“Shut it! This is all because of you!” Tang Coco’s temper snapped like a taut string, heat rising like noon sun on metal.

Seeing Xu Yinuo’s smug grin, Tang Coco’s fury swelled, a storm-front rolling in over calm water.

“Heh-heh-heh~ mind your tone, okay~ I’ve still got those photos from last night…” Xu Yinuo’s voice purred like a cat with stolen fish, her phone glinting like a silver scale.

Xu Yinuo waggled the phone, light flickering across the screen like ripples on a pond.

“…” Silence fell on Tang Coco, heavy as snow. She hadn’t expected a threat, and her heart shrank like a shuttered lantern.

“If I can’t fight you, I can sure dodge you!” Her chest tight as a drum, she stood, grabbed a few dresses from her suitcase, and slipped from the guest room like a startled sparrow.

“Heh~” Xu Yinuo watched Tang Coco’s angry retreat, laughter pricking like nettles.

Cuddling her clothes, Tang Coco reached Gu Xin’s door. She knocked, knuckles tapping like rain on bamboo, and Gu Xin opened almost at once.

“Um… can I wash up here?” Tang Coco’s cheeks flushed like peach skin caught in spring light.

“Of course~” Gu Xin blinked in brief surprise, then her eyes cleared like a lake; she knew what Tang Coco meant.

Inside, Tang Coco laid her clothes on the bed. She fiddled with the white dress on her body; the neckline was a maze, loops like twined vines. She tugged and twisted, but the path wouldn’t show.

“I’ll help you~” Gu Xin stepped in with a smile, voice warm as early sun through gauze.

“Ah… th-thank you…” Embarrassment pooled in Tang Coco’s chest, soft and sticky as molasses.

Gu Xin smiled and adjusted the dress, fingers light as feathers. Tang Coco stood still, a stiff willow in wind, that indescribable awkwardness pressing tight like fog.

“Coco, your figure’s really something. Even I’m jealous~” Gu Xin’s gaze traced her lines, eyes shining like dew.

“You… Sister Gu, you’re beautiful too…” Tang Coco’s words stumbled like beads slipping the string. Hearing Gu Xin, her heart twisted tighter—who even says their ex-boyfriend had a better figure than them… what a mess.

“Coco’s so easy to blush…” Gu Xin kept teasing, her tone a lilting fan tapping lightly, not noticing the knot tightening inside Coco.

“Sister Yiyi… I…” The moment before Coco’s composure snapped, the door swung open. Ye Yiyi stepped in with breakfast, steam curling like morning mist.

“Sister Gu, breakfast goes here. I’ll take the rest to Xiaoxiao and the others.” Ye Yiyi’s voice was cool as shade under pines.

“Okay.” Ye Yiyi had paused, surprised to find Tang Coco inside with Gu Xin mid-adjustment. Then her face smoothed back to calm, like ice over a stream. She set one bag on the table, took the other two, and left in silence, steps crisp as winter leaves.

“Ah…” Tang Coco let out a sigh, thin as a flute note in the wind.

“Don’t worry. I don’t know what happened between you two, but Yiyi won’t stay mad for real. Look—three breakfasts~” Gu Xin’s tone was gentle, drifting like incense. She pointed at the table, and Coco looked: three portions waiting like warm little suns. Ye Yiyi would deliver to the Meng sisters; one of these must be Coco’s share.

“Mmm…” Tang Coco’s chest loosened, a knotted ribbon easing. Maybe Ye Yiyi wasn’t that angry.

A bit past nine, sunlight poured bright and full, like gold lacquer on the street. Five pretty girls walked toward the central amusement park—two in front, three behind. Ye Yiyi and Gu Xin led, steady as swans; Tang Coco was sandwiched between Meng Yuting and Meng Xiaoxiao at the rear, pressed like a plum between leaves.

“Hey… what are you two even doing?” Tang Coco stared at the Meng sisters boxing her in, helpless as a fish on a shallow shore.

“Ah~ Xiaoxiao hasn’t woken up. I need Sister Coco’s scent to rouse me~” Meng Xiaoxiao hugged Coco’s left arm, shameless as a kitten rolling in flowers.

“…” Tang Coco’s gaze flattened, silence like a paper fan held high.

“You’re ridiculous!” Her scorn flicked sharp, like a chopstick tapping a bowl.

“Then… what about you, Sister Yuting…” Coco glanced right. Meng Yuting held Coco’s other arm, one hand propping a parasol that spilled shade like ink. Coco knew how formidable she was; compared to Gu Xin, she feared Meng Yuting would sniff out her secret first. So her voice tiptoed, careful as a cat on tiles.

“Me? I’m shading my future wife~” Meng Yuting’s words dropped like a firecracker. Tang Coco jolted, heart skittering like a startled hare.

“What the—what did you just say!” The shout burst out, hot as steam from a boiled pot.

“Big sis! How can you! Isn’t having Sister Gu as your wife enough? And now you’re trying to steal Sister Coco!” The sisters truly were sisters; one line wilder than the last. Eyes swung to Meng Yuting, then to Gu Xin up front. Even Ye Yiyi, hand-in-hand with Gu Xin, glanced over. Gu Xin’s lovely face went pink in a snap, blooming like a peony.

Tang Coco froze, mind blue-screened. The data flood hammered like rain on tiles; she couldn’t process it in time.

First: Meng Yuting just called me her wife. Second: Gu Xin is actually Meng Yuting’s w-wife?! What the hell is going on? What’s the relationship between my two girlfriends now?!

“Cough, cough! Um… don’t listen to Xiaoxiao’s nonsense~” Gu Xin mumbled. Her blush deepened, color rising like sunset, and she turned forward again.

Beside her, Ye Yiyi’s mood tangled, threads crossing like ivy. Gu Xin and Meng Yuting are a pair? So they like girls… Will they take Coco away… Meng Yuting just said that…

Her heart grew more complicated with every breath. This morning she’d found out Coco had secretly spent the night with Xu Yinuo. Now Meng Yuting was openly aiming at Coco.

Coco’s too popular… If I keep ignoring her, will she ignore me too… The more Ye Yiyi thought, the tighter it hurt, a knot pulling in the chest like a drawn bowstring.