Chapter 416: Apparently, This Was a Date
I spent the hour after dinner trying to decide what counted as appropriate clothing for somewhere I hadn’t agreed to go.
Technically, Zhenlan hadn’t asked me. He had informed me that I was going somewhere with him and then refused to provide enough information for me to prepare properly.
That was either romantic or kidnapping.
The difference seemed to depend entirely on whether snacks were involved.
I stood in the middle of my closet wearing a clean pair of black pants and a soft sweater while staring at the dresses I had collected before the apocalypse. Most of them had been purchased for events the other Rouxi either never intended to attend or did and she just left the tags on. But pretty things had still deserved to survive the end of the world.
Unfortunately, wearing one would suggest that I had recognized this as a date.
No one had used the word date.
Zhenlan had only held my waist, looked at my mouth, and told me to be ready after dinner.
That could mean anything.
Maybe he wanted to inspect the barrier.
At night.
Alone.
After telling me he wanted to stay in my house because I was in it.
Fine. It was probably a date.
I still wasn’t wearing a dress.
Someone knocked once before opening the door.
"Why bother knocking?" I asked without turning around.
Lingyun leaned against the frame with one arm wrapped around his ribs. "It gives you time to stop doing anything embarrassing."
"I was changing," I sighed, my eyes never leaving my closet.
"Then I’m devastated that I knocked."
"You were told to stay downstairs."
"I became lonely."
"You were surrounded by three people."
"And yet, none of them were you."
I looked at his reflection in the mirror. "That line would work better if you weren’t here to spy on someone else’s date."
His smile widened. "So you admit it’s a date."
"I admitted nothing."
"You’ve changed your clothes."
"I do that every day."
"Not voluntarily."
That was insulting mostly because it was true.
Lingyun pushed away from the doorframe and crossed the room slowly enough that I could see every place his injuries protested. The healer had wrapped his ribs again before leaving, but that apparently hadn’t convinced him to remain still for more than twenty consecutive minutes.
He stopped behind me and looked over my shoulder at the closet.
"Wear the dark green dress."
"No."
"The black one?"
"No."
"The red one?"
"Absolutely not."
"Why do you own dresses if you refuse to wear them?"
"Because they’re mine."
He cocked his head to the side and considered that for a moment. "Fair."
I reached for a jacket before deciding it might be too warm. "Did Zhenlan tell you where we’re going?"
"Yup," he replied, putting extra stress so that the ’p’ popped.
I turned around. "Where?"
"I’ve been ordered not to tell you."
"Since when do you follow orders?"
"Since he threatened to put me in bed and ask Yuche to keep me there."
"That doesn’t sound like a threat."
"It wasn’t until he clarified that you wouldn’t be joining me."
I stared at him.
Lingyun looked offended on principle. "Cruelty survives every apocalypse."
Another knock sounded before Chenghai opened the door far enough to look inside.
I pointed at him. "You too?"
"I came to retrieve Lingyun."
"I’m not finished helping," whined Lingyun to Chenghai.
"You aren’t helping," Chenghai replied, rolling his eyes and a lot more relaxed than I had seen him in a while. Not stressed was a good look on him.
"I selected three dresses," pointed out Lingyun.
"I know. I heard. I also heard that she rejected all of them."
"That’s still progress."
Chenghai stepped into the room and caught Lingyun around his uninjured side before he could retreat farther into my closet. Lingyun complained but allowed himself to be guided toward the door.
Chenghai paused before following him out. His attention moved over my sweater and pants without the disappointment Lingyun had displayed.
"You’ll be warm enough," he said.
That was more information than anyone else had given me.
"Are we going outside?"
He glanced toward the hallway. "You didn’t hear that from me."
"I heard it directly from you."
"Then I suggest pretending otherwise."
Lingyun leaned around him. "Wear better shoes."
Chenghai dragged him away before I could ask what better meant.
I settled on boots without heels because the world had ended and I refused to break my ankle again for romance. Then I spent another five minutes pretending I wasn’t checking my hair before leaving the bedroom.
Yuche waited in the upstairs hall.
He looked at me once, then held out a small metal hand warmer.
I accepted it automatically. "Why do I need this?"
"You may not."
"That isn’t helpful."
His fingers closed briefly around mine after transferring it into my palm. "Enjoy yourself."
The simple instruction made me more nervous than Zhenlan’s refusal to explain anything.
"I enjoy myself regularly."
"You watch the same movie four times while eating Cheezies."
"That is enjoyment."
"Yes."
Yuche leaned down and kissed my forehead before continuing toward the bedroom where Lingyun was loudly objecting to being placed under supervision.
I watched him go, then looked at the small warmer in my hand.
Apparently, everyone knew this was a date except the person going on it.
Zhenlan waited at the bottom of the stairs.
He had changed his shirt, which was somehow more alarming than the mystery destination. It was still black, because he apparently believed colours were a sign of weakness, but it was clean and fitted closely enough across his shoulders that I briefly forgot what I had intended to say.
His gaze moved over me slowly.
"You said to wear whatever I wanted," I reminded him.
"I did."
"You’re looking at me like I picked wrong."
"No."
He crossed the last few steps between us and adjusted the collar of my sweater with two fingers. The touch was unnecessary and slow enough that I knew he was aware of it.
"You look beautiful," he said.
That was considerably worse than being told I had chosen the wrong clothes.
I looked toward the living room for assistance.
Chenghai sat beside Lingyun on the sectional, apparently ensuring he didn’t follow us. Yuche had returned to his usual place at the other end, although the small curve at the corner of his mouth suggested he had no intention of rescuing me.
Traitors.
Zhenlan held out his hand.
I looked at it. "Where are we going?"
"You’ll see."