I'm competing with the male lead for the supporting character. [GL]

Chapter 42: World Two

Mu Bai isn't just a simple-hearted young girl; she's much more than that.

First, Mu Bai is no longer a young girl, and second, she has quite a few thoughts on her mind.

In Mu Bai's view, if she were to immediately engage in physical intimacy and affection, it might seem too apparent, and it could inadvertently make Sheng Qingyin think she treats relationships casually. After all, she had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Her feelings towards Sheng Qingyin should naturally be an instinctive reliance and closeness.

At a time like this, she should use a bit of subtlety to bridge the gap between them. However, in the absence of sufficient external factors, she shouldn't be overly straightforward but maintain some restraint.

For example, now, with the thunderstorm still pending, she should simply sleep peacefully, rather than trying to get close to Sheng Qingyin secretly.

Time passed quickly, and an hour had gone by. Both of them were gradually drifting into deeper sleep, unconsciously drawing closer to each other.

With a bright flash of lightning, a deafening crash of thunder roared from the sky, instantly waking them up.

Mu Bai reacted swiftly. She whimpered softly, turned around, and moved closer to Sheng Qingyin. She shivered, like an octopus, and hugged her.

Sheng Qingyin wasn't afraid of thunder, so she simply blinked her eyes and began to regain consciousness. Before her awareness fully returned, she felt herself being tightly embraced, her movements restricted.

"Don't be afraid; I'm right here." It wasn't until the second thunderclap that Sheng Qingyin realized she was being held by Mu Bai, who was scared of the storm.

"Sheng... Sister Sheng..." Mu Bai's voice trembled and gained a hint of a sob. With Sheng Qingyin's soothing words, her eight-armed embrace gradually turned into a more straightforward hug, and her head buried in Sheng Qingyin's neck didn't move an inch.

"It's okay, it's okay," Sheng Qingyin said soothingly, taking the opportunity to free one of her hands and gently stroking Mu Bai's head.

"Sister Sheng, you won't leave me, will you?" Mu Bai's trembling voice became more apparent, and she asked intermittently, "Will you keep living next to me, keep running with me, keep drawing with me, keep having dinner with me?"

Sheng Qingyin didn't respond immediately. She waited until Mu Bai started sniffing and then spoke slowly, "The word 'forever' carries a lot of weight. I can't promise that."

Sheng Qingyin continued, "But in the next three years, I shouldn't be moving. As long as you're still in 602, we can remain neighbors just like now, eating together, morning runs, and me being your model."

"Really?" Mu Bai sniffled and slowly moved her head out to look at Sheng Qingyin with reddened eyes.

"A long time ago, they... they said the same thing, but in the end, they left me at the doorstep of an orphanage," Mu Bai said, sobbing, "Sister Sheng, you won't be like them, will you? Can you not abandon me?"

Sheng Qingyin was briefly taken aback but soon remembered what she had read about Mu Bai in the knowledge she had acquired. Mu Bai was an art student who grew up in an orphanage, and after getting early admission to the prestigious China Academy of Fine Arts, she even scored first place in the city. With financial support from the government and her high school, she gained the confidence to pursue further studies at the China Academy of Fine Arts.

Those people Mu Bai referred to must be her biological parents, the ones who abandoned her. Sheng Qingyin wondered if they would reappear in Mu Bai's life now that she had become a famous manga artist.