Chapter Sixteen: Sticking a Warm Patch on You

Mist drifted into the night. In winter, Seoul’s evening wind was enough to make people shiver.

Especially along the Han River, where the icy breeze carried moisture into the pedestrians’ clothes, leaving everyone hunched tightly against the cold.

It was on such a frigid evening that a man and woman wearing matching hats appeared near Seoul Forest.

They deliberately kept a distance that was both intimate and remote, drawing no notice from the passersby around them.

“I actually tried to talk Yinglu out of it.” Lin Shouxia finally broke the awkward silence. As he spoke, he glanced at the girl beside him, who was trembling from the cold.

Because she had been drinking, Liu Zhimin’s cheeks were flushed, like plum blossoms scattered across a snowy field.

Lin Shouxia felt there were countless beautiful words that could describe the girl before him, yet whenever they reached his lips, he found himself painfully short of them.

How should he describe Liu Zhimin as she appeared in his eyes?

Perhaps as a girl with a clean, exquisite face and skin so fair it seemed to glow—yet with the foul temper of a mischievous older sister who loved nothing more than teasing him.

“But she said that if she had a little to drink, she wouldn’t feel so cold.”

“That’s just the way she is.” Liu Zhimin smiled and pulled her overcoat more tightly around herself. Lowering her head, she noticed the snowflakes settling on her leather shoes.

“You’re her younger brother. Don’t you know what she’s like?” The girl extended a hand and toyed with the ice crystals in her palm, seemingly paying no attention at all to her conversation with him.

“Of course I do.”

“I just didn’t expect my sister to come dressed in so little.”

Liu Zhimin was dressed remarkably lightly. She wore a long khaki coat over a black knitted sweater.

This outfit, clearly chosen for style rather than warmth, had exacted its price.

Though she tried her best to hug herself, her beautiful, slender legs continued to tremble beneath the assault of the frigid wind.

“Are you cold, sis?”

The man moved two steps toward the girl’s front and shifted his position, using his back to create a small windbreak for Liu Zhimin.

“No.” The girl stubbornly shook her head. Once the wind no longer cut directly into her, she felt much warmer.

“Tell Yinglu that I’m never coming to one of these celebration dinners again.”

With her body warming up, Liu Zhimin gradually became more talkative.

As her close friend, Lin Yinglu’s only flaw was that she could be far too impulsive.

In weather like this, they should have gathered somewhere for hot pot or something similar. Yet her dear friend had ultimately chosen barbecue.

An open-air setting and biting winter wind had left her freezing from head to toe.

“You’re never coming again?”

“I’ll see how I feel. Or you could invite me yourself.”

With a mischievous gleam in her eyes, Liu Zhimin once again thought of teasing the boy. She edged closer with a bright smile, forcing Lin Shouxia to retreat hurriedly. He nearly tipped backward and fell.

“If you invite me, I’ll definitely come!”

Lin Shouxia took some effort to regain his balance. He sniffed, his expression faintly uneasy.

With such a beautiful face suddenly enlarged before him, even Lin Shouxia, who was known to everyone for his cool composure, could not stop his heartbeat from missing a beat.

At that distance, he could clearly see the girl’s slightly upturned eyelashes.

Below them was a pair of lively eyes. Combined with her long, delicate under-eye curves, they made her look alluring and captivating.

She was like a mischievous ragdoll cat suddenly rubbing against you, staring straight at you with those eyes.

“Invite me,” she said.

“Invite me, and I’ll definitely come.”

“Uh…”

The man bit his lip, looking troubled.

“Then I’ll invite you next time.”

After a brief struggle, Lin Shouxia finally made his choice.

He had to consider that foolish older sister of his.

If Lin Yinglu knew that Liu Zhimin wanted to turn her down, she would surely spend night after night unable to sleep.

He was only thinking of his sister’s health.

Yes. He was doing it purely for his sister’s sake.

Lin Shouxia’s answer was clearly beyond the girl’s expectations. She stood dazed in the wind for a moment, then pretended to compose herself and coughed softly twice.

She probably did not even notice that the corners of her lips had lifted slightly.

Why hadn’t this fellow followed the usual script?

According to Liu Zhimin’s plan, Lin Shouxia should have hesitated for a while before rejecting her suggestion. Then she would have used the incident to tease him.

But now Lin Shouxia had made an unexpected choice, causing her mind to freeze briefly.

So the senior was only putting on a tough front after all.

Lin Shouxia also noticed the girl’s sudden pause. Combined with those soft coughs, it led him to what he considered a perfectly reasonable conclusion.

Liu Zhimin had finally been chilled by the weather.

“I…” The girl tried to add a few words to explain her earlier behavior, but the weight and warmth settling across her shoulders made her fall silent at once.

She looked at the man standing before her, now wearing nothing but a hoodie. She opened her mouth, yet ultimately said nothing more.

“Aren’t you cold?” Her voice was very soft, as though she were speaking only to herself.

“I’m not cold.” Lin Shouxia sniffed and continued standing slightly in front of her.

“Why is your face so red?”

“I…I just had some alcohol.”

The man had been so cold that at one point even his speech had begun to tremble, yet he stubbornly refused to lower his head.

Compared with him, Liu Zhimin clearly needed the thick coat more to keep warm.

“Tch. You’re even more stubborn than Yinglu.”

Liu Zhimin seemed to be in a good mood. She secretly chuckled, took a disposable heat pack from her bag, and pressed it into the man’s hand.

To be honest, Lin Shouxia was someone Liu Zhimin found impossible to figure out.

If one called him aloof, he would turn around and do things that moved or astonished her.

But if one said he was not aloof, all those fans outside would surely disagree.

Still…she had to admit that this air of mystery gave Lin Shouxia a liveliness that set him apart. Unlike so many other young entertainers, he did not seem like a product placed on a shelf, stripped of any individuality.

There was nothing unpleasant about Lin Shouxia’s personality. On the contrary, it made her want to keep learning more about him.

“I’m really fine.”

“Your lips are practically turning purple, and you still say you’re not cold?”

“Compared with you, sis, I’m probably better at enduring the cold.”

Compared with the seemingly fragile woman before him, Lin Shouxia felt that the small amount of cold he was suffering was nothing.

“Tch…”

“By the way, are you close to that girl named Jin Liuran?”

“Fairly close.”

“How did you meet?”

“Uh, we’ve known each other since we were kids. We grew up playing together.” Though he did not quite understand why Liu Zhimin had suddenly taken an interest in Jin Liuran, Lin Shouxia answered honestly.

“You’re childhood sweethearts?”

“Uh… I suppose so?”

“Hey, sis, why did you hit me?”

“I’m putting the heat pack on you.”

“Hiss… Go easy.”