Chapter 28：Do Friends Do This?

Long Huojin approached her, but he walked passed to sit down lazily on the couch. The lights were dim, so she could only see the gleam in his eyes. He must have been sleeping before he answered the door because he was wearing a casual white t-shirt and dark blue boxer briefs that looked like shorts.

The fact that he didn't bother putting on any pants made her cheeks burn.

She didn't realize that they have reached that point of closeness...or openness.

Long Huojin crossed his arms and began to speak. He recounted each time that his mother or father hit him; every time he ran away from home, to her house. He confessed that her father, Xue Gao, knew what was going on, so did her mother.

"I'm sorry for treating you like shit before," he said. "I was a fool."

Xue Guangli smiled grimly. She had always wanted Long Huojin to apologize to her, to relish in the glory when he did. And yet, it didn't bring her any satisfaction. He was a kid who lashed out before. There was nothing to forgive.

"It's in the past," she began. "I forgive you."

She saw Long Huojin smile with a hint of relief. She realized he had changed, had grown into a mature young man who only wanted to be there for others. Perhaps that's why Yin Shou never abandoned their friendship when everyone else did; it was that spark and trust between them. She hopes to ask Yin Shou one day, about what he saw in him.

"I do wonder though," Xue Guangli said. "What made you change?" she asked.

Long Huojin titled his head back; his black hair tumbled gracefully over his eyes. He stared at her.

"After realizing that I've hurt many people...I'm not a good person, Xue Li," he began. "I'll do anything to get what I want."

His words made Xue Guangli shiver, but not in fear, but of something else entirely.

She approached him. "You've destroyed people's careers, ended them. But I believe it's because they deserved them. Didn't they?" she asked.

Long Huojin stared at her with the darkest depths; his eyes were like the blanketed sky.

"Yes," he answered.

That's all Xue Guangli needed to know. She stepped closer towards him steadily.

"Did you get everything you want?" she dared herself to say.

"No," he answered with a mischievous glint. "There is one more thing," he said softly, too soft.

Xue Guangli looked at him puzzled and took a seat next to him.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Do you remember what I said to you the other night?" he asked her.

'I want you,' he had said to her.

Xue Guangli could sense the flirtatious air and tone around him. She almost didn't believe it, couldn't believe it, though she had suspected for some time now.

"I don't remember," she whispered. "I was drunk."

Xue Guangli was already close to him, their legs touching on the couch, rubbing against each other.

Long Huojin gazed at her lips, taking her challenge. "I said that I wanted you—want you."

He shook his head. "No. Only you," he admitted deeply.

At that, Xue Guangli thought she could come up with a flirtatious reply, but instead, she blushed red throughout her face, almost matching the colour of her hair. She didn't expect to be so flustered by his words or swayed at that.

She covered her face from embarrassment, but she heard Long Huojin chuckling.

She peaked through her fingers to see his expression, and it was full of amusement.

She clenched her teeth, trying to get rid of her embarrassment. It was strange, this feeling. But Long Huojin appeared to be smug.

Feeling tired, Xue Guangli drove her knees up, circling her arms around them. She dropped her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He then rested his head on hers.

"I like it when we're like this," she admitted.

"Like what?" Long Huojin breathed.

"Like we don't want to kill each other."

Xue Guangli remembered something when they were children:

When they were thirteen, Long Huojin had challenged her to a tennis match. Xue Guangli was good at the game because of her father. She wore white tennis uniform while Long Huojin removed his shirt during the game, revealing his glistening skin. She flushed at the sight of him, but he began to taunt her about how she wasn't going to win. So Xue Guangli knitted her brows and focused.

After the game finished, she had won. But Long Huojin approached her and said. 'Your face is so red. So ugly,' he then dragged an eyelid down with his finger and stuck out his tongue, and laughed. Xue Guangli gritted her teeth and said, 'You're the one that's childish, Long Huojin!'

But she also recalled another time, one that was sweet:

Long Huojin's family had come over, and while the adults spoke to each other. Long Huojin snuck into her room while she was drawing and climbed over the ledge of her window.

'What are you doing?' she asked him.

Long Huojin smiled with mischievous intent. He stretched out a hand and said, 'Come with me, Xue Li.'

Long Huojin reached out to kiss her on the forehead, gently. He then grasped her hand, locking her fingers with his. "I like it when we're like this, too," he said.

Xue Guangli leaned further into his shoulder, rubbing, closing her eyes.

"We're friends," she said quietly.

"You keep saying that," he said. "But do friends do this?"

He detached himself from her, leaning over to her collarbone, planting a kiss. He trailed his kisses upward. He cupped her face with a hand as he kissed her neck, deeply. Xue Guangli tilted her head back as he nipped her.

Xue Guangli's pulse quickened, her breathing shallowed. She closed her eyes as she let him ravish her in the way he wanted. He was slow, the way she liked it.

When he kissed her jaw, she released a moan while gripping his arm.

Long Huojin watched her squirm underneath his touch. He then captured her lips, finally, and she met him with a fierce kiss. She opened up, allowing him to taste the lips he desperately dreamt of.

Xue Guangli slid onto the pillows of the couch as he laid on top of her, kissing each other passionately. She locked her arms around his neck, "Jin," she called out breathlessly. He paused and looked at her with his deep-dark gaze, "Yes?" he said.

"I want to take things slow," she confessed with flushed cheeks.

Long Huojin smiled. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Take the time you need," he said.

Xue Guangli did not let go of him; she rubbed against him with a smile, and slowly, she fell asleep in his arms.