Wednesday pressed a stopwatch she had pulled out from who-knows-where.
"5.20 seconds. You lasted 3 seconds longer than last time. Congratulations."
Her cool voice was completely flat, as if she were stating experimental data, but the faintest trace of teasing in her eyes precisely pierced Enid.
Enid buried her burning cheeks in her palms, her mind playing on loop with Victor's tearful, dewy eyes.
That's against the rules! This is outright cheating!
A surge of unwillingness—"I can't be the only one embarrassed"—mixed with a mischievous impulse rose in her heart.
She abruptly raised her head, her azure eyes sparkling with a "let's perish together" light. She nudged Victor beside her with her elbow, lowered her voice, and said in an encouraging tone:
"Victor, go."
She gestured with her chin towards Wednesday's direction.
"Give her some intensity too!"
Victor's eyes "snapped" bright, like a lit lightbulb.
His gaze immediately turned to Wednesday beside him, who maintained her ice-cold posture.
A high-difficulty challenge? He loved those!
Wednesday keenly caught the quiet exchange between this "shameless couple" and immediately turned her face towards the window, leaving only a beautifully cold profile and a slightly tense jawline.
Her hand silently clenched the skirt on her lap, her tone carrying a thousand-mile-away distance:
"I'm not playing this boring game with you."
But her slightly accelerated heartbeat and subconsciously tightened fingers betrayed that she wasn't as indifferent as she appeared.
"She's scared! Victor, hurry up!"
Enid, as if discovering a new continent, excitedly whispered, continuing to fan the flames, even willing to raise the stakes.
"If you succeed, I... I'll kiss you again!"
To drag Wednesday into the water, she was all in.
Victor, receiving this dual motivation, curled the corner of his mouth into a confident, mischievous smirk.
He first winked at Enid, mouthing "deal," then took a deep breath, adjusted his sitting posture, and faced Wednesday.
He didn't immediately launch the "pitiful puppy-dog eyes" attack like he did with Enid. Instead, he remained silent for a few seconds, using a focused and profound gaze to quietly stare at Wednesday's profile.
That gaze wasn't as playful or teasing as before. Instead, it carried a rare, almost reverent tenderness, as if admiring a priceless treasure.
Even without turning her head, Wednesday could feel the weight of that gaze, wrapping around her cold cheek like warm sunlight, making her fingers gripping her skirt turn slightly white at the knuckles.
Then, Victor spoke, his voice much lower than usual, carrying a barely perceptible huskiness, like the gentle pluck of a cello string:
"Wednesday~"
He didn't say anything extra, just called her name.
But these three simple words, uttered in such a tone by him, seemed laden with a thousand words, carrying an irresistible pull.
Wednesday's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly, still stubbornly refusing to turn her head.
Seeing this, Victor, far from discouraged, had an even deeper smile in his eyes.
He slowly reached out his hand, not touching her, but just using his fingertips, extremely gently, brushed past a strand of jet-black hair scattered on her shoulder.
The movement was as careful as touching fragile glass.
"I know you think this game is boring..."
Victor's voice grew even lower, carrying an understanding tolerance, yet with a hidden edge.
"But your heartbeat seems a little faster than usual."
This sentence, like a precise arrow, instantly pierced through Wednesday's calm shell!
She abruptly turned her head back, a flash of flustered exposure flickering in her eyes, though quickly suppressed.
But an uncontrollably faint blush had already spread across her pale cheeks, like a rose suddenly blooming on snow, coldly beautiful and captivating.
She opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found her throat somewhat dry.
Right then, Victor seized this momentary opening, and those peach blossom eyes instantly switched modes—
No longer a deep, affectionate gaze, but transformed into the same "please pay attention to me" look used against Enid, with seventy percent sincerity and thirty percent pitifulness, tilting his head slightly like a large canine waiting for a pat.
The dual visual and auditory impact seemed to cause Wednesday's brain processing system to briefly crash.
Enid held her breath beside them, eyes wide and round, afraid of missing any detail.
"13.14 seconds."
Wednesday let go of the stopwatch she had somehow pulled out again, her cool voice carrying a rare, barely noticeable trace of breathlessness.
She glanced at Victor, a complex mix of emotions flashing within—
There was helplessness, reproach, and a trace of... palpitation she herself was unwilling to admit.
In the end, she couldn't hold out.
Under Victor's combined assault of reverent, pitiful, and all-seeing gazes, her sturdy mental defenses quietly cracked open a gap between the thirteenth and fourteenth heartbeats.
And so, she leaned over, her cool lips, like a dragonfly skimming water, left a feather-light kiss on Victor's lips, which were slightly upturned from triumph.
A touch and then apart.
So fast it almost seemed like an illusion, but the blush rapidly spreading across her cheeks, like sunset dyeing a snowy plain, proclaimed it had truly happened.
"Hehe, I knew Wednesday couldn't hold out!"
Enid immediately, like a kitten who successfully stole a treat, giggled and leaned over, planting a loud "mwah" on Victor's cheek, her azure eyes sparkling with the brilliant light of "revenge accomplished."
"At least I'm not the only one embarrassed now!"
She declared with satisfaction, as if winning a beautiful comeback battle.
Kissed in succession by two girlfriends with different styles yet equally captivating, even Victor couldn't control the blush spreading across his cheeks.
He touched his lips and cheek, which seemed to still retain two different sensations and temperatures, his triumphant air almost materializing and rising from the top of his head.
"Hehe, this is the secret technique personally passed down by Sister Mavis!"
Victor puffed out his chest, his face written with the pride of "esteemed family tradition."
"She taught me, and I'll teach little Dennis! You have no idea, at the hotel, Uncle Dracula is completely at the mercy of this 'combo move' from the three of us!"
"Alright, alright, let's stop playing. Put the book away."
As he spoke, Victor reached out, trying to snatch back the book "the succubus cultivation guide" from Enid's hand, his tone carrying a barely noticeable urgency.
Enid pressed down on Victor's hand, her eyes slightly narrowed, flashing with the sharp light of Sherlock Holmes discovering a clue.
"Something's off, Victor," she said, tilting her head, her tone full of suspicion. "Something's nine-tenths off."
"Wha-what's off?"
Victor's eyes darted around, just not daring to meet Enid's probing gaze, his voice also betraying a guilty conscience.
"It seems like..." Wednesday's cool voice, like an ice spike, precisely pierced Victor's disguise, "you don't want Enid to flip further."
Victor fell silent for a moment, a flash of "caught" panic crossing his face.
The next second, he decided to adopt the simplest and most brutal method—forcefully snatch it!
He abruptly leaned over, reaching out to grab the book!
"Look! Golden Ticket chocolate on sale outside!"
Enid suddenly pointed towards the car window, her voice filled with "surprise."
"What? Where?!"
Victor's conditioned reflex to "Golden Ticket chocolate" overrode everything else. His head "snapped" against the cold car window glass, eyes wide like copper bells searching everywhere.
However, outside there were only rapidly receding street scenes and rows of ordinary shops.
"Uh..."
Victor instantly realized he'd fallen for the most childish diversion tactic, but it was too late!
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