Correct Usage and Incorrect Demonstrations of Kaomoji

Lin Wanwan stared at the emoticon on the screen for a few seconds.

"What exactly does this mean?" she asked, looking up.

Chen Zhi sighed. He first pointed at the two semicircular parentheses on the screen, then unceremoniously tapped his finger against Lin Wanwan's chest and raised an eyebrow.

Lin Wanwan froze for two seconds, her gaze following his finger downward.

Once she realized what it meant, she jerked her gaze away and shrank back.

Her fair neck visibly flushed a deep red, the color spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.

"You... you pervert!" She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

Chen Zhi caught the pillow with one hand, tossed it aside, and spread his hands. "You were the one who just said you'd help me in any way other than that. If you think it's perverted, then forget it. I'll figure it out myself."

Saying that, he made a show of lifting the blanket to get out of bed.

Lin Wanwan grabbed the hem of his shirt.

She bit her lower lip. After a long while, she finally squeezed out a tiny voice from her throat.

"Then... you close your eyes."

Chen Zhi leaned back against the headboard. "They're closed."

"No they aren't! Your eyelashes are still moving!"

"I really closed them. It's pitch black in here anyway, what could I even see?"

"I'm not looking at anything, I don't even dare to look at you..." Lin Wanwan's voice took on a tearful tone.

Chen Zhi kept his eyes closed, feeling like he was going through the longest and most agonizing period of his life.

A few minutes later.

Lin Wanwan suddenly sprang up from the bed. Covering her face, she didn't even put on her slippers and ran barefoot to the bathroom.

The door slammed shut with a bang.

Soon, the splashing sound of the faucet being turned on to the maximum came from inside.

Chen Zhi lay on the bed, staring at the chandelier on the ceiling, and let out a long breath.

He tidied up a bit and smoothed out the blanket.

The sound of running water continued for a long time.

So long that Chen Zhi began to wonder if the girl was planning to scrub off a layer of her skin in there.

"Click."

The bathroom door opened a crack.

Lin Wanwan walked out wrapped in a white hotel bathrobe. Her hair was dry; clearly, she had just frantically washed her hands and face.

She dawdled over to the bed, only daring to perch on the very edge of the mattress. Her gaze fell on the patterns of the carpet, refusing to look at Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi sat up, grabbed her arm, and pulled her toward him.

"Why did you run so fast? Was a dog chasing you?"

"Don't speak!" Lin Wanwan struggled a bit.

"What's wrong?"

"Just... don't speak."

She took the opportunity to bury her burning face into the crook of Chen Zhi's neck and stopped moving.

After a long while, Chen Zhi finally heard a muffled voice.

"Was my performance... really bad just now?"

Chen Zhi rubbed her hair. "It was okay."

Lin Wanwan didn't look up. "Pervert."

"It really was okay. You passed." Chen Zhi thought for a moment and added with a straight face, "Sixty-one points."

Lin Wanwan suddenly lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes wide. "Sixty-one? You're giving me a sixty-one?"

"That's one point more than failing. Be content."

"Chen Zhi, are you even human?!"

Furious, Lin Wanwan straddled his lap, her tiny hands balled into fists, raining blows onto his chest.

The strikes were feather-light and didn't hurt at all.

Smiling, Chen Zhi caught her wrists. With a gentle pull, he gathered her and her hands into his arms, pulling the blanket up to cover them.

"Stop fooling around. You have a competition tomorrow, go to sleep early."

Lin Wanwan's fists stopped.

She nestled quietly in Chen Zhi's arms, listening to the heartbeat in his chest.

"Chen Zhi."

"Hmm."

"If I win the championship tomorrow... will you kiss me?"

"I'll kiss you whether you win the championship or not."

"That's different!" Lin Wanwan lifted her head from his embrace, her tone incredibly serious. "If I win, your kiss is a reward. If I don't win, your kiss is consolation. The nature of it is completely different."

Chen Zhi was amused. "Alright, then go win the championship."

"Mhm!"

After a while, Lin Wanwan stopped talking.

Chen Zhi thought she had fallen asleep, but when he looked down, her big, bright eyes were staring right at him.

"What is it now?"

"Nothing." She pursed her lips and snuggled deeper into his arms. "I just want to look at you a little longer."

Chen Zhi reached out and turned off the bedside lamp.

In the darkness, Lin Wanwan's breathing gradually became steady and even.

Chen Zhi closed his eyes, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.

The screen of the phone next to his pillow lit up.

He grabbed the phone and glanced at it. It was a WeChat message from Pei Ningxue.

[Where are you staying tonight?]

Chen Zhi glanced at the sleeping Lin Wanwan in his arms, lowered the screen brightness to the minimum, and typed with one hand: [A hotel. Keeping an eye on tomorrow's event.]

Pei Ningxue replied instantly: [Which hotel?]

Chen Zhi's fingers hovered over the keyboard, but he didn't type anything.

Thirty seconds later, another message popped up from her.

Pei Ningxue: [Never mind, I won't ask. Good night.]

Chen Zhi stared at those words for a few seconds. He knew Pei Ningxue was definitely unhappy right now, but after thinking about it, he decided to ignore it for now.

He muted the phone and placed it face down on the nightstand.

Sleep comes first.

In his arms, Lin Wanwan rolled over, throwing one leg over him, and mumbled in her sleep, "Sixty-one points is too low..."

Chen Zhi pulled up the corner of the blanket and closed his eyes.

He would deal with tomorrow's issues tomorrow.

...

7:40 AM.

The alarm Lin Wanwan had set vibrated punctually on the nightstand.

Chen Zhi groggily opened his eyes to find the space beside him empty.

A trace of the girl's body heat still lingered under the covers.

The buzzing sound of a hairdryer came from the direction of the bathroom, mixed with Lin Wanwan's babbling vocal warm-ups.

Chen Zhi rubbed his eyes and sat up.

Under the water glass on the nightstand was a piece of hotel notepad paper.

He pulled it out to take a look.

On it was a crookedly drawn smiley face, with a line of text written below:

"Just watch what this lady can do today!!!"

The handwriting was elegant, ending with three consecutive exclamation marks.

Chen Zhi laughed out loud as he looked at the note. Once this girl entered work mode, she was a completely different person from the shy little girl who dove under the covers last night.

He folded the note twice and casually stuffed it into his pants pocket.

8:15 AM.

A black Mercedes-Benz nanny van parked punctually downstairs at the hotel.

Lin Wanwan walked out of the lobby wearing a white hoodie and light blue jeans. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she looked full of energy, her steps brisk.

Su Man sat in the passenger seat. She rolled down the window, her gaze skipping past Lin Wanwan to land on Chen Zhi, who was following behind.

Last night, she had been wondering what these two would get up to, so this morning she deliberately scrutinized Lin Wanwan's condition.

No dark circles, her voice wasn't hoarse, and she seemed even more energetic than the past few days.

At least that boy knew his limits.

Lin Wanwan walked up to the car door but didn't rush to get in. She turned back to look at Chen Zhi.

"Wait for me backstage."

"I said I'd wait for you, so I'll wait for you." Chen Zhi stood with his hands in his pockets.

"Pinky promise."

Lin Wanwan held out her right pinky finger.

With people coming and going at the hotel entrance, Chen Zhi also held out his pinky and hooked it with hers, pressing their thumbs together firmly to seal the promise.

Only then did Lin Wanwan smile, turning around and hopping into the van.

The car door slowly closed.

Su Man nodded at Chen Zhi through the car window and instructed the driver to go.

Chen Zhi stood on the steps, watching the van's taillights merge into the flow of traffic.