"Ah... I'm much better now, and I figured we should all go together," Gu Xin said with a smile, light as a spring breeze.
"Oh? Are you sure it's okay?" Tang Coco asked, worry gathering like a small cloud over still water.
She didn’t remember Gu Xin ever having headaches; fear pricked like a thorn, whispering that after her own sacrifice, Gu Xin might’ve been hurt.
She wanted to ask, but her throat tightened like a knotted reed in wind, and the words wouldn’t pass.
"It’s fine." Gu Xin’s smile fell like moonlight through leaves.
"Wow! What a pretty bracelet!" Ye Yiyi blurted, her voice ringing like a small bell.
On Gu Xin’s wrist lay a silver bracelet with a pale-blue gem, its glow thin as lake ice at dawn.
"Hehe, a friend gave it to me," Gu Xin said, her laugh rippling like water.
Tang Coco snapped her gaze over, her heart thudding like a drum under silk.
Recognition struck like lightning—this bracelet was the shard of her Anomaly Power, hidden like a star behind thin cloud.
System! The shard is right here. Why didn’t you prompt me? Her thought fell like a stone into a deep well.
The shard is dormant. Reactivate it before I can locate it, the System replied, voice flat as stone.
Silence pooled like ink in her chest.
Good thing I didn’t activate it days ago, or I’d be exposed, she thought, cold sweat beading like dew along her back.
She suddenly felt Gu Xin’s gaze brush her like a breeze through bamboo, so she slipped to Meng Xiaoxiao’s side and put on a smile like a paper fan.
"Xiaoxiao, let’s go."
"Mm!" Meng Xiaoxiao’s eyes bent like crescent moons.
Meng Xiaoxiao and Tang Coco led the way, the other three following like shadows, and the elevator carried them up like a smooth tide.
They stepped into the fourth-floor banquet hall, where elegant music flowed like silk in the air.
People already filled the space, a tide of faces under soft light.
In the center stood a huge stage like an island, and beneath it six long tables stretched like riverbanks heavy with color and steam.
This first wave of guests all had invites from management, so most were execs’ families and friends, a quiet grove without swarms of rich brats buzzing like flies.
That spared the girls some trouble; if those clingy types saw their faces, their mood would gutter like a candle in wind.
There were quite a few foreigners too, a patchwork of faces like a quilt laid under bright lamps.
"Let’s sit over there..." Ye Yiyi pointed, her finger like an arrow toward a cluster of lounge seats, small islands by the wall.
"Mm..." The girls agreed, their steps falling like soft rain as they headed over.
"Coco, what do you want to eat? I’ll get it," Ye Yiyi asked, voice warm as fresh tea.
"Cake’s fine," Tang Coco said after a beat, her appetite flat as a mirror-still lake.
"What about you two?"
"I’ll go with you. You can’t carry that much alone," Gu Xin said, her smile glowing like a lantern.
"Huh? Yiyi, why didn’t you ask me?" Meng Xiaoxiao puffed her cheeks, round as steamed buns.
"You? You’re definitely going yourself. Even with two plates, I couldn’t keep up with you," Ye Yiyi laughed, her giggle chiming like wind bells.
"Pfft—hahaha, looks like our Xiaoxiao’s appetite is already famous," Meng Yuting joined in, her laughter bubbling like a spring.
"Hmph! I’m not talking to you! I’m going to hunt food!" Meng Xiaoxiao huffed and ran, light as a sparrow darting through reeds.
Ye Yiyi and Gu Xin followed after, their steps trailing like ripples behind a passing boat.
Left at the table, Tang Coco watched the chatting crowd, their voices drifting up like smoke.
"Coco, I heard you just awakened an Anomaly Power?" Meng Yuting sat beside her, her low words sliding over like a shadow at dusk.
Nerves cinched like a drawn bow. "Ah... mm..." The sound slipped out small as a moth.
"Hey now, don’t be nervous. What can I even do to you?" Meng Yuting smiled, soft as peach blossom in spring. "Ningxin said your power ranks high, so I’m curious what it is."
"I don’t really know. I still can’t control it. When it triggers, I remember nothing," Tang Coco said, her mind going blank like a white page.
"That does sound troublesome..." Meng Yuting frowned, her brows pinching like two tight strokes of ink.
"You don’t have to listen to Ningxin. I don’t need protection," Tang Coco said, keeping her tone cool as shade.
Distance felt safer, like a moat around a keep.
"Who told you we agreed to protect you?" Meng Yuting’s lips tilted, a smile hooking like a crescent blade.
"Huh?" Tang Coco’s mind went clear as an empty sky.
"We’re interested in you. Even if Ningxin never asked, as Xiaoxiao’s classmate and a girl this pretty, we wouldn’t let anything happen to you," Meng Yuting said, her words wrapping like a soft net.
"Uh..." The thought fluttered in Tang Coco’s chest like a moth: my ex... their Sapphic streak is a bit much.
With others, maybe fine—but with Gu Xin and Meng Yuting, it felt like a red thread she wouldn’t cross.
"What are you two talking about?" The trio returned with plates, and Gu Xin smiled at Tang Coco, sunlight flickering through leaves.
"Yeah, yeah—Sis, were you flirting with Coco? Look how red she is," Meng Xiaoxiao grinned, sly as a little fox.
"Hah!? I’m not blushing!" Tang Coco covered her face, but heat bloomed like a peach blossom all the same.
"Haha! See? Mention it and she blushes," Meng Xiaoxiao crowed, pride perched like a sparrow on a branch.
"Hahaha—" Laughter spilled around the table like a string of bright beads, while Coco glared over her fingers, a spark thrown at the little imp dancing in triumph.
