Marked by My Omega Rival After Moving In (GL, ABO) - Chapter 8

“…Get some rest.”

Throwing out those words in a fluster, Yu Xiaoxiao fled the guest bedroom like she was escaping.

She gently closed the door behind her and tiptoed over to the sofa. Only after sinking into it did she finally let out a long breath. Then, suddenly, she raised her hands to cover her burning face.

Her fingers felt the strange warmth spreading across her cheeks, and even her ears were burning like she had a fever.

Her heart was pounding unnaturally fast in her chest.

This wasn’t right—

Yu Xiaoxiao scowled, shut her eyes tight, and tried to clear the chaotic mess in her head. She willed the heat in her face to go away.

But that image from moments ago forced its way back into her mind—and refused to leave.

It was Xiang Shuhuai, sitting on the bed, clutching her rumpled collar with one hand and tilting her head to look up at her.

Xiang Shuhuai’s skin was pale—almost translucent from lack of color—but her cheeks were slightly flushed from the low fever. She looked up at Yu Xiaoxiao with a faint blush, her soft pink lips pressed together and her dark eyes shimmering with moisture. Even though she was calm, there was a kind of delicate glow in her gaze, like morning dew on a spring lake.

…And around her open collar, there was a glimpse of soft, moon-pale skin.

That pale skin had started to show red marks from when Yu Xiaoxiao had roughly pushed her back into bed just moments earlier.

Just the thought of it sent another wave of heat rushing through Yu Xiaoxiao, and her face turned even redder.

Her heart wouldn’t stop racing.

But she was… she was that cold-hearted Big Ice Block!

Yu Xiaoxiao tried to squash the wild thoughts running through her mind.

She was the person Yu Xiaoxiao disliked most, the one who fought with her over Youyou-jie!

Maybe it was the fever, but Xiang Shuhuai seemed strangely soft today. Normally, Yu Xiaoxiao would’ve never thought to use Youyou-jie as an excuse to force her into bed to rest, and definitely wouldn’t have blushed just from seeing the skin on her neck…

But looking into those eyes—so different from usual, misty and gentle like melting ice—Yu Xiaoxiao had acted on instinct and reached out to touch Xiang Shuhuai’s neck, resting her forehead against hers to check for fever.

Xiang Shuhuai had looked surprised too. Yu Xiaoxiao vaguely remembered hearing that the neck was a private area for people who had already presented. Maybe she really didn’t understand this stuff well enough. And of all people, it had to be Xiang Shuhuai.

Now that she thought about it, it made no sense. Even the skin on her forehead that had touched Xiang Shuhuai’s felt like it was burning.

But she was Xiang Shuhuai.

A wave of frustration washed over her. Yu Xiaoxiao wished she could grab the earlier version of herself by the collar and demand, Why the hell did you do that?!

Her chest still buzzed with the aftershock of her racing heartbeat. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t calm down.

Trying to distract herself, Yu Xiaoxiao grabbed her phone and skimmed through some new messages.

The group chat with her usual crowd of troublemaker friends was blowing up, with everyone gossiping about new relationship drama. The messages were coming in fast. Yu Xiaoxiao hesitated, then typed out a few messages and sent them.

Fish: What if…

Fish: I mean what if…

Fish: What if my heart started racing and my face got red because someone was acting different than usual?

Fish: What would that mean?

Like a drop of water hitting hot oil, the group chat exploded.

[Big news alert!!]
[Our little Fish has finally, finally, moved on??]
[Who is it??]
[Do we know them??]
[I always thought you and Youyou-jie weren’t a good match tbh]
[So who is it??]
[Seriously, Youyou-jie is nice and all, but she never really saw you as an adult. And she’s way out of our league anyway. It’s good to let it go—now tell us, who is it??]

The messages kept coming, most of them just teasing, some pretending to be serious but all clearly fishing for gossip. Yu Xiaoxiao panicked and started typing furiously to defend herself.

Fish: No!!

Fish: It’s really not!!

Fish: I’m not that kind of—

Fish: I didn’t!!

Fish: I still like Youyou-jie!! No way it’s someone else!!

Fish: My face was just red, that’s all

Fish: I hate her!!

[Really?]

A new message popped up.

[Then just say it—do you have “those kinds of” feelings for her or not?]

Yu Xiaoxiao stared at the screen and unconsciously read it aloud. “Those kinds of feelings?”

[You know… the kind where you start thinking about other things. Like pushing her up against a wall, and then…]

“Like—”

Catching sight of that line, Yu Xiaoxiao yelped and shot upright like someone had stepped on her tail. She blurted out, “—No way!!”

Her face, which had finally cooled down a bit, flared up again, burning red-hot.

She stared at that message, cheeks blazing, furious—furious that they’d say something so crude about someone they didn’t even know, and furious at herself… because the second she read it, her mind had instantly flashed back to Xiang Shuhuai’s face.

After that borderline message, a bunch of teasing emojis flooded the chat. It looked like they were about to launch into full-on dirty talk. Yu Xiaoxiao scowled, getting more and more annoyed. Her fingers tapped hard and fast across the screen.

Fish: Don’t talk like that.

Fish: It’s disrespectful.

The group chat went quiet for a beat, then quickly changed topics. Yu Xiaoxiao stared at her screen for a moment, then tossed the phone aside.

“Boring,” she muttered.

Her head was still a mess. Yu Xiaoxiao leaned back and sank into the soft couch cushions.

Maybe… maybe she was the one with a fever? That would explain why her face was so hot.

She grabbed the thermometer and checked herself. It read 36.8—perfectly normal.

…Then it had to be the room being too warm. No way it was that kind of reason.

Or maybe it was anger! Yeah, she was mad. She hated Xiang Shuhuai. Just seeing her made her annoyed. And when people got angry, didn’t their heart rate go up too? Didn’t their face get red, their bl00d pressure spike?

Yes. That was it. Yu Xiaoxiao told herself firmly. It was definitely because she hated that Big Ice Block.

As for taking care of her—well, Xiang Shuhuai was sick, and Youyou-jie had asked her to keep an eye on her. That was all it was.

With that explanation, Yu Xiaoxiao felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She finally relaxed.

She wasn’t going out today anyway. Hugging a pillow, she started thinking about what to do. Maybe go back to the study and draw something—but she hesitated. If she closed the door, what if Xiang Shuhuai needed help and she didn’t hear?

As she frowned and tried to figure it out, a loud crash came from the guest bedroom.

“—Bang!!”

Yu Xiaoxiao jumped and ran to open the door.

The bedside lamp had been knocked over and was now lying crooked on the floor. Xiang Shuhuai was struggling to sit up, reaching for something on the nightstand. Her head was lowered, and her fingers were gripping the wooden edge tightly.

When she heard the door open, Xiang Shuhuai turned her head slightly toward it. Yu Xiaoxiao saw her face soaked in cold sweat, her expression twisted in pain. Her whole face was burning red, but her lips had gone completely pale.

“Don’t,” she rasped, “don’t come any closer.”

Something in her eyes made Yu Xiaoxiao freeze in place.

She shivered.

Even though Xiang Shuhuai looked frail, clearly suffering from illness, her eyes—those deep black eyes staring sharply at her—were full of warning and hostility, like a predator watching its prey. There was a sharp glint in them, like she’d lunge forward and rip out your throat the moment you made a wrong move.

But she wasn’t fully conscious—her pupils couldn’t even focus.

“Don’t come any closer…”

It sounded like an instinctive warning, low and cold.

“Don’t come any closer.”