Chapter 22 : Interlude: A Cornered Beast

“Who was it?!”

“Which idiot leaked it?!”

“I told you a million times—keep it low-key, low-key, LOW-KEY! Why the hell did it still get out?!”

In the tennis clubroom, the chaos was fueled by the president’s furious roars.

Thanks to the training noise outside, the wails in here didn’t echo out, or this would’ve been one of Linjiang High’s seven unsolved mysteries.

On the sofa, Yang Xinwei coldly watched the frantic president.

“What’s the point of freaking out now? Maybe it’s because you didn’t screen properly, and some newbie did something stupid.”

“Bullshit! You think I’d hand that stuff to any random new member? You think I’m you, letting my d*ck call the shots?!”

“Say that again.”

“What’re you gonna do about it?!” The president was livid. “If you hadn’t gone all out for that freshman girl, would I have had to disband the group?!”

“I don’t get it, Yang Xinwei. Is she made of ice or did she steal your soul? Failed in middle school, so you’re trying again in high school?!”

Those still in the room were old friends from middle school, but right now, no one had the mood to calm these two down.

“The resource-sharing group’s been disbanded?”

“Obviously. I got called to the discipline office last time… I feel like they’re already onto us.”

“I-I didn’t do anything! I just joked around in the group a few times.”

“Shut up. We’re all in this together now. Better think about how to deal with them… I saw the cops at school yesterday.”

“All because Zhu Lulubing’s photos were in there, right? Weird, who took those?”

Li Xiaowan’s murmur made both the president and Yang Xinwei’s faces darken.

“You’re right—who did take Zhu Lulubing’s photos?”

Yang Xinwei’s low voice met the president’s savage, man-eating glare, his bespectacled, refined facade gone, replaced by cold menace.

“Any of us take her photos? Li Xiaowan, any girls you know who did?”

Feeling all eyes on her, Li Xiaowan put on a timid, delicate act.

“I-I don’t know… I just thought it’s weird… Zhu Lulubing’s hard to photograph, and this angle’s odd—c-could she have let someone take her back?”

A brief silence fell over the clubroom, then the president hurled a tennis ball at Yang Xinwei.

“…And you say it’s not your fault!”

“It’s Ye Qingshu!! She’s the one who’d do this, who could do this!!”

Li Xiaowan’s hint clicked, even for the slowest in the room. With no one else photographing Zhu Lulubing, only someone in her tight circle could’ve gotten her to cooperate.

And before the link blew up, the only one with a motive was Ye Qingshu.

“Why not suspect Mu Ziqing or Zhu Hanqi, those first-years?”

Yang Xinwei eyed the president.

“Yeah, could be Mu Ziqing or Zhu Hanqi,” Li Xiaowan chimed in. “But Mu Ziqing doesn’t seem close to Zhu Lulubing, and Zhu Hanqi’s even…”

No one noticed the flicker of fear in her eyes at that name.

“—a spineless simp.”

Following Li Xiaowan’s lead, the president continued.

“That explains it. Zhu Hanqi’s useless, but Ye Qingshu’s his white moonlight. If she asked, he’s probably the only one who could convince Zhu Lulubing to help. Has to be.”

“Ye Qingshu caught your boneheaded threats, but she’s not the spineless princess you thought. She’s not just reporting it—she’s stirring the pot, making it bigger before going to the police—”

“Yang Xinwei! This is all because of your dumbass, horny brain!! You’ve screwed us all!!”

With the president’s roar, Yang Xinwei coolly scanned the room.

The juniors and seniors who once called him brother now glared with resentment and suspicion, despite being cut from the same cloth, now blaming him.

The president all but had “get lost” written on his forehead. Ironically, Li Xiaowan, the dumb girl, was the only one showing any pity, but he had no way to thank her now.

“So, you all think it’s my fault, huh?”

He spoke, inexplicably recalling how he’d orchestrated the rift between Ye Qingshu and Zhu Hanqi.

“N-No way…” Li Xiaowan tried to speak for him. “E-Even if Senpai made some mistakes, there’s no real harm done. We can apologize, say it was a joke! The photos aren’t even that explicit, just close-up candids…”

“Sure, if we’d done that early, it’d pass as a prank. But we spread rumors first.”

The president seemed to explain to Li Xiaowan, but it was really for Yang Xinwei.

“And with Zhu Lulubing’s photos pinned on us, no matter how we spin it—no one’s forgiving us. Classmates want to crush pests, and adults fear for their careers.”

“It’s past the point of ‘overzealous pursuit, sorry, let’s drink it off.’ Someone’s gotta pay.”

The president and everyone in the room stared at Yang Xinwei.

“Someone’s gotta pay.”

“…You push me like this, aren’t you afraid I’ll come for you later?”

With the masks off, Yang Xinwei laughed.

These unreliable bastards—when they were profiting off his schemes, they scrambled to join in.

Now that things went south, they’re all turncoats.

“Stab a few to death or something. If I’m cornered like this, might as well go all out.”

“Y-Yang-senpai, everyone, no need for that talk! W-We’re the tennis club, one big happy family, right?”

Li Xiaowan looked ready to cry.

“Share the gains, ditch the pain,” Yang Xinwei said, staring at the president.

“…We won’t snitch on you. We can promise that, since we’d get dragged in too.”

Finally, the president spoke again.

“But you need to promise us. If this blows up, we’ll wash our hands clean. This was your call, not ours. We just… joked too far.”

He adjusted his glasses.

“That’s our biggest concession, deal? Yang Xinwei.”

…

Watching Yang Xinwei’s silent departure, even those who’d cut ties with him wore somber, pitying looks.

“Break it up. No matter who asks, we know nothing,” the president said, clapping his hands. “It was all Yang Xinwei’s idea. As for those candids, they started as pranks. Stop doing it, and we’ll be fine.”

Li Xiaowan and the others nodded numbly, heads down, leaving the clubroom.

She glanced around, then slipped to a secluded corner of the school’s back courtyard.

There, a boy leaned against the wall, smirking at her.

“I-I did everything as you instructed,” Li Xiaowan said softly. “Y-Yang Xinwei’s been ostracized by the whole tennis club. He’s alone now…”

Seeing the boy reach out, she flinched back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! No bugs, no cockroaches in my ears, please!!”

“Seriously, I’m not a devil.”

The boy laughed, gently patting her head.

“You did great. Now, go to the discipline office and report certain things—no need for me to spell it out, right?”

“I-I know, I’ll do it. I’m so sorry, really, really sorry…”

Looking at the girl nodding like a broken doll, the boy gave a wry smile, spreading his hands.

“Making me out to be the bad guy when you’re the villains?”

His gaze flicked to a corner, lips curving.

“Bye-bye, Li Xiaowan~”

…Watching the boy vanish, Li Xiaowan shakily touched her head and shoulders.

No cockroaches, spiders, or centipedes.

Clutching her chest, she gripped her fist, hesitating.

Finally, she gritted her teeth, resolve hardening, and turned.

“It’s really you.”

She froze, eyes wide with disbelief at the figure before her.

“Why you?”

A knife plunged into her abdomen, the figure twisting it clockwise with feral rage.

“You’re nothing!!”

Yang Xinwei’s face, once calm and composed, now held only the desperate madness and venom of a cornered fugitive.

“You dare betray me! You dare betray me! You DARE BETRAY ME!!!”