“Splash, splash~”
Hot water slowly flowed out from the faucet at the end of the bathtub. Half-kneeling inside, I carefully adjusted the temperature.
A little to the left—let’s test it with my finger… Ah! So cold, so cold. Then tilt it a bit to the right—hiss! Way too hot!
Adjusting the water temperature really required delicate fine-tuning. Even a tiny shift I thought was small made the temperature change as if it had fallen off a cliff.
After fiddling with it for quite a while, I finally managed to get the temperature to a level I was satisfied with. The water in the tub had almost reached my chest.
Now then, time to enjoy it.
Leaning back against the edge of the bathtub, I glanced at the pile of skincare products, bath accessories, and a fragrant bowl of flower petals placed nearby, and I frowned in hesitation.
Recently, I’d learned online that taking baths could make you more beautiful.
And since there just happened to be an unused bathtub at home, even though I’d never been into baths and usually just rinsed off quickly with a shower, I figured that putting in the extra effort for a soak was worth it—if it meant Gu Fan would like me more.
But thinking was one thing; actually putting it into practice was another. Faced with this pile of skincare products labeled in English and Japanese, I couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.
“Haah… so this is the price, huh.”
I let out a helpless sigh, but right after that, a wave of determination welled up inside me.
Leaning out of the tub, I grabbed my phone and began searching how to use those skincare items and bath tools.
After finishing my bath, I wrapped a towel around my head to keep the water from dripping onto the floor, then slipped into the yukata I’d just bought a few days ago.
My whole body was still steaming with heat, but the chill outside the bathroom felt especially sharp—it made me shiver the moment I stepped out.
Passing by the full-length mirror in my room, I deliberately stopped to check myself out.
Hmm… not bad. So this is the effect of just having stepped out of the bath?
Striking a pose, I puffed out my chest and put one hand on my hip, trying a few stances I thought looked good. The only problem was my tail—it drooped limply, still soggy from soaking in the tub too long.
I kept admiring myself for a while when suddenly the phone rang from inside the bathroom. I hurried back in and grabbed it, but the screen was fogged up with water, completely unresponsive no matter how I pressed.
On the lit-up screen, I could see a message from Gu Fan, but because it was still locked, I couldn’t read the content. My heart itched with curiosity, like something soft and fuzzy was scratching at it.
When one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. Just when I reached for some tissues, I realized the box was already empty.
Luckily, there were still a few sheets left on the bedside table. Using them, I wiped down the screen and the back of the phone until it finally unlocked.
Gu Fan: “Do you want to go out tomorrow to buy New Year’s goods?”
New Year’s goods…? That slightly unfamiliar word rolled through my mind before I finally remembered what it meant.
When I was little, my mother used to buy all sorts of tasty treats as New Year’s goods. But after my parents’ divorce, I never saw those things again. That’s why I didn’t recall, at first, what was hidden behind that word.
It should represent one of the happiest times of the year for an ordinary family.
So it’s almost New Year already, huh? Somehow it feels like Christmas and New Year’s were only a few days apart, and yet, here we are, already welcoming another holiday.
Leaning my elbow against the sink, I stared at the girl in the mirror, wrapped tightly in a white towel and a yukata.
Her skin was still pale and smooth, her cheeks soft and springy when poked with a fingertip—it seemed she was still quite young.
Having been a girl for quite some time now, my deeper thoughts had quietly shifted under the influence of all sorts of factors.
Compared to the New Year itself, what I cared more about now was my age. With each passing New Year, I grew a year older, and instead of being happy, I felt a little disappointed—because it meant I couldn’t stay young and pretty forever.
How should I put it… I’m not really the type of girl who enjoys admiring herself. Dressing myself up beautifully is only for one reason: so that when Gu Fan sees me, his heart will pound with excitement.
And if the situation allowed it, I wouldn’t mind if he got a little handsy, either.
As for deeper things like feminine beauty or pleasing myself, I’d never really thought about them. I guess I really am a bit of an unusual woman.
Puffing out my cheeks, I pulled my scattered thoughts back together and picked up my phone to reply to Gu Fan’s message.
“What time are we leaving tomorrow?”
The message spun in the little sending circle for a moment before finally going through. Right after, with a crisp “ding,” a reply came back. Looks like Gu Fan was waiting by his phone just like I was.
That feeling when the person you care about replies instantly—it’s really sweet. After sending a message, your heart feels empty and restless while waiting for a reply, but then, in the very next moment, it’s instantly filled to the brim. That sudden rush of joy is always so unexpected.
Holding my phone in both hands, I couldn’t help but laugh softly as I watched Gu Fan send me message after message.
I didn’t even need to think about it—within just a few seconds, Gu Fan had already settled everything about tomorrow: the schedule, the meeting place, and so on.
“Gu Fan, can I call you?”
Once the flurry of message notifications finally stopped, I seized the moment to ask him. Compared to reading words that couldn’t fully convey real emotions, what I wanted more was to hear Gu Fan’s voice.
Gu Fan seemed hesitant. I watched the top of the screen show that he was typing… I waited patiently for a while, but then the indicator disappeared. Was he… not going to reply to me?
My mind instinctively spun down pessimistic paths. Nervously clutching my phone, I realized that since I’d shifted my attention away from the screen, the warmth on my body had already faded.
Standing there in just a yukata, without the comforting mist of steam, goosebumps prickled all over my skin from the cold.
What should I do? Should I jump into bed, wrap myself in the blanket, and wait for his reply there? But my hair’s still not dry…
Shaking my head to chase away that silly idea, I was still wondering how to deal with the freezing situation when suddenly—a call came in.
The ringtone I had set for Gu Fan was unique, so the moment the piano prelude played, I instantly dropped every other thought and answered.
“H-..Hello…?”
I whispered softly into the receiver, pressing the phone tightly to my ear. The cat ears tucked under my towel perked straight up with energy, even though their damp fur was still messy. I just wanted to catch every trace of Gu Fan’s voice.
Once I was this excited, even the cold no longer bothered me. I focused all my attention on the sound from the other end of the line.
I heard Gu Fan lightly swallow, followed by his heavier breaths brushing against the microphone.
From the sound, I realized Gu Fan was holding his phone in front of him rather than pressing it close to his ear.
“It’s me, Zhi Nian. Did you call because there’s something you wanted to discuss?”
“Mm… ah… not really, it’s just, just that—”
Crap… I got carried away and only thought about wanting to talk to Gu Fan, but now I don’t even know what proper topic to bring up.
I can’t exactly tell him the truth—that I just wanted to hear his nice voice. Wouldn’t that make me sound like some kind of creep?