Chapter 504 - 338: Will Miss Erica Misunderstand?

Chapter 504: Chapter 338: Will Miss Erica Misunderstand?

Seeing the little guy react, Lin Chen raised the finger he had just dipped in the ’mashed potatoes’ and brought it closer.

The wolf pup’s reaction became even more pronounced. Its cool, wet nose sniffed frantically before it opened its pink little maw and latched onto his finger.

"???"

Lin Chen’s expression changed. All he could feel was his fingertip being enveloped by something soft, warm, and wet. A strange, ticklish sensation, accompanied by a steady suction, spread from his finger throughout his entire body.

From this angle, he could see the wolf pup slowly open its eyes, revealing pale blue irises filled with a clear blankness—a sign that its consciousness had not yet awakened.

"Looks like it was just born. Probably a little over a week old, not quite two, since it can open its eyes."

"What! It opened its eyes? Let me see!"

’After all, it had just been curled up in her arms, so she’d grown a bit attached.’

Hearing that it had opened its eyes, Jin Meiyan rushed over, squeezing her head into Lin Chen’s embrace to stare intently at the little wolf pup.

"Its eyes are so beautiful! As clear as lake water!"

Seeing it continuously sucking on Lin Chen’s finger, Jin Meiyan grew curious. She scooped up some of the warm ’mashed potatoes’ on her own finger and held it out.

Smelling the new aroma, the little one immediately abandoned the finger in its mouth, turned its head, and gobbled down the new food with a gulp.

"Ah~!"

"Hahaha, it tickles so much... Aigoo, it tickles like crazy! Oppa, how did you stand it? This feeling is so weird!!"

The wolf pup had only been sucking for a few seconds before Jin Meiyan felt that strange ticklishness. She cried out instinctively and then burst into a fit of giggles, her body squirming back and forth as she forced herself not to pull her finger away.

Her reaction made things very awkward for Lin Chen. He quickly took the camera from his chest and aimed it at the feeding pup up close to avoid filming anything strange.

Jin Meiyan had thought that if she endured it for a bit, she might get used to it and it wouldn’t tickle so much. But just as she was about to pull her finger back, the wolf pup, its appetite now whetted, instinctively followed her moving finger and latched on again, sucking even harder than before.

Its small, soft, pink tongue darted nimbly across the girl’s fingertip, unwilling to miss a single remaining morsel of food.

At its lick, the dimples at the corners of Jin Meiyan’s mouth froze, and a soft cry escaped her lips instinctively.

"Aang~~"

This sound was completely different from her earlier cry. It was coquettish and held a slight tremor. Just hearing it made Lin Chen’s blood boil, and his body froze on the spot.

The air in the forest fell silent.

Jin Meiyan also froze, unable to believe she had just made that kind of sound.

It was only then that she realized she was curled up in Lin Chen’s arms, her elbow resting on his leg. The position was unbelievably intimate.

Having navigated the complexities of South Korean society, she knew exactly how tempting this situation was for any healthy man. If it had been a South Korean man next to her, he probably would have assumed she was deliberately seducing him and taken the opportunity to pounce.

At that thought, she forgot all about feeding the pup. She quickly grabbed its body with her other hand and yanked her finger free from its mouth with a sharp tug.

Because the pup had been sucking so hard, it even made a "POP" sound.

Its meal having vanished, the little pup started whimpering anxiously, its blue eyes darting around, trying to find the escaped food.

But this two-handed motion made Jin Meiyan realize she had forgotten something.

She had been propping herself up with her left elbow on Lin Chen’s leg. To free herself from the pup’s grip, she had used her left hand, causing her entire body to lose balance and topple over.

The moment she lost her balance, she sensed something was wrong and instinctively put her hands down on the grass to catch herself—right in the area between Lin Chen’s legs.

’Oh my god, Jin Meiyan, what on earth are you doing!?’

Her ears flushed red in an instant. She scrambled to sit up, covering her burning cheeks with both hands, and mumbled with her head down, "Mi-Mianae Oppa, I didn’t do it on purpose..."

She knew he had watched several years of Korean variety shows, so he would definitely understand such a basic phrase. That’s why she sometimes used simple Korean words.

The reason was simple: some feelings could only be properly expressed in Korean. It just didn’t feel right in English.

Lin Chen was also extremely awkward. Not daring to meet her gaze, he reached into the food container, scooped up a little bit of mush, and stuffed it into the pup’s mouth, mumbling a few perfunctory words.

"Um... ah... It’s fine. Uh, do you want to go wash your hands? You got saliva on them, after all. Hygiene is very important when you’re surviving in the wild."

"Oh, oh, okay! I’ll go wash my hands then!"

A flash of gratitude appeared in the girl’s eyes. She kept her head down and headed straight for the mini-waterfall.

’As expected of a man from Great Xia, so highly praised by my friends,’ she thought to herself as she walked. ’In a situation like that, not only did he not tease me verbally or physically, but he even took the initiative to defuse the tension and didn’t let the awkwardness linger.’

’If South Korean men had this kind of self-awareness, their reputation wouldn’t get worse year after year.’

She reached the small pool, crouched down, and washed her hands in the cool stream water. Listening to the SPLASHING sound by her ears, her wildly beating heart finally began to slow to a normal rhythm.

Maybe it was because she had sweated while hiking earlier, but she felt sticky all over and had the urge to wash her face.

’But I have light makeup on. We’ve only been on the island for a little over an hour. If my makeup comes off this early, does that mean I’ll have to face Oppa with a bare face for the next few days?’

’Although I’m confident in my bare face, makeup is the lifeblood of a Korean woman. As long as you’re not at home, letting your makeup run is absolutely forbidden.’

’But on second thought, I’m supposed to be experiencing wilderness survival. I won’t be able to wash up for days, so my makeup is bound to get ruined sooner or later. The only difference is whether it happens in half a day or a full day.’

’Most importantly, we don’t even know if we’ll be staying here. If we can’t find another water source later, we’ll have to come back here anyway.’

Thinking of this, she forced down the urge to wash her face. Instead, she cupped her hands, scooped up some water, and drank it in big gulps.

She didn’t dare drink too much. Lin Chen had mentioned in his previous videos that one should avoid drinking untreated water in the wild as much as possible, especially from streams that look clean and clear, as they often hide bacteria and parasites invisible to the naked eye.

Drinking a little like this to wet her throat was fine, but the best way to get safe, potable water was to boil it.

She glanced from afar at the man sitting on the grass, engrossed in feeding the wolf pup. For some reason, she found the sight of his back incredibly reassuring.

Especially when he had stood in front of her earlier, it had given her a profound sense of security.

It was a security so deep that it felt as if she wouldn’t be harmed at all, even if she were facing a live wolf.

’A man this outstanding, reliable, and good-natured... it’s no wonder Erica couldn’t help but openly show her interest in him on the show.’

’But there was one thing she found very strange.’

’From the time they met during the filming of the Panama season until now, almost two months had passed. They had even started working together and were living in the same house as roommates, yet they still weren’t together.’

’What was up with that?’

’If this were in South Korea, they probably would have slept together ten or twenty times in two months. They might even be exes by now.’

’Could it be that their relationship was just Erica being proactive one-sidedly? That Oppa didn’t actually like her that much, just had a favorable impression, and was holding back from getting together impulsively out of moral restraint?’

The more she thought about it, the more plausible this seemed. The fluttering in her heart slowly faded, replaced by a strong sense of curiosity and a thirst for gossip.

’Even a free-spirited American girl couldn’t win Oppa over. His self-control must be off the charts. Or... does he not like women?’

’Probably not. If he liked men, he wouldn’t act so awkward or flustered around women. And his behavior would probably be a bit more effeminate, right?’

Out of nowhere, a bold idea popped into her head.

’Should I give it a try, too?’

’Putting aside how long they’d known each other, just based on his performance in the few episodes she’d seen, Erica’s open pursuit of him, and their interactions these past few days—looking at it from all angles, Lin Chen was indeed a perfect man.’

’Whoever became his girlfriend would undoubtedly be very happy.’

’He’s rich, capable, has good character, and is hardworking. His only flaw might be that he isn’t stunningly handsome, but for a woman who’s seen the world, that’s not really a drawback.’

’Sometimes, a man being handsome isn’t an advantage; it can be a disadvantage.’

’Being handsome means he meets the mate-selection criteria for most women, and many would even throw themselves at him. That kind of temptation is very hard for a man to resist. It’s like a huge feast appearing in front of you after you’ve starved for two or three days. Anyone who could resist eating would have to be a superman.’

As soon as that thought emerged, she immediately shook her head. Cupping her once-again-flushed cheeks, she secretly snuck another glance at the man’s back.

’No, no way. If I do that, what’s the difference between me and one of those frivolous women?’

’Besides, it was Erica who invited me to come on this wilderness survival experience. If I also start showing interest in Oppa like she does, won’t it seem like I’m trying to steal someone’s boyfriend?’

’Yes, that’s right. I’m just being impulsive because my emotions are all over the place. Calm down. I have to calm down!’

’Oppa can remain unmoved in the face of temptation, so I should also learn to control the influence of my emotions.’

After quickly sorting out her thoughts, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. When she opened them again, clarity had returned.

She returned to the campfire and sat down, this time facing a different direction so she could clearly see the front of the wolf pup without any more physical contact.

Gazing at the sight of the little wolf greedily sucking on Lin Chen’s finger, the strange, gut-wrenching tickle from before resurfaced on her own index finger.

She quickly picked up the Spring Beauty Grass she had placed on the ground, stared at its pale pink petals, and asked softly.

"Oppa, just now... when they edit this, do you think Miss Erica might get the wrong idea?"