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Chapter 12: Refracted Rose
ᰔ Love and Beauty. ᰔ
Their walk together attracted quite a bit of attention.
It wasn’t surprising, really. Yu Ran had just given a lecture to the students that morning, and Shen Suhui looked very much like a female university student from this place. This combination… created a visual impact with a hint of taboo.
Yu Ran noticed the curious and probing gazes of the people around them. She leaned close to Shen Suhui’s ear and whispered, “It seems like people are misunderstanding us.”
Instead of pulling her hand away, Shen Suhui whispered back, “Yeah, you look a lot like a teacher today…”
The kind that’s deceptively gentle.
“New Year’s Eve is the day after tomorrow. I’m working the day shift that day. Shall we go out in the evening?”
“Sure, but it’ll be crowded in the evening. Where should we go?”
“Leave it to me.”
Yu Ran glanced at Shen Suhui again, her eyes filled with a bit of infatuation. “Can you wear a brow ring that day?”
“Hmm?” Shen Suhui looked at her in surprise.
“You look beautiful with a brow ring. I want to see it.”
Shen Suhui curved her lips: “Okay.”
The two of them walked along the campus, breathing in the winter air. Neither of them felt bored; instead, there was an unprecedented sense of contentment.
As they passed the girls’ dormitory, they saw couples kissing, unwilling to part.
They had long been used to it and didn’t feel embarrassed. Instead, they exchanged a smile.
“Are you tired? Let’s sit for a bit.”
“Okay.”
There were many benches outside the dormitory. Shen Suhui looked at the couples and suddenly asked, “Did you do this when you were in college?”
“Do what?”
“Like them.”
Holding hands, hugging, kissing, unwilling to separate, under the dormitory building.
Shen Suhui knew that Yu Ran had only one ex-girlfriend, Du Qiuyan, but she wanted to ask, wanted to feel a little jealous, and wanted to hear it from Yu Ran’s own mouth.
“Shen Suhui, I only had Du Qiuyan as my girlfriend. We weren’t even at the same school.”
“Mm.”
“Also, we didn’t meet much when we were in college. Every time she came to see me, it was when she really needed me. Sometimes I would ask her if I could visit her, and she would say she was too busy.”
~~~
Shen Suhui was a little surprised. “You… you two, your relationship…”
“We didn’t have a good relationship. I was always the one holding on. She agreed to my confession after the college entrance exams, and we were together, but by the second semester of sophomore year, we broke up.”
“The closest we ever got was holding hands.”
~~~
Shen Suhui suddenly had nothing to say.
From high school, in her eyes, Yu Ran and Du Qiuyan’s love had always been passionate.
So they never slept together, never kissed, and barely ever hugged?
“Strangely, in those two years with her, I always went along with her ideas. She didn’t want to hug or kiss, and I didn’t mind. I wasn’t obsessed with those things, because I didn’t seem to care about them either…”
“After we broke up, when I looked back, I started to doubt whether my feelings were just obsession from the start.”
“How do you mean?”
“I don’t know,” Yu Ran smiled indifferently. “Now, I’m moving forward, and some answers don’t matter anymore.”
“Mm.” Shen Suhui changed the topic. “By the way, there’s something I need your help with.”
“Finally something for me?” Yu Ran reached out and tugged at her earlobe. “What is it?”
“The café menu needs to be rewritten. Your handwriting is beautiful. Can you help me write it?”
“Of course. But how do you know my handwriting is beautiful? Did Jiang Shiluo tell you?”
Shen Suhui smiled. “Guess.”
“Definitely…” Yu Ran stroked her chin. “What else did she tell you about me?”
Shen Suhui shook her head. “Nothing. Actually, I saw your writing on the playground wall when I was in high school. You were an art student, doing graffiti, while I was writing calligraphy…”
As she spoke, Shen Suhui’s voice became quieter. She was always this careful.
“I always feel like you’re hiding many secrets from me,” Yu Ran said. “It seems like there are many stories in your life?”
“Really? Since middle school, I’ve liked reading novels, and I enjoy many literary works.” Shen Suhui avoided Yu Ran’s gaze. “I do have a lot of stories. Want to hear them?”
“Sure. There will be many chances in the future.”
—–
The fourteenth winter, I met Yu Ran again. She came every day to drink the coffee I made, and she invited me to ring in the new year with her. This New Year’s Eve, Yu Ran will be with me.
Even now, I still feel like this is a dream, or maybe a fantasy from when I was ill.
I shouldn’t have been ill, right?
I got out of bed to check, and I hadn’t taken my medicine. Yu Ran really invited me to ring in the new year!
In the end, the weather forecast said it would snow tonight. I hope it’s true. It hasn’t snowed in Zhangshan for many years, and this year, I want to welcome the first snow with Yu Ran.
After writing in my journal, Shen Suhui took a shower. Then, like every normal girl going on a date, she tried on clothes, put on makeup, and did her hair.
Two hours later, Yu Ran’s car stopped downstairs, and she sent her a message.
When Shen Suhui saw the message, she had just put on her eyebrow studs.
Two pearl eyebrow studs adorned her fair face, looking like sparkling pearls.
But she tried several facial expressions in front of the mirror and wasn’t satisfied.
She didn’t look good with a serious face, nor did she look good smiling.
Is this a date with Yu Ran?
She was really unsatisfied! Shen Suhui regretted not waking up two hours earlier to properly fix her appearance!
Despite her dissatisfaction, Shen Suhui didn’t want to keep Yu Ran waiting. So, with a frown, she opened the front passenger seat and sat down.
During the ten minutes she waited for her, Yu Ran quickly applied a light makeup using a cushion foundation. At that moment, she pulled out a bunch of beautifully packaged refracted roses from the back seat and handed them to Shen Suhui.
“What are you thinking? Why do you look unhappy?”
The heavy flowers were placed in her arms, pulling Shen Suhui’s thoughts back. She was both surprised and touched.
“The flowers are so beautiful! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome. Happy birthday!”
“Mm?”
“Today is your birthday, isn’t it?”
~~~
Her birthday, Shen Suhui had completely forgotten. She only remembered that today was New Year’s Eve and that Yu Ran invited her to ring in the new year.
The refracted roses were dazzling, filling the car with the unique fragrance of roses. Shen Suhui felt more and more self-conscious, thinking the flowers made her seem inferior.
“What’s wrong?” Yu Ran asked again, her tone even gentler than before.
Shen Suhui’s voice was barely audible, like a mosquito buzzing: “I just feel… like I don’t look good today.”
“Let me see.”
Yu Ran moved in very close, so close their breaths mingled.
But Yu Ran was looking at her seriously, and by the end, she seemed a bit helpless.
“Shen Suhui, how much more beautiful do you want to be? Are you not satisfied with the fact that my heart is already in turmoil?”
“…Hmm?”
Yu Ran boldly touched Shen Suhui’s cheek, her thumb slowly gliding up, hovering near her brow piercing.
“I’ve been thinking about your appearance all day today.”
“…” Shen Suhui’s heart started to beat wildly.
“Whenever I have free time, I think about what you’ll look like tonight, what kind of brow piercing you’ll wear, what clothes you’ll put on, and how you’ll do your hair. You must be very beautiful, right? I thought I should bring you something beautiful to match such a beautiful girl, so I went to a flower shop in the suburbs and picked out a refracted rose.”
“Do you know the meaning of a refracted rose?”
Shen Suhui honestly shook her head.
“Love and beauty.”
“It’s a refracted rose, and it’s also you, Shen Suhui.”
The lighting in the car was dim, and Yu Ran’s gaze was partially hidden, making her look even bolder and more infatuated as she gazed at Shen Suhui.
If Shen Suhui hadn’t been distracted by her words and the rapid beating of her heart, she would have seen the intense passion and possessiveness in Yu Ran’s eyes.
Yu Ran quickly sat up straight, started the car, and gently accelerated. At that moment, her desire to kiss Shen Suhui’s lips and brow piercing reached its peak.
As they reached the congested overpass, the car became quiet for a few seconds, and Shen Suhui gradually gathered her thoughts.
“How did you know today was my birthday?”
“I heard it from Jiang Shiluo. Oh, by the way, she’s been really busy these days, so she asked me to give you this gift.”
Yu Ran spoke while holding the steering wheel with one hand, reaching into the back seat to pull out a beautifully wrapped gift box.
Shen Suhui took it with a slightly awkward expression.
She was now receiving pursuit from two women, and they were both very good friends.
Yu Ran occasionally glanced at the rearview mirror to check Shen Suhui’s expression, feeling a bit of a sense of crisis about Jiang Shiluo giving her a gift.
“Do you want to open it?”
“Umm… Open it.”
If you hide something, you’re definitely being secretive and stingy, so Shen Suhui reluctantly opened it.
As she unwrapped the beautifully packaged gift box, both of them were almost blinded by the 24K gold bracelet inside.
Pfft…
Yu Ran couldn’t help but laugh but quickly held it in.
Jiang Shiluo was still as practical as she was when they were kids, with no sense of romance.
Shen Suhui awkwardly put the bracelet back, “She gave me something similar last year, a anklet. I accepted it, but this time I definitely can’t accept it—it’s too expensive, and I clearly told her not to give me such pricey gifts…”
“Mm-hmm.” Yu Ran smirked, still holding in her laughter.
“Yu Ran, can you help me return it?”
“Can’t.” Yu Ran replied, “You’re her friend, you should talk to her yourself.”
Shen Suhui sighed, “Alright.”
“Actually, I prepared a gift for you today.”
“What?”
“But I can only give it to you later.”
As they reached the middle of their journey, stuck in traffic at a peak time, Yu Ran glanced at Jiang Shiluo’s gift box and suddenly felt guilty. She even made a joke.
“Does this count as stealing my friend’s thunder?”
“Huh?”
“Letting my friend give her gift to the girl she wants to pursue, not realizing that my friend also has feelings for the same girl.”
Shen Suhui softly replied, “I don’t think so.”
“True, she hasn’t won her over yet.”
The traffic jam soon passed, and the SUV exited the overpass. Yu Ran stepped on the gas, suddenly saying, “Once Jiang Shiluo isn’t so busy, I’m planning to talk to her and make things clear.”
“…What are you going to say?”
“I like you too, and I want to compete with her fairly.”