Chapter 296 - 293: Sorry, I Have Someone I Like

Chapter 296: Chapter 293: Sorry, I Have Someone I Like

"A standard room, please," Wang Ming said, helping Zhang Yuanyuan into the hotel.

The owner was unfazed by the scene. A young man and woman getting a room while drunk was a common sight. As long as the boy didn’t seem to be forcing her, and the girl didn’t appear unwilling, he would generally turn a blind eye.

"Room 302."

After registering his ID at the front desk, Wang Ming took her up to the room.

After closing the door, Zhang Yuanyuan collapsed limply onto the bed. Wang Ming turned on the room’s heater and glanced back at her, looking completely vulnerable. ’If I just left her here, would someone else have picked her up tonight?’

He took a deep breath, went into the bathroom, and splashed his face with cold water. When he came out, he saw that she had forced herself to sit up and had taken off her jacket at some point.

’Didn’t I just turn on the heat? Is it really that hot in here already?’

"You should get some rest here. I’m heading back," Wang Ming said, twisting open a bottle of mineral water from the table and handing it to her to help her sober up.

Zhang Yuanyuan took it and drank a few mouthfuls. She let out a long breath, seeming a bit more clear-headed.

"Senior Brother Ming, aren’t you going to sleep here? The dorm gates must have closed long ago." She let out a breath heavy with the smell of alcohol, her tone exceptionally soft.

"I can climb the wall to get in," Wang Ming said.

"Are you worried people will gossip if we’re alone in a room together? I... I won’t tell anyone. You can sleep on the left, and I’ll sleep on the right. Nothing will happen." Zhang Yuanyuan looked up at him with hazy eyes, a drunken blurriness in her gaze.

Wang Ming didn’t answer. A man and a woman alone in a room together... it was never a good idea. If something were to happen by accident while they were asleep, it would be hard to explain.

"You just get some rest." After saying this, he prepared to leave.

"Senior Brother Ming," Zhang Yuanyuan suddenly called out to him.

Wang Ming stopped and looked back at her. "What is it?"

She hesitated for a few seconds, her face quickly turning beet red. "Senior Brother Ming, I’m a little scared by myself. Can you stay with me a little longer? I want to take a shower first."

This was practically spelling it out. Old Wang looked at her pitiful, shy expression and, somehow, muddle-headedly nodded.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Ming."

Zhang Yuanyuan’s eyes curved into a smile. She wobbled off the bed, slipped into the hotel-provided slippers, and slowly walked into the bathroom.

Through the frosted glass, Wang Ming could clearly see her taking off her clothes. His head felt a little hot. He embarrassedly averted his gaze, but his peripheral vision couldn’t help but drift back.

"Senior Brother Ming, you’re not going to peek, are you?" Zhang Yuanyuan suddenly poked her head out, one bare shoulder exposed, her skin exceptionally fair.

"I won’t..." Wang Ming’s face flushed red, and he quickly turned his back to her.

Soon, the sound of running water came from the bathroom. Her graceful silhouette moved behind the glass wall, and Wang Ming’s thoughts were in turmoil.

On this New Year’s Eve, he had touched a girl’s hand for the first time, held a girl’s soft body for the first time, and now he had even gotten a room with her and was watching her shower through a pane of frosted glass.

He wasn’t an idiot; he could sense the feelings Zhang Yuanyuan was showing him.

But the one he liked was Shen Ying.

He shook his head, trying his best to ignore the sound of the running water from the bathroom. He walked to the window and watched the snowflakes begin to swirl outside again.

Twenty-some minutes later, the bathroom door suddenly opened, and Zhang Yuanyuan walked out wrapped only in a bath towel.

"Why aren’t you dressed?"

She held the towel up with one hand to cover her full chest, her gaze turning completely shy as she looked at Wang Ming. "Senior Brother Ming, my clothes all smell like alcohol. I have to let them air out overnight before I can wear them."

"Oh, oh..."

Looking at her exposed, fair skin, Wang Ming swallowed hard but still suppressed the turmoil in his heart.

"Since you’re done showering, I’ll head back now. Get some rest."

He walked to the door without looking at her. Just as he was about to turn the handle, Zhang Yuanyuan bit her lip and, bolstered by the alcohol, suddenly hugged him from behind.

"Senior Brother Ming, can you not go back tonight? I want you to stay here with me."

Wang Ming felt the softness pressing against his back, mixed with the refreshing fragrance of shower gel. His body instantly stiffened.

"Senior Brother Ming, I like you. Can you be my boyfriend?" Zhang Yuanyuan whispered, pressed against his back.

And just then, the towel wrapped tightly around her suddenly came undone. Wang Ming looked down at the towel by his feet, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. He forcefully removed her hands from his waist.

He took a deep breath and said slowly, "I’m sorry, but there’s someone I like."

With that, he pushed the door open and left, never once turning to look at her from beginning to end.

Watching the door close, Zhang Yuanyuan stood there in a daze. She had thought he was the simple, honest type who would be easy to handle, but she never expected that even after she’d gone this far, he would still resist.

’Is he even a man?!’

◇

After walking out of the hotel, the biting wind and snow instantly sobered Wang Ming up quite a bit.

Faced with a beautiful girl throwing herself at him, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t moved. If he had been unable to resist and had given even the slightest nod just now, he might have lost his virginity tonight.

But the moment he thought of Shen Ying...

His resolve ultimately held firm.

Thinking about it carefully, his looks weren’t particularly outstanding, and he was usually lukewarm toward her. He couldn’t understand why a girl as beautiful as Zhang Yuanyuan would go to such lengths for him.

’If she just likes me, there’s no need to try and jump into bed with me from the start, right? This is too ridiculous.’

He briefly recalled their history. Ever since Jiang Xia kicked Zhang Yuanyuan out of the group chat, she had often asked him about Cat and Mouse and the company, and she frequently kept him company while he drew in the library.

After he accidentally let it slip that he was the lead artist for Cat and Mouse, she became even more enthusiastic. Her form of address also changed from "classmate" to "Senior Brother Ming."

After the third season of Cat and Mouse was released, she started pestering him even more frequently. It got to the point where even his roommates thought they were dating, but that wasn’t the case at all.

’So, does she see me as a good prospect and want to latch on early?’

Wang Ming didn’t want to think of someone as being overly materialistic, but the persona Zhang Yuanyuan was projecting right now was exactly that.

He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he’d kept himself in check tonight and hadn’t gotten carried away and slept with her. Otherwise, things would have gotten very complicated.

In Wang Ming’s view, love should be pure. Liking someone was liking them, and not liking them was not liking them. It shouldn’t be mixed up with so many ulterior motives.

’Thinking about it that way, Shen Ying is so much better.’

He took his phone out of his bag and saw the little penguin icon in the top-left corner of the screen blinking. He opened QQ and saw that Shen Ying had replied to his message.

"Wang Ming, Happy New Year!"

"Sorry, I didn’t see your message just now."

"I’m celebrating New Year’s at the Liberation Monument with my roommates. Are you with Jiang Xia and the others?"

00:51 AM

"Are you asleep?"

Wang Ming let out a soft breath, a slight smile appearing in his eyes as he typed a reply.

"Not yet. A friend got drunk, so I was taking care of them. Are you back at the dorm yet?"

...

*(This is Old Wang’s emotional growth. In his past life, without Shen Ying, he was deceived by a manipulative girl. This life is different.)*