"Just sit in the chair and stretch out your hand," Yan Cijin said, looking at Bai Li.

Bai Li nodded. Her body still felt dirty and sticky from all the sweat and blood, and even though she had kept herself together outside, the moment she was back home, the urge to clean herself hit her all at once. Seeing that Yan Cijin had changed into clean clothes made her feel even more aware of how awful she smelled. She did not want to keep standing there like that, not when the smell of zombie blood was probably still all over her. Her mind went straight to the shower, and she already started thinking about changing her dressing first, then washing up after. But Yan Cijin had come in with her first aid kit, and after looking at Bai Li for a few seconds, she pursed her lips, thought carefully, and then gave a small smile before saying, "Maybe we should shower first, otherwise, if our hands get wet, we’ll have to change the dressing again."

Bai Li froze for a second after hearing that. It was such a simple sentence, but somehow it caught her off guard. She did not know why, but she felt a little shy and embarrassed all of a sudden. That feeling was annoying enough on its own, but what made it worse was Yan Cijin standing there smiling like that, very natural, very gentle, like she had just casually suggested something normal and not something that made Bai Li’s thoughts stumble for a second. Bai Li did not know why her chest felt weird. She also did not know why her brain suddenly went somewhere it absolutely did not need to go. Her gaze stayed on Yan Cijin’s face, and for a moment, a thought flashed through her mind so quickly it was almost funny. Is she straight? The thought came and went in an instant, but it left a strange little mark behind it. Bai Li was not sure why her head had gone there so fast, but then another thought immediately followed, one that felt much more natural to her. No, Yan Cijin was probably not straight. Bai Li had the weirdest kind of confidence about that, the kind that came from a gut feeling more than from proof. Her gay radar had been tingling from the very first moment she met her, and Bai Li had never really been wrong about that kind of thing before. The more she thought about it, the more sure she felt. Yan Cijin had that energy. That subtle, soft, carefully hidden energy that made Bai Li think she was looking at someone who was definitely not as simple as she seemed. As she kept thinking, her brows slowly furrowed, not because she was upset, but because she was trying to sort out the odd little tension in her own mind. She was still stuck on that thought when Yan Cijin pulled her back to the present.

"Yan Cijin," she said, and then her voice continued, more practical now, "Your hands are injured after all, how are you going to take a shower?"

That question snapped Bai Li out of her thoughts at once. She blinked, still standing there with that faint awkwardness lingering in the back of her mind. Yan Cijin’s tone had shifted back into something normal and sensible, but Bai Li still felt a little like she had been caught doing something she had not meant to do. She looked down at her hands, then back up at Yan Cijin, and for a second she did not answer right away because her brain was still recovering from the strange little detour it had taken. Her face was still a little warm too, which only made the whole thing more obvious, even if Yan Cijin probably did not notice. Bai Li stood there for a moment, trying to act normal, trying to remember what she had been about to say before her thoughts had wandered off into that suspicious little corner of her mind. The apartment was quiet, the kind of quiet that made even a short conversation feel more intense than it was. Yan Cijin was still looking at her, waiting for an answer, and Bai Li had the sudden feeling that this was going to be one of those moments where everything looked simple on the outside but felt a little too charged on the inside.

Yan Cijin glanced at Bai Li’s face and neck, then decided to wash them for her as well. She reached for the facial cleanser and the body wash, holding both in one hand for a second before setting them down properly so she could work more comfortably. "I’ll wash your face and neck for you too, since we’ve already washed them all," she said. Her tone sounded casual enough, but in truth her heart was beating a little faster than usual. There was something strangely intimate about this whole thing, and she could feel that even more now that she was standing so close to Bai Li, close enough to notice the way her breathing had slowed, close enough to see the slight tension still lingering in her body after everything that had happened outside.

Bai Li’s eyes were still closed, and her neck was a little red, probably from the heat and the water and from standing here while being handled so carefully. She could not help but feel a strange sense of shame and embarrassment creeping up on her, which was honestly irritating because she was not the kind of person who got flustered easily. But Yan Cijin was right there, and the whole situation was just a little too soft and a little too private for comfort. Bai Li swallowed once and kept her face as calm as possible. "Okay, thank you," she said quietly.

Yan Cijin smiled a little, clearly pleased by how obedient Bai Li was being. "No need to be so polite. Close your eyes, I’ll wash your face first."

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.