"You scoundrel! Let go of me right now!" As soon as they stepped out of the office, Ren Jun erupted in fury. Her hand, which had been pinching his waist moments ago, was now joined by the other, both concentrating all her strength into her ten slender fingers, as if to vent her indignation.
"Let go of you?" Xiang Ri feigned astonishment. "Shouldn't you be the one letting go of me?"
His skin, tough as leather, barely registered her attempts to hurt him—it felt more like a massage. Yet, even as he mused on her fiery indignation, he couldn't help but note how slender her waist was, alarmingly thin to the point of appearing unhealthy. She probably wasn't eating enough. Without thinking, his hands tightened their grip slightly.
"You bastard!" Ren Jun's petite waist was once again under siege. Outraged, she retaliated with a series of vigorous pinches before finally smacking his mischievous hands away with all her strength.
She hadn't anticipated that Xiang Ri's body seemed as impenetrable as a fortress. Her actions barely registered as an irritation, and instead, they only seemed to awaken his latent mischief.
"Hey, little lady, let's be reasonable here. You were the one who laid hands on me first," Xiang Ri said, feigning indignation.
"Who—who touched you?!" Ren Jun's face flushed hotly before her anger flared again. "I was pinching you!"
"Ah, yes, pinching," Xiang Ri echoed her words teasingly, his expression turning sly. "But isn't pinching just another form of touching? It's all about the amount of force, isn't it?"
"You—" Ren Jun, rendered momentarily speechless, pointed a trembling finger at him, her fury evident. Unfortunately, her mother wasn't there to expose this rascal's true nature.
"Enough with the bickering," Xiang Ri said casually, brushing off her indignation as he turned to leave. "If there's anything else, we'll talk later. I have a class to attend."
"You stop right there!" Ren Jun shouted, striding forward to grab his arm. Her voice quivered with exasperation as she blurted out, "What are we going to do about this?"
"Hmm?" Xiang Ri glanced at her, puzzled. "What do you mean by that? As far as I know, we don't have any shared goals, do we?"
"Damn it!" Ren Jun was so incensed she wanted to kick him. "I'm talking about our situation—what are we supposed to do now? My mom has completely misunderstood us. What do you plan to do about it?" Her voice grew increasingly exasperated as she spoke.
"This isn't something I can help with," Xiang Ri replied with a shrug, spreading his hands as if absolving himself of responsibility. "She's your mom, not mine."
In truth, he was just as helpless about the misunderstanding, though he secretly found some amusement in being mistaken as her fiancé. Watching the usually composed Ren Jun fume was strangely satisfying.
"You jerk!" Ren Jun roared in frustration, her voice echoing down the corridor. "How can you still make such snide remarks at a time like this? Are you even a man?"
"So what do you want me to do?" Xiang Ri asked, his expression innocent as he scratched his nose. Suddenly, his gaze turned mischievous as he fixed her with an unreadable look. "How about this—you could just marry me."
"Over my dead body!" Ren Jun snapped, her cheeks instantly burning red as she averted her gaze. Feeling her response might have been too harsh, she quickly added, "Besides, you already have a girlfriend. I'm not about to become the villain in someone else's story."
"Does that mean if I didn't have a girlfriend, you'd consider marrying me?" Xiang Ri's eyes gleamed with a teasing light as he leaned in, clearly enjoying her discomfort.
Ren Jun's entire body stiffened under his gaze, her face turning an even deeper shade of crimson. "Stop flattering yourself!" she retorted sharply. "I would never marry someone like you!"
Unfazed by her rejection, Xiang Ri gazed at her with an exaggerated look of sorrow, his tone turning mockingly wistful. "You know, the first time I saw you, I fell for you. I never believed in love at first sight—it always seemed like a cheap ploy invented by shameless novelists. But after meeting you, I realized it truly exists..."
"Stop joking around!" Ren Jun, usually so brash and unrestrained, faltered under his sudden confession. Hastily, she cut him off, her heart unable to withstand his playful assault of tender words.
"Who's joking with you?" Xiang Ri retorted, his face solemn, his expression leaving no room for doubt. With a tone tinged with exaggerated "indignation" at her disbelief, he declared, "I truly like you! I'd even die for you if it came to that!" His face took on an air of resolute determination, though deep inside, he was gleefully smug—let's see how you handle this now!
"I..." Ren Jun averted her gaze, flustered under the weight of his intense, penetrating eyes. Seeing his earnest expression, which didn't resemble the least bit of jest, her heartbeat quickened, and even her ears seemed to burn. She had never expected the situation to escalate to this point and found herself at a loss for words.
"Jun Jun, will you be my girlfriend?" Xiang Ri turned up the heat, adding fuel to an already roaring fire.
Caught off guard, Ren Jun froze. The affectionate "Jun Jun" he called her left her mind blank, her hands and feet at a loss for what to do.
Just as she struggled to find a response, something suddenly came to mind. Forcing her expression to harden, she feigned impatience. "Get lost! I'm taller than you; this is utterly impossible!" Although her words flatly rejected him, there was a faint tremor in her voice that betrayed her.
Xiang Ri, unfazed, shot her a dismissive glance. Comparing their heights, he noted he was 1.75 meters tall, while the "bamboo girl" easily stood around 1.8 meters. Most men might have backed off at such a statement, but Xiang Ri clearly wasn't an ordinary man.
His aim, after all, was merely to tease her. With mock sincerity, even a touch of "grief," he continued, "What does a height difference matter? Don't you know love transcends age, nationality, and physical attributes? Jun Jun, won't you reconsider?"
Ren Jun's heart trembled at his words. Turning her head away, she muttered, "It's out of the question. You already have a girlfriend."
Xiang Ri fixed his gaze on her for a moment before asking, "So, if I didn't have a girlfriend, would you agree then?"
"I..."
"You would, wouldn't you?" Before she could finish, Xiang Ri cut her off, unable to hold back his amusement. The thought of how gullible she was made him burst into laughter. "Oh, little lady, don't tell me you're really this sentimental?"
Ren Jun's face turned pale at his words but quickly returned to normal as she glared daggers at him. "You were lying to me, weren't you?"
Noticing the shift in her demeanor, Xiang Ri awkwardly scratched his head. "The weather's so nice today. Can't you take a joke?"
"A joke?" Ren Jun murmured to herself, a wave of disappointment and faint bitterness welling up within her. The unfamiliar and stifling sensation made her feel as though she might burst into tears.
But she held back, unwilling to appear vulnerable before him. Yet, despite her resolve, a mist of tears began to form in her eyes.
"You're not going to cry, are you?" Xiang Ri noticed her unusual reaction and immediately realized he'd taken the joke too far. Stepping forward to console her, he said hurriedly, "Jun Jun, please don't cry. I know I was wrong just now. I shouldn't have joked like that—"
Before he could finish, Ren Jun flung his hand away. "I don't need your concern! What does it matter to you if I cry? I'm nothing to you!" she snapped, though her tear-filled eyes betrayed her true feelings.
Xiang Ri wanted to say something further, but a voice called out urgently from a distance.
"Sir! Miss Ren!"
He turned and saw a strikingly exotic beauty hurrying toward them. It was none other than Anaïs, the foreign beauty who had stormed out of the homeroom teacher's office earlier.
"Can you help me gather a bunch of male classmates?" Anaïs blurted out the moment she reached them, her tone impatient as she directed her plea toward Xiang Ri.
"For what?" Instinctively, Xiang Ri's mind wandered in a mischievous direction.
"To help me fight!" Anaïs declared, clenching her fists with determined vigor.