“…Boyfriend?”

Ajin’s face twisted like he’d just swallowed a fly.

“Yes. Boyfriend.”

Yumo said coldly.

“You?”

Ajin—no, not just Ajin, everyone was sizing up Yumo’s appearance.

Messy bangs, old half-rim glasses, a grandpa-style down jacket, and programmer-ish jeans and sneakers—he looked like he belonged to a completely different world from Tanglingxue…

“…You bastard, you don’t even bother drafting your lies, huh?”

“Don’t believe me? Ask her.”

Yumo pointed at Tanglingxue. She froze for a moment, still reeling from the shock.

Boyfriend?

Yumo was her boyfriend?

She knew he was just helping her escape, and yeah, she had a tiny bit of interest in him—but this was too sudden! Besides, didn’t he have a real girlfriend, Liyu? Had they broken up?

“Ling Xue?”

“Ah… uh… yes. He’s my boyfriend.”

Tanglingxue nodded.

If forced to choose between Ajin and Yumo, she’d pick the latter any day.

“Really? You’re not just acting to ditch me? If you had a guy, why not say so earlier?”

“Because, as you all see, I’m not exactly the type to make her proud. I’m boring, old-fashioned, and stiff—it’s no wonder she never mentioned me.” Yumo cut in.

“Hah?… Whatever. Real or fake, she’s *my* woman now. She lost fair and square. Got it?”

“But that’s separate. Ling Xue losing is one thing; you trying to screw me over is another. Do I look like I enjoy green hats?”

“Then what do you want!”

“I’ll race you in her place.”

“…What?”

“When Ling Xue challenged you again just now, you were confident and didn’t refuse. Since a race is allowed, I’ll step in for her—she’s injured. How about that?”

“You can’t even start a motorcycle, can you?”

“I’ll learn.”

“Even if you say that…”

“Give me three weeks. I’ll sharpen my skills enough to face you.”

“Easy words. Who’ll teach you?”

“Tanglingxue.”

“But she’s just my defeated opponent.”

“I believe in her.”

Yumo tightly gripped Tanglingxue’s uninjured hand. She squeezed back cooperatively. Details could wait—they just needed to survive this!

“As you see, this guy might be plain and awkward, but he’s my boyfriend. We’ve done things you can imagine and things you can’t. I’ve given him everything—even had his name tattooed somewhere private. Are you really okay with that?”

—Tanglingxue declared.

“WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!”

Ajin and his crew exploded. Even Dafei lost his cool.

(Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Well said!!)

Yusuozaai, who’d appeared out of nowhere, was nearly rolling on the floor laughing.

“………………………………Yes. Everything she said is true.”

Yumo forced out the words after several seconds of silence.

(I feel like my reputation’s been irreversibly wrecked?)

(Hahahaha, isn’t this perfect? Miss Tang’s bold! When faking it, go all out—her logic is solid.)

(But she’s destroying both our reputations!)

(She doesn’t care about hers.)

(What about mine?)

(Do you even *have* a good reputation left?)

(Oh. Right. It’s long gone.)

Guess it’s fine then. Might as well play along a bit more.

“Yes. And yesterday in the park, we first did some things, then messed around, made a huge mess, and even uploaded the video to GitPorn.”

Yumo stated firmly. Now the pressure shifted to Tanglingxue.

“N-not to hide it… we’ve never used protection since our first time. I’m actually pregnant!”

Now the pressure shifted to Yumo.

“And it’s eleven fetuses. Genuine eleven-tuplets. Enough to form a World Cup soccer team.”

Now the pressure shifted back to Tanglingxue.

“We’ve already beaten Argentina in the underworld qualifiers!”

“Stop! Stop! Stop! How did this get so absurd!? Too sudden!” Ajin roared. “A boyfriend pops up out of nowhere, then takes my race? Am I just a clown now??”

“That’s enough, Ajin.” Dafei, completely losing it, patted his shoulder.

“Brother Dafei!?”

“No point arguing further. Let the race against… uh… ‘boyfriend’ in three weeks be the decider. Winner gets her as their girlfriend. No complaints from either side. Deal?”

Ajin’s face scrunched like he was constipated. After a long hesitation, he nodded.

“Fine.” “I have no objections.”

This was the best Yumo and Tanglingxue could get. Time to quit while ahead.

The bikers left quickly. Ajin tossed one last sarcastic “I’ll be waiting for your performance, boyfriend-kun~” before storming off. The empty hospital room held only Yumo and Tanglingxue.

“Things just got messy.” Yumo shrugged.

“More than messy…”

Tanglingxue rubbed her temples, trying to cool her overheated brain.

“First, let me confirm… Yumo, you were protecting me, right?”

“Yeah. What else?”

“You pretended to be my boyfriend *and* took on the race?”

“I have my reasons. Couldn’t just sit back.”

“…Listen. I know guys love showing off, but… you don’t owe me this. I’m practically a stranger.”

“Well, you have Zhangyuanzhou as your real boyfriend. I overstepped.”

“Hah!? No way!”

Tanglingxue’s anger flared.

“I have *nothing* to do with that idiot! Not a thing! He just clings to me, and I didn’t reject him to spare my friend’s feelings. My taste isn’t *that* bad!”

“Then who’s your boyfriend? If you’re unhappy with me, let him handle it.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not interested in dating… I’ve never even held a guy’s hand!”

“Oh. I see…”

Then they realized—the troublemakers were gone, but their hands were still clasped together.

Yumo felt nothing. Holding hands? He’d done it with Liyu plenty of times. He wasn’t some blushing schoolkid.

But Tanglingxue’s face flushed crimson. She yanked her hand away—too hard—and winced, yelping in pain as her injury flared.

“You okay?”

“Fine… Anyway, let’s be clear. I played along just to survive this mess. But after… after…”

A trace of apology flickered in her eyes, clashing with her usual defiance.

“I’m truly grateful you stood up for me. But… this is my fight. Street racing is dangerous. If something happens to you…”

“What about you? Race injured? Knowing you’ll lose?”

“…………But you have no reason to help me.”

“I have plenty. And I’ve always wanted to try racing myself.”

“Didn’t you say your mother died in… uh…”

“When I made a wish to someone, I also wished to ‘race bikers’—because I want to crash into them mid-race.”

“Don’t be reckless!”

“Reckless or not, I’m doing this. No turning back. You teach me to ride; I race for you. This is our ‘promise’. A man’s word is his bond.”

“Yumo…”

Seeing his sincerity, Tanglingxue felt a flicker of warmth.

No matter his motives, he was risking everything to help. Refusing would betray his resolve.

Still…

(What about Liyu? She’s his real girlfriend, right? Won’t she mind?)

Just as Tanglingxue opened her mouth to ask—

“You need someone to stay tonight. I’m here. No objections.”

“Hah!?”