not steady; it was clear she was trying to suppress her panic, but it wasn’t very effective.
“Because I have… desire for you.”
The last two words were said very softly, but Lin Qing heard them clearly, like a lightning bolt in the night, her eyes widening slightly.
“…Let’s leave it at that for tonight. We should both take some time to calm down.”
Qiao Yu’s words were hesitant, lacking the confidence she initially had. Lin Qing felt she detected a bit of embarrassment in her tone. When she looked up, she caught Qiao Yu quickly looking away.
This made Lin Qing feel discontented, but strangely, it didn’t come with that end-of-the-world panic.
“Then, good night.”
It was more like a retreat than a farewell. Lin Qing only had time to open her mouth before Qiao Yu hurriedly opened the door and left, still remembering to close it softly behind her.
Lin Qing frowned, hesitating for a moment about chasing after her but decided to respect Qiao Yu’s wish.
She also needed some time to think alone.
Recalling what had just happened, Lin Qing moved her hand from her collar, then touched her eye corner, slowly sliding down.
Following the path Qiao Yu had traced earlier, Lin Qing touched it again, her eyes flickering slightly.
…Before letting Qiao Yu go just now, she really should have made her specify exactly what she meant by “desire.”