"What’s wrong now? What just happened?"

"So it was a cockroach!"

I yelled toward the door again, then turned to the girl standing before me. Zixuan’s face had twisted into something far worse than awful—utterly ferocious.

"You already have me! Why do you need these fake things?!"

She carved another scratch onto the disc, each mark piercing my heart like a fresh wound. She tossed the ruined disc into the corner of the bed, then pointed the scissors at me.

"You only need me. No one else matters—if you want, I’ll cosplay for you. Even if you suddenly crave S&M, I’ll obey… because I love you so much!"

She crept closer, whispering chilling words. Her face glowed with excitement, but her grin stretched unnaturally wide, nearly to her ears.

"Girlfriends? Sisters? Childhood friends? None can stand in my way. Anyone who tries to take you from me—I’ll shred them to pieces. You belong to me alone!"

She flicked her tongue over her lips, savoring the thought like a predator toying with prey.

"Unlike those women who’ve been with other men, my love for you is pure! Every fingernail, every strand of hair, your brain, your limbs—I adore every single part of you!"

She tilted her cute face, spewing horrors with a sweet smile.

"Even if the whole world spits on you, I’ll stand by your side. Even when you’re old and senile, I’ll cherish you—because my love is so deep, I want to preserve every part of you as specimens!"

This love felt suffocating. Was this the legendary yandere? But why did all her fantasies involve killing me?

"I love you!"

She said it again?

"Love you!"

Seriously?

"It’s all your fault! If you truly loved me, you’d have found me sooner! Then I wouldn’t have been confessed to first!"

I couldn’t let her dominate me like this. I grasped at the worst possible solution to calm her: from what I knew, a little kindness could snap her back to normal—or rather, this twisted state *was* Zixuan’s true self.

But lying tasted bitter. It might only make her cling tighter.

"R-Really? So it’s my fault!"

Her voice instantly turned squeaky. She leaped back from inches away to the bed, putting a meter of space between us—a safe distance for me.

"Then why are you even here?"

I picked up the ruined disc and book, wincing, and asked the girl swinging her bare feet on my bed.

"I told you! To warm your bed! But seeing your messy room made me forget… I’ll do it now!"

Without waiting for permission, she burrowed under my covers, squirming. Who’d interrupt a pretty girl doing that in their bed? I blushed, tearing my gaze away to the clutter by the bed.

"Warming the bed isn’t needed. Just go home."

After tidying up, I walked toward the door, hand on the knob—then froze. A terrible mistake. I shouldn’t be sending her out now.

My parents were sipping tea in the living room. How would they react to a girl in black cat pajamas exiting my room? Wait—how did she even get in here?

"Oh… if you insist, I’ll leave…"

Her voice dripped with disappointment. She crawled out of my bed, barefoot, stepping toward me—no! No one walks barefoot across rough floors from downstairs.

As Zixuan reached for the doorknob, I yanked her back onto the bed.

"W-Wait—no, I mean—let’s do it! Mmph—"

Her face flushed crimson. My chop to her neck silenced her rambling. This move really was useful—I’d subdued so many people with it.

"Stop imagining things! And how did you even get here? Not through the front door, right?"

I pulled my desk chair close, elbow propped on the table, chin in hand.

"Mmph… hitting girls? Though I don’t mind being this close to you…"

"Lu-classmate, just answer the question."

She was dodging. I wasn’t fooled.

"Call me by my name, or I won’t tell!"

"What’s the difference? ‘Lu-classmate’ has ‘Lu’ in it."

"Huge difference! Call me Zixuan, Xiao Xuan, or Xuan! Or I stay silent. Hmph!"

All three options sounded weird. But I needed answers.

"Fine. Zixuan… how did you get in?"

"Through the window! I hopped over!"

She stuck out her tongue playfully, beaming at me.

I glanced past her—at the window behind her. My room faced hers, barely a meter apart. So her room was directly opposite?

"My room’s one floor up! Want to see? It’s messy… furniture’s not set up yet…"

She looked shyly away.

"If you could jump here, jump back now. It’s only a meter. What’s there to fear?"

I didn’t get it. I could leap over and back easily.

"Not like that! My room’s *above* yours on the opposite building. I jumped down here… but I can’t climb back up."

She poked her tongue out. I looked up. The horizontal gap was small, but the vertical drop was nearly two meters—and an AC unit blocked the climb from below.

"So I’m stuck…"

She flopped onto my bed. My bed. How casually she claimed it. Still, the problem remained: she couldn’t leave until morning. But where would she sleep tonight?

"You… planned this all along, didn’t you? To stay over."

"Bingo!"

"Open up! Now!"

Chuwei’s voice cut through the door.