Wenquan thought summer make-up classes would be a quiet pond she could finally sink into.

It wasn’t. As if Heaven had a petty streak, the one person she hated bumping into also came for remedial.

“Nana Toki, if I’m not mistaken, the student code forbids wandering eyes during class.”

She’d been stared at the whole morning; annoyance pooled first, then she turned and kept her voice steady. “My face doesn’t have the teacher’s answer key. If you keep freelancing like this and mess with my focus, I’ll ask to swap seats.”

“But these make-up classes are free, right? The teachers aren’t even thorough. Why grind?” Nana propped one cheek on her palm, smiling at Wenquan’s profile like a cat in a sunbeam. “Look, half the room’s breaking rules, playing on their phones. The teacher doesn’t care. Me glancing around isn’t a mortal sin, is it?”

She wasn’t wrong. Because the school’s summer sessions were free and mandatory, plenty came just to slack.

The teachers weren’t even from their school—cheap hires from outside. Classic take-the-money-and-run: they taught their chapters, the kids zoned out, chalk dust drifted like dry snow, and no one cared how chaotic the class became.

The quality was abysmal.

So most students ordered by admin to attend ended up worse than during regular term, tapping screens like cicadas singing through the heat.

Wenquan lifted her gaze; most desks were already half-empty. She let her lashes fall and kept her tone cool. “Them breaking rules isn’t my business. The outcome doesn’t touch me. You’re different. You’ve been staring at my cheek the whole period. That actually affects me. If you don’t change, I’ll be bothered.”

“But if I can’t admire Wenquan’s beautiful cheek up close, I’ll be bothered.” Nana sighed theatrically, then shook her head like a willow in wind.

“...” Wenquan had hoped plain words would rein her in. Turns out Nana’s face was thicker than she’d thought.

“Well... if you’ll give me ten minutes of photos every day, I can force myself not to bug you in class.” Her mood flipped on a dime; before Wenquan could react, Nana whooshed a phone out of her pocket and set it under Wenquan’s nose.

She was so fast Wenquan wondered if this had been the plan from the start.

Just that...

“Why do you want my photos?” Wenquan felt an odd tug in her chest. “And ten whole minutes... If you wanted them, you could snap them secretly. Why lay it out?”

“Increase my chances to see you and talk to you, of course.” Nana’s answers always cut sideways. “Ten minutes is enough time to chat, right~?”

The classroom quieted like a pond at dusk.

Wenquan met the sincere curve of her smile and, for a heartbeat, words scattered like leaves. This girl always said baffling things when Wenquan’s guard softened. It felt meaningless and yet—

“Mm... Toki-san, isn’t this basically schoolyard extortion, in another sense?”

“How could it be?” Nana’s voice went honey-sweet. “The dean just warned me not to make trouble on campus. Saying I extort you makes me so sad.”

Your face doesn’t show a shred of sadness!

Wenquan wanted to poke her nose and say it straight. But to be fair—after days of bumping into each other, Nana hadn’t actually done anything to harm her. Wenquan weighed it for a few seconds and nodded.

“If it’s only ten minutes a day, I agree.” Between getting pestered all day and being pestered in a small slot, Wenquan picked the saner path.

“Then no time like now—hand over your first-ever photo-booth sticker, Ww~” The second her condition landed, Nana lit up like lanterns at dusk.

“Huh?! First-ever—please don’t say it in a way that invites misunderstanding...”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Let’s find a photo booth nearby.” Nana dropped an uncle line out of nowhere; Wenquan fumbled for a comeback, but Nana had already tugged her hand and pulled her out the door.

She didn’t slip free of Nana’s claws until lunch break was nearly over, like a fish wriggling out of a net at the last ring of the bell.

“You totally cheated. We agreed on ten minutes! That was, what, an hour?”

She stomped ahead of Nana on the walk back, cheeks puffed like steamed buns. “Barefaced schoolyard extortion!”

“Don’t be so heartless.” Nana glanced at her list; favorability had ticked up to fifteen percent. Her lips curved, a crescent under a clear night. “You enjoyed it too. Look at this one—such a cute face w~”

“Mm!”

A sudden glimpse of a photo—Nana’s arm snug around Wenquan’s slim waist—made Wenquan’s composure wobble.

“Hmph. You think I’ll sway over a picture?” She sensed her expression slip, so she put on an antique mask and steadied herself. “Thou hast sorely underestimated me!”

Nana: “...” You even popped out archaic diction... and claim you’re not shaken.

“Anyway, this is for you.” Nana didn’t push the tease. Like doing a little magic trick, she fished out a long strip of stickers and handed it over. “Compensation for going overtime today. Please take care of me again tomorrow.”

“Paying a sheep with its own wool—too sly, Toki-san.” Wenquan muttered, pinching the sticker strip, clearly unimpressed by that form of compensation.

“So you want other kinds of compensation?” Nana slid closer, eyes bright with mischief. “Sure. Name it. If it’s what you want, I’ll give it.” She loved it when Nesting Phoenix showed that irresistible, bully-me face.

“Then can you stop bothering me from now on?” Still stewing, Wenquan lobbed the old demand again.

This time Nana agreed without a second beat. “Okay. If that’s truly what you want, I’ll promise.”

“Eh?”

The answer blindsided her. Wenquan actually stopped mid-step.

“But... you’ve been clinging to me. Why the sudden change?”

“Because it’s the result you want. So I’ll give it.”

“Only—you’ll meet me just once in this life. I suggest you think twice.”

Her eyes were curved like crescent moons; her irises were black pools. Wenquan’s heart skipped, a hollow thud against summer air.

That familiar feeling rose again, a firefly pulsing in her chest.

“...”

Silence fell like evening rain. Biting her lip, Wenquan stood before Nana a long moment, then let four words fall.

“Third time’s the limit.”

“Eh?” Nana squinted, as if she didn’t catch it.

“Don’t expect me to surrender next time to that low-grade schoolyard extortion!”

She threw it like a battle declaration, then spun and marched through the school gate without looking back.

Left behind, Nana watched her retreating figure. Her smile grew, petal by petal.

What a cute little thing.

System: “...” At times, the Host seems to have a strange streak of wickedness.

“Mm, I think so too.” Nana was in a good mood and, for once, didn’t clap back at her System.

“...”

“Forgive me asking, but if Wenquan had truly told you to leave her, would you agree?”

“Of course. What are you thinking?” Nana rolled her eyes at the voice in her head. “She’s Nesting Phoenix. If she sincerely wants me gone for life, I’ll do it.”

“Just that, before that day, I’ll be a little willful.”

“Eh? What does ‘a little willful’ mean?” The System didn’t get her point; the way she said it sent a chill through its circuits.

“Why are you gossiping, you broken System? Do your support job properly.” Nana cut the chat and headed for afternoon class. She wasn’t about to be late over trivia.