The President Comes Knocking -

The arm that had been resting at his side quickly rose and landed precisely on Chu Qianqian’s left cheek. Mu Han deliberately controlled his strength, ensuring it wasn’t too forceful to make Chu Qianqian uncomfortable nor too gentle to let her instinctively turn away.

Before Chu Qianqian could express any reaction to his sudden action, Mu Han abruptly leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

Perhaps due to the excitement in his heart, Mu Han’s control faltered slightly. The moment their lips touched, a distinct “smack” echoed in the hallway. The plump sound resembled the playful noise from a beloved childhood toy, one that made children burst into laughter at just the slightest contact with it.

However, in this moment, no one could find a reason to laugh.

This was a scene with only two players and no other spectators. Of the two protagonists, the female lead found herself utterly stunned the instant their lips met. Her wide, round eyes betrayed all her astonishment, revealing everything she couldn’t voice.

The male lead, on the other hand, summoned every ounce of knowledge he had gleaned from books and attempted to translate it into technique, hoping it might earn him a favorable response.

But looking at Chu Qianqian’s utterly shocked expression, Mu Han immediately knew his hope had been in vain.

As their lips parted, Mu Han glanced at the still-unresponsive Chu Qianqian. His face held a mixture of amusement and resignation.

Lightly patting her cheek, his voice softened in a way she had never heard before. “Snap out of it.”

The entranced Chu Qianqian was brought back to reality by his words. Almost instinctively, she looked up-only for the magnified features of his face to fill her vision.

His sharp, chiseled features were mesmerizing, every tiny facial hair visible on his clear skin. Chu Qianqian stared, frozen. Her sluggish brain struggled to wake from its daze, replaying the events of just moments before.

It was a kiss.

A kiss.

The mental loop formed a perfect downward-trending triangle in her mind. Unwilling to believe what had just happened, she instinctively wanted to move back, only to realize that the wall behind her left her nowhere to retreat.

“That… that just now… was a dream, right?”

The soft murmurs, spoken so close to her, reached Mu Han’s ears without missing a single syllable. Watching Chu Qianqian, who still stubbornly clung to her state of denial, the hint of warmth that had just risen in his heart quickly dissipated. His gaze darkened once more as he fixed her with an unyielding stare. After a few seconds, an almost mischievous grin tugged at the corners of his lips-a smirk so devious it could easily be mistaken for a villain’s signature expression in a TV drama.

“It’s not a dream,” he said, his voice low but amused.

As he spoke, one hand slipped firmly around Chu Qianqian’s waist, while the other gently rested on the delicate curve of her neck. His touch was confident, deliberate. In a tone soft yet commanding, he chuckled lightly and said, “Close your eyes.”

Chu Qianqian, her head still spinning from the confusion of the moment, instinctively obeyed his order without protest. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and immediately, she felt his warm breath brush against her skin-hot and close. And then, something soft pressed against her lips. It was his lips.

Unlike before, where the kiss felt hazy and uncertain, this time Chu Qianqian was fully awake to every detail. She could clearly feel his actions, his slightest movements, and even the wild, frenzied rhythm of his heartbeat-echoing her own.

Thinking back to the previous kisses, whether it was the one on the bed or the one just moments ago in the hallway, they had felt distant and incomplete, as though the timing or the emotions just weren’t aligned. She hadn’t quite grasped the deeper feelings so often described in books-the beauty or sweetness of a kiss-but now, finally, she understood.

Mu Han’s lips were incredibly soft, like two pieces of smooth, springy jelly-just minus the sweetness.

This kiss, unlike the previous impulsive ones, was noticeably gentler. There was no tongue involved, only a delicate meeting of lips-a tender exploration, a quiet test, and then a gradual parting.

In Chu Qianqian’s mind, she and Mu Han felt like two kissing fish, exchanging thoughts and emotions through touch alone. She wasn’t sure what vulnerabilities her kiss might have revealed to him, but one thing was certain-she could feel his unease. The subtlest threads of insecurity reached her, the kind that comes from the fear of unrequited emotions.

A pang of guilt flooded her chest. For this fleeting moment, she surrendered to her emotions. Rationality slipped away as she allowed the more instinctual, emotional version of herself to take over. Careful considerations faded into the background, and instead, she let herself become vulnerable-willingly submerged in Mu Han’s boundless, ocean-deep affection.

Just for now, she told herself. Just for a little while.

For Mu Han, this kiss was undeniably special. It was the first time between them where the gesture wasn’t one-sided; it was the first time Chu Qianqian responded. And that response felt so gratifying, so satisfying, that if it weren’t for her inability to hold her breath any longer, forcing him to pull back, he might have continued kissing her indefinitely.

This lip-to-lip kiss lacked the fiery passion or desire that a deeper, more intimate kiss might evoke. Instead, it was saturated with emotion-pure and unguarded. It was the kind of kiss that suited fledgling feelings, a kiss born from the fragile first steps of mutual understanding. It perfectly matched their current situation-where the veil over their emotions had just been lifted ever so slightly, and unspoken feelings had finally begun to surface.

However, the drawbacks were also painfully obvious. Chu Qianqian touched her lips, which were burning and slightly sore. Upon closer inspection, they even seemed a bit swollen.

Her lips had been kissed swollen.

This realization made Chu Qianqian’s face flush an even deeper red. Luckily for her, the hallway lights cast a warm yellow glow, and her face had been tinged with redness ever since the kiss. Mu Han didn’t seem to notice.

When she looked up again, Chu Qianqian noticed that Mu Han’s lips were also red, but they weren’t swollen. The comparison was clear: during the kiss, Mu Han had been the absolute aggressor, while Chu Qianqian, the passive defender, hadn’t put up much of a fight.

Judging by the wariness on Chu Qianqian’s face, Mu Han had no doubt-if he dared to kiss her again, this time she would retaliate for sure.

Although Chu Qianqian’s “fighting power” was negligible in Mu Han’s eyes-about as dangerous as a breeze ruffling his hair-he had no intention of pushing his luck. The consequences of truly angering her would be something he’d rather not deal with.

Taking a couple of steps back, Mu Han created a more comfortable distance between them. With a gentlemanly gesture, he raised his hands slightly as if to show he meant no harm.

This post-incident display of chivalry earned him a genuine look of disdain from Chu Qianqian. She couldn’t even begin to process what had just happened and had absolutely no intention of dealing with Mu Han right now.

Her body tense like a startled animal, Chu Qianqian shot him a few cautious glances. She saw that Mu Han remained standing there, looking harmless and giving off a “don’t worry, I won’t do anything” vibe. Sensing her opportunity to escape, she crouched slightly, then bolted toward her room.

The distance was less than three meters, but Chu Qianqian managed to turn it into what looked like the finals of a world-class sprinting event.

Open the door, step inside, shut the door-it was all done in one swift, seamless motion. Not a single word was exchanged with Mu Han throughout the process. She treated him as though he were nothing but a mass of air, a non-existent presence in the hallway.

Mu Han stared at the door that now firmly separated them. He raised his right hand and brushed his fingertips over his lips. It felt as though Chu Qianqian’s warmth lingered there.

His eyes flickered briefly to the corner where a dark navy figure had been hiding earlier. It was gone now. The amusement in Mu Han’s gaze didn’t fade, but his lips twisted into a faint, mocking smirk.

“Still just a little brat who hasn’t grown up yet,” he muttered to himself. “And you think you can play games with me?”