Waaah, I'm being forced into loving my yandere wife's brain.

In the middle of the night, Lin Zhiyao was awakened by the noise beside her.

At first she thought it was a dream. The voice was too soft, and through her deep sleep it was as if there was a layer of water between them, so she couldn't hear it clearly.

But she did wake up; her consciousness spread slowly, like water rippled by a fine needle.

I could hear someone breathing beside me.

The breathing was unsteady, low, and carried a kind of restrained repression, coming intermittently from very close by.

The first thing Lin Zhiyao felt was the warm breath blowing across the back of her neck, densely covering her neck.

Then, there's the weight of the mattress slightly sinking in.

And the scorching heat of the body behind me could be felt even through the blanket; it was incredibly hot.

There were also suppressed groans, the voices muffled and indistinct, making them difficult to hear.

Heavy breathing rose and fell beside her pillow, becoming faster and deeper.

Then she heard her own name called.

"...Yaoyao, you're such a naughty child! Why didn't you make a sound when you got to the second floor?"

Lin Zhiyao's back stiffened instantly, and she froze in the blanket, even her breath caught in her throat.

Shen Jin's voice fell into my ears, carrying a sticky, still-unsettled hoarseness, as if it were being muffledly ground out from between his lips and teeth.

How did he get in? She clearly locked the door.

The first thought in Lin Zhiyao's mind was stuck there, like a dull knife cutting halfway and stopping in a bone crevice, unable to turn or be pulled out. Then the second question surged up, even more intensely, making her feel as if she had been thrown into boiling water—what was he doing?

Lin Zhiyao felt the mattress sink again, as if he had adjusted his position, and the blanket covering him was moved.

A corner of the thin silk quilt slipped smoothly off her shoulder, and the cold air brushed against her skin, stirring up a fine shiver.

Shen Jin's hand seemed to be at his side. She didn't turn her head to look, but from that suppressed, clearly ending-like panting, she could roughly guess what had just happened.

A odor wafted through the air.

It was faint, not exactly unpleasant, but carried a strange, spicy, and hot smell that made her heart race and her chest ache.

Lin Zhiyao's body stiffened like a stone. She gripped the corner of the blanket so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and her nails almost dug into the flesh of her palm.

Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembled violently, and even pretending to be asleep was a struggle.

A rustling sound came from beside me, like a tissue being pulled out and then being wiped.

Lin Zhiyao's heart was pounding so hard that she suspected Shen Jin could hear it even through the blanket, but she dared not move, dared not open her eyes, and even suppressed her breathing to be light and shallow, as if as long as it was quiet enough, all of this could be pretended not to have happened.

But the next second, Shen Jin's hand gripped her shoulder.

The force wasn't heavy, but it was steady. His thumb pressed on the front of her shoulder blade, slowly applying pressure to turn her from her side-lying position so that she was facing him.

Lin Zhiyao buried her face in the pillow and turned to face Shen Jin, her forehead now facing him, and she could even feel his unsteady, hot breath.

They were very close; the distance between them was extremely close.

Lin Zhiyao was so close that she could almost feel his invisible gaze falling on her face as if it were a physical object.

Lin Zhiyao's eyelashes were tightly closed, and her lips were pressed into a line, not daring to reveal even the slightest trace of stiffness.

She thought Shen Jin would stop after turning her over.

He might sit for a while longer, then get out of bed and leave. She could pretend she hadn't noticed anything, and the whole thing would pass right under her closed eyelids.

But Shen Jin did not move his hand away.

The palm rested on her shoulder for two seconds, then slowly moved down, the fingertips gliding along her shoulder line, past the edge of her collarbone, and down to her lower back.

"...Yao Yao." Shen Jin sighed.

Lin Zhiyao's body stiffened involuntarily for a moment. The sensation was too clear, seeping in through the thin fabric of her pajamas, carrying the warmth of his palm, making the skin on her waist feel as if it had been branded.

Moreover, Shen Jin called her name. Did he realize she was pretending to be asleep?

Lin Zhiyao dared not reveal the slightest movement.

Whether Shen Jin noticed or not, he gently massaged her lower back with his thumb, as if playing with it or deliberately waiting for her reaction.

Lin Zhiyao even slowed her breathing.

Shen Jin slowly drew circles around the small, concave curve with his fingertips, the force so light it was like a feather brushing against something, bringing a tingling, itchy sensation that made one tremble.

Lin Zhiyao felt a slight, uncontrollable tremor in her waist, and a strange, tingling sensation welled up in her heart, neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, spreading inch by inch outwards from the point where Shen Jin's fingertips touched her.

She tried her best to maintain a steady breathing rate, but the movement of the blankets still caused a momentary disturbance.

Shen Jin's fingers slid down a little further, his knuckles touching the edge of her pajama pants' waistband. He paused for a split second before gently slipping his fingers inside.

Lin Zhiyao's mind went completely blank.

Warm fingertips touched that delicate skin, gently caressing it with a teasing touch.

………………

Lin Zhiyao's breathing was completely disordered.

She couldn't control herself; her heart was pounding in her chest, making her eardrums buzz, and all her attention was focused on the small patch of skin covered by his palm.