Lin An’s body turned somewhat stiff—cold one moment, burning hot the next.

It wasn’t because Luoshui Shui had used any magic. Lin An simply felt that this wasn’t something she would do. Luoshui Shui was so reserved and gentle. How could she suddenly reach out and… hug him?

But after two or three seconds, Lin An seemed to understand.

Luoshui Shui held him very lightly. It was only a gentle embrace, like the greeting or farewell between friends. There wasn’t the slightest trace of lust in it.

Lin An felt as if he were hugging an incredibly soft pillow. The girl’s body was so delicate and supple, yet he didn’t dare wrap his arms around her. His hands hovered awkwardly in midair, completely at a loss.

“You can hug me for a little while,” she murmured gently.

So Lin An reached out too and lightly held Luoshui Shui.

Very, very lightly.

Her body really was soft. It was also especially warm. When he lowered his head, Lin An seemed to catch the scent of gardenias in her hair—or perhaps jasmine. He felt a little dazed.

But with her arms around him, his heartbeat inexplicably quickened.

That embrace was so gentle…

So gentle that he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to keep holding her like this forever. It didn’t matter how long.

Lin An’s heart seemed to miss another beat.

He stared blankly at Luoshui Shui’s profile. She only smiled softly, her lips moving as if she were counting down from ten to one.

Yet an inexplicable fear rose within Lin An.

He watched her pink lips move as the numbers changed one by one. When she reached one, he realized that under the pressure of the countdown, he had been holding her tighter and tighter.

As if…

As if he couldn’t bear to let go.

But Luoshui Shui finished counting anyway. Then she released him.

Lin An had no choice but to let go as well. He watched her take a step back before leaning against the railing again.

Her eyes were clear, but Lin An looked a little dazed.

“Why…?”

“You’ve seemed a little lost lately, so I’m giving you a healing hug from your ex-girlfriend.” Luoshui Shui blinked at him.

Lin An stared blankly at her cute, radiant, and gentle expression.

His heart began racing for no reason. The strange sensation and fragrance from that embrace kept his heart from settling and his blood from cooling.

He murmured in a flustered voice, “Luoshui Shui… you’re like poison.”

“And you insult me after I let you hug me?” Luoshui Shui sounded faintly annoyed.

“No. I meant it as a compliment.”

“Then call me an antidote next time.”

Luoshui Shui lightly patted his shoulder. Then, without the slightest reluctance, she walked into the classroom.

Lin An watched her retreating figure and the slight sway of her ponytail. Then he clenched his fist and punched himself in the chest.

All right. Calm down.

He had nearly been captivated by that little enchantress.

For a moment, Lin An had even considered kneeling at Luoshui Shui’s feet and becoming her dog. But then he thought it over.

That woman had done it on purpose. She had deliberately acted that way…

She had wanted him to think those things.

So he absolutely couldn’t let himself think like that.

Still, now that he considered it, Luoshui Shui really was an interesting girl.

Lin An followed her into the classroom. Luoshui Shui’s eyes held a faint hint of teasing.

“Does punching yourself in the chest hurt?”

“…You were watching me?” Lin An’s mouth twitched.

“I’m guessing your head is filled with thoughts like, ‘She’s a bad woman. She suddenly gave me comfort and tenderness so I’d fall into her arms.’”

“So you need to calm down. You can’t become infatuated with me or get addicted to me?”

Lin An’s mouth twitched again.

“But I only did it because I wanted to.” Luoshui Shui smiled. “If you’re reading too much into it, then you’ve lost, Lin An.”

Lin An froze.

But after thinking it over, that did seem to be the truth.

He stared blankly at Luoshui Shui. Only then did he remember that she was actually a kind girl too.

“Shui Shui, are you an angel?”

“Of course not.” Luoshui Shui shook her head.

“Besides, this is only an occasional benefit. The cooldown is extremely long.”

She hadn’t said when the cooldown would end, so it might as well have been infinite.

Perhaps she had simply acted on impulse.

Perhaps she had been gentle for a moment.

“That’s a real shame.”

Luoshui Shui let out a soft hum, sounding slightly self-mocking.

“You’re the one who didn’t cherish me. When we were dating, I never acted superior toward you. I never looked down on you or threw tantrums for no reason.”

“I was always gentle. I wanted to be a good girlfriend, because I really did like you back then.”

“But… I never expected that even someone like me would still get dumped by you.”

“So my resentment runs very deep. No matter what I do to you, you still owe me some compensation. You shouldn’t get angry about it, Lin An.”

“You always assume the worst of me. It’s not like I want you dead. Why overthink everything?”

“Or do you think I’ll fall in love with you? Whether that’s true or not, are you afraid of being loved?”

“Cowards are like that.” Lin An lowered his head apologetically.

He felt that Luoshui Shui was glowing.

“Tsk. All right, all right. That’s enough.” Luoshui Shui waved at him.

Lin An nodded. He gazed at her face for a second, a faint smile on his lips. Then he turned and returned to his own seat, beginning another day of school life.

Except…

But…

However…

It couldn’t be.

It absolutely couldn’t be.

It wouldn’t be.

What Lin An didn’t expect was that, at ten o’clock that morning, their homeroom teacher would lead a beautiful girl in a pale moon-white JK-style outfit into the classroom.

Lin An’s eyes widened.

The girl on the podium was also searching the classroom with an intense gaze. When she finally found Lin An, a smile appeared on her face.

Lin An’s mind became a mess.

At the teacher’s request, the girl on the podium wrote her name on the blackboard.

Xiao Chacha.

Xiao Chacha was a beautiful girl. She was nineteen years old, with long hair falling slightly below her shoulders. She hadn’t tied it up, giving her a gentle, harmless appearance.

Her blouse was pure white and spotless. She wore no tie. Her pale moon-white plaid skirt fell to just above her knees, making her look reserved and innocent.

She was also wearing white knee-high socks, which made her already lovely legs appear even longer and more elegant.

She gave the class a slight bow, looking like a beautiful Japanese anime girl who had descended from the heavens.

The boys in the classroom began whispering among themselves. Most of them were excited and delighted.

After all, who wouldn’t want another beautiful girl in their class?

Maybe she’d be easy to get along with. Maybe they could talk to her more. Maybe someone might even…

Make her his own.

There was only one empty seat in the classroom.

That empty seat was beside Lin An.

So the moment he saw her, his entire face fell. He cursed inwardly, wondering what kind of nonsense Xiao Chacha was pulling this time.

But at the teacher’s request, Xiao Chacha hugged her books and walked down from the podium step by step.

Then she sat beside Lin An.

Lin An caught the scent of her perfume. It was light, alluring, and unmistakable.

He had smelled it the night before last.

“Damn it,” Lin An muttered under his breath.

He could feel the envious gazes of countless boys in the classroom turning toward him.

Lin An could only smile bitterly.

Xiao Chacha heard his mutter and replied without expression, “Are you surprised?”

“Extremely surprised.”

“Because of a certain boy, I figured out what I liked. So I transferred from a girls’ school to a normal school and came here to experience an ordinary high school life.”

“This is the best high school in the city, so I came here. Su Yuejin’s class was already full, and I didn’t want to be in the same class as her anyway.”

“So I chose this class. Of course, as you’ve guessed, it wasn’t a coincidence. I came here to find you, Lin An.”

“The last sentence was the important part, wasn’t it?”

“Of course.” Xiao Chacha smiled brightly. “So, are you going to add me back on WeChat now?”

“No.” Lin An shook his head.

“I’m not in a hurry, Lin An. We’ll have plenty of time to play slowly from now on.”

Lin An looked at her faintly arrogant—or perhaps simply brain-dead—expression and sighed helplessly.

This only confirmed his thoughts.

Sleeping with Xiao Chacha had indeed been a mistake. That mistake might lead to even greater mistakes.

So before another mistake happened, he had to deal with Xiao Chacha.

For example, assassinate her.

Of course, that was just a joke.

Lin An didn’t particularly like Xiao Chacha, but he didn’t want to insult her either. She was actually a good girl.

Back when they played games together, they had shared countless fun moments. Xiao Chacha could genuinely be considered his friend.

But he was afraid of getting any closer to her.

Because last night, he had been moved by her words. He had nearly been seduced by that witch and made the same mistake again.

He couldn’t let that happen another time.

So he had tried to avoid her. He had deleted her WeChat, thinking that would let him escape her.

But this woman…

She really was impossible to shake off.

“Is meeting me really that troublesome?” Xiao Chacha asked, sounding slightly self-pitying.

“You’re fine.” Lin An shook his head.

“Are all men like this? Once they’ve had their way, they become heartless.”

“…”

Xiao Chacha kept making jokes that weren’t particularly funny. Her expression remained calm—or perhaps faintly pleased.

Even she was confused about why she had chosen to do this.

“Of course, Lin An, the choice is yours.” Xiao Chacha suddenly turned to him. “If being in the same class as me feels troublesome, you can tell me. I’ll transfer to another class.”

Lin An paused. “Why?”

“Because I’m not that interested in you…”

“More than anything, I just want to sleep with you. But if I can’t have that, why make you hate me? There’s no point.”

“If you don’t want to sleep with me, then I don’t care where you stay.”

“Then it’s settled.” Xiao Chacha said it without showing the slightest disappointment.

She lightly swung her lower legs, then shifted her chair a little closer to Lin An. Her slender legs moved toward him beneath the desk.

“I believe that your twisted love with Su Yuejin will eventually drag you under. So you’ll have to find a way out.”

“And I’ll be your backup plan for escaping your desire for her.”

“Of course, we’re using each other. Neither of us owes the other anything.” Xiao Chacha lifted her chin slightly, her expression proud and radiant.

“Whoever falls in love first will say so and end this relationship.”

Lin An was stunned for roughly two seconds. Then he nodded.

“All right. Let’s agree on that first. We’ll do as you say.”

“Not afraid of me falling in love with you anymore?”

“I can’t keep being that narcissistic forever. A person should know their own limits.” Lin An smiled gently.

Xiao Chacha gave a soft hum, looking to be in a good mood.

“Good that you know.”