A few minutes ago, Liyu had been worrying about Yumo.

(How’s Yumo doing now…?)

A few minutes later, she was still worrying about him—but in a completely different way.

(Is Yumo… mentally okay…?)

Of course Liyu wanted to know the secrets of the boy she liked, but these secrets were absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not something a normal person would want to hear… Forget it, just forget it.

She happened to look back and met Tanglingxue’s eyes. The look in Tanglingxue’s gaze seemed to say she was thinking the exact same thing. Two girls who’d never had any overlap in their lives suddenly shared a strange sense of understanding.

After the third period ended, Yumo still hadn’t come back. Liyu stood up to go to the bathroom, wondering if she should quietly swing by the discipline director’s office to take a look—

“Hey! Fat pig!”

“Ah…!”

And just like that, she ran into the people she least wanted to see on her way to the bathroom.

Three girls—Xiao Chou, Bai Jie, and Lü Cha—cut her off.

They moved with practiced ease as they cornered her in the bathroom. At this time of day, there were almost no people here. The timing was perfect.

“So, did you bring the money you were supposed to?”

“Uh, I—I already spent my allowance for this month…”

“Don’t stutter!”

Xiao Chou smacked her on the head with a sharp crack, her tone aggressive and overbearing.

“Didn’t you say you’d treat us to the first milk tea of the New Year?”

“Then hand over the cash, duh.”

“Why’re you just standing there? Pay up, pay up!”

“But…”

The fear of being bullied completely swallowed Liyu’s heart.

She’d always been like this—fat, dumb, weak, and full of self-doubt. Since elementary school, she’d been the perfect target. Even after the class reshuffle in her second year of high school, nothing changed.

Her parents cared a lot about appearances and didn’t get along with each other. Even if she complained to them, all they’d say was, “It’s just some high school kids not getting along. You can’t even handle that?” “I called your teacher. He said everything’s normal. Maybe try reflecting on yourself first, huh?”

In the end, all she could do was endure and give in. It had always been like this.

But this time…

This time…

If Yumo could put that arrogant Zhangyuanzhou in his place,

if Yumo could fight back,

if Yumo could change how things were…

…then why couldn’t she?

The moment she thought of the boy she liked, maybe she really did figure something out. Maybe, after living under pressure for so long, she just wanted an excuse to explode. Maybe it was just a moment of impulse—anyway, she reacted in a way completely different from usual.

“M-Money… I didn’t bring any money! And I don’t ever want to give you money again!”

“““Huh…?”””

The bullying trio all frowned at the same time. Just that tiny change in their eyes was enough to make Liyu start trembling—right as fear was rising again, Xiao Chou slapped her palm into Liyu’s soft belly, Bai Jie shoved her hard, and Lü Cha kicked her thigh, knocking her to the ground.

“G-Get away from me!!!”

“Oh, you wanna resist now?”

“Have some shame, you idiot!”

“Fat pig’s grown a spine, huh!?”

Thud!!!

————————

Between classes—

Ling Xue was absentmindedly brushing her hair in her pocket mirror, her mind full of Zhangyuanzhou and Yumo.

Only now, her attitude toward these two boys was the exact opposite.

When it came to Zhangyuanzhou, Ling Xue wanted him punished as heavily as possible. Best case scenario, he’d finally behave himself and stop trying to act all close to her.

As for Yumo…

“W-What do we do, Ling Xue! Will Zhou-ge, will he get expelled?!”

Her friend Gu Xin was pacing anxiously beside her. She’d always been one of Zhangyuanzhou’s little fangirls—only the worship kind, not the in-love kind—but Ling Xue still seriously worried about her friend’s taste.

“Who knows about that,” Ling Xue said as she brushed her hair. “He probably won’t get expelled. He was the one who lost the fight, after all. The real issue is the class rep…”

“You’re actually worried about him?!” Gu Xin was stunned.

“Ah!? N-No, that’s not it… How do I put it? You know I like interesting things, right?”

“You do love chasing thrills. What, street racing doesn’t do it for you anymore?”

“That’s different. Anyway… it’s like, you dig through some old albums from some old band and suddenly find an unknown hidden gem of a song. That kind of surprise, you get me?”

“I don’t—oh, the class rep’s back!”

————————

After enduring the questioning from the school and from the other side’s parents, Yumo sent his dad off first, then returned to the classroom. It was break time again.

Everyone was staring at him, curious. He pretended not to notice and went straight back to his seat. But among all those gazes, one of them felt unusually intense, so intense he couldn’t ignore it.

He didn’t turn around right away. He just angled his head slightly and glanced back from the corner of his eye—

Ling Xue was staring at him.

He suddenly turned his head. Their eyes met for a split second. Her lashes fluttered, then she quickly looked away, a little flustered.

(What the hell…? Don’t tell me it’s that cliché where the delinquent girl falls in love with me. She fell for me just like that? Don’t be so corny, come on. Wait, the Demon’s already pushing me anyway. I gotta pick someone sooner or later—should I just choose Ling Xue? No, no, forget it, she’s Zhangyuanzhou’s girl…)

While Yumo was busy spiraling in his head…

A very nice butt filled his vision.

The girl was wearing ultra-short shorts with frayed hems and thick over-the-knee socks. Even though it was winter, there was a strip of bare, pale thigh between the shorts and the socks. She crossed one leg over the other and sat right on his desk. The soft flesh of her thighs pressed against the cold tabletop, shaping her hips into smooth, taut curves. Her booted feet dangled and swung lightly, almost hypnotic.

Not knowing where to rest his gaze, Yumo had no choice but to look up—only to lock eyes with her.

It was his first time seeing Ling Xue’s face from this close.

Her willow-leaf eyes shimmered with a hint of autumn water, her soft aegyo-sal under her eyes like velvet. Her nose bridge was high but not overly sharp. Her cheeks were a little thin, but it suited her. Her over-the-shoulder hair, dyed from brown to light blonde in a soft gradient, radiated a wild, youthful energy.

She might be a delinquent girl, but as the class beauty, she definitely lived up to the title—that much, Yumo admitted sincerely in his heart.

“So, how’d it go?” she asked.

“…How did what go?”

“You getting called in to talk, obviously.”

“Uh…”

Ling Xue seemed like she was trying to keep a cool, aloof expression, but her blinking, sparkling eyes completely betrayed how curious she was. There was even a hint of playful cuteness that didn’t match her usual image at all.

And Yumo said—

“If you’re worried about your boyfriend, he’s fine.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Ling Xue’s expression changed. It was like she’d just smelled something rotten.

“…Idiot!”

Her beautiful butt lifted off his desk. She stomped off, fuming.

Yumo felt a bit annoyed. He realized Ling Xue had probably been worried about something else, so he hurriedly called after her.

“Ling Xue!”

“Yeah?”

She spun around immediately, a faint hint of expectation in her eyes.

“When I said on the broadcast that I circumcised myself, I only cut a few slits. I didn’t cut the whole thing off! They just took me to the hospital and bandaged me up!”

“Are you stupid?!”

Miss Tang was completely dumbfounded.

“So it wasn’t cut off after all…”

“Still pretty hardcore though…”

“Dude’s ruthless…”

“Just imagining it makes me hurt…”

The classmates who’d been eavesdropping around them all started whispering.

“Mhmhmhmhmhm~~”

Yusuozaai was snickering too, with a weird, grating laugh that drilled right into your skull… Oh right, she was a Demon. That figured.

Speaking of which, the discipline director’s last words to him were, “You still have to finish today’s classes. By tomorrow at noon at the latest, pack your things, leave campus, and start your suspension.” So how should he use this remaining day and a half…? Right, he should go visit Linqinglan and thank her for testifying for him, even if she probably didn’t want to see him.

He was thinking that as he left his seat. On the way downstairs—

“Someone’s hurt, I think?”

“Over by that girls’ bathroom no one really uses—”

“Let’s go check it out!”

“Sounds serious!”

(…Huh?)

The commotion caught Yumo’s attention. Yusuozaai patted his shoulder, looking intrigued.

“I can smell malice. Like a pepper-salt steak. Wanna go take a look?”

“What kind of metaphor is that…”

————————

“Uh…?”

Liyu sat slack on the damp bathroom floor, staring blankly.

The mirror above the sink she was leaning against had shattered, cracks spiderwebbing across the surface.

There was a harsh, glaring wound on her forehead, running from her hairline down to the corner of her eye, opened by a shard of glass. Blood covered half her face.

“D-Did we go too far…?” “What do we do…” “L-Let’s get out of here, fast?”

The bullying trio were finally panicking. They turned to leave in a hurry—but a security guard on duty had already come by on patrol. Teachers and students from the nearby classrooms, who’d heard the crash and the sound of breaking glass, were also hurrying over.

And that was how things became what they were now.

Liyu’s mind was empty. She was like a marionette with no will of her own, being helped to her feet by two teachers and half-dragged toward the infirmary, swaying with every step. A big crowd of students and teachers gathered to watch. The bullying trio, caught red-handed, were sweating as they tried to explain themselves. In the crowd, she saw Yumo, who’d rushed over and was asking people around him what had happened.

Her pathetic state had just been seen by the entire school.

Including the boy she liked.

Compared to that, whether or not the scar would fade someday felt like a minor problem.

She started to cry.

She wished she could just die right there, so she wouldn’t have to endure this humiliation.