Snow fell thickly outside the window, drifting down in swirling flakes. The entire world was wrapped in a quiet blanket of white.
Jiang Nuan admitted that when she heard Shen Wu say those words, a few rather impure images had flashed through her mind.
She couldn’t help it. His voice was low and gentle just then, with a husky undertone and a lingering note that carried an indescribable allure.
On top of that, she was curled up in his arms, her back pressed against his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head. His warm, ambiguous breath brushed through her hair.
The lights in the living room were off. The snowlight filtering in through the window illuminated his cool, striking features, making him look exceptionally handsome.
Anyone in a situation like this would have taken things in the wrong direction, right? If they hadn’t, that would be the abnormal thing.
And then—
Shen Wu released her and turned toward the wine cabinet in the corner of the living room.
…
Jiang Nuan stared at his back, and the tension that had just begun to rise inside her shattered instantly.
So this was what he meant by relaxing?
Fine. She was the one with the narrow mind.
“This Zhang Qiang really is something. He even stocked this place with red wine.”
Shen Wu was slender and upright. He took out a bottle of wine from the cabinet but didn’t open it immediately. First, he retrieved two stemmed glasses and put them in the freezer.
After a while, he took out the glasses, now coated in a thin layer of white frost.
The bottle bore no elaborate label, only a very old handwritten tag indicating the vintage.
He picked up the corkscrew. With a soft pop, the cork came out intact.
The dark-red wine poured slowly into the chilled glasses, shimmering in the snowy light filtering through the window.
He handed one glass to Jiang Nuan, picked up the other, and brought it to his nose for a sniff.
“The tannins have softened nicely. There are hints of blackcurrant and tobacco.” He took a sip. “Not bad. It lives up to its vintage.”
Tsk. Look at him showing off.
Jiang Nuan accepted the glass.
But with that indifferent expression, he really didn’t seem to be deliberately flaunting himself.
Pouring, swirling, smelling, tasting—the entire ritual came so naturally to him.
This guy… What had he done before?
“How do you know everything?” she asked suddenly.
Only then did she realize that, despite having spent so much time with this teammate of hers, she had never truly gotten to know him.
Shen Wu swirled his glass. The red wine traced an arc along the sides before slowly sliding back down.
“Let’s just say… they were useless skills my family taught me.”
Skills his family had taught him.
Could this guy really have been some wealthy heir before all this?
It certainly fit.
That refined air he carried in his bones wasn’t something a person could fake.
It was written into his features, his every movement, every posture.
“Useless skills?” Jiang Nuan followed the thread of the conversation. “Then what would count as useful?”
She had only asked casually.
But Shen Wu fell silent. He looked at the wine in the glass before him, as though he were gazing through it at somewhere far away.
“These are skills meant to be admired.”
His emotions were hidden beneath the shadow of his long lashes.
“Truly useful skills would probably be… the ability to feel at ease and be accepted without having to play any role at all.”
The living room fell silent for a moment.
The sound of the snow falling outside suddenly became strikingly clear.
Oh no.
Those were the only two words left in Jiang Nuan’s mind.
How had the atmosphere suddenly become so dangerously charged?
But right afterward, a sour ache welled up from the depths of her heart.
To be able to feel at ease and be accepted without playing any role—what an extravagant wish.
Wasn’t that the same as saying you could make mistakes, expose every flaw, even be a complete bastard, and still be accepted without conditions?
Who could truly possess such an ability—or, rather, be lucky enough to meet someone capable of giving it?
She thought of herself, a person who couldn’t even confirm who she was. What role was she playing in front of them?
She couldn’t say.
She only knew that the loneliness that had been churning inside her since the day began had been pierced straight through by those words.
“Yeah.” She lowered her head and looked at the wine in her glass. “Who wouldn’t want a skill like that?”
“So,” Shen Wu said softly, “that’s why you have to hold on to the moments when you occasionally don’t have to play a role.”
“Like now.”
He raised his glass toward her. The rims of their glasses touched lightly, producing a clear chime.
Jiang Nuan brought the rim to her lips and took a small sip.
The tart liquid spread across her tongue. She tried hard to distinguish the blackcurrant he had mentioned, but aside from the slight numbness in her tongue, she couldn’t taste anything at all.
…Forget it. This was clearly outside her area of expertise.
Her bewildered expression obviously didn’t escape Shen Wu’s notice. He tilted his glass slightly toward her.
“Tasting wine isn’t the same as drinking it, Jiang Nuan.”
Whenever he called her by her full name, his voice carried a slight lingering drawl at the end.
“You have to feel it.”
Jiang Nuan looked at him, baffled.
Feel what? Feel how troublesome this stuff was? Couldn’t she just drink it?
Still, she had to admit that the way he swirled the glass was undeniably attractive. His long, slender fingers supported the stemmed glass, and the turn of his wrist carried a natural, effortless elegance.
Shen Wu leaned a little closer. The distance between them shrank until she could smell the cool scent of him mingling with the wine.
“Don’t swallow it too quickly.” He held a small sip of red wine in his mouth. His Adam’s apple didn’t move, and his amber eyes watched her from across the glass. “Let it linger in your mouth for a few seconds. Use the tip of your tongue to feel its texture.”
As he spoke, his gaze fell to her lips.
“Is it silky, or coarse?”
Jiang Nuan swallowed, feeling her lips grow hot.
He was clearly talking about wine, so why did it sound so suggestive?
She took another small sip. The tart liquid slowly spread across her tongue.
“Relax.” Shen Wu’s voice drew her attention along with it. “Now, try breathing in a little air and let the aroma of the wine bloom in your mouth. Yes, just like that…”
As he spoke, a soft breath escaped his lips.
Jiang Nuan imitated him and parted her lips slightly.
A thread of cool air slipped through the gap between her lips, colliding and blending with the wine.
A fruity fragrance mingled with the wine and spread through her mouth, washing away the initial tartness and numbness and leaving behind a lingering aftertaste.
“Can you feel it?”
He watched the light brighten in her eyes, and his gaze deepened.
“The flavors hidden beneath the surface.”
Jiang Nuan nodded in surprise. She could indeed taste a hint of something sweet, like berries.
“…So that’s how you’re supposed to drink it.” Jiang Nuan ran her tongue over her lips. “Before this, I always thought all of this was just pretentious ritual.”
“Sometimes it is.” Shen Wu admitted it without hesitation, swirling the small amount of wine remaining in his glass. “But sometimes, rituals are meant to make you slow down and experience something more fully.”
“Wine like this needs something else to go with it.” His gaze remained fixed on the lips she had just licked, his eyes growing darker. “The living room is too loud. It would disturb the others.”
Jiang Nuan was still savoring those hidden flavors and didn’t immediately realize what he was talking about.
What sound was too loud?
The next second, Shen Wu's slightly cold fingertips brushed against the back of her hand.
It was like snowflakes outside the window landing on the skin. Before they had a chance to melt, they sent a shiver down her spine.
Her hand instinctively recoiled, but before she could fully pull it back, Shen Wu's entire palm covered hers, completely enveloping the hand that wasn't holding the wine glass.
His palm was dry and delicate, without the rough calluses of most combatants. It felt as cold as a piece of jade.
He gently pulled her hand upwards with a bit of force.
Just like that, Jiang Nuan was gently pulled up from the sofa, and the red wine in the glass in her hand sloshed.
"Come with me," he said in a calm tone, but the hand holding hers left no room for hesitation.
Jiang Nuan was led by him through the dim living room. She could clearly feel the slightly cold temperature of his palm gradually warming up under the heat of her own.
She tried to wiggle her fingers and pull her hand back.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, his fingers tightened slightly.
It was as if from the moment he took her hand, there was only one direction for her next step, and the end of that direction was him.
There were no lights on in the corridor. Only the glow of the snow outside the window filtered in through the floor - to - ceiling window at the end of the corridor.
It was clearly a short corridor, but at that moment, it seemed like they would never reach the end.
The surroundings were so quiet that all they could hear were their footsteps and each other's heartbeats.
Finally, he stopped in front of a door.
It was the innermost room on the second floor, Shen Wu's room.
He turned halfway and fixed his gaze on her face. "Are you ready?"
Jiang Nuan looked at him.
She didn't refuse.
Without letting go of their intertwined hands, he used his other hand to open the door.
The door opened, and the cool, unique aura belonging to Shen Wu surrounded her.
He led her inside, and the door closed behind them.
