“Bet you don’t dare take off that coat.”
The voice dropped into Tang Coco’s chest like a stone; dread rippled through her, cold as rain.
She sprang up and snapped her gaze to the door, nerves tight as wire.
It was the short‑haired woman who had bumped into her.
The woman slid the lock with a click, the room closing like a trap.
She walked toward Tang Coco, step by step, like a cat stalking.
Hell, it’s her. I walked right into a snare.
Tang Coco backed away, panic buzzing like bees in her ribs.
Seeing that panic, Ye Yiyi felt the air tilt wrong, like wind before a storm.
She stood and asked Li Muyan, “Muyan, what’s going on? Do you know her?”
Li Muyan, her bestie’s questions fluttering like startled birds, caught her hand.
“We don’t know her,” she said, voice light as silk. “But I noticed something fun. You’ll see.”
She looked at Tang Coco with a wicked curve to her mouth, words snapping like ice.
“Well? Keep running, see how that goes.”
“Be smart, or I’ll call the cops.”
“Dressed like that, you look like trouble, maybe a thief.”
“Let the police take a good look at you.”
Damn it. Since the change, my guard’s gone foggy; I didn’t even spot her. This is bad.
Tang Coco, masking her voice hoarse, asked, “Wh‑what do you want? It was just a bump. Do you have to go this far?”
“Oh? Trying to deflect?” Li’s tone was a blade of light. “Looks like I really should call in a thief.”
Ye Yiyi heard her friend and looked at Tang Coco, doubt pooling like shadow.
That outfit was sketchy; maybe she really was a thief?
When the short‑haired woman actually picked up her phone, resolve snapped tight like a drawn bow.
It was just two women.
She hated laying hands on women, but to keep her identity hidden, she had to subdue them.
In a blink, Tang Coco let go of the broom.
She dropped into a half crouch and lunged, a swift arrow, at Li Muyan.
Li and Ye hadn’t expected the sudden strike; shock froze them like frost.
Li went down, flattened onto the sofa.
Ye Yiyi stared, stunned, her mind blank as snow.
Tang Coco shoved Li back, then stalled.
With her old strength, she’d have bound movement or knocked her out.
In this frail body, both were hard.
As Tang Coco weighed options, Li Muyan already snapped back, coiled like spring steel.
Power surged from her arms; Tang Coco couldn’t hold.
Li broke the hold and clawed for Tang Coco’s forearm.
“Oh? You didn’t know? I’m a taekwondo black belt.” Her smile cut like a crescent blade.
At “black belt,” Tang Coco’s heart fell like a pebble in a well.
Before, ten of her wouldn’t have been a problem.
But that body was gone; this one was glass.
Frustration gnawed like ants.
After a few exchanges, Li Muyan had her pinned.
Tang Coco lay face‑down on the sofa, breath scattering like leaves.
Li Muyan braced one leg across Tang Coco’s thigh to keep her down.
She twisted both wrists behind her back and locked them.
“Go on, still want to fight?”
Tang Coco bucked a few times, like a fish on a line.
The other’s grip was iron; she couldn’t break free.
“Hey, let me go. We’re not even acquainted.”
She forgot to mask her voice and let that clear tone slip, bright as spring water.
“Oh? Dropped the act?”
Tang Coco didn’t answer; she turned her face toward the sofa back, like a turtle pulling in.
“Muyan… this…” Ye Yiyi’s voice drifted, confused as mist.
She was still dazed, thoughts swirling like fog.
The “cleaner” had switched to a voice sweet as music, and nothing made sense.
She asked Li Muyan.
“Yiyi, I’ll hold her. You take off her cap, mask, and glasses.”
At that, Tang Coco’s body shook, like reeds in wind.
She struggled hard again, but Li Muyan gave her no room.
“Huh? Why?”
“Do as I say, and you’ll see.”
“Um…” The word stuck like rice.
Ye Yiyi hesitated, doubt knotted like vines.
She remembered Li’s suspicion about a thief sneaking in.
This was probably to confirm her face.
Thinking that, she stopped hesitating and reached for the cap.
But Tang Coco wouldn’t give in.
She made a last struggle and buried her head deep in the crack of the cushions, like a frightened bird.
“Still not behaving?”
Seeing her still writhing, Li Muyan twisted her arm again, sharp as a gust.
Pain bit clean.
“Ow!”
In this soft body, Tang Coco cried out, tears threading her lashes like dew.
She hated it, yet the body acted like a little girl.
Ye Yiyi tugged her head free.
The heavy glasses snagged on the cushion.
She stripped off the cap and mask.
Then she froze, breath held like a paused note.
Before her was a face of startling beauty.
Pale blue eyes. Fine features like carved jade.
Hair in disarray, and tears bright at the corner of those eyes.
It stirred a fierce urge to gather her up and soothe her.
Seeing Ye Yiyi frozen, Li Muyan frowned, puzzled, like a sparrow hearing thunder.
Pinned atop Tang Coco, she couldn’t see the face.
She shifted sideways for a look.
One glance, and she startled too.
She’d actually made the girl cry.
Li Muyan, flustered, climbed off and let her go.
“Uh… I didn’t mean it.”
Tang Coco didn’t answer.
She turned away, half buried in the cushions like a sulking kitten.
She didn’t know why she was pouting like a schoolgirl.
“Muyan, care to explain?” Ye Yiyi finally spoke, eyes fixed on Li like pins.
Li felt she’d gone too far and gave a quick explanation.
After a short while, Ye Yiyi finally understood.
She shot Li a reproachful glare, then walked to Tang Coco.
“Hey… are you okay?”
Tang Coco didn’t answer.
“Sorry. I didn’t know it was like this.”
“Muyan knows she was wrong too.”
“Could you turn around, please?”
…
As Ye Yiyi reached out to touch her, Tang Coco spoke.
“Forget what just happened. Let’s pretend we never met.”
She sat up, scooped her things off the sofa, and moved to leave.
Ye Yiyi grew anxious, like a kite tugging its string.
“Wait! I’m sorry, little sister.”
“Muyan’s like this, blunt as a spear.”
“Don’t take it to heart.”
“I’m Ye Yiyi. What’s your name?”
“You’re so pretty.”
“Hey! Yiyi, you’re betraying me already?” Li grumbled, her tone a huff of smoke.
“Zip it. It’s your fault.”
Tang Coco paused mid‑step.
She actually liked Ye Yiyi a bit, even though she’d stripped her mask.
So she answered, soft as rain.
“Tang Coco.”
“Tang Coco? Cute name.”
“Where are you from?”
“Why are you dressed like this, working here?”
The question stuck in Tang Coco’s throat like a bone.
She couldn’t reveal her origin.
She bowed her head, thinking hard.
Suddenly, a path opened like a narrow bridge.
“I’m an orphan. Grew up in an orphanage.”
Right—plain, but useful.
“Ah—sorry…” Ye Yiyi murmured, shame settling like dust.
She felt she’d asked what she shouldn’t.
She pictured a frail girl growing up in an orphanage, then working far from home to survive, the road long as winter.
Seeing that sympathy soften Ye Yiyi’s face, Tang Coco thought:
This beauty’s kind at heart.
