A groan was released from the figure under the blanket. Toss and turn were then seen before a small portion of the blanket was flipped. Kris tried to clear his throat but ended up coughing. He opened his eyes reluctantly, scanning his dark surroundings with limited lighting peeking in from the curtain into the room. He let out a sigh and raised his hand to his throat. His hand was now massaging his Adam’s apple as he turned to his right.

3.30. The numbers were glaring at him in neon green as if telling him to go back to sleep.

Knowing that he would have a rough day ahead of him, he decided to ignore his patched throat and fall back to slumber. However, after minutes which seemed like hours to him, the door to his dreamland remained close.

He mumbled some complaints before getting out of his bed. He quietly opened his bedroom door and headed to the kitchen to quench his throat.

As he walked down the stairs, he noticed light coming from the living room. He knitted his eyebrows. It was already at such late hours, he was sure everyone in the household would be sleeping by now. He shook his head, thinking that she might have forgotten to off it after hogging the living room just now. 

He decided to take the trip to the living room before heading to the kitchen. Electricity bill was on rise now and he might as well just switch off the unused lights to save his electricity bill or if people demanded a more noble explanation, you can just conclude that he was saving the earth.

He could see opened books and papers on the floor as the living room came more to his sight. He glanced at the clock on the wall and furrowed his eyebrows once again. His eyes fell on the girl who was sitting by the table on the floor, busy writing down notes while referring to a thick textbook right in front of her.

He sighed. “Baby?”

The girl jumped a little before turning to where he was. She gave him an accusing glare with her hands on her chest.

“ You scared me. Why are you up?”

Kris made his way towards her and sat right across her, with the table in between.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Kris arched one of his eyebrows.

She promised him that she would sleep soon when he retired for the night last night. Kris would usually stay up with her and would only retire to his own chamber once he was sure that his girlfriend was already sleeping. Knowing how a study-holic his girlfriend was, he would always be there to make sure she would not overwork herself. However, he was too exhausted to care that much yesterday and thought that she would actually fulfill what she promised. But, guess not.

She pouted. “ I am just writing down notes.”

As if he would not believe him, she showed him her papers with her beautiful penmanship that Kris adored to no end.

“ It’s kind of late to study now, ain’t it?” Kris placed her notes back to the table before holding her hands.

She sighed.

“I know, I know. I am nearly done with this subtopic. I will just read a bit and go to bed, okay?”

Kris reluctantly nodded and let her finished her work. He took the empty mug from the table and head to the kitchen.

He came out a few minutes later with the same mug filled with water. He placed it on the table, away from the papers and extending his long legs behind her, resulting in her sitting between his legs. He rested his head on her shoulder, not caring about the extra weight on her petite body.

She just smiled at his action and continued to finish the last part of the subtopic.

“Okay, okay. Almost finish.” She raised her viable hand to ruffle his hair.

He let out a chuckle which sent shiver down her spine. In a good way, of course.

He peeked at the huge chunk of text embedded on the textbook and he rolled his eyes. He knew the she would not be done with the context after another hour.

An idea struck him and he smirked before moving his head closer to the crook of her neck. She instantly squirmed and wriggled, trying to move away from him. Knowing her motive, he grabbed onto her waist, securing her in her current position. Her laughter filled the silent house. She half whined and laughed, still trying hard to break free from him.

“Hahaha, stop it!” Her hands were on his, trying to pry off his hands.

After a few seconds, Kris did as told, only because he didn’t want to receive complaints from the neighbours later.

She had her hands, encircling her posterior part of the neck, still trying to catch her breath.

“Don’t do that!” She said in a warning tone and added with a glare to strengthen her warning.

“You’re so adorable.” He chuckled while pinching her nose.

“Stop distracting me.” She turned her attention back to her notes.

 He sighed before raising his hand to shut the thick book right in front of her.

She widened her eyes before throwing an accusing glare at Kris. Attempt of reopening the book was futile since Kris left his hand on the book cover with force.

“Yi Fan~” She whined and pouted at him.

Kris then rested his forehead against hers.

“It’s late. I need sleep. You need sleep. I don’t want to see an easy tick-off Qian ying tomorrow.”

“I am not easily ticked off.” She furrowed her eyebrows and tried to reason more with him.

“Sure.” He smirked before kissing her nose.

“Well, I am not.” She insisted.

“If you want to look like a panda, I can just apply makeup below your eyes.” He could already see the darker skin tone below her eyes area.

She moved her forefingers to her eyes and smiled.

“No worries, I’ve got concealer!” She honestly appreciated whoever created such ingenious product.

He sighed. It usually took a while for him to convince her to go to sleep. He was a bit cranky now but he would not want to do anything that was momentary satisfying but regretful later.

He straightened himself up before passing the cup full of water to her. She drank it in one go.

“Now back to study.” Qian ying put the cup back on the table and turned to her books again, determined the finished from where she had left off.

“This girl is really…” Kris mumbled.

He really disliked this stubborn side of her sometimes. Knowing that he couldn’t implant any sense into her head, he positioned himself at her side. With hands stretched, Qian ying was already in his arms before he stood up and walked away from the table.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Her eyes were huge with surprise but were quickly replaced by annoyance.

Kris ignored her pleas and complaints and carried her bridal style to where the switches were.

He stopped in front of a wall and urged her to off the lights with his chin. She just glared at him with arms folded.

“Come on now.” He met her glare fearlessly and stretched his arms more so her side was now touching the wall.

“Hmph.” She still refused to switch off the light and was staring straight at his eyes.

Kris chuckled at such childishness before raising her slightly, earning a gasp from her. She flung her arms and encircled his neck. He positioned his fingers at the switches and turned off the light source of the living room, before walking upstairs to her room.

He maneuvered his way in the dark, perfectly knowing every corner of her room and gently put her down on her queen-sized bed; unfold the blanket, tucking her in. He then laid down next to her, leaving a gap between them.

“Now go to sleep.” He kissed her forehead.

“Hmm.” She turned to face him, letting her eyes to adapt to the dark.

He moved closer to her, finding her hand with his.

“Goodnight.” She knew that Kris wouldn’t sleep until she did.

She admitted defeat and moved to kiss his cheeks. She snuggled up against his chest before drifting to sleep. He instinctively placed his hand at her waist and closed his eyes.

After lying for a few minutes, he could hear her slow and constant breathing. He smiled contently and went out of her room quietly after leaving a kiss on her lips.

He went back under his blanket, noting that there was only 2 more hours left until his usual wake-up time at 7.