Thinking back to what happened that morning, Jiang Yuan still didn’t know what to make of it.

The moment he opened his eyes, he found Yi Nanye in his arms. By sheer coincidence, they’d both woken up at almost exactly the same time.

They stared at each other for a long while before Yi Nanye calmly pushed him away, then mocked him for still having the childish habit of hugging things in his sleep.

Jiang Yuan was left with no way to defend himself. Maybe he did have some issues with his sleeping habits—but was Yi Nanye really completely blameless?

She was the one who insisted they sleep together for no good reason. Seriously, what was wrong with her?

“Jiang Yuan, care to explain?”

Qin Xin heard Yi Nanye’s words. Her expression didn’t visibly change, but the temperature in the classroom clearly began to drop.

“That’s because…”

“Hold on. Who said you two could talk?”

Yi Nanye slapped the desk, not even giving Jiang Yuan a chance to explain himself to Qin Xin. Fortunately, Qin Xin didn’t lose her temper. She’d known Jiang Yuan for too long not to understand his predicament from the helpless look in his eyes.

He’d probably been forced into it.

Yi Nanye was doing this on purpose. She wanted to drive a wedge between them.

The truth about her relationship with Jiang Yuan had actually gotten out several days ago. Never underestimate a bunch of people with nothing to do but satisfy their curiosity. They’d dug up nearly every bit of private information about the ten Doomsday Heroes, and the few major future criminals mentioned by the people from the future were even harder to keep under wraps.

She was Jiang Yuan’s girlfriend. The public’s response was to order her not to go near him again.

But that was laughable…

She was the one with power. What gave a bunch of ordinary people the right to point fingers at her?

If they were under her protection, wasn’t it only natural that they should listen to her?

“Honestly, I don’t think I can become a hero of the future. At least, that’s what I think right now. I’m not as easygoing as Jiang Yuan, and I don’t have his sense of the bigger picture. When I get angry, I act on impulse.”

“And when I act on impulse, things don’t end well.”

“Oh? So what are you going to do?”

Yi Nanye raised an eyebrow and looked at Qin Xin expectantly. She hoped Qin Xin would do something dangerous right away. She genuinely thought Qin Xin needed to be put in her place.

“I’m not going to do anything. I’m just saying that I can cooperate with you and cater to the public’s petty prejudices, but I have basic limits too.”

“So…”

Qin Xin stood up again and walked straight over to Yi Nanye. Then she reached out and grabbed her by the collar. Yi Nanye didn’t resist. She was practically hoping Qin Xin would make a move—she knew she could react in time.

Unlike Qin Xin, a half-baked Esper, she was a rare early-stage fully awakened Esper. There were only a few like her in the whole world. Her potential might be far lower than Qin Xin’s, but right now Qin Xin couldn’t come close to even her baseline.

“So what?”

Yi Nanye gave Qin Xin a bright, sunny smile—though to Qin Xin, it was the kind of smile that made you want to punch someone.

“You fucking stay away from other people’s boyfriends!”

Qin Xin swore, loudly. Afterward, she let go of Yi Nanye, turned without looking back, went to her seat, picked up her lunchbox, and left. Half the food was still inside, but she no longer wanted to eat in the classroom.

She knew that once she left, Yi Nanye would stop getting under her skin—and stop getting so close to Jiang Yuan.

Yi Nanye watched Qin Xin storm off in anger and merely shrugged. She clearly hadn’t taken Qin Xin’s warning to heart.

“Jiang Yuan, you’ve seen how things stand. I hope that from now on, you can…”

“Yi Nanye, thanks.”

Jiang Yuan cut her off before she could finish. But he wasn’t protesting—his reply was closer to an agreement. Yi Nanye froze. Her lips moved several times, but her thoughts couldn’t keep up with him.

“Huh…?”

After hesitating for a while, all she could manage was a weak “Huh?” to show how confused she was. She’d thought Jiang Yuan would firmly insist that he wouldn’t leave Qin Xin.

“You want to separate Qin Xin and me, right? That means you’re thinking of her, too. The truth is, I took advantage of her in a pretty underhanded way. Until my reputation improves, I should keep my distance from her.”

“Then why were you throwing up and rinsing your mouth earlier?”

“We have to take it step by step. Your approach was too extreme. It made it hard for me to play along.”

Jiang Yuan was prepared to break things off with Qin Xin. Never underestimate his resolve. He knew that staying with Qin Xin would hurt her, and it would deal an even more devastating blow to his already poor position.

He wasn’t that stupid.

Love wasn’t worth dying for. He wasn’t like those people who had nothing but romance on the brain, putting on a show over so-called “love” and talking about parting forever at every turn.

“So you’re saying you also plan to distance yourself from her?”

“Didn’t I already say I’d break up with her?”

“I see… I thought that was just an excuse to come to school. Fine. As long as you understand what you need to do.”

Yi Nanye couldn’t help feeling that she still didn’t understand Jiang Yuan.

“Anyway, I know her better than you do. She’s always been the type to respond to gentleness, not force. With time, she’ll get over the breakup, accept reality, and let go. Otherwise, she’ll step in whether we like it or not.”

“So when it comes to her, I want you to work with me, not the other way around.”

Jiang Yuan told Yi Nanye to stop acting on impulse. They had the same goal, and since he knew Qin Xin better, he should take the lead.

“How do you expect me to believe you?”

“You don’t have to believe me. I know words mean nothing. I’ll prove it through my actions.”

“Fine. But you’d better explain things to me before you do anything, or don’t blame me if I step in halfway through.”

“Of course.”

Jiang Yuan had learned how to deal with Yi Nanye. She was young, and her personality was awful, but she was surprisingly levelheaded. As long as he explained things clearly, she wouldn’t stubbornly cling to her own opinion.

Qin Xin, on the other hand, was still a little childish. Jiang Yuan had realized that from their previous interactions. Her way of thinking had even started to change because she now had power.

Of course, Qin Xin was well-educated and had sound values, so she probably wouldn’t go down the wrong path.

But there was one highly unstable factor by Qin Xin’s side.

The terrorists and cultists knew what that factor was. Jiang Yuan knew, too.

That unstable factor was him—the person Qin Xin saw as her life partner.

So he couldn’t become Qin Xin’s weakness.