“……I touched.”
The thin fabric couldn’t isolate the warmth of fingertips.
The slender body stiffened instantly as skin was touched through the cloth, and the girl’s somewhat hot breath brushed against her ear, stirring up unpleasant thoughts.
The scent of jasmine filled the air.
The soft, springy sensation against her back, even without turning around, Situ Ling could guess who had suddenly pressed up against her from behind.
Her hand, reaching for her bra, froze mid-air, a faint blush spreading even across the back of her hands.
Her fair skin reddened rapidly, like a crab thrown into a steamer.
Feeling the fingertip move with a hint of malice as it touched her body, the girl barely suppressed a startled yelp.
Her sensitive body grew even hotter under the stimulation of the sudden images flooding her mind.
Held hostage at her most vulnerable, her brain went blank under the dual assault of scent and touch.
A ringing sound uncontrollably filled her ears.
Her lips parted and closed, but for some reason, no sound came out—
“Huh?”
“?”
“Little Ling’er?”
Not seeing the expected reaction, the girl who hadn’t yet changed into her swimsuit wrapped her arms around the slender waist of the other girl, resting her chin on her shoulder with some confusion, trying to read her expression.
A face so red it was about to bleed, and a look of shame and fury so intense it seemed murderous after she came back to her senses.
Meeting her eyes, Yin Xiaomeng grinned and released the fingers that had been mischievously moving, quickly letting go of her arm, grabbing her swimsuit, putting it on in a flash, and fleeing the locker room.
Only Situ Ling stood there, burning with shame and about to combust.
“Tch—”
“Really…”
Watching the figure that had teased her and then irresponsibly disappeared into the distance, the girl finally couldn’t hold back and squatted down.
This feeling… was absolutely hateful.
Wrapping her arms around her knees, she struggled to calm her heart, which was about to leap out of her throat.
Her chaotic brain was flooded with shameful, unhealthy thoughts from the moment of being touched.
Her face, already bright red, buried in her arms, Situ Ling took deep breaths.
Trying in this futile way to relieve her nerves, which were about to snap from tension.
As for whether she hated being treated like this?
She definitely didn’t hate it.
Deep down, she still harbored unspoken fantasies about this sort of thing.
After all, on countless nights, she had vented her emotions staring at their photo together until dawn…
“…”
“…”
But this sudden, completely unexpected attack…
It was really hard to handle…
“…”
“Are you angry?”
Yin Xiaomeng’s voice sounded a bit cautious.
Holding the girl’s arm, perhaps she realized her “joke” had gone a bit too far?
Her whole demeanor betrayed a guilty, fidgety vibe.
“No.”
As if recalling what had just happened in the locker room, Situ Ling took a deep breath, forcing herself to suppress the urge to forgive her immediately, and spoke as briefly as possible, in a flat tone.
A normal girl would be at least a little unhappy after being teased like this.
After all, being groped in that place by someone who was openly gay—
If she acted indifferent, it wouldn’t quite match her current “straight girl” persona.
‘Sigh—’
She sighed inwardly.
Living in a way that always went against her true desires was truly torturous.
The girl cursed this damn world silently.
‘It would be so much easier to just use the leverage she had on Xiao Meng to threaten her…’
‘…Forget it, I can’t do that.’
Silence.
Situ Ling sat at the edge of the pool, her slender, fair feet gently kicking the water, her eyelids lowered, emerald eyes fixed on the rippling surface she stirred.
For some reason…
The restlessness inside her was growing.
Feeling the slightly damp touch of the swimsuit on her arm, the softness pressed against her hidden chest even through the fabric, she could clearly sense that firmness.
Her gaze involuntarily swept over her own slightly raised chest, adding a new layer of resentment to her already suppressed emotions.
Fighting the urge to just grab it and ask how it got so big, Situ Ling quickly averted her eyes.
“Wuwu…”
“I’m sorry, okay…”
“Little Ling’er, I know I was wrong… please don’t ignore me—”
Seeing the girl’s expression as if she didn’t want to talk to her, and feeling her arm suddenly struggle in her embrace, Yin Xiaomeng, already guilty about her impulsive strange behavior, instinctively held the arm tighter.
Over this long time, she had met many “friends” in name at school.
But the only true close friend she could let her guard down around was Situ Ling.
Plus, with that golden hair, emerald eyes, flat chest, and twin-tails combo—a classic underdog-type beauty she had never experienced before—it would be a shame to let go easily…
Of course, not just because of that feeling beyond friendship, even from a purely friendly perspective…
“…”
“Why do I feel like such a womanizer who goes around seducing little girls?”
“…”
“No, wait. I am one.”
“Yeah, that checks out.”
Shaking the girl’s slender arm, her body bound by the swimsuit felt strangely wonderful.
Situ Ling indulged in this sudden “benefit.”
She knew she should act a little “unhappy” right now…
But as she enjoyed it…
The corners of her mouth just couldn’t help twitching upward.
“It’s really okay…”
Unable to bear seeing the other’s dejected expression, she let out a long sigh.
The girl raised her hand and placed it over the other’s.
“I just… didn’t know how to talk to you…”
“You really, really…”
“Surprised me.”
Situ Ling forced her churning emotions down, switching to a slightly bewildered expression.
With her free hand, she instinctively traced circles on the exposed skin of her thigh.
The act, which seemed like a genuine reaction to being suddenly assaulted on an unprecedented scale, looked so real.
‘So soft…’
Enjoying this rare initiative from Yin Xiaomeng, a blush finally crept onto her cheeks.
But this sudden blush was misinterpreted by the girl beside her.
“…”
Yin Xiaomeng, who always had impure thoughts about pretty girls, couldn’t imagine a purely platonic friendship.
Her current healthy relationship was something she learned from the manga recommended by her career-driven mother.
But no manga ever mentioned accidentally groping your best friend…
Hmm—
“How about just letting her touch me back?”
A simple, crude thought emerged from some corner of her mind, and with overwhelming force, it knocked out all other solutions like a one-punch KO.
Poor little Situ Ling had no idea what she was about to face.
With a hint of grievance and well-hidden excitement in her eyes, she still kept tracing circles on her leg—
Her wrist was caught.
Before she could react, it was forcibly pressed against the fabric of her swimsuit.
“…”
Dumbfounded, she looked up at the girl whose face was also now slightly flushed, then down at her own fingers resting on the other’s clothing…
Almost instinctively, she rubbed.
“Eep.”
A cute squeak escaped.
Fortunately, both were sitting at the shallow end, and the teacher’s attention was mostly on the students in the deep end.
Apart from the one directly involved, no one else heard that brief but alluring sound.
“—”
Opening her mouth, she yanked her arm back as if shocked.
The red had already spread from her cheeks, but after such a bold act, Situ Ling was now flushed to varying degrees.
Her small, delicate ears were one of the hardest-hit areas.
“Wh-wh-wh-what, what are you doing!”
Stammering, the girl even bit her tongue from shock, making the latter half of her sentence slurred.
She wanted to jump into the pool to cool down.
But the few float boards available were all taken to the deep end by the other students.
As the ultimate non-swimmer…
Even though she had learned to “swim” slowly by holding onto a float board.
The fear of going underwater still kept her from daring to jump in and cool her nearly burning brain…
Her whole body stiff, she looked at Yin Xiaomeng beside her.
When their eyes met those pure, desire-free eyes, she unconsciously averted her gaze in guilt.
Maybe “the class president” right now had no impure intentions, just wanted to solve the problem the same way…
But…
But…
‘But I have those thoughts!’
If a real straight girl were sitting here, seeing such a childish way of apologizing, she might sigh and forgive her for the sake of their long friendship.
But that had nothing to do with Situ Ling, a closet lesbian pretending to be straight.
So soft.
So springy.
Though both were girls with only slight differences in body structure…
It felt different from touching herself…
The wet swimsuit had a hint of the pool’s coolness, the girl’s body temperature so hot it made her want to recoil at the touch—
“What…”
“What is this supposed to be…”
Extremely embarrassed, the thrill of touching the girl she liked shattered into pieces under the prefix of “in public.”
A voice inside kept shouting—
‘Do it again! Do it again!’
Her mind went completely blank.