Chapter 8: Meteor Shower Observation (part 1)

When her fingers touched the side of my neck, I subconsciously flinched.

Her fingertips were a bit cold.

The moment they brushed against my skin, it felt like a tiny electric shock.

Xiao Yan’s hand paused.

It was a very brief hesitation, so short that if I hadn’t been focused entirely on the sensation of her fingers, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Then, her movements became even lighter.

She folded the collar, straightened the cuffs, and finally took a step back to inspect her work.

“There you go.”

Her tone was flat, but I noticed the tips of her ears were slightly red.

It was a very pale shade of pink, barely noticeable unless one looked closely.

“Then I’ll go change out of it,” I said.

“Mm.”

I turned and went into the fitting room.

As I closed the door, I saw Xiao Yan standing in place through the crack, looking down at her own fingers.

After two seconds, she tucked that hand into her pocket.

By the time I finished changing and came out, Xiao Yan had already gone to the counter to pay.

Song Tao leaned in and whispered, “President, Senior Xiao Yan said you only need to treat us to lunch. She’s paying for the clothes.”

“What?”

I turned toward the counter.

Xiao Yan had already swiped her card and was packing the shopping bag.

“It’s a deal then. The President is treating us to barbecue.”

She walked over carrying the bag and smiled at me, having no intention of explaining herself.

“I — “

“We’re already here.”

She handed the bag to me and turned toward the escalator.

After a couple of steps, she suddenly looked back and reached out.

“President, is the bag heavy? Should I help you carry it?”

“No, it’s not heavy.”

“Really?”

She tilted her head at me, her hand still extended.

“Really.”

I hid the bag slightly behind my back.

She chuckled and withdrew her hand, but her fingers lightly brushed against my wrist.

The contact was brief, so short that I thought it might have been an illusion.

However, that small patch of skin on my wrist felt a bit hotter than the rest.

Behind us, Song Tao whispered to Li Li, “Senior Xiao Yan is amazing. She has everything planned out.”

Li Li remained expressionless.

“Mm.”

I followed behind them, clutching the shopping bag.

‘I’m being handled so easily.’

After buying the windbreaker, we headed for the escalator.

As we passed the third floor, Song Tao suddenly stopped.

“Wait a minute.”

She tilted her head and looked at me, her expression as if she were studying something.

“The President’s clothes are actually quite neat today.”

I looked down at myself.

The windbreaker buttons were done up, the sweater collar wasn’t crooked, and my pants weren’t on backward.

“…And?”

“And — “

Song Tao dragged out her voice, her eyes lighting up as she turned to Xiao Yan.

“Senior Xiao Yan, should we take the President to look at something else?”

Xiao Yan looked at Song Tao, then at me.

“The President doesn’t usually buy many clothes, right?”

It was another statement, not a question.

“How do you know?”

“I guessed.”

She smiled.

“The President always wears the same few outfits.”

I froze for a moment.

‘Did she observe what I wear?’

Whatever, I won’t ask.

Song Tao was already pulling me toward a nearby store.

“We’re already here! President, just try some on!”

***

It was a boutique with a very feminine style.

The display window featured cream-white knit dresses, light blue shirts with doll collars, sweaters with lace trim, and a fuzzy bunny-ear hoodie.

I looked at the window and stopped dead in my tracks.

“I don’t think I need to…”

“Just try them!”

Song Tao had already pushed the door open and was waving at me.

“The President will definitely look good in these!”

I stood still, refusing to move.

Xiao Yan walked up from behind and stood beside me.

“Want to try them?”

She didn’t look at me.

She kept her eyes on the clothes in the window, her voice very soft.

“…Why?”

“Because the President usually doesn’t care about these things.”

She turned to look at me and smiled.

“But it’s okay to try them once in a while, right?”

Her smile was natural, but I felt like there was something hidden beneath that “usually doesn’t care” smile.

Her gaze moved from my face to the window and back again, carrying something I couldn’t quite describe.

It wasn’t pressure, and she wasn’t joking.

She was looking at me very seriously.

Being watched like that made me feel a bit flustered, so I averted my eyes.

“Let’s go.”

She gave my shoulder a gentle nudge, her fingers lingering there for an extra second.

Before I could process it, I was pulled into the store by Song Tao.

“President, try this!”

Song Tao grabbed a cream-white knit dress and held it up to me.

The dress had a V-neck lined with lace, and the sleeves were lantern-style. it looked incredibly soft.

“This is too — “

“Just try it, try it!”

She stuffed the dress into my hands and turned to grab another item.

“And this one! This is also pretty!”

It was a light blue doll-collar shirt with small flowers embroidered on the collar.

A lace-trimmed sweater in a soft off-white.

And then, that fuzzy bunny-ear hoodie.

“Not that one.”

“Why!?”

Song Tao held the bunny-ear hoodie, looking like a child who had been robbed of her candy.

“It’s too childish.”

“It is not!”

She turned to Xiao Yan.

“Senior Xiao Yan, you tell her!”

Xiao Yan leaned against a nearby rack, hands in her pockets, and smiled.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Her tone was casual, but I noticed her gaze linger on the bunny-ear hoodie for a moment before she quickly glanced at me.

‘Could she want to see it?’

“Fine, fine.”

I took the shirt and the knit dress into the fitting room, shutting out Song Tao’s wailing.

I tried the shirt first.

Light blue, doll collar, embroidered flowers.

Putting it on was easy enough since the buttons were in the front, so I didn’t have to reach for a back zipper.

But when I looked in the mirror, the collar was crooked.

I undid it and tried again.

My fingers weren’t very flexible, and it took two tries to get the buttons right.

While adjusting the collar, I realized I had misaligned the buttons on the cuffs as well.

After fumbling for quite a while, I finally managed to get it on properly.

When I pushed the door open, Xiao Yan was standing right there.

“Ready?”

“Mm.”

She looked at me.

It wasn’t just a casual glance; she scanned me slowly from head to toe.

Her gaze paused at the collar, then again at the cuffs.

Then she stepped forward, reaching out once more to adjust my collar.

“This part wasn’t folded correctly.”

Her fingers touched my neck, and I flinched again.

This time she didn’t pause; she just moved even more gently than she had with the windbreaker.

She straightened the collar and redid the cuff buttons.

Having finished, she didn’t step away immediately.

She looked down at my collar and suddenly whispered something.

“The President looks good in light colors.”

Her voice was very soft, as if the words had escaped by accident.

I was stunned for a moment.

She had already stepped back and turned to look at Song Tao.

“Yes, it looks good,” she said, her tone returning to its usual state.

However, I saw that her ears were red again, even redder than before.

“Next one?” she asked, her voice perfectly natural.

I nodded, took the knit dress, and went back into the fitting room.

As I closed the door, I heard Song Tao whispering outside.

“Senior Xiao Yan, your face is so red.”

“No, it isn’t,” Xiao Yan’s voice replied.

“It totally is.”

“It’s not, it’s not.”

I shut the door, my heart beating a little fast.

The dress was a pullover style, so putting it on was smooth.

Except, I couldn’t reach the zipper in the back.

Standing in front of the mirror, I strained my arms, desperately trying to reach that zipper.

My fingertips brushed the tab, but I couldn’t pull it up.

My arms grew tired, my shoulders ached, and strands of hair escaped my ponytail, tickling my face.

I still couldn’t reach it.

I stared at myself in the mirror.

The knit dress was on; all that was left was the zipper.

But I just couldn’t bridge those few centimeters.

Xiao Yan’s voice drifted in from outside.

“President? Are you done?”

“Not… not yet…”

“Do you need help?”

Silence.

I wanted to say “no.”

But I really couldn’t get it on.

“…Yes.”

The door opened a crack, and Xiao Yan slipped inside.

The fitting room was small to begin with.

With the two of us squeezed in there, I could almost feel her body heat.

The scent of lavender was a bit stronger than usual.

I kept my back to her, not daring to turn around.

“Don’t move, President.”

Her voice was softer than usual.

Then, her fingers touched the skin of my back.

It was very light, as if she were afraid of hurting me.

The zipper was slowly pulled up.

The fabric tightened bit by bit, clinging to my back.

Her fingers occasionally brushed my shoulder blades and waist.

Every time they did, that small patch of skin would turn scorching hot.

I didn’t dare look at the mirror, but I caught her in my peripheral vision anyway.

In the mirror, Xiao Yan’s head was lowered, her eyelashes cast shadows, and her cheeks were dusted with a faint pink.

Her ears were red too.

But her eyes were focused, as if she were performing an important task.

It wasn’t the kind of focus one has when just “lending a hand.”

It was… I couldn’t describe it.

When the zipper reached the top, she paused.

Her fingers didn’t pull away immediately; it was only for about one second.

Then, her fingers slid gently down my spine, following the line of the zipper all the way to my waist.

It was very light.

So light that I didn’t know if it was intentional.

“Done.”

Her voice was a bit raspy.

She opened the door and left first.

The moment the door closed, I heard a very soft, deep breath from outside.

I stood in the fitting room, looking at myself in the mirror, my face flushed all the way down to my neck.

The knit dress was neatly fitted, the zipper was all the way up, and the lace trim sat perfectly against my collarbones.

‘Was I just… touched on the back?’

No, it wasn’t a touch.

It was… just her finger sliding past.

But why is my heart beating so fast?

I took a deep breath and changed out of the dress.

When I pushed the door open, Song Tao was standing there, still clutching the bunny-ear hoodie.

But she didn’t rush over like before.

She looked at me, then at Xiao Yan, her lips curling into a smile.

Then she whispered something to Li Li.

It was very quiet, but I heard it.

“I told you so…”

Li Li nudged her.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“What?” I asked.

Song Tao shook her head frantically.

“Nothing, nothing at all!”

Beside her, Xiao Yan was trying her best to pretend to look at her phone.

But her phone screen appeared to be the lock screen.

Her gaze drifted up from her phone and met mine.

In that instant, her eyes lit up.

It wasn’t just a polite brightness.

It was the look of someone seeing something they truly loved.

She quickly lowered her head back to the screen.

I stood there, my heart skipping several beats.

I couldn’t help but feel that there was something in that look that I hadn’t yet figured out.