The Overnight Chosen Wife: Darling, Kiss Me Deeper

"Don't you think my mom is being strange?" Lanni asked as she walked Xiehan out later. 

"If she nagged you, you might have felt sad about it." Xiehan responded. 

Lanni nodded. He was right. It was much better that Li Yuming was not nagging her. 

She walked Xiehan to the parking lot. 

"Xiehan, you…" she turned to speak and just when she did, his lips met hers. 

She was surprised but soon responded to the kiss by hugging his neck and letting him deepen the kiss. 

He pushed her back against his car but stopped before his hand could reach under her dress. "Does it still hurt?" 

Lanni understood instantly what he was asking about and felt slightly embarassed. "It's bearable." 

She felt something pressing against her crotch thanks to their closeness and looked at him in surprise. "You have a boner that fast?" 

Ji Xiehan took her hand and brought to his crotch. "This is all thanks to you." 

Lanni withdrew her hand quickly. "Xiehan, not here." And certainly not now.

"Of course not." He laughed. After kissing her a last time, he entered his car. 

___

The next day—Star Art International. 

As usual, Cheng Yu was earlier than the other students to arrive in Star Art International. This time, however, she was not the first. Someone else had already arrived. 

She cast a glance at Cedric and wanted to mind her own business but then she remembered how rude she had been the day before. Cedric had done nothing but speak to her. Even though she was usually irritated by him, she couldn't deny that she had been unreasonable and taken her bad mood out on him. 

Decisively, she went and sat next to him. 

Cedric snuck a glance at the girl who had just sat beside him and picked up his brush to continue painting. 

"Cedric." She called out softly. 

Cedric turned and his gaze lingered on her for longer this time. "I thought I was hallucinating." 

Cheng Yu frowned slightly. Why did those words sound so wrong? 

"This is the first time ever that you have sought me on your own." He stroked his brush against the canvas. He was painting something that she couldn't make out because she wasn't even looking, and it seemed to be upside down.

She pushed his weird words at the back of her mind. "I came to apologize." 

"You—what?" Cedric lost hold of his brush and it smudged the painting. 

"Yesterday, I was mad. I didn't mean to take it out on you like that." 

Cedric scrutinized her for a longer time than she was comfortable with and when he sensed her unease, he grinned. "Sure you didn't." 

"What?" What did he even mean? 

"Don't you always take it out on me? When have you not shouted at me for merely existing?" 

Cheng Yu looked down, feeling guilty. Indeed, she had always been annoyed whenever he appeared and she would always sneer or shout at him then ignore him. "But that's your fault. It's all because you are so annoying." 

Cedric smiled, not able to retaliate against that. He tried to correct the smudge on his painting, his gaze averted from her.  "Why were you so mad anyway?" 

Cheng Yu breathed out a long sigh. Although she was close to Luna, she couldn't bring herself to bother her so she had not told her about Lanni quitting. She had it all bottled up and now that Cedric asked, she couldn't stop herself from talking about it. 

"Lanni left the class." 

"She did? I figured she would. Sadly, her performance has been dropping every new day." 

Cheng Yu was almost mad at him for being so direct about it but it was true and there was nothing she could do about it. "You pay so much attention to her?" 

Cedric turned to look at her. "Of course. She is my idol's daughter. Of course I would pay attention to her. And you must be best friends, right? You are always sticking together like you have been glued onto each other." 

Cheng Yu found it easier to speak to someone who knew so much already. She grabbed a spare painting brush and started playing with it as she spoke. "Lanni is more than a friend to me." She started. "Most of my life is bland without her. Lanni means a lot to me." Luna did too, but that was different. Luna wasn't one to share any emotional support, being cold herself. But for Lanni,... "Lanni makes me feel strong even at my weakest point. A person like her, it's not like her to give up on anything she decided to do. Even I am shocked by her decision. And the worst part of it is that I know why exactly she has decided to quit and there is nothing I can do about it." 

By the time she was done, her whole face was a mask of sadness and despair.  

Cedric continhed scanning Cheng Yu for a while and when he finally spoke, what came out of his mouth was something irritating. "You made it sound like the two of you are romantic lovers. Say, you wouldn't be interested in girls, right? I would understand, she is so beautiful anyway." 

Cheng Yu's eyes narrowed then she glared at him. "Can't anything better come out of your trap? You're insane." 

She stood up and left his side, going to settle down on her seat with a huff. That idiot. She must have been stupid to talk to him. 

Cedric laughed. He had just wanted to laugh. He wasn't good with jokes, it seemed. He held his almost complete painting and turned it back right-side-up. 

In her seat, Cheng Yu sulked for a while before realizing that she was still holding his brush. She stood up and was going to return it to him. 

But when her gaze landed on his painting, the brush in her hand dropped to the floor as she stared wide-eyed at the painting. 

What was a painting of her doing on Cedric's canvas?