My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Shi Nian\'s first kiss after two lifetimes tasted like tears, tinged with astringent and bitter stings. 

She didn\'t even realize what was happening in the first few seconds. Terrified out of her wits, she desperately sought shelter with the man who could offer her the best sense of security, it was akin to how a freezing and dying traveler would lunge into fire head on.

Thus, when the warm touch fell upon her lips, Shi Nian thought nothing but grasp onto it with all her might. She clung onto the sweater behind his back, fists crumpling. Jiang Jinyan similarly pressed closer, his palm supported the back of her head while the other arm circled around her waist.

They kissed frantically, absorbing each other\'s breath and fervor.

It wasn\'t until Shi Nian tasted blood that her eyes snapped open wide and her throat issued a weak whimper. Unexpectedly, the little noise stoked Jiang Jinyan so much that the man turned over and pressed her against the door, body smoldering onto hers as his lips gnawed and nibbled hers with passion.

"Jiang…" Shi Nian gasped for breath.. "Jiang Jinyan…"

"En." He hummed in a low voice, the ardent kiss finally receded as he slowly stopped moving, their numb lips still brushing with every little movement.

Right at that moment, the light suddenly returned, enveloping the dark living room with warm, amber glow. However, for them who had started to adjust in the dark, the sudden brightness was too stimulating and piercing.

His face entered her sight without warning. Deep, lustrous black pupils transfixed on hers, soft bangs falling onto his forehead which tickled her skin. The burning sensation on her lips…the hot rapid breaths against her mouth…

Her mind instantly exploded into thousand fireworks.

It was as if her fever came back in full force, now it wasn\'t a mere low grade anymore. Shi Nian\'s entire body burned from head to toe, and her head suddenly spun so dizzily that she couldn\'t make out the current situation.

What happened? Why was Jiang Jinyan here? Why were they standing too close? They…what had they done...?

Pieces of memories gradually emerged one by one. His messages. The power outage. The immense fear that overwhelmed her.

Shi Nian pressed her lips together, but still could vividly taste the numbing sensation that lingered there. Her head shrunk back like an ostrich as she tried to distance herself to no avail. Behind her was the solid door while in front of her, Jiang Jinyan didn\'t seem to have any intention to move.

His arm rested on the door above her head. Fingers grasping her chin, forcing her to lift her head. His voice came out hoarse, a bit raspy, thick with pheromones and ambiguity, reminding her of what had just happened just now. "Sobered up?"

Shi Nian\'s mind was a mess as she nodded dumbly.

The fingers on her chin trailed up and wiped the dampness on her cheek. Like a meek puppy, Shi Nian could only crane her neck and let him wipe her face clean.

Jiang Jinyan\'s breath tickled her cheek, soft and warm. It attracted almost all of her attention that she had no time to pay attention to the fear. 

"Why are you such a crybaby?" he asked softly.

Bewitched by the gentleness in his voice, Shi Nian\'s mind was empty as her eyes could only stare at him without blinking.

"Cat got your tongue?" His thumb pressed on her lips, causing her breath to hitch as shudders ran down her spine. Jiang Jinyan\'s eyes were too deep and profound for her to guess what he was thinking about. That kind of unawareness made her more nervous and jittery instead.

He exerted a light force and her lips parted open. Shi Nian couldn\'t imagine what she looked like right now, but she saw his eyes darkened a few degrees. Her scalp tingled and all of a sudden, she seemed to have guessed what he wanted to do, and the knowledge drove more heat through her entire body, so that her limbs turned soft and boneless, unable to resist nor deny.

In the end, what she imagined didn\'t come and Jiang Jinyan pulled away.

The light shone onto him and only then did Shi Nian discover that the corner of his lips were bleeding. She grasped his arm, concerned. "Your lips—"

The tip of his tongue travelled out to lick his lips, the slow movement exuded boundless charm and sexiness. She recalled how his tongue had lapped on her lips a few times and then...no! Stop thinking about that!

He said in a light tone, "You were so fierce when you bit me."

Shi Nian: "!!!"

If this was an animation, then Shi Nian\'s ears would puff out billows of steam. She lowered her head so much that her chin reached her chest. Then, her brain started to work all of a sudden. She had come out without wearing slippers, body clad in childish yellow chick pajamas, hair akin to a bird nest and more importantly, because she was sleeping earlier, she wasn\'t wearing a bra…

Shi Nian almost vomited blood. "I—I will go and get you a drink!" After leaving that sentence, she dashed to the bedroom with the fastest speed she had ever conjured up in her life, slamming the door shut behind her. Two minutes later, she went out with a neat shirt and short pants, her hair had obviously been combed and there was even the scent of baby powder in the air.

Without turning to look at the living room, she made her way to the kitchen but belatedly realized that she hadn\'t asked the most important question. Thus, she popped her head out and asked in a quiet voice, "What do you want to drink?"

Jiang Jinyan cleared his throat. "Anything is fine."

"Anything is fine…" She nodded and went back, mumbling. "Anything is fine…"

Jiang Jinyan\'s eyes followed her clumsy and frantic movement, his lips lifted up slightly. Shi Nian came out with a glass of orange juice. She put it on the table in front of him, still had no courage to look up. Jiang Jinyan muttered a thank you and took a sip he very much needed.

She stood aside, head lowered with little to none presence, wishing that the air would stretch open and swallow her up.

Jiang Jinyan saw her like this and felt his heart stirred. He obviously didn\'t have any intention to bring this matter up, but it wasn\'t known what possessed him that he blurted, "I came to your school today."

Then, as if regretting how silly that sentence sounded, he continued with a casual tone. "It\'s good that someone was taking you back." Damn, that sounded sourer than he expected.

Jiang Jinyan didn\'t want to admit that he was worried about her, so he went to her school even if he didn\'t have any class today. But unexpectedly, he saw her standing together with another boy as she accepted his helmet and rode on his motorcycle.

He couldn\'t believe how affected he was by that mere sight, so much that he almost did something that would definitely scare her away. 

He lifted his eyes to look at her nervous appearance. Well, he had done it...

Shi Nian\'s attention was pulled by his sentence, head tilting in confusion. "He didn\'t take me back, I went home by myself."

Jiang Jinyan: "…"

He didn\'t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed of how dense she was.

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A/N: Congrats scissors04, you guessed it right! It was indeed Jiang Jinyan who\'s in school back then. I am shocked how can you bingo just like that (≧∀≦) 

Hoho General Jiang was jealous but Shi Nian didn\'t realize it. Maybe she thought that jealousy was beneath him (￣∇￣)