20demayo Page 59
Page 59
Yuuki Takada paused slightly, recalling what Sherry had told him before, and smiled slightly: "Didn't you tell me that I can't be distracted when doing experiments? How come you fell down the stairs out of nowhere?"
Shirley said softly, "I was thinking about the experiment and got distracted for a moment, so I didn't notice the steps in front of me!"
"Hennessy, if you don't want to carry me back, just put me down. I'll just stagger back to my dorm."
Yuuki Takada shook his head: "I'm sorry, Sherry, I've told you more than once before that I came to Shirahagi Pharmaceutical Company with you to protect you."
"So... I can't accept the approach you just mentioned. If something really happens to you, I'll bear a lot of responsibility."
"That's why I've been coming to the lab every day to observe your movements these days..."
Although Yuki Takada did not reveal his full purpose, Sherry roughly guessed some things from his words: everything Hennessy did was to protect her.
Yuuki Takada slightly adjusted his posture while carrying Sherry and said, "Of course, to be your bodyguard, I even used my special privileges to have Keita Ichihara move my dorm room next to yours, otherwise..."
"Actually, you didn't need to protect me like this?"
Sherry felt a pang of sadness as she listened. "I can take care of myself. Besides, I've been at White Dove Pharmaceutical Company for so many days, and no one has come to hurt me. Hennessy, you can rest assured."
Yuuki Takada understood the meaning behind Sherry's words, and he laughed, "Don't worry?"
"If you hadn't come out of the airport and there hadn't been that danger, I might have felt relieved."
"But now that I've been through all that, I have to be on my guard the whole time, just in case."
After hearing Takada Yuuki's explanation, Shirley understood why he had been so cautious lately. Perhaps the experiments had really worn her out. She pressed her face even closer to Takada Yuuki's back and whispered, "You're so good."
Yuuki Takada carried Sherry for a while longer, and soon they arrived at their dormitory at Shirahato Pharmaceutical Company, which was not far ahead.
“Hennessy, thank you for today,” Shirley said suddenly.
"No need for thanks, there's no need to be so polite between us," Yuuki Takada said with a smile.
When they arrived at Sherry's house, Yuuki Takada gently put her down. He frowned as he looked at her sprained ankle. "Go inside and rest. I'll go get you some medicine."
After turning on the light, following Shirley's instructions, they found a white box and solemnly took out the liniment for sprains and bruises.
After unscrewing the cap, a strong smell of ointment wafted out. He turned around and shook his head slightly.
"So... what exactly did you see when you went down the steps? Even if you were distracted, it's impossible for something like this to happen just from going down one step. After all, you go down these steps every day. Being so careless could easily cause your ankle to twist."
In Shirley's living room, Shirley sat on the sofa and gritted her teeth as she snorted.
"It's not...it's because I saw a cockroach!"
"Cockroaches... cockroaches aren't creatures you can just swat with a slipper, and you're actually afraid of them!" Takada Yuuki kept sighing, walked over to her side, and looked down at her: "This... this scenery is just too much, isn't it?"
Shirley was annoyed by his condescending gaze and casually threw her schoolbag up at him from the side.
"Get lost! I'll do it myself!"
"That won't do! There's no one at home to take care of you. What if you twist your ankle again if you're not careful?"
"Let me apply the medicine for you." Yuuki Takada sighed softly. "Rather than watching you continue to hurt yourself, it's better for me to help you. You don't have to be so stubborn."
"Don't worry, I'll... be gentle."
Shirley's face immediately turned pale. She turned her head away, her face stubborn. There was no way she wasn't afraid.
"Let go, I can do it myself."
"A sprain needs to be treated. You're not strong enough to evenly distribute the bruising on your foot." Takada Yuuki pulled over a small stool, a smirk playing on his lips. "Bring me your stinky feet!"
Chapter 85 Fair Jade Feet
"Yuki Takada, what did you say? My feet don't smell anymore. You can smell them if you don't believe me." Shirley pouted and reluctantly offered her white, jade-like feet.
Perhaps because girls are so fond of bathing and washing their feet, not a single bit of dead skin formed on the soles of their feet.
On the contrary, the daily washing made her feet rosy pink, delicate and jade-like.
It seemed that the way she stretched her legs out on the sofa made Shirley's dress bulge at the hem, outlining her full, rounded breasts, which looked exceptionally alluring.
Yuuki Takada glanced at her briefly before immediately looking away, afraid she might notice something amiss. He thought to himself, "When did this steamed bun turn into a mantou?"
He poured some liniment into his palm, his mind went blank, and he focused on Shirley's swollen ankle. He used some force and gently rubbed it in circles around her.
"Ouch!" Shirley cried out in pain, "Be gentle!"
"Hmm, it's your own fault for not watching your step when you go downstairs." Yuuki Takada bent down and rubbed her ankle. You could see several bluish veins hidden under her fair skin.
For some reason, an idea suddenly popped into his head: what if he dressed this in white stockings...?
Wait, what are you thinking? This is Sherry.
Yuuki Takada patted his head, banishing all the chaotic thoughts from her mind. "Don't think nonsense. She's the organization's genius scientist."
But I always felt that Shirley seemed a little different from before.
"Phew..." She pursed her lips and looked down. "How can you blame me? Cockroaches are generally pretty scary creatures."
The air was filled with the strong scent of liniment for bruises and sprains. The man massaging her feet looked particularly charming in the interplay of light and shadow. His high, straight nose stood out like a mountain peak in the center of his face, his features both strong and elegant.
Beneath her brow bone, long eyelashes curled slightly, half-concealing her deep eyes, which revealed a focus and a hint of barely perceptible panic.
A thought popped into her mind: Could this person be Hennessy, the rumored number three in the organization?
Why don't we wait until this experimental research is over and then go find him?
However, since she has never been to China, if she suddenly appeared next to Hennessy, the third-in-command of the organization, she would inevitably be the subject of gossip.
"So what if there are cockroaches... I've seen them in quite a few places before." Yuuki Takada noticed her fearful, lowered gaze and changed the subject: "Are you confident about this experiment? Although I don't know why the organization has such large resources for this experiment, I think this research project will take quite a while?"
"Well... at the current pace of research, it's true, as you said, that it won't be possible to develop this drug so quickly. It will probably take at least two years."
"Ah...what, it takes a whole year!" Takada Yuki exclaimed in shock, his hands unconsciously quickening the kneading speed, and his swollen face began to slowly heat up.
Shirley thought for a moment and comforted her, "Yes, but I've almost gotten used to life here."
After applying the medicine, Yuuki Takada cooked dinner for Sherry using the ingredients they had at home.
After explaining some important points, Yuuki Takada hurriedly left and returned to his dormitory.
Immediately, he began to ponder. Could it be that the organization had asked him to find test subjects for the drug? Perhaps their previous drug experiment had failed, which was why they had specifically recalled Shirley, who was studying abroad, to conduct follow-up research.
After thinking about these trivial matters, Yuuki Takada quickly went back to his dormitory to take a shower and go to sleep.
The next day.
At Shiraito Pharmaceutical Company, Yuuki Takada had adapted to the local pace of life. After getting up early and buying breakfast, he quickly made his way to Sherry's dormitory. Since he needed to apply medicine to Sherry, he asked in advance for the spare key to Sherry's dormitory door.
Fortunately, due to her foot injury, Sulli requested a day off today and does not need to go to the lab.
Shirley dragged her sprained ankle slowly into the bathroom, where she had already washed up.
"Is your foot any better now?" Yuuki Takada put the breakfast on the table, squatted down, and rummaged through the liniment for bruises. "By the way, I remember you mentioned before that you have an older sister, right?"
“Yes. But she’s currently considered an outer member of the organization, and she basically doesn’t have access to many of the organization’s core secrets.” Sherry’s eyes suddenly dimmed.
"Forget it. I was thinking that if your sister was also a member of the organization, I could ask her to come and help. But it seems that I should continue to apply the medicine to you."
"Stop showing off. Even without you, I can still apply the medicine by myself."
As she was speaking, she was about to get up when she almost fell again.
Yuuki Takada advised, "Alright, don't push yourself too hard here before your foot is fully healed."
After that, he repeated a series of actions.
As soon as Yuuki Takada's fingers touched the medicated oil, Sherry shrank back and curled her toes.
Morning light streamed in through the gap in the curtains, landing directly on his taut jawline, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with each swallow.
"Don't move." He pressed his palm against her slightly cool instep, his thumb pressing against the protruding ankle bone and rotating it clockwise.
As the medicated oil sizzled as it seeped into her skin, Shirley suddenly gasped, her nails digging into the sofa armrest.
When Yuuki Takada looked up, he saw her biting her lower lip and turning her face away, her ear tips as red as if they were about to bleed.
The shouts of scrap collectors outside the window startled two sparrows from the security window.
Yuki Takada's little finger accidentally brushed against her arch, and the two of them froze at the same time.
The wind swept through the gauze window, rustling the papers on the coffee table. The last page, pressed down, was a densely written record of the research, though a heart was drawn in the lower right corner.
"What is this...?" He opened his mouth but found his throat tightening. Shirley suddenly leaned over and grabbed his wrist.
The bottle of liniment rolled onto the carpet, its rich aroma exploding in the morning mist.
Her eyelashes were so close you could count them, and as they fluttered, they brushed against the shadow cast on his nose. "Hennessy, you have some kind of medicated oil on your eyelashes."
Yuuki Takada wiped the medicated oil off her eyelashes, then began to clean up the liniment on the floor.
After he put away the liniment, the atmosphere became somewhat subtle and awkward.
Sherry broke the silence first, saying softly, "No, Hennessy, are you planning to stay here all day?"
Yuuki Takada nodded. "That's right. After all, my main task right now is to protect your safety, Sherry. It's already my fault for spraining your ankle, so I have to take even better precautions."
However, under these circumstances, it was difficult for both of them to fully concentrate.
Yuuki Takada watched as Sherry diligently organized the experimental research notes. Her hair shimmered softly in the morning light, with a few strands occasionally falling beside her cheek, which Sherry would unconsciously brush aside with her hand.
This simple action, however, possessed an indescribable charm in Yuki Takada's eyes.
Sherry would also get distracted from time to time, her gaze would secretly drift towards Takada Yuuki.
Looking into his deep eyes as he listened attentively to the lecture, her heart would involuntarily race.
She tried hard to suppress her emotions and draw her attention back to the experimental research notes, but her thoughts kept wandering.
……
Fortunately, it was just a simple ankle sprain. After applying some ointment, Shirley was basically healed by the next day.
The next day, Shirley arrived at the lab. Because she had rested the day before, she completed far more work than she had the day before.
Suddenly, Shirley felt a blackout while working, and almost dropped the micropipette in her hand.
After working continuously for twenty hours without touching food or water, I suddenly felt the world begin to spin, and the fluorescent lights in the laboratory became blurry spots of light in my field of vision.
She instinctively reached out to hold onto the lab table, but found nothing.
"Watch out!" A pair of hands caught her swaying body in time.
Sherry managed to stand up and realized it was Nakamura, a new researcher in the lab.