Hearing someone approach, Su Yao immediately sat up straight.
She looked up and saw the person who had already taken a seat across from her.
It was Wang Jing.
But today, she wasn’t wearing her usual signature ponytail—
Her hair was down, making her look a lot more gentle and calm.
Her expression was normal, but Su Yao herself felt flustered and awkward.
Wang Jing looked at Su Yao’s state—nervous, avoiding eye contact—and couldn’t help thinking the scene looked strangely familiar.
She took a deep breath and said calmly:
“Should I call you Su Yao, or Yao Su?”
“Either… is fine…”
Starting with that kind of direct line, Su Yao instinctively lowered her head.
That day, she had blurted out a clumsy lie in desperation, and now—thinking back—she just wanted to bury herself out of shame.
Especially hearing that name—Yao Su—spoken by Wang Jing.
Wang Jing studied the girl across from her, head lowered, eyes darting nervously.
She wanted to laugh a little—but held it in.
If she laughed now, Su Yao might literally bury her head under the table.
After several days of interaction, she had come to understand this strange kouhai a little.
But more than anything, what she felt… was concern.
Right now, the person sitting across from her looked completely like an overly shy girl—
Tense, sensitive, nervously coiled.
Especially those slightly exposed, pink-tinted ears peeking out from her black hair.
So cute, Wang Jing had to suppress the urge to reach out and pinch them.
But she was a decent person—she wouldn’t do something so indecent.
As for her concern—
After some digging, Wang Jing realized that everyone had always treated Su Yao as male.
And when she looked deeper into Su Yao’s past… she was honestly shocked.
Shocked by what Su Yao had gone through.
But somehow, it all started to make sense.
Of course, most of it was just her own imagination. Not solid evidence.
But after learning all that, Wang Jing began re-evaluating their relationship.
She realized her impulsive semi-confession the other day had been rash.
That’s why she’d spent these past few days agonizing over how to face Su Yao again.
She’d considered asking Hua Mingye or Mu Nanqiu, but in the end gave up—
Those two clearly had zero experience in normal romance.
And she didn’t want to ask anyone else either—what if the rumor spread?
It would only make things harder for Su Yao.
Then today, out of nowhere, Su Yao messaged her.
She didn’t even hesitate—she came straight away.
But now, face-to-face, all the jumbled thoughts in her head vanished.
Only one simple, sincere thought remained.
“The other day, when I said we should date… that was too sudden.
I scared you. I’m sorry.”
“……”
Su Yao was stunned.
She had planned to be the one apologizing—
So why was Wang Jing saying it first?
Still, following the momentum, she quickly replied:
“I’m sorry too…”
“You don’t need to apologize. It was mainly my fault.”
Wang Jing said seriously—
Which immediately blocked all of Su Yao’s follow-up words.
Geez, senpai, you’re way too direct!
So she just shut her mouth and let Wang Jing continue.
“Are you taking medicine?”
“Huh?”
“You know… the candy.”
“Candy?”
“Yeah. The candy.”
“What… candy?”
“I mean…”
“?”
They stared at each other blankly—
The air thick with awkward confusion.
Su Yao started to get the feeling that Wang Jing had misunderstood something.
She cautiously asked:
“Senpai… the candy you’re talking about… It’s not that candy, is it?”
“Ah. I… I think it is that candy.”
Wang Jing hesitated, thought for a moment, and then nodded.
Su Yao was speechless.
She didn’t even know how to respond.
The whole conversation had taken a bizarre turn—like, seriously weird.
Looking at Wang Jing, who seemed so confident and earnest,
Su Yao averted her eyes and muttered softly:
“I didn’t take anything. I’m… factory original.”
“Huh?”
Wang Jing’s brain seemed to lag.
She scrambled mentally, even pulled out her phone to search the word “factory original.”
She read through the definition…
And then froze.
Mouth gaping, hand covering her lips—
My kouhai is an original-girl?!
Under Wang Jing’s burning gaze, Su Yao turned her face away, refusing to meet her eyes.
Only sneaking glances out of the corner of her eye.
“Senpai… you don’t think I’m weird, do you?”
“Ah—w-why would I—haha—no, definitely not!”
Wang Jing’s speech module started glitching.
She was clearly bad at lying.
Now it was her turn to glance around awkwardly, her face pink, nervously biting her lip.
Seeing Wang Jing so flustered made Su Yao lower her guard.
She finally relaxed a little.
Her gaze dropped to her hands on the desk.
She spoke slowly:
“On Monday, when senpai asked me if I wanted to date… I said it wouldn’t be right. That’s because I…”
I am a girl now.
But more importantly—
She just didn’t think their personalities were compatible.
Su Yao had always been sensitive to compatibility.
Wang Jing’s straightforward, aggressive style didn’t suit her.
Wang Jing slapped both hands on the desk and declared:
“Then we can still be friends. Just ordinary friends!”
“Friends… are they tasty?”
Su Yao’s mind went off-track.
But when she looked up, Wang Jing gave her a confused look—
Like she was seriously wondering if friends were something edible.
Ahhhhhhh!
Su Yao screamed internally.
She tried to keep calm—but failed—
And slammed her hands over her face, smearing her cheeks onto the desk.
So embarrassing…!
“Yao Su, do you have any plans this afternoon? I’ve got some free time.”
“Senpai’s other friends?”
“You’re a friend too.
But don’t worry—I won’t eat you.”
“?”
Wang Jing laughed.
Then, after a short pause, she added gently:
“I understand what you meant.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you’re a girl. But you’re starting to look a little too obvious now.”
“Th-thank you…”
One day at a time, Su Yao thought.
She didn’t want to think about what might happen tomorrow.
Just survive today first.
Looking at Wang Jing—who was now really just a friend—
Su Yao breathed a quiet sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from her hands onto her pants.
Wang Jing had been planning to chat longer—
But her phone rang.
After answering it, she looked annoyed and helpless.
“My family’s making me go home.”
“I see. Then you should go.”
Su Yao looked up at her with big, glistening eyes.
She used to think that Wang Jing’s extroverted personality would make it hard for them to get along—
But after today’s conversation, she realized that Wang Jing wasn’t that difficult.
She was blunt but had boundaries.
Not the kind of person who forced herself into someone’s life uninvited.
Even if she was a little clumsy…
Watching Wang Jing walk away, face still showing reluctant annoyance,
Su Yao leaned back in her seat and stretched.
Because her coat was unzipped, the tight sweater underneath clung to her figure.
She still wasn’t wearing anything like a bra—so even without support, the outline was… pretty motivating to look at.
Just as she finished stretching and was about to stand up—
She noticed someone sitting at the next table across from her.
She looked familiar.
That cool, cold woman—
Wasn’t that…?
Now that is what we call communication 😌