Is the relationship between Shen Ruoshuang and Ji Yan really this bad? They had started bickering the moment they met without any regard for appearances. They clearly didn’t care about the rumors of discord in Dorm 503.
As for Xu Yinian, hearing that Shen Ruoshuang wanted to sit there made her lose her composure.
The idea of being sandwiched between the Protagonist-top and the love interest was a nightmare.
Faced with the strange unease she felt toward Shen Ruoshuang, Xu Yinian chose her usual defense: playing dead and avoiding the issue.
It would be better if Shen Ruoshuang didn’t sit here, she thought. With that in mind, she looked at Lu Zhou, her eyes filled with a pleading, desperate hope for her to stay put.
Lu Zhou had originally come here for Shen Ruoshuang, so she had been willing to do her the favor.
But just as she was about to agree, she caught sight of those almond eyes that seemed to hold only her.
A soft, weak plea and an unspeakable bashfulness were reflected in those shimmering, misty light-brown eyes. The girl’s gaze held a shy, watery glow that made Lu Zhou’s head spin with a sudden, parched thirst. Her throat tightened, and her entire body felt weak under that look.
By the time she snapped out of it, she realized she was mindlessly refusing Shen Ruoshuang.
“No…”
Remembering what she had just said to Ji Yan about it being “impossible” for her to like this type, Lu Zhou nearly choked. She bit her lip. She absolutely could not let herself get slapped in the face by her own words!
“Fine, let’s switch.”
She stood up, not daring to look at Xu Yinian again. Her footsteps were hurried, almost as if she were running away in a panic.
Before Xu Yinian could even retract her pleading gaze, Shen Ruoshuang sat down unhurriedly at her side.
She didn’t even look at the girl beside her before she spoke in a low, level voice.
“Has no one ever told you… not to look at others with those eyes?”
Xu Yinian felt like she was being driven mad by the sheer strangeness of the situation. Somehow, she could hear a distinct note of jealousy beneath that calm, indifferent voice.
Every puff of hot breath exhaled by the woman beside her seemed to mist into a warm haze, leaving Yinian feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
…What a useless thing I am. I’ve never seen a ‘simp’ so pathetic that they’d basically help cuckold themselves.
Ji Yan watched Lu Zhou’s easy defection with a sense of speechless exasperation. She clearly hadn’t realized that Lu Zhou was hiding a highly suspicious attitude toward Xu Yinian.
As the onlookers saw the three of them sitting together, the realization finally dawned on the rest of the group. The tension earlier hadn’t been because Shen Ruoshuang and Ji Yan had a bad relationship.
It was because… both of them were fighting to sit next to Xu Yinian!
Xu Yinian, for her part, was incredibly uncomfortable. Ever since Shen Ruoshuang sat down, her mind had been racing with uncontrollable thoughts.
Even without direct skin contact, simply being surrounded by Shen Ruoshuang’s scent made her skin burn. Her mind kept drifting back to the lingering, frantic memory of the previous night’s absurdity.
“Are you that afraid of her? You’re practically leaning all the way into my side.”
Ji Yan’s teasing voice broke through her spiraling thoughts. “Or do you just like being close to me?”
Only then did Xu Yinian realize she had practically retreated onto Ji Yan’s shoulder. Startled, she moved to pull back, but then she heard Ji Yan drop her lazy, irreverent tone. The older girl let out a low, helpless chuckle.
“I suppose there would come a day when you weren’t afraid of me.”
Xu Yinian blinked, stunned. She suddenly realized that, at some point, she really had stopped being afraid of Ji Yan.
“Ah, that’s because… you’re not fierce to me anymore. And just now, you…”
She trailed off, her voice dropping to a whisper as a flush crept from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.
“What happened just now?”
Shen Ruoshuang had been feeling jealous seeing Yinian avoid her just to chat with Ji Yan. Hearing the change in Yinian’s tone only made her sharper.
Xu Yinian thought of her reflexive panic when facing that group of men earlier. The memories she didn’t want to revisit surged back. She didn’t want Shen Ruoshuang to see even a fraction of that side of her.
In the past, it might have been out of stubbornness or misdirected anger. But now…
Now, she was afraid that the relationship she and Shen Ruoshuang had finally begun to mend would shatter the moment the past was brought up. Xu Yinian knew better than anyone that they had a tacit agreement never to mention what happened. They both acted as if it had never occurred.
So, she simply shook her head, clearly unwilling to speak. “N-nothing. It’s fine.”
This secrecy caused a sudden chill to pool in Shen Ruoshuang’s calm, lowered eyes.
No wonder she’s avoiding me again. Is it because of Ji Yan?
Shen Ruoshuang had focused her defenses on Bai Ran and Qin Jiashu, forgetting that there was a “mad dog” right here. While she was busy playing the part of the “good girl,” her home base was being raided.
Across from them, Lu Zhou looked away for the umpteenth time, forcing herself to stop staring at Xu Yinian. To cover her guilt, she took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Shen Ruoshuang.
From high school through college, Xu Yinian had seen Shen Ruoshuang coldly reject people’s advances countless times. She could already imagine how Shen Ruoshuang would shut Lu Zhou down.
But to her shock, Shen Ruoshuang didn’t offer a crisp rejection. Instead, she entertained the conversation, responding to Lu Zhou’s obvious interest with casual remarks.
Xu Yinian looked at Shen Ruoshuang, unable to hide the surprise in her eyes. She couldn’t even hear what Ji Yan was saying to her anymore.
“They seem to be hitting it off quite well, don’t they?” Ji Yan whispered into her ear with a grin, seeing right through her. Her words were laced with deep meaning.
Xu Yinian lowered her head and remained silent, but her ears were subconsciously straining to catch their conversation. She realized then that Shen Ruoshuang had never acted close to anyone else in her presence. Seeing this play out felt wrong—unbearably so.
