Bad Intentions and Good Intentions

Shen Nian went to Shen Yue's room to grab the tablet, then immediately slipped back into his own room and closed the door.

Xia Yanchun thought he was afraid she'd run off.

Shen Nian drew the curtains, kicked off his shoes, sat in the middle of the bed leaning against the wall, gestured with the tablet, and waved Xia Yanchun over.

"Hurry up."

"What's the rush?" Xia Yanchun also kicked off her slippers and slowly crawled onto Shen Nian's bed. She sat leaning against the wall next to him, propping herself up with her hands, getting close but not too close—a fist's distance was just right.

"What should we watch?"

"Anything's fine."

"Really, anything?"

"You'd better behave!" Xia Yanchun poked his arm.

"...Weirdo." Shen Nian broke into a sweat. He wanted to watch a sci-fi movie; he didn't know what Xia Yanchun was thinking.

How is watching sci-fi not behaving?

And she says she's not dirty-minded?

Shen Nian browsed for movies he hadn't seen before. Considering Xia Yanchun was there, he wasn't sure what to pick for a moment. After scrolling back and forth, he finally selected "Zack Snyder's Justice League."

Seeing the runtime was a full three hours, Xia Yanchun looked at Shen Nian with a gaze reserved for perverts. "On purpose, huh?"

Picking such a long movie just to spend more time with Sister Chun? What a little tsundere.

"What nonsense are you muttering? I was planning to watch this anyway. I've been studying non-stop before, and today just happened to coincide with you being here."

"?"

That sounds familiar.

Xia Yanchun snorted. Anyway, she was just here to keep Shen Nian company. Watching a longer movie was fine; it wasn't like she hadn't stayed up on her phone until three or four in the morning before. Shi Yan wasn't coming until tomorrow noon anyway.

Xia Yanchun had already showered. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that weren't particularly short, only showing a finger's length of thigh, with the rest covered up. Still, she pulled Shen Nian's small blanket over to cover her legs and used his pillow to cushion herself in front, purely because it was more comfortable that way.

Guys right after a shower are very clean. She discreetly sniffed the scent around Shen Nian—it was fairly pleasant, but that was it. She only intentionally smelled him once; after that, the scent just drifted over on its own, okay?

Shen Nian bent his legs, placed the tablet on them, and moved a bit closer to Xia Yanchun, their shoulders touching, skin against skin. "Can you see clearly?"

"It's okay."

"Chun Bao, why do you smell so nice?"

"I just dried my hair before coming over. And stop sniffing around."

Shen Nian smiled. During evening self-study at school, there was always the smell of shampoo in the air. You could smell it whenever a girl nearby had washed her hair. With Xia Yanchun this close, it'd be weird if he couldn't smell it.

He placed the tablet horizontally between them, deliberately leaning it towards Xia Yanchun's side. From what he remembered, Xia Yanchun didn't dislike this genre; she even used to watch Ultraman with him often when they were kids.

Lots of girls liked celebrities and such, but Shen Nian had never seen Xia Yanchun be a fan. It seemed whenever she had free time, she'd find him and do all sorts of mischief—sometimes pulling his hair, sometimes pinching his face.

When they were alone, the troublemaker would even suddenly pull down his pants, then point at him and laugh. It was practically bullying.

Ah, he was just too honest when he was little, ending up as the troublemaker's plaything.

"Thinking of some unpleasant memories," Shen Nian sighed.

"What things?"

"Never mind, it's nothing. You just need to know you treated me very badly before and should be nicer to me now."

"What kind of guilt-tripping is this? Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? Are we that close?"

Xia Yanchun was annoyed. Even her parents didn't guilt-trip her; what gave Shen Nian the right? A younger brother lecturing his older sister—that's just turning the natural order upside down.

"Not close, not close. We're strangers." Shen Nian grinned, pulling the blanket over and tucking his feet under it too. "Whether we're close or not, we're already sharing a blanket now."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Xia Yanchun retorted. She wasn't even lying down yet; how could that count as sharing a blanket...

"Alright, I'll stop." Shen Nian cut the topic short, planning to focus on the movie to avoid teasing Xia Yanchun into getting angry and running back to her room.

He had seen "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." "Zack Snyder's Justice League" and the previous two were part of the Snyder trilogy. Compared to the theatrical version, the director's cut of "Justice League" had much better reviews and viewing experience.

He watched with great interest. Although Xia Yanchun hadn't seen the first two movies, it didn't stop her from watching with Shen Nian. With superhero genres, they're either for fans or general audiences. Not understanding some minor details didn't stop her from treating the movie as a big-budget effects spectacle.

She didn't follow superheroes, but she still recognized more famous characters like Superman and The Flash.

"Why is this Superman dead?"

"He died together with Doomsday."

"Who's Doomsday?"

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand." Smoothing Xia Yanchun's hair, Shen Nian noticed her shoulder wasn't holding a torch, so he refreshed his hand's position onto her shoulder.

Xia Yanchun glanced sideways at Shen Nian. Goodness, if someone didn't know better, they'd think that hand wasn't even his.

As long as Shen Nian didn't start fiddling with her shoulder strap, she couldn't be bothered to stop him.

When Shen Nian's hand began quietly tugging at her strap, she swatted it away and then lazily leaned her head against his shoulder.

Just like on the bus ride home during the National Day holiday, she only cared about her own comfort. She didn't need Shen Nian to offer his shoulder; if she sat next to him long enough, she'd lean against him on her own.

"I think we're being really ambiguous. We're definitely not normal childhood friends anymore," Shen Nian said seriously.

"I used the blanket first, and you're the one who took the liberty of touching me. You have bad intentions towards me, but I don't have any towards you. Leaning on you is comfortable. What's wrong with your older sister leaning on you? A younger brother can't possibly refuse, right?"

"Fine, fine, you can. And how is this bad intentions? They're clearly good intentions."

"Not good. They're very bad for me."

"Not bad. They're very good for me." Shen Nian loved contradicting her, finding it amusing.

Just as Xia Yanchun opened her mouth to reply, heavy knocking sounded from outside the door, startling her so much she immediately straightened her back.

Shen Yue never showed much respect for Shen Nian's privacy. She only gave him two seconds to prepare. Once the time was up, the door swung open.

Shen Yue poked her head in, her expression odd. Two kids on one bed, under one blanket, and little Chun next door looking a bit nervous...

You two are being way too ambiguous!

Young people's ambiguity is like chocolate—fine for humans, but deadly for single dogs. Although Shen Yue looked fine on the outside, she was actually entering a state of final lucidity.

"I'm going to sleep. Chun, are you coming back?" she grumbled.

"Of course I am!" Xia Yanchun said urgently, pouting and whining. "How could I not go back..."

"Then I won't lock the door for now. Shen Nian, remember to lock the door after Chun goes back. You two, be careful. You're not little kids anymore. If you disturb my sleep, I'll throw you both out."

"Ugh, what are you even saying!"

Shen Nian was unfazed, just letting out a faint "Oh."

Click.

The door closed again, returning the room to a private space for just the two of them. Xia Yanchun curled her legs up, hugging Shen Nian's pillow, feeling awkward no matter how she sat.

What did he mean by 'be careful'?

How could anything possibly happen between her and Shen Nian!

Sitting close to Shen Nian, sharing a blanket, having him touch her shoulder or squeeze her fingers—all of that felt as uneventful as a passing breeze. Yet, it was Shen Yue's single remark that had left her cheeks burning.

She didn't dare look up, afraid Shen Nian might see.

If he saw, her image as an older sister would surely be completely ruined...

Though, he had already seen it several times before.

"Hehe, maybe I won't go back tonight...?"

"Starting to daydream so early in the evening? I'm going back after the movie."

Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for over 3 million daily visits causing excessive server pressure, it is now recommended that you use sources from other providers.