Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 561 The Little Demon 22

Chi Jingchen turned back with satisfaction, and tapped the touchpad lightly with his slender fingers.

A prelude with a hint of psychedelic color flows out, the low and textured bass line sets the rhythm, the ethereal electronic sound is like falling starlight, and then, Chi Jingchen's unique, grainy and narrative voice joins in.

The lyrics he sang seemed to be related to dusk and sunset.

Yun Chu slowly immersed himself in the atmosphere of the music, trying to capture the emotions conveyed by the melody and lyrics.

Chi Jingchen's gaze was not completely fixed on the screen.

He turned sideways from the high chair, resting his elbows casually on the backrest, and looked at her intently, as if observing every subtle change in her expression and capturing the fluctuations in her eyes.

Watch her unconsciously tap her toes to the rhythm, watch her slightly furrowed brows as she immerses herself in it... as if appreciating her reaction is more important than examining the track itself.

When the song came to the line about "the sunset burning the sky", Yun Chu almost reflexively remembered his red cheeks and his eyes dodged unnaturally.

At this moment, Chi Jingchen suddenly reached out and picked up another monitoring headset from the headphone stand on the table.

He leaned towards her naturally, holding the headphones in one hand, and with the other hand - as if just to help her put them on - he very gently used his fingertips to lift the few strands of hair that were slightly messy at her ears.

The slightly cool fingertips lingered for a moment as they brushed across the hot skin of her earlobe.

"Put on your headphones." His voice was almost whispering in her ear, his breath brushing against the fine hairs on her earlobe, warm and disturbing. "The vocal details in this version haven't been adjusted yet. Wearing this will help you hear it more clearly."

The slightly cool earmuffs covered his ears, and the world was instantly filled with pure singing and music that belonged to him.

However, the physical coolness brought by the earphones touching her ears formed an extremely sharp contrast with the burning sensation left by his fingers rubbing against the skin of her earlobes, which set off a silent storm in her body.

His movements were so natural, with reasonable demands for sound quality, but he perfectly plucked her heartstrings gently again at the most vulnerable part.

Yun Chu sat stiffly, feeling the blood that had finally calmed down rushing up uncontrollably again.

The strand of hair that was touched seemed to carry the warmth of his fingertips, and the earlobe felt so hot that it seemed to be burning.

The music flowed clearly into her ears, Chi Jingchen's infectious voice sang the soulful lyrics, but she didn't hear a word of it. Her mind kept replaying the moment when he leaned over to her.

The undisguised concentration in those deep eyes that took in all her subtle reactions, and that...carefully planned and effortless approach.

***

The door closed gently behind him, isolating the space next door, but it could not isolate the aftermath that was so strong that it made him panic.

Yun Chu leaned against the cold door, as if to cool down his overheated body. His heart beat fast and hard in his chest, like a restless bird flapping its wings.

The house was quiet, far more spacious than the carefully curated silence of Chi Jingchen's home.

Fragments of the melody from his music seemed to still linger in the air, as did the touch of his fingertips brushing across the back of his hand and across his earlobe—that patch of skin seemed to have been acupunctured, the memory was vivid, and it continued to emit hot, slightly numb signals.

Her face began to burn uncontrollably again. She didn't need to look in the mirror to know that she must look like a ripe tomato.

"I'm used to having you around..." She murmured to herself, her voice faint but clear in the quiet room.

How did you say that?

It's just a strange coincidence!

The panic that could not be hidden under his focused gaze made her mind go blank, and she recited her inner mumbling as if it were a line.

Looking back now, that terribly "real" embarrassment and shyness was probably clearly visible in his eyes.

What was even more terrifying was the impromptu sentence "Try it? Get used to this feeling?", and the "accidental" touch of the back of the hand and the action of lifting the hair... Yun Chu covered his burning ears, and the more he thought about it, the more flustered he felt.

Is all this a coincidence?

Is it the need for acting?

Or... is there a seriousness in his bottomless eyes that goes beyond exploration and is almost playful?

She felt like she had fallen into a carefully woven web, every thread entangled with Chi Jingchen's acting, music, and those touches.

This web was controlled by him, but she couldn't find the strength to break free. In fact... somewhere deep in her heart, there was a secret addiction.

She slumped down on the small stool at the entrance, buried her burning cheeks in her palms, and let the "unrest" mixed with embarrassment, panic, and a hint of inexplicable throbbing spread freely in the empty room.

The small green medal plant brought back from Chi Jingchen's house hung its leaves quietly by the window, as if silently witnessing this chaotic mood.

After seeing Yun Chu off, Chi Jingchen didn't immediately return to the studio. He slowly walked to the center of the living room. The afternoon sun had completely given way to the warm twilight, and a lazy and contented warmth flowed through the room.

His eyes swept across the room - the fiddle-leaf fig in the corner stretched out its broad leaves, the ivy in the bathroom softened the edges of the space, and the kitchen was still faintly filled with the smoky aroma of lunch... The whole space really "came alive" because of her arrival and arrangement.

However, what made him smile the most was her awkwardness and shyness that had not yet completely dissipated in the air.

He walked to the sofa where they had just acted together, and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the place where they had sat.

Recalling the real panic she showed when she mispronounced her lines and the words that blurted out - "I'm used to having you around" - Chi Jingchen's lips curled up uncontrollably, forming a happy arc.

That little "mistake" was like the brightest pearl, far surpassing any line preset in the script.

Her reaction at that moment, the undisguised shyness and embarrassment caused by him, and the subsequent "mispronounced" but "absolutely correct" response, constituted the most vivid and satisfying "performance" he had experienced recently.

And her reaction to his subsequent touch and approach was the perfect proof.

As for the studio... Chi Jingchen remembered the moment when he put headphones on her, the moment when his fingertips brushed across her hot earlobe, and her stiff posture in the pure sound of music.

This sense of control, the ability to precisely pluck her heartstrings and clearly see her feedback, brings a sense of accomplishment that is no less than composing a perfect melody.

The pot of fiddle-leaf fig in the corner of the living room seemed to be covered with a hazy halo in the twilight.

Chi Jingchen gently touched its broad and soft leaves. The cool touch of her hair lingering on his fingertips and the temperature of her earlobe seemed to be wonderfully intertwined.

The computer in the workshop was still on, and the audio track to be processed quietly stayed on the line "The sunset burned the sky", but he had no desire to get down to work immediately.

At this moment, the uneasy lingering sound in the air caused by someone is the unique melody he wants to savor most.

A feeling of pleasure that was a mixture of affirmation of his creative inspiration and some deeper satisfaction, just like the night outside the window, enveloped him gently and firmly.