Lemon Soda Candy - 47

Zhou Anran’s heart raced for the countless time that night.

She still wasn’t entirely sure of his intentions.

But in that moment, a sudden impulse surged within her, and she no longer wanted to overthink.

Not about the future.

Not about what might come later.

Not about the consequences of baring her heart to him.

Like a moth unable to resist the dazzling allure of a flame, driven by its instinct to chase the light.

She couldn’t resist Chen Luobai in that moment.

No one could resist Chen Luobai in that moment.

With a push of her hands against the surface behind her, Zhou Anran leaped forward, landing straight in the boy’s arms.

The instant he caught her, Chen Luobai felt a flicker of regret.

The force of her jump pressed her upper body almost entirely against his chest. His body stiffened for a split second, his hand tightening around her waist, his Adam’s apple bobbing unconsciously several times. His gaze darted away, only to return to her face two seconds later.

With her feet off the ground, held in his arms, her soft, pretty face was so close he could kiss her if he leaned just a little closer—close enough to see the faint lines on her lips. Chen Luobai held that distance, his voice low as he asked, “Zhou Anran, will you come watch me play basketball next week?”

He was so close that when he spoke, Zhou Anran felt the warmth of his breath brush across her face.

It set her cheeks ablaze.

Unlike the times he’d lightly steadied her with a hand on her back, now she was suspended in his arms, in a position more intimate than a regular embrace. Her heart felt like it might give out from the strain, her mind teetering on the edge of shutting down.

Zhou Anran’s eyelashes fluttered downward, avoiding his gaze, her voice barely a whisper. “Put me down first.”

Chen Luobai saw her face flush red enough to draw blood, her lashes trembling more than ever before, her tone soft like she was pleading. Something mischievous stirred in him, suppressed urges rising to the surface. His grip on her waist tightened, pulling her closer still, his voice remained low. “Promise me first.”

Zhou Anran: “…?”

Was he seriously playing dirty?

He was so close—so impossibly close.

Even without looking up, she could feel his face nearly touching hers. Her vision was filled with his sharp nose and thin lips, her heart racing so fast it bordered on panic. Her fingers instinctively clutched at his jacket.

But somehow, it also felt… joyful.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t go,” she mumbled.

---

The late-night snack spot Yu Bingqin had chosen was a barbecue joint.

When Zhou Anran arrived with Chen Luobai, she noticed two empty seats next to Yu Bingqin, clearly reserved for them. She walked over and sat beside Yu Bingqin.

Yu Bingqin handed her a few skewers of grilled meat.

Zhou Anran thanked her softly, placing the skewers on the plate in front of her. She picked one up and ate slowly, staying quiet.

Chen Luobai raised an eyebrow. “Where’s mine?”

Yu Bingqin shot him a cold glance. “Don’t you have hands?”

“I wasn’t asking you.” Chen Luobai turned to the girl beside him. “You’re not gonna share a couple with me?”

Zhou Anran: “…?”

Yu Bingqin followed his gaze, glancing down.

The girl’s ears were red as blood, her fair face flushed pink.

“Chen Luobai.” Yu Bingqin stood, her expression icy. “Come help me grab some drinks.”

Chen Luobai slowly shifted his gaze away and rose from his chair. “Fine.”

The shop was bustling, the waitstaff swamped.

Yu Bingqin approached the counter and said to the worker, “Another dozen beers for our table.”

Waiter: “Table 16, right?”

Yu Bingqin nodded, then tilted her head slightly. “What does she drink?”

Chen Luobai leaned lazily against the counter. “Get her a Coke.”

“We’re out of cans,” the waiter said. “Is bottled okay?”

Chen Luobai nodded.

The waiter handed him a glass bottle of Coke.

Chen Luobai grabbed a straw for her as well.

On their way back, Yu Bingqin finally spoke, her tone flat. “Didn’t I tell you not to bully her?”

Chen Luobai twirled the straw in his hand, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Couldn’t help it.”

Yu Bingqin stopped, giving him a cold sidelong glance.

“You’re awfully protective of her.” Chen Luobai glanced toward their table. “Relax, I didn’t really bully her. Just gave her a hug.”

He paused for a second, then couldn’t resist adding, “Didn’t dare do anything else.”

Yu Bingqin: “You call a hug not bullying her? From your tone, it sounds like you’re disappointed you only got that far.”

“Maybe a little.” Chen Luobai’s fingers twitched around the glass bottle, the memory of her soft waist still vivid. “But we’re not official yet, so it wouldn’t be right.”

“Exactly, you’re not official, so watch yourself,” Yu Bingqin warned.

Chen Luobai chuckled. “She’s more like your cousin, isn’t she?”

“If she were my cousin,” Yu Bingqin said, the corner of her lips curving faintly, “she’d be a lot less trouble than you.”

Table 16 was just ahead.

Their conversation stopped.

Zhou Anran finished her second skewer as the chair beside her scraped. The tall boy sat down, a bottle of Coke now in his hand. From the corner of her eye, she saw him casually tap the bottle against the table’s edge, popping the cap off with ease. His long fingers gripped the bottle, a faint vein briefly visible as he exerted force.

He inserted the straw and slid the opened Coke toward her.

Along with it came his clean, crisp scent. His voice was low, gentle, almost coaxing. “Don’t be angry, okay?”

Zhou Anran’s gaze lingered on the small mole above his wrist, her voice soft. “I’m not angry.”

“Not angry, but you’re ignoring me?” Chen Luobai pushed the Coke closer. “You haven’t said a word to me since you sat down. My cousin thinks I bullied you.”

Zhou Anran: “…”

As if he hadn’t bullied her.

But she’d been willing.

She’d jumped into his arms on her own.

Zhou Anran pressed her lips together, picked a few skewers from her plate, and placed them on his. Her ears felt even hotter. “I’m not ignoring you.”

---

After the late-night snack, Zhou Anran returned to her dorm past 10:30 p.m.

All three roommates, including Bai Lingyun, who’d been out on a date with Senior Xie, were already back. They seemed exhausted from the day, sprawled on their beds scrolling through their phones.

Zhou Anran washed up and climbed into bed.

She opened WeChat and scrolled through her Moments, pausing when she saw a new profile picture. It took her a second to realize it was Zhu Ran, whom she’d added that night. In her flustered state, she’d forgotten to add a note to his contact.

She didn’t rush to do it, instead checking his latest post.

Zhu Ran: [Learned something tonight—turns out a certain Chen is the reincarnation of a lemon sprite.]  

Attached: a lemon emoji

Zhou Anran scrolled down and saw a familiar profile picture in the comments.

C: [Delete it.]

Zhu Ran replied: [Reminder: I just added her to WeChat tonight. She’ll see if you threaten me.]

Just added tonight?

Was he talking about her?

Zhou Anran exited Moments, re-entered, and refreshed.

A new reply had appeared.

C: [We’re not official yet. Don’t post nonsense.]

Zhou Anran’s finger froze on the words “not official yet.”

Did that mean what she thought it did?

She backed out, wanting to see Zhu Ran’s response, but when she refreshed again, his post was gone.

Deleted?

Zhou Anran stared at her screen, dazed for a few seconds.

It almost like the exchange had been her hallucination.

The last gathering had been brief, and Zhu Ran hadn’t added Yan Xingxi or the others. Even if he had, Chen Luobai hadn’t.

She had no one to ask.

Her phone pinged.

Zhou Anran returned to the main interface and saw Yan Xingxi tagging her in their group chat.

Yan Xingxi: [Ranran, still out with Chen Luobai?]

Zhang Shuxian: [Maybe they finished dinner and went off to do something else, hehe.]

Yan Xingxi: [@Zhou Anran]

Zhou Anran: “…”

Zhou Anran: [I’m back.]

Zhou Anran: [I told you Zhu Ran was with us.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [He doesn’t matter.]

Yan Xingxi: [Exactly.]

Yan Xingxi: [A third wheel’s not important.]

Zhang Shuxian: [Hehe, spill it—what’s going on with you two?]

Zhou Anran: [Just… like that.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [Like what?]

Zhou Anran: [Just…]

Zhou Anran: [You guys were right. Maybe I can let myself think a little more.]

Zhou Anran: [Like that.]

Yan Xingxi: [!!!!]

Yan Xingxi: [So Chen Luobai does like you?]

Zhou Anran touched her ear: [Maybe.]

Zhou Anran: [I’m not completely sure.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [No “maybe” about it.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [Chen Luobai’s character is well-known. He’s never messed around with any girl and always keeps his distance.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [If someone as cautious as you feels okay think more, he’s definitely into you.]

Zhang Shuxian: [Wait.]

Zhang Shuxian: [Am I the only one dying to know?]

Zhang Shuxian: [What happened tonight?!]

Zhang Shuxian: [Last week, Ranran said she didn’t dare think too much.]

Zhang Shuxian: [And now she’s suddenly at the point of confirming he might like her?]

Zhou Anran: “…?”

She hadn’t confirmed anything. She’d only said it was possible.

And it wasn’t just tonight.

It was… his behavior all week, slowly building evidence for that possibility.

Though tonight had been the most obvious.

Yan Xingxi: [I’m dying to know too!!]

Yan Xingxi: [I don’t care.]

Yan Xingxi: [Ranran, I’m coming to see you this weekend.]

Yan Xingxi: [I have to see what Chen Luobai’s like when he’s chasing someone.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [Curious +1]

Zhang Shuxian: [Wahhh, I never thought I’d see the day Chen Luobai actually chases someone.]

Zhang Shuxian: [cat crying.jpg]

Zhang Shuxian: [I regret staying in Nancheng.]

Zhang Shuxian: [I want to see too.]

Zhang Shuxian: [But I really can’t get away this weekend.]

Yan Xingxi: [No worries, we’ll give you a play-by-play.]

Zhou Anran: “…?”

Yan Xingxi: [It’s settled then.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [Don’t worry, if he asks you to dinner next weekend, we’ll watch from a distance. We won’t bother you.]

Zhou Anran: [He didn’t ask me to dinner.]

Sheng Xiaowen: [He’s supposed to be smart. Doesn’t he know to strike while the iron’s hot?]

Zhou Anran: […]

Zhou Anran: [Our school’s intramural basketball tournament starts next weekend.]

Zhou Anran: [He asked me to watch him play on Saturday.]

Yan Xingxi: [Perfect.]

Yan Xingxi: [We’ve seen how crazy his games get. There’ll be a ton of people watching in college.]

Yan Xingxi: [With so many third wheels, a couple more won’t make a difference.]

---

Midterms were over, but the semester was only halfway done. After resting on Saturday, Zhou Anran and her roommates dutifully headed to the library on Sunday.

That evening, Bai Lingyun and Xie Jingyi had meetings, so after dinner, Zhou Anran stayed at the library with Yu Xinyue until it closed.

Back at the dorm, Bai Lingyun and Xie Jingyi were already there, huddled at Xie Jingyi’s desk, watching a video on her phone. Cheers echoed from the screen.

“Pretty cool, right?” Xie Jingyi asked.

Bai Lingyun: “Seriously cool. If I were there and he flashed that smile at me, my knees would give out.”

“Watch your words—you’ve got a boyfriend,” Xie Jingyi teased, nudging her with an elbow. “If Senior Xie heard you, your knees would really give out.”

“It’s just sneaking a peek at a hot guy. He won’t—” Bai Lingyun’s gaze flicked up, her words halting. “Ahem… Ranran’s back. Don’t corrupt her.”

?

Zhou Anran set her things down. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Your classmate,” Bai Lingyun said.

Xie Jingyi: “Talking about School Hunk Chen.”

Zhou Anran’s breath caught. “What about him?”

“He was at the outdoor basketball court with some seniors today. Totally dominated,” Xie Jingyi said, handing her the phone. “See for yourself.”

Zhou Anran took it.

The video, filmed by who-knows-who, focused solely on him.

He wore a white basketball uniform, Maybe because the weather was cooler and it was outdoors, he wore black compression pants under his shorts.

In the short, less-than-ten-second clip, the boy in white dribbled past a defender, leaped, and sank a three-pointer.

At the end, he turned toward the camera, gave a slight nod—maybe to someone he knew—his smile bold and unrestrained, almost like he was smiling at the viewer

The video froze on that frame.

“Ranran,” Xie Jingyi said, looking up. “How are you so calm? Everyone loses it at this video post. You watch it and don’t even blink.”

Zhou Anran: “…”

“I’m used to it.”

Used to seeing him look impossibly cool on the court.

Even more used to hiding every emotion tied to him in front of others, not daring to let a single hint slip.

Back in her first year of high school, she’d even kept it from Yan Xingxi.

“Fair enough,” Xie Jingyi said, taking her phone back. “I forgot you two were high school classmates. You probably saw him play all the time. Oh, did a lot of girls give him water back then too?”

Zhou Anran caught the word “too.”

“Not really,” she said. “Our school was strict. Some girls confessed to him privately or slipped him love letters and gifts, but it wasn’t super open.” She paused, then asked casually, “Were a lot of people giving him water today?”

“Oh yeah, he was on fire,” Xie Jingyi said. “People held back before because of you, but today they didn't. He was killing it on the court, a bunch of girls gave him water right there.”

Zhou Anran froze. “Because of me?”

Xie Jingyi: “Well, he’s only ever been close with you. A lot of people didn’t know you were high school classmates and were watching to see what’d happen. But since there’s no news of you two dating, and he was unstoppable today, several girls went for it.”

Zhou Anran’s heart tightened slightly.

“Did he take any?” Bai Lingyun asked before she could.

Xie Jingyi shook her head. “Nope, not a single one. Even the Chinese department’s beauty got rejected. Word is, after he turned her down, she said she’s gonna seriously pursue him.”

“What’s the deal?” Bai Lingyun asked, curious.

Xie Jingyi: “She said something about guys like him—good-looking and principled—being a rare breed. She doesn’t want to miss her shot.”

Bai Lingyun’s phone rang.

She glanced at it, her face lighting up. “It’s Xie Zihan. I’ll take this.”

“Go ahead, you’ve had your fill of gossip,” Xie Jingyi sighed. “I’ve got homework to finish.”

Zhou Anran didn’t ask more. She washed up and climbed into bed.

She opened WeChat, her finger scrolling to his profile picture.

Their chat was still stuck on his message from last night: “Don’t play with your phone when you come downstairs.” Nothing new since.

Zhou Anran bit her lip.

Could it be…

Was she overthinking again?

So many people liked him—too many. She couldn’t believe she’d be the special, lucky one.

She opened his chat, tempted to ask about his afternoon at the court, but felt she had no standing to do so. She backed out.

After a few rounds of hesitation, she eventually sent nothing, instead sharing the original version of the Cantonese song Yu Bingqin had sung last night to her Moments.

Zhou Anran idly scrolled through others’ Moments. When she exited, she saw two new notifications.

Chen Luobai had liked her post.

And left a comment.

C: [Like?]

?

Was he asking if she liked the song?

Unsure, Zhou Anran replied with a small question mark: [?]

Her phone buzzed a second later.

Someone had messaged her.

Seeing no new Moments notifications, she returned to the main interface and saw it was him.

His profile picture jumped to the top with a small “1” badge.

It buzzed again.

Now a “2.”

She opened his chat.

C: [Been busy lately.]

C: [With the basketball tournament.]

And probably busy dealing with all the girls chasing him.

A sour bubble rose in Zhou Anran’s chest.

The chat showed “typing…”

She didn’t rush to reply.

A second later, a new message popped up.

C: [I’ll learn it for you over winter break.]

?

Zhou Anran didn’t follow: [Learn what?]

C: [Guitar.]

C: [Don’t you like Unconditional?]

Did he mean he’d learn it just because she liked it?

That sour bubble seemed to fill with honey.

She barely had time to study as it was, she could only imagine how busy he was.

Zhou Anran: [I don’t like it that much.]

Zhou Anran: [Just thought Senior Yu sang it really well last night.]

C: [Only your Senior Yu sang well last night?]

The image of him singing beside her last night flashed in her mind.

The bubble in her heart burst.

On impulse, she typed: [You sang well too.]

Maybe because she’d never said anything like that to him, her face burned after sending it. Panicking, she quickly recalled the message.

C: [What’d you recall?]

He hadn’t seen it?

Zhou Anran exhaled, relieved but also slightly disappointed.

Zhou Anran: [Nothing.]

Zhou Anran: [Just a typo.]

C: [Zhou Anran.]

Why did he love calling her by her full name like that?

In person was one thing, but even on WeChat?

C: [And here I was praising you for not being timid last night.]

Zhou Anran: “?”

She was timid, though.

Why’d he bring that up out of nowhere?

Before she could ask, her phone pinged again.

C: [What’s wrong with saying I sang well? Why recall it?]

Zhou Anran: “!”

Zhou Anran: [You saw it and still asked?!]

C: [Wanted you to say it willingly.]

Her heart felt like countless bubbles were bursting all at once.

Yan Xingxi and the others wanted to see how he’d chase her.

She wasn’t sure if this counted as chasing, but she was already struggling to keep up.

Zhou Anran touched her burning ears: [I’m going to sleep.]

After a pause, she couldn’t resist adding, face still flushed: [You played basketball all afternoon. Get some rest too.]

C: [How’d you know I played all afternoon?]

C: [And you didn’t even come watch?]

Zhou Anran: “…”

He never told her he was practicing at the outdoor court.

She didn’t dare say that, instead replying: [Heard it from my roommate tonight.]

Remembering Xie Jingyi’s words, another sour bubble rose: [Besides, tons of people were watching. You didn’t need me there.]

Her eyes lingered on that last message. It felt too bitter, and she considered retracting it. But her phone buzzed twice first.

C: [Remember the lyrics to Unconditional?]

C: [What’s the line after “I still say I’m lucky”?]

Zhou Anran: “…?”

Why the sudden jump to song lyrics?

She’d only heard Yu Bingqin sing it last night and listened to it once after. She didn’t know the lyrics.

Zhou Anran opened a search app, pulled up the lyrics for Unconditional, and scrolled through them line by line. When she reached the line he mentioned, her finger froze, her heart exploding like fireworks—dazzling and loud.

The screen clearly read:

“I still say I’m lucky,

You’ll always be better than other.”

---

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