Chapter 27 : Interlude: Your Words Still Love Him

“Phew.”

Shen Yingxu met Ye Qingshu’s gaze on the steps, walked over, and sat beside her.

“…”

Silence hung between the two girls, heavy like the chill of early winter, tangling and twisting.

“I heard…”

“Um…”

They exchanged glances, both wearing awkward expressions.

“Ye Qingshu, you go first~” Shen Yingxu quickly dropped her topic.

“No, mine’s not important. Class President, is there something you want to tell me?”

Ye Qingshu asked softly.

“Oh, just… my guess, since I’m not that close with Zhu Hanqi.”

Shen Yingxu, who once claimed to be Zhu Hanqi’s ex-girlfriend, said this, making Ye Qingshu marvel inwardly.

Shen Yingxu is so kind. To ease my mind, she’s even willing to tell such a lie.

“Have you two… not made up yet?”

Blinking, Ye Qingshu lowered her head.

“Made up or not… I don’t even know.”

“Maybe Zhu Hanqi never changed, or maybe I changed so much that I think he did.”

She looked up at her sister’s burned-out sparkler.

“Some things can’t be fixed by ‘making up.’ Cracks between people, even if patched, still leave gaps.”

“How could I expect to make up? I know I don’t have that right—I just want to start over.”

…What’s this girl on about?

Shen Yingxu kept her gentle smile, but inside, her thoughts were a stampede.

Zhu Hanqi saying no need to make up, I get. But what’s Ye Qingshu even saying?

What is their relationship? Can’t someone just give a straight answer?!

“But I’m really grateful to everyone. I caused this mess, yet none of you gave up on me,” Ye Qingshu said, looking at Shen Yingxu with gratitude. “Especially you, Class President. You should hate me most, but you’ve always looked out for me.”

Why would I hate you the most?!

Shen Yingxu’s eyes widened.

She suddenly regretted knocking Zhu Hanqi out with that cookie—at least then, someone could translate.

“Uh, why would you think that?”

“It’s simple—because of who you are.”

Shen Yingxu’s heart sank. Oh no, is Ye Qingshu a transmigrator too? Did she figure out my Saintess identity?

Ye Qingshu, with an air of knowing acceptance, smiled softly, bathed in the evening breeze, telling a tale of regret.

“You’re Zhu Hanqi’s ex-girlfriend, right?”

Shen Yingxu’s heart sank again. It’s been so long, I forgot about that cover!

“Zhu Hanqi couldn’t have had a girlfriend before first year. But you’re so gentle and kind, always caring about him, so I believe you really were his ex.”

Shen Yingxu gaped.

Can you not believe that?

And, just maybe, the one I’ve been worried about, stuck too close to that Demon King, is you, Ye Qingshu?! You’re his childhood friend, so I said that to…

But Ye Qingshu kept talking.

“So, you and Zhu Hanqi must’ve dated in second or third year, right? I thought I still knew him back then, but now I see I was fooling myself. I didn’t even know this—it’s laughable.”

Not laughable at all. Zhu Hanqi himself doesn’t know…

Shen Yingxu wailed internally.

“Honestly, thinking about it, I feel… ugly resentment,” Ye Qingshu said, eyes downcast.

“I pushed him away, hurt him. No one might believe it, but I never liked anyone else… I hung out with those seniors just for vanity, to keep my status.”

She gave a smile sadder than tears.

“But I deserve it. After saying those things, it’s only right he found a girlfriend. Especially someone like you, Shen Yingxu, who makes me feel so inferior.”

“Tch, that’s too much praise…”

“It’s true. I hate being called Class 7’s second-cutest girl, probably because deep down, I know it’s true.”

Ye Qingshu’s green eyes met Shen Yingxu’s.

“And I want to apologize to you.”

Too late to clarify, Shen Yingxu braced herself and asked, “Why?”

“Though I don’t know why you broke up, I can tell you still like him.”

Haha.

Shen Yingxu’s smile froze, her soul scattering.

What did I do to make Ye Qingshu, an outsider, think I like that guy?

Classmates’ misunderstandings came from her acting. But Ye Qingshu was someone she avoided to prevent this exact misconception!

“Your words still love him”?!

Where’d I show that? I’ll fix it!

“Maybe I’m overthinking, but I feel your breakup partly stems from my mistakes. I left Zhu Hanqi with nowhere to go, made him lonely and distrustful…”

Shen Yingxu watched Ye Qingshu take blame for a nonexistent fault, knowing this misunderstanding was unfixable.

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault. He’s just a messy bundle of quirks,” Shen Yingxu said numbly, desperate to end this. “We broke up over personality clashes. I don’t care that much!”

If this didn’t stop, she’d be cast as the lovesick heroine.

But now, her “relationship” with Zhu Hanqi was even murkier.

“But I also want to thank you. You gave me courage to start anew,” Ye Qingshu said.

See! Here it comes!!

Ye Qingshu gently grabbed Shen Yingxu’s ashen hand.

“Like you, I want to begin again after everything. We might be rivals, but I also want to be friends and get along.”

Her smile held relief and sincerity, forcing Shen Yingxu to muster a response.

“Well… nice to work with you…”

She deeply regretted sitting here.

…

“Chatting?”

As a weary Shen Yingxu stood to leave, Zhu Lulubing came downstairs.

Facing Zhu Hanqi’s “current girlfriend,” Ye Qingshu’s expression grew complex, while Shen Yingxu, somewhat in the know, nodded numbly.

“Anything up, Zhu Lulubing?”

Recalling her Zero Witch vibe from Sephirian Continent, Shen Yingxu instinctively stayed wary, despite Zhu Lulubing claiming no memory of that world. She didn’t buy it.

“My boyfriend asked me to give you something.”

Huh?

Realizing she meant Zhu Hanqi, Shen Yingxu took the item under Ye Qingshu’s curious gaze.

“…Huh?”

A sketch.

One Shen Yingxu knew better than anyone.

She’d drawn it herself in the art club.

In it, a long-haired girl in a white dress stood among teammates. Unlike before, when her face was a blank void, she now had a relaxed, closed-eye smile.

“He said if you’re recalling memories, you should include your own smile. Otherwise, they in the sketch and you outside it are too lonely.”

“He drew this for you. I’m just delivering—as a peace symbol.”

Revenge for forcing him to eat my cookie?

Sighing, Shen Yingxu clutched the sketch, muttering, “The real culprit’s got some nerve.”

She gently traced its edges.

Under the night sky, the long-haired girl smiled faintly at Zhu Lulubing.

“Tell him this for me.”

“—‘Nice sketch, but he’s such a meddler!’”

She shouted, as if volume and bravado could hide emotions she wouldn’t admit.

Ye Qingshu looked up, her “I knew it” expression clear.

…

Due to her curfew, Shen Yingxu left early, clutching the sketch.

By the street, watching her lighter steps, Ye Qingshu glanced at Zhu Lulubing beside her.

As Zhu Hanqi’s “current girlfriend,” despite denials from him and the school, she clung to the title.

Ye Qingshu wasn’t sure how to interact.

“Zhu Lulubing, you came to our house for dinner too.”

Making small talk, Ye Qingshu felt far shyer with her than with Shen Yingxu.

“Yeah. I was worried about Zhu Hanqi.”

“Y-Your relationship’s really close…”

“The closest in the world.”

Her firm reply caught Ye Qingshu off guard, sparking a bit of defiance.

“Tch, I see. My relationship with Zhu Hanqi’s pretty…”

“How dare you say that?”

“Huh?”

Zhu Lulubing’s icy expression made Ye Qingshu step back.

“Zhu Hanqi forgives you. I don’t.”

Her crimson, sunset-like eyes turned cold.

“I hate anyone who makes Zhu Hanqi lonely. You’re the one I hate most.”

Her words, like a queen’s judgment, were flat.

Unlike her usual self, she was a chilling Snow Witch, leaving Ye Qingshu breathless.

“You abandoned him, left him to a pitiful middle school. Now in high school, you shamelessly want to make up…”

“N-No, I cut ties with Yang Xinwei by second year’s end. I got anonymous threats, felt I had no right to fix things, so I didn’t in third year…”

Ye Qingshu clenched her fists.

“Then in high school, same class, new faces, I thought I could start over…”

“You only turned back because you saw Zhu Hanqi valued again, unable to accept that what you threw away was precious.”

Like an arrow to her heart, Zhu Lulubing’s unmasked hostility and harsh judgment stung.

“I-I…”

“Without Shen Yingxu and me, you’d never have apologized. You haven’t changed, Ye Qingshu. You’re always vain, always leaning on… Zhu Hanqi’s kindness.”

Like a dragon guarding her territory, Zhu Lulubing raised her hand, and a cold gust knocked Ye Qingshu to the ground.

“I helped you only because Zhu Hanqi needed me to… but I hate you. Stay away from him.”

She declared, stepping toward her waiting RV.

“Or I’ll freeze you into a block of ice and silence you forever.”

“I keep my word.”

Her cold glance carried bone-chilling menace.

Like a fearsome fairy-tale witch.