Chapter 32: Hurry and get yourself dressed up

“Eh—?”

Mu Xi let out a lazy, just-woken-up sound mixed with a hint of surprise into the phone’s microphone.

The morning sunlight had just barely crept onto the windowsill when Mu Yurou’s call came in impatiently.

“Why… do I have to go too?”

Mu Xi rubbed her sleepy silver-red eyes, her voice carrying a hoarse edge from not having fully woken up.

“Because Elder Sister’s been cooped up at home these past few days!”

Mu Yurou’s clear voice came through the receiver, filled with an intimacy that brooked no refusal.

“Why not go out shopping with us? Get some fresh air!”

“You two lovebirds are going out on a date…”

Mu Xi sighed helplessly, burying her face into the soft pillow, her voice muffled.

“…Why drag me along as an Electric Lightbulb…”

“Hey! Don’t say that!”

Mu Yurou immediately retorted, her voice tinged with embarrassment.

“It’s not a date! We’re just… just going out to hang out!”

“I heard that!”

A livelier, teasing voice cut in—it was Huang Xi.

“Mu Xi Sister is right~ It is a date!” She deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

“But, you see… there’s a certain Sister Control who’s really worried about you and just wants you to come out and relax a bit…”

“Huang Xi! Don’t say nonsense!”

Mu Yurou’s voice rose in a mix of shyness and indignation.

“I’m not making it up! We’re just… Hey?! Wait! Don’t grab me! Don’t… don’t scratch! Ah ah ah~ It’s ticklish!”

Huang Xi’s voice instantly shifted to playful protest and laughter.

“That’s what you get for talking nonsense! That’s what you get!”

Mu Yurou’s voice came with a tone full of ‘revenge’.

“Stop… stop touching! Not there! We literally just—ah ah ah~”

The other end of the call erupted with Huang Xi’s exaggerated, breathy, playful screams mixed with the rustling of fabric, making one blush just listening.

Hearing the unabashed, youthful banter of the couple through the receiver, Mu Xi held the phone and let out a long sigh filled with complicated emotions.

“Fine then…” she finally relented, her voice calm, resigned.

“…I’ll go.”

Without waiting for a reply, she pressed the hang-up button.

Silence instantly returned to the room, broken only by occasional birdsong outside the window.

“Tsk tsk tsk…”

Mu Ming, who had somehow already settled on the edge of the bed, propped her chin on her hands.

Her black hair was a little messy, and her ruby eyes sparkled mischievously as her small mouth pursed.

“They’re really close, huh~”

Mu Xi tossed the phone aside, turned over, and sat up, glancing at her.

“Are you jealous?”

“Are you not?”

Mu Ming quickly countered, leaning forward toward Mu Xi, her expression turning serious.

“Having friends to play and joke with… comrades to fight side by side with, entrusting life and death… and lovers to share every secret with and rely on…”

Her voice held a strange penetrating power.

“…Aren’t these things you once had… or… have always secretly yearned for?”

Mu Ming’s gaze locked onto Mu Xi’s eyes as if trying to see into her soul.

“But I…”

Mu Xi’s eyes instantly darkened, as if a deepest wound had been touched.

Her shoulders slumped slightly, voice low and almost broken.

“…I killed them with my own hands.”

The coldness and bloodiness of that rainy night seemed to seep back into the air.

Mu Xi couldn’t forgive herself.

Even though it had been the only choice at the time…

Even though it was to prevent an even greater catastrophe…

The touch of her hands stained with the warm blood of close friends… was an indelible mark of guilt.

She bore a heavy shackle.

She even… owed them a barbecue date she would never be able to fulfill.

“Don’t you have that now?”

Mu Ming’s voice suddenly broke the heavy mood, tinged with a little pride.

She straightened her flat chest and looked at Mu Xi with sparkling red eyes.

“For example… me~”

Mu Xi was momentarily stunned, looking at her in surprise.

“Are we… actually friends?”

“Aren’t we?!”

Mu Ming’s eyes widened, counting on her fingers with a self-righteous tone.

“Shopping! Eating! Watching movies! Even sleeping together!”

She raised a finger for each item she listed.

“Which of those haven’t we done?!”

“We’re like this…”

She suddenly leaned close to Mu Xi’s face, their noses nearly touching, her red eyes filled with a ‘Does this even need to be asked?’ expression.

“…And we’re not friends?!”

(You’re just the one who keeps pestering and dragging me along…)

Mu Xi thought silently.

“So, you see~”

Mu Ming’s tone suddenly shifted to earnest, carrying a ‘been-there-done-that’ vibe.

She casually wrapped an arm around Mu Xi’s somewhat slight shoulders and pulled her a little closer.

The gesture was intimate, yet carried an undeniable firmness.

“Don’t always lock yourself inside your shell, stranded on a lonely island~”

Mu Ming’s voice was coaxing, almost teasing.

“Isn’t it better to let some… people who love you… have a chance to break into your heart?”

She paused, her red eyes fixed on Mu Xi’s somewhat stunned profile, adding pointedly:

“…Like… me~”

People who love me?

That little creature… said she loves me?

A strange warmth suddenly rushed up Mu Xi’s cheeks!

Her heart skipped a beat, and her face flushed faintly.

But quickly, cold reason returned.

Just a witch’s… teasing tactic.

Trying to lull me with sweet words… so I’d be easier to run away from later?

She shook her head hard, as if to fling off the unrealistic thoughts and the heat on her face.

Her voice returned to its usual coldness:

“Don’t joke like that.”

“Hehe…”

Mu Ming didn’t argue, simply withdrawing her arm and shrugging with a mischievous smile.

“Just pretend… I’m joking~”

She shifted gears, scrutinizing Mu Xi from head to toe with a critical eye.

“And look at you…”

She pointed at Mu Xi’s eternally unchanged Homebody Uniform—a loose black hoodie, a black pleated mini skirt, and opaque black tights.

“This afternoon you’re going out with your cute little sister!”

“Are you really planning… to wear this?”

“Aren’t you even going to wash your face properly?”

She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“And your hair’s a total mess!”

Mu Xi looked down at herself, then touched her slightly tousled silver hair.

“What’s wrong?”

Her tone held a hint of stubbornness and confusion.

“I think… it’s pretty comfortable…”

“Oh no, no way!”

Mu Ming immediately jumped off the bed like a fluffed-up kitten.

Without asking, she grabbed Mu Xi’s wrist and tugged her toward the bathroom.

“Go! Get yourself properly dressed!”

“At least look good enough to walk next to me!”