Chapter 135: Chapter 135: You cannot just kiss someone because you want to

Then he lifted one hand and lightly touched the tip of her ear.

Lin Huahua flinched at once, not because it hurt, but because it tickled terribly. "Baiyu!"

Hu Baiyu’s eyes brightened.

He touched it again, more carefully this time, rubbing the soft fur between his fingers with such fascinated gentleness that Lin Huahua wanted to scold him, but the words got stuck in her throat when she saw how happy he looked. His lion ears were perked forward, his blue eyes were full of quiet joy, and his whole huge body had softened around her as if this was the most important activity in the world.

So Lin Huahua endured it.

For about three breaths.

Then his fingers brushed the base of her ear, and she burst into giggles.

"It tickles," she complained, trying to move away, but Hu Baiyu followed with the innocent focus of a lion cub chasing a moving tail.

Mu Qingyi looked over, saw what was happening, and smiled so softly that he did not interrupt. He simply continued cleaning, though the slow sway of his deer tail showed he was amused.

Hu Baiyu touched her ear again.

Lin Huahua squealed and grabbed his wrist. "No, no, if you do that, then I will do it back."

Hu Baiyu paused.

Then, as if accepting the challenge, he lowered his head slightly, letting his white lion ears come closer to her reach.

Lin Huahua stared.

Then grinned.

That was his mistake.

She immediately reached up and tickled one of his lion ears.

Hu Baiyu jolted.

His whole huge body twitched, and the reaction was so big compared to the small touch that Lin Huahua burst into laughter. "Aha! So you are ticklish too!"

Hu Baiyu shook his head quickly.

Liar.

His ears had already betrayed him.

Lin Huahua crawled closer on the fur, her tail swishing happily behind her, and reached for his ear again. Hu Baiyu leaned back, but not too far, because he was clearly letting her chase him. She moved forward. He moved back. She pounced.

Or rather, she tried to pounce.

Because she was small and he was huge, the end result was that she climbed halfway onto him, lost her balance, and ended up straddling his lap with both hands planted on his broad bare chest.

Hu Baiyu froze.

Lin Huahua froze too.

For one second, neither of them moved.

Then Lin Huahua, who realized she had landed on him very boldly, panicked and tried to pretend this was all part of her original plan. "You cannot escape now."

Hu Baiyu stared up at her with wide blue eyes.

His lion ears turned red.

Lin Huahua placed both hands on his sides and tickled him.

This time Hu Baiyu actually laughed.

Not loudly at first.

It came out as a breathy, silent shake of his chest, then a low broken sound that was not speech but still carried joy. His whole body moved under her hands, his lion tail thumped once against the furs, and his face looked so stunned by his own reaction that Lin Huahua laughed even harder.

"You are so cute," she said, giggling as she tried to tickle him again.

Hu Baiyu caught both her wrists.

Gently.

Easily.

His hands wrapped around hers, huge and warm, and the difference in their size made her suddenly aware of how small she was on top of him. The laughter slowly faded from the air. The fire crackled beside them. Mu Qingyi’s hands paused over the scraps, and although he did not turn fully, he clearly heard the change in the room.

Hu Baiyu looked at Lin Huahua.

Really looked at her.

Her cheeks were pink from laughing, her white rat ears were still slightly bent from being touched, her hair had slipped messily over one shoulder, and her tail rested across his thigh like it had forgotten to hide. She looked soft, warm, alive, and so unbelievably cute that his chest tightened until he could not breathe properly.

Before he could overthink it, he leaned up and kissed her.

Lin Huahua froze.

Her eyes went wide.

His lips were warm and careful against hers, softer than she expected from someone so large. He did not force anything. He only held her wrists gently and pressed his mouth to hers like he had wanted to do it for so long and was afraid one wrong move would make her disappear.

Then he realized what he had done.

Hu Baiyu pulled back immediately, his blue eyes filling with alarm. His lion ears flattened in panic, and his hands released her wrists at once as if he had touched something forbidden. In the past, the old Lin Huahua would have screamed at him for this. She would have pushed him away, called him shameless, maybe even punished him for daring to kiss her without permission. That memory flashed through him so hard that his whole body stiffened beneath her.

Lin Huahua stared at him.

Then her face slowly turned red.

Not angry red.

Embarrassed red.

Her white rat ears folded shyly, her tail curled once against his thigh, and she looked away so fast that Hu Baiyu’s heart almost stopped from the sweetness of it.

"You..." she whispered, her voice small. "Why did you suddenly kiss me?"

Hu Baiyu blinked.

Then, because he could not speak, he lifted one hand and touched his own chest first. His fingers pressed over his heart. Then he pointed at her. Then he made a small helpless motion with his hands, as if saying he could not stop himself.

Lin Huahua understood somehow.

He wanted to.

He liked her.

He could not help it.

Her face burned hotter. "You cannot just kiss someone because you want to."

Hu Baiyu lowered his head immediately, looking guilty.

Lin Huahua saw that and softened at once, because he looked like a huge scolded lion cub despite being so massive and powerful. "I am not angry," she added quickly.

His ears lifted a little.