I Fell In Love With My Rival (GL) - Chapter 26.2

“A joke?” Su Chunyin instantly understood. She stepped closer, grabbed Fu Erqiu’s collar. “You think I’m playing with you?”

Fu Erqiu looked down. “Aren’t you?”

“I—”

“Bullshit!”

Su Chunyin was furious. She had been chasing so seriously, and Fu Erqiu called it a joke?

Fu Erqiu adjusted the charcoal again. “Su Chunyin, look—I’m a girl.”

“And I see that perfectly well.” Su Chunyin leaned in, scanning her closely, then nodded. “Yes. You’re a girl.”

Fu Erqiu turned sharply. “I’m not Lu Fang. I’m not some cute boy who can satisfy your hormonal teenage crush.”

Su Chunyin muttered, “Why’d you have to bring up Lu Fang…”

Fu Erqiu leaned closer. “What?”

“I said—” Su Chunyin stood abruptly. Her lips brushed Fu Erqiu’s cheek as she leaned in, her breath hot by her ear. “Your lips are really soft.”

She wasn’t referring to anything recent—but rather that time Fu Erqiu had given her CPR.

Su Chunyin didn’t stick around. Like Song Rao, she casually walked off to check on the meat skewers, never looking back.

She didn’t notice the figure behind her frozen in place, ears burning red.

After leaving, her pace quickened with each step.

Damn that Fu Erqiu.

She likes girls, and yet she’s feeding me all that crap—had me doubting whether she’s even into women at all.

A girl with softly curled hair stood by the car door. When she saw Fu Erqiu step out, she flashed her a smile.

“From here on out, don’t go wandering off. Stick with us, dear teammate~”

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She shook her head. No way—how could Song Rao possibly have gotten false information? Su Chunyin let out a cold laugh. So, what if she wasn’t actually a lesbian? She wasn’t one either, but that hadn’t stopped her from chasing after Lu Fang, had it?

Still, despite her words, Su Chunyin deep down had never truly doubted the possibility that Fu Erqiu might like women.

Meanwhile, the skewer prep was going smoothly. A girl who had once been a class monitor was leading the group, and everyone worked in an orderly fashion. When Su Chunyin arrived, Song Rao was in the middle of chattering away with the leader. Seeing Su Chunyin approach, she rolled her eyes without reservation.

“I went out of my way to create a chance for you two to be alone. Why are you back so soon?”

Su Chunyin glanced at the girl beside her. Song Rao understood, murmured something to the girl, then walked over with a handful of skewers.

“What happened?” she asked.

Su Chunyin kicked a pebble at her feet in frustration. “Fu Erqiu thinks I’m just playing with her.”

“Playing?” Song Rao laughed with interest. “Aren’t you?”

Su Chunyin was annoyed. “Hey!”

Song Rao stopped laughing and threw an arm around her shoulder. “Miss Miaomiao, just don’t forget what you’re really after while you’re playing. Don’t get yourself tangled up.”

For some reason, Su Chunyin felt a twinge of guilt. “I haven’t forgotten. I’ll dump her after I get her to fall for me.”

Song Rao gave her a long look. “Just don’t get too attached when the time comes.”

Su Chunyin lacked conviction. She wasn’t even confident she could actually win her over, and here she was talking about dumping her afterward? But in front of Song Rao, pride wouldn’t allow her to back down.

“I don’t even really like her. I’m not even a lesbian. What would I get attached for?”

Song Rao watched her for a moment, then sighed. “If you’d gone after Lu Fang this boldly back then, you might have had a chance.”

“Lu Fang…” Su Chunyin pictured the scene for a moment. Strangely, she couldn’t imagine it at all. “Forget it. I could never bring myself to do those things in front of him.”

Delivering meals, letters, flowers… way too cringey.

“True.” Song Rao nodded. “We’re all way too familiar with each other. If you’d really done that, Lu Fang probably would’ve told you to go get your head checked.”

Once the skewers were done, the leader girl started directing everyone to prep vegetables. Song Rao handed Su Chunyin the meat skewers she’d made. “Fu Erqiu’s probably got the fire going. Take these over and grill them.”

Su Chunyin took the big handful of skewers and headed back. Sure enough, Fu Erqiu had the fire started. A crowd had gathered around the grill, each person cooking their own food.

Su Chunyin placed her skewers to the side and started grilling. She wasn’t used to doing this kind of thing, and in no time, her skewers were burnt black on the outside and raw on the inside.

She spat out the half-raw meat in disgust and was about to switch to grilling vegetables when, all of a sudden, a golden, crispy chicken wing was handed to her, still steaming and fragrant.

The person handing it over—none other than Fu Erqiu—didn’t look at her directly, only muttered under her breath, “This one’s done. Eat it.”

Su Chunyin blinked in surprise, then beamed sweetly. “Thanks, Qiuqiu-jie~”

Let’s see you keep pretending now! Who’s chasing who, huh? You’re the one handing me food now!

Su Chunyin had discovered the trick to getting Fu Erqiu to pay attention to her: mess up while grilling meat, fumble when cooking veggies, even fail to open her drink bottle—then, naturally, she’d get to enjoy perfectly grilled skewers, expertly cooked veggies, and drinks handed to her with the cap already unscrewed.

At first, the two of them stood at opposite ends of the grill, but as they kept barbecuing, they gradually inched closer together. Su Chunyin happily picked up a skewer of pork belly grilled by Fu Erqiu.

Though the meat had only been marinated by a not-so-skilled student and the flavor was mediocre at best, Fu Erqiu’s grilling was spot-on—crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, perfectly cooked without being burnt or dry. Su Chunyin devoured it all.

Eyes half-closed in satisfaction as she savored the taste, Su Chunyin smugly thought to herself: Looks like I was right—Fu Erqiu really is the type who responds to gentleness, not force. If you want her to soften up and care about you, all you have to do is act a little weak or clueless, show some vulnerability.

After finishing the last skewer, Su Chunyin felt pleasantly stuffed. With how soft-hearted you are, Fu Erqiu, isn’t it only a matter of time before I win you over?

After lunch, the supervising teacher led everyone on a detailed tour of the scenic area, visiting spots they hadn’t gotten to in the morning. Once all the planned sites had been seen, the teacher announced that the next few hours were free time. Everyone just needed to return to the entrance of the park by 7 p.m.

After reiterating the safety precautions, several fun-loving students couldn’t wait and immediately scattered in all directions.

Linming Mountain was covered with maple trees, and now was the peak of the season. The fiery red leaves blanketed the hills in layers of color. Even areas not formally marked as part of the scenic route looked stunning.

Song Rao wasn’t interested in the typical tourist spots. She led more than ten classmates straight to the amusement park behind the scenic area. Linming Mountain was well-known, and aside from some undeveloped land, most of it had already been commercialized. A sizable amusement park had been built behind the scenic zone, surrounded by guesthouses, farm stays, and rental shops for camping gear.

Song Rao had a clear goal. She didn’t even glance at the Ferris wheel or roller coaster. Instead, she headed straight to the haunted house located on the far edge of the amusement park.

Excited, she leaned over to whisper in Su Chunyin’s ear, “This haunted house is super famous! I’ve been dying to try it.”

Though she spoke softly, someone nearby overheard and chimed in, “Of course! Rumor has it you can actually see real ghosts in there!”

Gasps erupted around them. “Seriously?!”

The boy, pleased with all the attention, continued, “They say that when the park was being designed, they wanted it to feel ultra-realistic, so they included part of the undeveloped mountain in the layout. A lot of people online claim they’ve seen a female ghost there—dressed in red, hanging from a noose!”

Li Zihan quickly wavered. “That part of the mountain’s undeveloped—it could be dangerous. Why don’t we try something else? The other attractions here look fun too.”

Song Rao was just about to speak when the boy smirked and said, “What, are you scared?” His gaze swept across the group of about a dozen teens with a hint of mockery. “If anyone’s really afraid of ghosts, then just back out now.”

They were all teenagers, and no one wanted to be called a coward. Even Li Zihan, who had second thoughts, planted her feet firmly.

No one backed down. And so, it was decided—they would do the haunted house.

The entrance was narrow, and the ticket seller only allowed people in pairs, with a fifteen-minute interval between each pair. The boy who spoke earlier went in with a girl, while the rest sat around playing games.

Tired of playing “Fight the Landlord,” the group switched to Truth or Dare using a deck of cards. The game was played like this: cards were shuffled, the first person to reveal a card became the “Questioner.” If another person later drew a card of the same number, they became the “Responder.” The Responder had to answer a question from the Questioner or accept a dare if they refused.

Several rounds passed, but neither Song Rao nor Su Chunyin were chosen. They chatted quietly off to the side. Song Rao said, “That haunted house is probably just overhyped online. If it were really haunted, it would’ve been shut down by now. I bet the area is just too wild and undeveloped—people with weak nerves probably imagine things.”

Su Chunyin nodded in agreement. She didn’t believe there were any real ghosts either, and she thought of herself as pretty brave—certainly not someone who’d be scared of a haunted house.

Song Rao nudged her with her elbow. “Hey, since it’s two people per entry, I’ll stall a bit. You and Fu Erqiu go in last. In a dark, creepy place like that… what if the top student is scared of ghosts? They say facing danger together makes people fall in love faster… what was it called again…? Oh, right—the suspension bridge effect!”

“Anyway, just go in with her. Even if she’s not scared, pretend you are. Cling to her a little, act afraid—hug her or hide in her arms or whatever. It’ll help you two get closer, understand?”

Su Chunyin nodded and glanced toward Fu Erqiu, who was sitting with another group playing Truth or Dare, looking a bit distracted.

Song Rao followed her gaze and grinned. “Looks like Study Queen is lost in thought. Perfect.”

She winked. “Wanna ask her a question?”

Just then, the first two who had gone into the haunted house returned. Everyone turned to look. Though they were sweating a bit, they didn’t seem panicked.

“It’s just some typical jump scares. Nothing scary at all. That stuff online is all fake!”

The group’s attention shifted to them, and Su Chunyin was a beat late responding to Song Rao’s earlier question. “Huh? What question?”

Song Rao just smiled and said nothing.

A new round of cards began, this time dealing counterclockwise from Song Rao.

Su Chunyin drew a “2” and immediately flipped it over. No one before her had drawn the same number, making her the Questioner.

Card after card was flipped. It seemed like she’d go unpaired again—until Fu Erqiu drew a heart-suit “2.”

Cheers erupted as everyone realized the match. Song Rao winked at Su Chunyin. “Make it count.”

Su Chunyin looked at Fu Erqiu—and just then, their eyes met. She asked, “What kind of person do you like?”