Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1192: Perverted much?

As opposed to its nature, the silence in the room felt far louder than what they had ever experienced before. There wasn’t even a clock present whose ticking sounds they could focus on as an excuse to divert their attention.

The only sound whispering in Lin’s were of Shui’s breaths, which he felt were becoming more chaotic the more time passed. He could feel them against his chin that made his fingers twitch for an unknown reason.

Shui, on the other hand, wasn’t in a good shape. She couldn’t tell anymore if she felt her heart beating in her chest as the world strangely spun around her. Words weren’t enough to explain the embarrassment she felt at the moment. But nothing affected her more than being unable to look away from Lin. She wanted to, but their gazes were oddly locked to each other quite fiercely that nobody averted.

"I-"

"I-"

Both finally gathered the courage to speak but stopped.

"I am sorry..."

"It’s alright," Lin said, albeit a little perplexed with himself. It was just a minor accident but he couldn’t stop himself from being conscious of the fact that he was holding her waist.

Shui quickly tried to regain her balance, but her foot slipped against the paint yet again, which only served to land her on top of him. Yet again. She collapsed on him though she couldn’t be anymore on top of him already.

Silence.

Their faces hovered beside each other. She felt his grip over her waist tightening as she fell for the second time.

"Are you okay?" The concern in his voice grew.

Shui stared at the floor hard.

This is so...even burying myself is not enough!

"Y-Yes, I am fine."

She wasn’t. Somehow, the warmth permeating from his cheek toward her was making the space between them hotter than she had expected. She felt what she smelled a faint cologne that made her pause for a moment.

That smells nice...

"..."

Her own not so innocent thoughts made her speechless. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

I wasn’t sniffing him at all. It was just that his cologne came my way!

It was high time for Shui to move, so she did so but not before a painful gasp escaping from her lips.

"What’s wrong?"

"My ankle hurts..."

He frowned. "You must have sprained it. You slipped on the paint twice. Wait. Don’t move."

His voice rang too close to her ear that made her hold her breath. Then she almost stopped breathing when he further gripped her waist and lifted up his torso in a sitting position. Their foreheads bumped along the way and they stiffened.

Lin looked down, staring at her hands pressed against his chest, but then his attention landed somewhere else too, which he clearly knew he wasn’t supposed to look at. He swiftly switched his gaze back to her face which seemed to look a little reddish.

"Does it hurt too much?" He asked, assuming that was the reason behind her flushed cheeks.

"Not that much..."

This is too close. This is too close! Am I not practically sitting on his lap!?

"Let me have a look."

But they were in an odd position that didn’t give him a good look of her sprain. He contemplated for a moment.

"Can I carry you?"

Her eyes darted at him, startled, as though she hadn’t quite registered what he had just asked. "C-Carry me?"

His gaze didn’t waver. There was no teasing in it, no trace of anything but sincerity. "You shouldn’t walk on that ankle."

Shui blinked, lips parting to respond, but the dull throb in her ankle reminded her that maybe this wasn’t the best time to be stubborn.

Still... being carried by him?

Before she could protest again, Lin moved.

One arm slid behind her back, the other beneath her knees. His touch was deliberate and careful.

"Wait-!" The world tilted and her fingers instinctively grasped his shoulder.

He stood in one smooth motion, her body rising effortlessly against him. Her breath caught. The slight tension from his shoulders pressed through her palms, and Shui couldn’t tell if the messy rhythm she felt belonged to him or her.

His shoulders feel stiff...she wondered.

Lin’s eyes flicked downward briefly, not to her, but to watch where he stepped. His brow furrowed slightly, the same way it did when he focused on working on a new recipe. It was a quiet seriousness he wore like second nature.

"You are light," he said. "Did Miss. Han not eat properly when you were cooped in here?"

Shui wished he hadn’t said that. Her face burned. "...I-I did."

"You look like you lost some weight. It’s not good. You should eat well."

Lin then glanced up at the ceiling for a moment as if contemplating. "I will ask Cai to bring more food."

"What? N-No, no! You have already been here for sometime so..."

"Your health is more important. Painting is also important but not more than eating well. You cannot compromise on food and sleep," his eyes narrowed.

The steady rise and fall of his breathing became the only rhythm in the room. Her head rested near his shoulder, and she could smell faint traces of that same cologne that had ruined her composure moments ago.

Lin lowered her carefully onto the couch by the window. His hand lingered a second too long near her calf before he pulled back.

"Stay still," he said quietly.

He knelt, not too close, but close enough that Shui could see the shadow of his lashes against his cheek when he bent his head. His fingers brushed her ankle, as light as a feather, testing for any swelling.

She slightly flinched at the touch, she couldn’t tell why.

"Does it hurt here?" he asked.

"A little..."

He nodded once, his thumb tracing the edge of the bruise, careful not to press "You will need to ice it."

After a moment, Lin reached for the towel nearby and wrapped it around her ankle gently. "Keep it elevated," he said, his voice softer somehow, as if he was speaking to himself as much as to her. "I will bring some ice."

"...I am sorry for the trouble. Your clothes got dirty with the paint too."

Lin furrowed his brows. "I don’t think...friends should apologize this much."

Her eyes slightly widened.

"You simply fell, and this is just paint. It’s nothing dirty."

She suddenly felt conscious of her own words she had said earlier of being friends. He used it at a time she hadn’t expected him to.

"Th-Thanks..."