Chapter 54: Sunk for the Second Time

Monday’s first period was English.

For Li Xingya, the cultural textbook was like a lullaby, especially since she hadn’t slept well last night because she’d been playing games.

‘So sleepy.’

Li Xingya’s eyes were half-lidded.

Her head kept bobbing up and down.

“…Xiaoya.”

A soft voice came from beside her.

Li Xingya turned her head and saw Meng Yiqiao staring at her.

“You can’t fall asleep. You’re already way behind in class.”

Li Xingya tilted her head, trying hard to process what Meng Yiqiao meant.

‘That’s right, I’m way behind in class.’

‘Since I’m already this far behind…’

‘It wouldn’t hurt to sleep through one more class, right?’

Li Xingya had completely misunderstood.

“Good night, Sister…”

Li Xingya whispered.

She slowly closed her eyes.

Poke——

“Eep!”

A sudden attack on the soft flesh of her waist made Li Xingya’s body tense up instantly.

‘That kinda hurt.’

‘But it kinda tickled too.’

“S-Sister?!”

Li Xingya’s voice was a mix of surprise and embarrassment.

“What were you just doing?!”

“Obviously preventing Xiaoya from falling asleep.”

Meng Yiqiao said with complete confidence.

“You haven’t come to school for a whole week. You’re this far behind, and if you keep sleeping, catching up is going to be really rough.”

Li Xingya blinked pitifully.

“But…”

‘But I’m so tired right now.’

“No buts!”

Meng Yiqiao raised her index finger.

“If you get sleepy again, I’ll keep poking you.”

As the older one, Meng Yiqiao naturally wasn’t about to let Li Xingya sink into sloth.

Seeing Meng Yiqiao’s firm attitude, Li Xingya had no choice but to force herself to stay alert.

Li Xingya really had no ground to stand on to blame Meng Yiqiao for “meddling” or anything like that.

After all, she’d been the one obsessed with games these past few days, and she’d wrecked her own sleep schedule…

No matter what, she absolutely couldn’t stay up late tonight.

As she thought about this and that, Li Xingya’s eyes slowly began to close again.

Poke, poke——

“Guh-ee!”

“Th-That’s too much!”

Li Xingya was mad.

She changed her mind.

‘Sister is so mean!’

‘This is totally meddling!’

“Sister…”

Li Xingya put on her most pitiful expression, only to turn her head and meet Meng Yiqiao’s “absolutely not” gaze.

‘Dammit.’

Li Xingya sighed.

‘…Why does she have to be this strict?’

Originally, she’d only gotten close to Meng Yiqiao hoping to make high school a bit easier.

‘But Meng Yiqiao is way too responsible.’

‘I hate people like this.’

‘So annoying… so annoying… so annoying… so annoying… so annoying…!’

‘Let’s just sleep.’

In the blink of an eye, Li Xingya was about to doze off again.

Poke, poke, poke——!

“You two!”

Finally, the English teacher at the podium couldn’t take it anymore.

“What have you been doing since a while ago? Go stand outside the door!”

A moment later, accompanied by the loud bang of the classroom door closing behind them, Li Xingya blinked.

‘Ah.’

‘We got kicked out.’

Of course, thanks to the English teacher, Li Xingya was now completely wide awake.

“Sister… I’m sorry.”

Li Xingya looked at Meng Yiqiao with an embarrassed expression.

“I got you kicked out too.”

Contrary to Li Xingya, Meng Yiqiao didn’t seem bothered at all.

“It’s fine.”

She cupped Li Xingya’s face with both hands.

“Xiaoya, did you not sleep well last night? You look really pale.”

“…Mm, something came up at home.”

Li Xingya said vaguely.

At that, Meng Yiqiao raised an eyebrow.

‘Something came up at home?’

‘Come to think of it, when Xiaoya said she wanted to sleep together with me, I did suspect…’

‘That Xiaoya’s home situation isn’t great.’

Meng Yiqiao glanced back at the teacher lecturing inside the classroom.

Suddenly, she grabbed Li Xingya’s hand.

“Come with me.”

“Huh?”

Before Li Xingya could even react, she was dragged away by Meng Yiqiao.

‘W-Weren’t we supposed to be standing outside as punishment?’

‘Is it really okay to just sneak off like this?’

Li Xingya recalled Meng Yiqiao’s ranking on the Starlight Ranking.

‘Or… is this some kind of privilege for good students?’

In any case, Li Xingya was whisked away to the health room in a daze.

Inside the health room, the health teacher with the large chest pushed up her black-rimmed glasses the moment she saw them.

“Isn’t it class time right now?”

“Teacher, she’s feeling a bit unwell.”

Meng Yiqiao gestured to Li Xingya beside her.

“We’d like to borrow one of your beds to rest.”

The health teacher looked at Meng Yiqiao’s dyed blue long hair and suddenly asked, “You’re… Meng Yiqiao, right?”

“Mm.”

Meng Yiqiao’s face was expressionless, as cold as her own ID photo.

Perhaps it was that flawless expression, combined with her top-tier status on the Starlight Ranking, that made the health teacher nod quickly.

“If you just need to rest… you two can take the bed in the back.”

She pointed behind her.

“Remember to draw the curtain, and don’t let any passing duty teachers see you. Otherwise, it’ll be a pain for me to explain.”

Meng Yiqiao nodded.

“Understood. Thank you, teacher.”

Beside her, Li Xingya hadn’t said a word.

She simply watched Meng Yiqiao quietly.

‘She’s got such a strong sense of boundaries.’

‘Her expression looks like the teacher owes her money.’

‘But when she’s with me, she’s always secretly smiling.’

‘And…’

‘So she brought me here to catch up on sleep.’

‘Sister is the best!’

After being led to the innermost bed in the health room by Meng Yiqiao, Li Xingya had just sat down on the edge of the bed when Meng Yiqiao drew the curtain shut.

“Guh…!”

In the instantly cramped space, Li Xingya couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

As a mature adult on the inside, she had to admit one thing…

‘The atmosphere right now is a little ambiguous.’

‘Even though the health teacher is still outside.’

‘For some reason, that makes it even more exciting.’

“Xiaoya, get some rest.”

Meng Yiqiao pointed to the pillow on the bed.

“Stay here until this period ends… no, until this morning. I’ll help you catch up on the math class later.”

Li Xingya took off her shoes and lay down on her side.

She reached out and carefully wrapped her hand around Meng Yiqiao’s pinky finger.

“Then what about you, Sister?”

“Me?”

Meng Yiqiao was taken aback.

“I’m obviously going back to class.”

‘How else am I supposed to tutor you if I don’t attend?’

The moment she heard Meng Yiqiao was leaving, Li Xingya’s heart tightened for no reason.

“Don’t go.”

“Hm?”

“If Sister isn’t by my side… I won’t be able to fall asleep.”

Li Xingya said with a red face, fighting back her drowsiness.

‘There’s a teacher I don’t know outside.’

‘Sleeping alone makes me nervous.’

‘So stay here with me, okay?’

Li Xingya gently stroked the nail of Meng Yiqiao’s pinky.

“Being with Sister makes me feel at ease. Can you stay by my side all morning… please?”

At this moment, Li Xingya had no idea what she was even saying anymore.

She really was that sleepy.

But facing the current Li Xingya, Meng Yiqiao felt like she’d been struck by a thunderbolt.

Li Xingya liked to suddenly rush up and hug people’s arms and such.

Meng Yiqiao was somewhat used to Li Xingya’s affectionate behavior.

But — a Li Xingya this clingy was the first time Meng Yiqiao had ever seen.

‘So cute.’

‘Th-How could I possibly refuse this?’

Before she knew it, Meng Yiqiao had sat down beside the bed.

She reached out with both hands to hold Li Xingya’s hand and smiled softly.

“Alright, I won’t go anywhere.”

‘Sister will stay right by your side.’

‘So go to sleep without worrying.’

Meng Yiqiao—

Confirmed sunk.