Su Mu had once heard a saying, something along the lines of: the smaller the frame, the fiercer the attack; the more delicate the build, the swifter the strike.
Now, those words seemed tailor-made for Lando.
Her zeal for battle was, frankly, a bit overwhelming.
“Hold it right there! I only came down here to keep you from losing control. Stop it—don’t let your eyes start sparkling like that!”
Su Mu shot down Lando’s eager invitation to team up, her tone firm, insisting she’d help curb the smaller girl’s outsized enthusiasm.
But Lando barely registered the words, her grin only growing brighter, like sunlight breaking through a storm.
“If that’s the case, then just play along nicely, and we can release all that pent-up tension together, can’t we?”
As if that would ever work!
Before Su Mu could signal her handheld device to make a quick escape, a wave of dizziness crashed over her, her vision blurring into a swaying haze of peach-pink.
“Sorry, Su Mu,” Lando’s voice chimed, laced with mischief.
“I slipped a touch of magic into your tea earlier. No need to worry about getting hurt now. So, let’s have some fun and get to squeezing!”
As Lando’s restless fingers drew near, Su Mu squeezed her eyes shut, heart racing.
“Releasing tension… at least be gentle about it, please.”
“Relax,” Lando purred.
“This little bit of pressure? Not even enough to make me break a sweat. I won’t hurt you, promise.”
Sweat in a dream?
Could you even tell if you did?
Though her body felt limp and powerless, Su Mu’s mind was screaming for Irina, calling out to her ever-reliable ally.
But Irina, usually so dependable, was nowhere to be found, no matter how desperately Su Mu called.
Come on, this is a life-or-death moment!
One wrong move, and things could get messy.
How could you drop the ball now?
“Let’s see… the best spot to start would be right here—”
A gentle pressure, barely a kilogram, pressed against her.
Su Mu’s startled cry, softened by the magic’s hold, came out as a delicate, almost melodic whimper.
“Wait, where are you touching?”
“Your calf, obviously,” Lando replied, her tone matter-of-fact.
“Isn’t that where you’re feeling it most today? The body might not feel it here, but in a dream, I can ease the stress built up in your mind.”
Su Mu fell silent, stunned, her thoughts scrambling to catch up.
‘So, you went through all this trouble—used magic—just to give me a massage?That’s it? Seriously? If you’d just said so, I would’ve understood!’
“Why didn’t you just say that outright?” Su Mu muttered, her voice trailing into a soft moan as Lando’s touch worked its magic.
“You didn’t have to—oh…”
She had to admit, it felt good, the kind of relief that made her sigh involuntarily.
But what caught her off guard was realizing Lando’s “releasing tension” wasn’t about herself—it was all for Su Mu.
“This isn’t the way to trick me into it,” Lando teased, her fingers pausing.
“Unless… you wanted me to do the squeezing?”
“As if!” Su Mu scoffed, though her cheeks burned.
She’d always grumbled about Tang Nai’s crude hobbies, but wasn’t she falling into the same trap?
She turned her face away, pressing a hand to her cheek to hide the flush creeping up.
“So, what about your stress? How do you deal with that?”
Lando’s fingers stilled for a moment, her expression dimming ever so slightly.
“That’s… a bit much, isn’t it? As long as she’s around, my desires don’t stand a chance of breaking free.”
“What about at noon today, then?”
“Oh, that?” Lando’s eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.
“Luo Linglan takes a little nap around then, so I slipped out for a bit.”
‘So, you could lose control?’
“But don’t worry,” Lando added quickly, sensing Su Mu’s unease.
“Since I know you’re not into it, I won’t push it again.”
Her voice carried a trace of melancholy, and Su Mu’s heart softened.
“By the way, why do you look so… small? Even more than before—ow!”
Before she could finish, Lando’s fingers pressed harder, drawing a sharp yelp from Su Mu.
“Small, huh? I’m perfectly proportioned, thank you very much. Not like you lot, all overgrown and overfed.”
Luo Jialan—Lando—scolded playfully, her hands gliding along the curve of Su Mu’s calf, sending a jolt of sensation that left Su Mu’s mind reeling, barely able to think.
“And for the record, you’re talking about Luo Jialan. I’m Lando.”
“Ow, ow, ow! Didn’t you say you wouldn’t hurt me?” Su Mu gasped.
“Wait, what did you just say? You’re Lando? Of course you’re Lando!”
Lando eased her grip, her voice calm and unhurried.
“Luo Jialan is Luo Jialan. Lando is Lando. You could say Luo Jialan is Lando, but right now, we’re not quite the same.”
Su Mu blinked, utterly baffled by the cryptic explanation.
“What does that even mean? You’re not the same person?”
“We are,” Lando said with a sly grin.
“But Luo Jialan wouldn’t pin you against a wall and demand a squeeze, would she?”
Su Mu nodded slowly, half-understanding… or maybe not understanding at all.
“So, I call you Lando, but outside, I call her Luo Jialan?”
Lando nodded, then hesitated, her hands pausing.
“Well, not exactly. Just call me Lando. Outside, call me whatever feels right.”
Su Mu mulled it over, her thoughts drifting to Irina.
‘Was their relationship similar?’
“Bingo!” Lando chimed, as if reading her mind.
“Our little Su Mu’s pretty sharp, isn’t she?”
‘You were there the whole time?’
Su Mu thought, exasperated.
‘Why didn’t you answer when I was calling for help?’
“Huh? Did you call for me?” Irina’s voice echoed in her mind, dripping with faux innocence.
“Oops, must’ve missed it.”
‘You just wanted to watch me squirm, didn’t you?’
“Oh, come on, you’re fine,” Irina teased.
“Call me when there’s real danger. But I wouldn’t miss a fun scene like this for the world.”
‘I knew it! You just wanted to see me get—wait, no.’
‘According to Lando, it wouldn’t make a difference to you, would it?’
“Exactly,” Irina replied cheekily.
“But lying still and letting it happen? Pretty comfy, right?”
Su Mu puffed out her cheeks, refusing to engage with Irina any further.
Just then, Lando spoke up from behind.
“All done. You should feel lighter now, right?”
Su Mu realized the magic laced in the tea had faded, her body buzzing with newfound energy, as if a heavy weight had been lifted.
She turned to look at Lando, noticing faint wisps of dark mist curling around the girl’s fingertips, slowly dissipating.
“What’s that?”
“Stress,” Lando said lightly.
“A raw material for magic. When it lingers too long in the mind, it mixes with other bad stuff and turns into dark magic.”
“Where does it go? You didn’t… absorb it, did you?”
“Not really,” Lando said with a shrug.
“Most of it scatters into the second layer of the dream. What I take in is just a tiny fraction—barely a drop in the bucket.”
Su Mu fell quiet, her thoughts swirling at Lando’s casual tone.
“Your stress… it’s more than I expected. Is it leftover from before? Wait—what are you doing?”
Lando’s hand froze as Su Mu suddenly grabbed it, catching her off guard.
“I was thinking,” Su Mu said, her voice softer now, “you’re kind of hopeless. You had the perfect chance, and you didn’t do anything.”
“Hopeless?” Lando laughed, a bit flustered.
“I didn’t have your permission. If I’d gone ahead anyway, you’d be screaming your head off, wouldn’t you? And you talk about me being the hopeless one.”
Her words trailed off as Su Mu’s hand, warm and soft, closed around hers.
Su Mu’s cheeks flushed crimson, her gaze darting to the window to avoid Lando’s eyes.
She could already picture the expression on the other girl’s face.
Their hands, still entwined, were gently guided by Su Mu to rest on the softest, most yielding spot.
“This whole ‘squeezing’ thing,” Su Mu murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
“This time… I’ll reluctantly agree.”