Chapter 22: A Misunderstood Heart

In the activity building, Liu Ya hurried around and finally found Ya Qi in the restroom on the first floor, curled up in a corner with her arms around her legs, crying.

“Why did you run here… It smells so bad in here.”

“…”

Hearing Liu Ya’s voice, Ya Qi sniffled, slowly lifted her head, and stared at her blankly.

The sight before her deeply touched the softest, warmest part of Liu Ya’s heart. The figure huddled in the corner was no different from the one in her memory, except this time, it wasn’t her.

Liu Ya walked over, crouched down beside her, and stayed quiet.

“Li… Liu Ya… I… I know I might be dumb, but why does everyone pick on me… I’m really trying my best too… Wuwu…”

As she spoke, Ya Qi buried her face again and started crying. Liu Ya’s heart ached. She wanted to say something but didn’t know what to say.

“Ya Qi, please don’t cry. Ye Nuo isn’t that kind of person.”

“Wuwu…”

“I’m sorry… Actually… I told her she could bully you as she liked, so she did that…”

“Wu… Huh… Wh… why…”

Ya Qi lifted her head and stared at Liu Ya in confusion. Liu Ya lowered her head, feeling guilty.

“I can’t tell you the details… But! I didn’t want others to have wild guesses about you, so I said that!”

“I know you work really hard, Ya Qi, so please don’t cry…”

“Wu…”

Ya Qi rubbed her eyes with her hand and sobbed a couple of times. Liu Ya fished in her pocket and found half a pack of tissues left from who knows when, handing them to her.

“…Here.”

“Mm.”

Ya Qi blew her nose, was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

“Then… the wild guesses… are they about me liking Liu Ya?”

“…Mm.”

“Oh…”

“…”

The two fell into silence. Liu Ya waited anxiously for the next sentence, but it didn’t come. Her heart instantly clenched and hung in the air.

“Besides, Ya Qi… how could you think that… Don’t you not understand love and stuff…”

“It’s because…”

Ya Qi choked up and turned her head away.

“N… Nothing. Before, Liu Ya said that many girls would chase after you, so I guessed…”

“Oh…”

Liu Ya stared blankly at the pale blue floor, clutching her skirt.

“Then… let me ask objectively, don’t overthink it!”

“Mm, go ahead.”

“Ya Qi… do you… like me?”

“Me? Of course I like you.”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Ya Qi answered immediately. Liu Ya looked at her excitedly, the embarrassment and unease on her face instantly dissipating, replaced by a bright smile.

“Actually, I also…”

“But Liu Ya, don’t worry! This kind of liking isn’t the kind you mentioned before. It’s more like the liking for family!”

“Because… in my heart, I’ve always thought of Liu Ya as my little sister!”

Ya Qi blushed slightly and smiled gently at Liu Ya. But Liu Ya’s expression at that moment was terrible, like a shattered mirror, cold, broken.

Her mood felt like a bungee jump without a safety rope, freefalling from ten thousand meters and smashing straight into the concrete.

“I… I see…”

“By the way, what were you about to say just now?”

“…”

Liu Ya instantly stood up, turned around, and tilted her head back.

“Forget it! I… I didn’t say anything!”

“Huh? But I clearly heard…”

“I said I didn’t, so I didn’t! And you have time to slack off here? There’s still a ton of work waiting for you!”

“Hey? Weren’t you here to comfort me…”

“Comfort my ass! You sleep on the job and you think you’re in the right? I only came because no one else was doing the work!”

“How can you be like this…”

Liu Ya rushed out of the restroom without looking back, leaving behind faint traces of glistening droplets that refracted the colorful light streaming in through the window.

Liu Ya kept wiping the tears off her face, but they never seemed to stop. She had mentally prepared for this outcome, but facing it head-on was still unbearable.

Maybe it was precisely because those words came from the heart that they stabbed into Liu Ya like a knife.

‘Don’t cry… Don’t cry, Liu Ya. You knew this would happen. Aren’t you working hard to change things now… What’s so hard to accept…’

‘It’s just a tough road, no big deal… No one knows what the future holds!’

Liu Ya covered her eyes with both hands, tilted her head back, and breathed heavily. The silent corridor felt incredibly noisy at that moment.

After who knows how long, footsteps echoed in the hallway, growing closer.

Hearing the sound, Liu Ya let out a long breath, wiped her face with her hand, adjusted her clothes, and walked to the stairwell to wait for her to come up.

“Ah! You scared me… Liu Ya, what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.”

“Then don’t wait at the corner; you startled me…”

“Let’s go.”

“Hey, wait.”

Ya Qi noticed something off about Liu Ya’s face and tilted her head to get a better look, but Liu Ya turned away, avoiding her gaze. Ya Qi circled half around her and spoke with confusion.

“Liu Ya, were you crying?”

Liu Ya realized her subconscious action had caused trouble, so she stopped dodging. She turned her head straight to look at Ya Qi and said calmly, “No… It’s just that the wind was strong earlier and irritated my eyes. What would I cry about?”

“Oh…”

From the outside, only her eyes were a bit red; nothing else seemed unusual. Ya Qi believed Liu Ya. But neither noticed the damp collar below her neck.

“Stop staring. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Ya Qi followed Liu Ya back to the meeting room. Midway, she subconsciously glanced out the window.

‘Huh? The window isn’t open? Maybe it’s the floor below?’

In the student council room, Ye Nuo couldn’t focus on work either; she twirled her pen between her fingers. When she saw the two return, she immediately stood up, walked in front of Ya Qi, clasped her hands together, and apologized repeatedly.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I was just acting earlier, but I accidentally got carried away… I didn’t mean to make things hard for you!”

“Ahaha… I know. Liu Ya already told me. I’m not mad at you. After all, I really did doze off.”

“No, no! I was just nitpicking! Don’t take it to heart!”

“Your reports are clear and well-organized. There were a few small mistakes, but I didn’t expect you to do this well on your first day! You’re really good!”

“Mm… Really?”

“Mm-hmm!”

Since transferring, this was the first time Ya Qi had received recognition. Her heart felt warm, as if the earlier unpleasantness didn’t matter anymore. A smile spread across her face.

Seeing this, Ye Nuo sighed in relief and said hesitantly, “Can… can I call you Ya Qi?”

“Mm, sure.”

“Mm… Ya Qi, even though it’s not my place to say this… can you forget about what happened? Let’s just pretend we just met. Is that okay…?”

“Hehe, sure.”

“Then! If you don’t understand something in the future, just come ask me. Don’t be shy!”

“Okay.”

The two smiled at each other. Ye Nuo then teased, “Let me tell you, Ya Qi, this whole thing was Liu Ya’s fault! She said you were her enemy, so I treated you like that! She’s so mean!”

“Huh? Liu Ya said that? Haha.” “Exactly! Liu Ya, you… huh?”

Ye Nuo finally noticed Liu Ya leaning against the table, looking exhausted and staring blankly at the floor.

“Liu Ya?”

“Ah? What’s up…”

Ye Nuo saw Liu Ya’s red eyes and also noticed her damp collar. She was a bit confused and leaned closer to Ya Qi.

“Ya Qi, did Liu Ya go find you just now?”

“Mm.”

“Then why are her eyes…”

“Oh, Liu Ya said she was waiting by the window and the wind irritated her eyes, so she rubbed them. I thought she was crying at first too.”

“Ah…?”

Ye Nuo turned to look again. She could hardly believe her eyes, but she was sure she wasn’t mistaken.

‘Seriously, how did she fall for such a cliché excuse? Liu Ya must have cried. Her collar is soaked. Didn’t Ya Qi notice?’

In her confusion, an answer quietly surfaced in Ye Nuo’s mind.

‘But thinking about it, given Liu Ya’s behavior earlier, even though I don’t know what happened between them just now… I think it’s pretty obvious!’

“Ya…”

Ye Nuo pondered for a moment and was about to speak when she felt a gaze that sent a chill down her spine. She looked around and found Liu Ya staring at her coldly.

That look was full of threat. Even without a word, Ye Nuo knew that whatever she was about to say would be her last words.

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Uh… No… Nothing! Ahaha…”

“By the way, Liu Ya! Do you need some eye drops? Since your eyes are irritated, the Student Council still has some that Xueqin didn’t finish.”

“…Fine.”

Ye Nuo quickly changed the subject and awkwardly laughed as she rummaged through the cabinet. Just then, the bell signaling the end of the break rang outside.

“Liu Ya, is the break over?”

“Mm.”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t end up helping much…”

“…Forget it. I expected as much. Anyway, this isn’t urgent. We just need it compiled by next Wednesday. Today was just for getting familiar.”

“Mm. Don’t worry! I won’t make any more mistakes from now on! I promise!”

“Hah, okay. Let’s go.”

Ya Qi smiled apologetically at the two, turned around, and pulled the door open to leave, but she noticed Liu Ya wasn’t following, so she looked back.

“Liu Ya, aren’t you coming?”

“Ye Nuo and I still have some things to finish.”

“Huh? My work is already…”

Before she could finish, Liu Ya shot her a fierce glare. Ye Nuo wisely shut her mouth.

“Ah… right! I still have work… Ya Qi, you go ahead. Bye.”

Ye Nuo waved at Ya Qi with a bitter smile. Seeing this, Ya Qi covered her mouth and chuckled, then waved back, indicating she would go first.

Once the footsteps faded, Liu Ya stood up, closed the door, and locked it.

“Li… Liu Ya?”

Liu Ya cast a fierce glance at her, walked to Ya Qi’s seat, picked up a thick stack of reports, rolled them into a baton, and advanced toward Ye Nuo like a beast.

“Hey, hey?! Wait, Liu Ya! Calm down! Calm down!”

Ye Nuo quickly dodged aside and explained, “You… you can’t blame me entirely, right? You said I could do whatever I wanted… You can’t put it all on me! I was wrong, I was wrong! Spare me…”

Every time Ye Nuo stepped back, Liu Ya matched her step. Until Ye Nuo was backed into a corner with no escape, she resigned herself and closed her eyes, trembling.

“G… gently…”

Liu Ya swung without any hesitation. With a “smack,” the paper baton hit the wall beside Ye Nuo’s face.

Ye Nuo flinched in fright. After a moment, feeling no pain, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Li… Liu Ya?”

“Lend me the next volume of the novel by the end of school today! And I want those three books I mentioned before too!”

“Huh? Oh! Okay! Okay! I’ll give them all to you! Um… there’s also one more, an alphabet education theme you like that just came out yesterday. Do you… want it?”

“Yes!”

“G… Got it!”

Liu Ya slowly straightened up, put down the baton, turned around, walked to the door, and unlocked it.

“And…”

“Yes!” Ye Nuo immediately stood at attention.

“Don’t tell anyone about today.”

“Mm… mm.” Ye Nuo paused for a moment, then agreed softly.

“Remember to lock the door.”

“Okay…”

With that, Liu Ya left. Ye Nuo slumped to the floor like a deflated ball, letting out a long sigh of relief.

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