◎ I’m too good, you’re not worthy of me. ◎

Throughout the night, X and I woke up and fell asleep repeatedly. We did it three times, each time better than the last. By the end, the bed in the master bedroom was such a mess that it was impossible to sleep on. Exhausted, we had no choice but to move to the guest room.

It was ridiculous—the guest room didn’t even have a proper bed, just a mattress on the floor in an empty room.

I was so tired that I passed out immediately, too exhausted to question anything.

The next morning, I woke up in X’s arms. My brain hadn’t fully booted up yet, and my vision was blurry. Then, I heard someone say, “Good morning.” His voice carried that hazy, hoarse quality unique to just waking up.

I blinked in confusion, searching for the source of the voice, and found a pair of eyes I really, really liked. He must have just woken up too—sleepiness still lingered in his gaze.

He nuzzled against the side of my neck and mumbled, “It’s still early. Sleep a little longer.”

But being woken up on a weekend morning before I was ready made me feel like a lion with its fur standing on end. Instantly, I bared my teeth and snapped at him, “This is all your fault! You woke me up, and I haven’t had enough sleep yet!”

I think I even raised my fist and punched him.

I can’t quite remember if I actually hit him or not. My consciousness was still only half-awake.

He seemed a little surprised, catching my fist before bursting into laughter. “Wow, so fierce?”

I blinked a few times in confusion. What was going on? Who was this person waking me up? Oh, right. X.

Where was this unfamiliar place? Oh, right. X’s home.

Why was I here? Oh, right. I slept with X last night.

Suddenly, I snapped fully awake. I scrambled to sit up, but the blanket slipped down, and I quickly pulled it up to cover my chest. Embarrassed by my aggressive outburst, I apologized, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it. I was half-asleep.”

X sat up too, tilting his head slightly as he observed me. “No, I think it was pretty cute.”

I automatically assumed he was just trying to smooth things over. After all, who would actually find someone’s morning grumpiness adorable?

I used the excuse of taking a shower to escape into the bathroom. In reality, I didn’t do anything—I just stood there under the showerhead, dazed, for half an hour.

The whole waking-up-together-on-a-weekend-morning scene was too deceiving. I was definitely starting to like X, no doubt about it.

I felt numb. Being proactive wasn’t scary, but catching feelings was. What should I do next?

An online relationship? Turning a hookup into something serious? A long-distance relationship?

Every option seemed distant and difficult, each one carrying the potential for disaster.

I turned the water even colder to freeze my ridiculous, love-struck thoughts. I couldn’t help but mock myself—was I overthinking this? Did X feel the same way about me? Probably not. Otherwise, why would he only throw out vague, ambiguous words that left me uncertain, instead of simply and directly asking me to be his girlfriend?

I mentally listed X’s qualities—good financial standing, seemingly well-educated, maintains a disciplined workout routine, and is undeniably attractive…

The more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed that someone like him would fall for me at first sight. It wasn’t about a lack of confidence on my part. It was just that good men were rare. If he were truly a gem, he would have already been scooped up by someone else. It wasn’t like he was some hidden treasure waiting for me to come along and rescue him.

Maybe he was just being polite, flirting for fun, while I foolishly took it too seriously.

Throughout my entire shower, I kept trying to build up my mental defenses and convince myself to be a cold-hearted, independent woman.

When I finally finished, I stepped out of the bathroom wearing X’s oversized T-shirt. Following the scent of coffee, I found him in the kitchen. He was standing with his back to me, wearing only a pair of gray lounge pants. His bare upper body showed off well-defined muscles, and I stood there staring at him for way too long.

Hearing my footsteps, he turned around. His first reaction wasn’t to say anything—but to walk over and hug me. Then, in an unbelievably gentle voice, he asked, “What do you want for breakfast?”

I melted into his embrace, feeling the vibrations of his chest as he spoke. Oh god. I knew I wasn’t heartless, but I’d always thought I had enough experience with people not to fall so easily.

But when it happens, it happens. When it’s meant to be, there’s no resisting it.

We curled up together on the couch, watching a TV show while waiting for breakfast delivery. I don’t even remember what we ate. I can’t blame myself—my mind was going through a crisis, and I didn’t have the capacity to focus on trivial details.

After eating, I realized my luggage was still at the hotel where I had been staying for my work trip. X insisted that I move in with him for the night. Yes, insisted. He rarely acted so domineering. How could I refuse?

So, he drove me back to pack my things and check out of the hotel.

The whole ride, he barely took his eyes off me. Turning the steering wheel? Sneaking a glance at me. Checking the rearview mirror? Another glance at me. Stopping at a red light? That’s when he really indulged in staring.

As time passed, his gaze became more and more intense. My cheeks burned under his scrutiny. I pouted and muttered, “Why do you keep looking at me?”

X shook his head. “I can’t say.”

That damn curiosity of mine was immediately piqued. “Why not?”

“Because you might dock points from me.”

His smirk teetered between serious and teasing. I understood instantly and playfully punched his shoulder. “Ugh, you’re so annoying!”

The troublemaker looked smug, the corners of his mouth curled up in amusement, as he jokingly scolded me for distracting him while he was driving.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, X asked if he should wait in the car or come up with me.

The reason he asked that was probably because he was mindful that I had a colleague living with me. It wouldn’t be convenient for a man to visit a woman’s residence.

He didn’t know that my colleague had already moved out, and I didn’t know why, but I went along with that assumption and took the elevator upstairs alone.

I thought I needed some time alone to cool down, to clear my head that had been filled with impulsive excitement after spending so much time together.

I was too caught up, completely overwhelmed. Swiping my card to enter my room, I sat foolishly in my chair, racking my brain to recall the last time I felt this way.

It must have been when I was a teenager—spending my days lost in thought, tossing and turning at night, even resorting to various fortune-telling methods, trying to predict if the school heartthrob from the neighboring class would pass by our classroom window during recess.

I thought the harsh realities of life had beaten the romance out of me, yet here I was, unexpectedly meeting X through a string of coincidences. Even more unexpectedly, the harmony in bed had intensified my feelings at an alarming rate.

Feeling dejected, I pulled out my phone and revisited the starting point of everything between X and me—his Xiaofanshu page. I wanted to remind myself how unreal and unreliable this all was from the very beginning.

Opening his page, I noticed that for some reason, X seemed to have grown lax in updating it. He hadn’t posted a check-in for a long time. Some of the fans who used to eagerly wait for his updates had started migrating to other male influencers’ pages, while others were still holding on, asking about his recent activities. I even found a few people wondering why I had stopped leaving comments as well.

I scrolled through all of X’s past posts, as if reliving a dream that had long since ended. As I absentmindedly browsed, something in the peaceful comment section suddenly caught my eye like a thorn.

Under one of his workout posts, a user named Y had left three consecutive comments:

“Hurry up and reply to my WeChat!”

“Are you seriously asleep already?”

“Unbelievable, this early?”

I had always thought I lacked a radar for these things, yet at this moment, I felt a deafening explosion in my mind. My heart clenched tightly as if seized by an invisible hand.

Y’s profile picture was a small image, but even at a glance, she was clearly a stunning beauty. I tapped on her profile, and an intriguing personal account unfolded before me. She was a PhD student at an Ivy League university, and every post she shared radiated intelligence and beauty.

Just how impressive was she? If someone like her was considered a mere “ordinary user,” then I was nothing more than a nameless passerby—an insignificant NPC, the kind you might interact with to trigger a side quest but never the main storyline.

I kept telling myself to stop looking, but I couldn’t help digging for more clues. Sure enough, I found traces of X interacting with her in the comments.

The most recent exchange was from two weeks ago. The academic beauty had humorously described herself scavenging for free food at a research forum—

Not only was she intelligent, but she also had a great sense of humor. A rare combination.

If this had been any other situation, if I had just come across her profile by chance, I would have liked her.

I imagined X felt the same. Otherwise, why would he comment below her post:

“Impressive.”

The academic beauty replied:

“Are you going to call me a hamster stockpiling food for the winter again?”

At that moment, my mood hit rock bottom.

So it wasn’t just the seagulls at the dock; now there was a winter-prepping hamster too. X’s pond contained an entire animal kingdom.

I clenched my teeth and reread that simple exchange over and over again. Overanalyzing things was never a good idea, yet after reading it three times, I noticed something that made my stomach twist—

Her username was Y.

X and Y—just the two of them, forming a perfectly paired equation where no outsider could intervene.

At that moment, I lost the urge to keep digging. I forcefully turned off my phone.

Even someone like me, whose mind was filled with nonsense, had limits.

I only felt sorry for the academic beauty. Whether or not she and X had officially become a couple, I couldn’t tolerate this.

Without hesitation, I called X.

He picked up quickly, his voice carrying the same lighthearted tone as before. “That was fast. Are you all packed?”

I was planning to ask where he was so I could go slap him across the face—for the academic beauty and for myself. Then, I’d turn around and walk away.

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words got stuck in my throat. I never expected this. After holding in my anger for so long, it fizzled out like an unopened soda left sitting too long. Not only could I not curse him out, but my nose even started to sting.

“What’s wrong?”

X immediately picked up on my change in tone. His voice lost its teasing edge and turned serious.

At the same time, I asked myself—You Lexin, is this really worth it? Over a man whose real name I don’t even know?

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. Thinking back, the impulse to storm over and confront him was just that—an emotional outburst. Pointless.

I decided to send a private message to the academic beauty later, telling her about what happened between X and me.

As for myself…

It’s fine. I’ll handle this with grace.

Everyone gets hurt in love at some point. As long as I can walk away from it, there’s nothing to fear.

I spoke with an eerie calmness, as if detached from myself. “I’m preparing to give you a rejection card.”

X went silent for a few seconds.

“What do you mean?”

His tone was restrained, as if trying to keep his emotions in check.

I could hear my own voice, so composed it felt foreign. “Let’s cut ties. I feel sorry for you. I’m too good; you’re not worthy of me.”

°.✩┈┈∘*┈˃̶୨୧˂̶┈*∘┈┈✩.°

📢 Author’s Note:

Don’t worry, this is still a sweet romance!