Pretending to Be a Scumbag A, But Being Targeted by a Paranoid O - Chapter 14

Yun Shu was happily enjoying her meal when Xie Tang suddenly excused herself to use the restroom.

 

Yun Shu, suspecting nothing, continued sipping her peach-flavored juice.

 

Out of Yun Shu’s sight, Xie Tang approached the front desk. “Check, please.”

 

“That’ll be 870 yuan,” the receptionist said. “I’ll scan your code.”

 

Xie Tang calmly presented her QR code. The money she’d earned from her part-time job these past few days was just enough to cover the meal.

 

As soon as she finished paying, she turned to see Yun Shu standing nearby, her phone already in hand.

 

Yun Shu’s expression was a mix of awkwardness and being caught red-handed. “I… just came out for a walk,” she mumbled, fidgeting.

 

Xie Tang blinked, choosing not to call her out. “Full?”

 

Yun Shu nodded.

 

“Let’s go, then,” Xie Tang said.

 

Yun Shu obediently followed behind her.

 

The night air had already turned chilly.

 

Yun Shu, dressed in thin layers, shivered slightly. She rubbed her nose and couldn’t suppress a sneeze.

 

The next moment, a weight settled on her shoulders—Xie Tang had draped her own coat over Yun Shu.

 

Yun Shu instinctively tried to return the coat. “You don’t have to.”

 

Xie Tang’s tone left no room for argument: “Wear it.”

 

Her clothes still carried a faint peach scent.

 

Yun Shu’s cheeks flushed slightly. “Thank you,” she murmured softly.

 

Xie Tang pulled out her phone, and Yun Shu saw her open a ride-hailing app and enter Yun Shu’s home address.

 

“Wait,” Yun Shu called out, glancing at the darkening sky. “You treated me to dinner, so let me take you home this time.”

 

She remembered the pitch-black alley leading to Xie Tang’s apartment, a place where shady characters lurked. She worried about Xie Tang’s safety.

 

Xie Tang gazed at the girl beside her, whose delicate features resembled a beautifully painted portrait. She thought of her own cramped, dimly lit 35-square-meter apartment.

 

“Forget it,” she said coolly. “It’s getting late.”

 

“Alright,” Yun Shu replied. “Then you order a taxi up ahead, and I’ll follow behind.”

 

Xie Tang stared at her, speechless. She caught a mischievous glint in Yun Shu’s eyes.

 

“So,” Yun Shu said, her eyes crinkling into a smile, “let me take you home after all.”

 

By the time they reached the alley leading to Xie Tang’s house, it was completely dark.

 

Xie Tang stopped and turned to Yun Shu. “This is far enough. You can leave me here.”

 

Yun Shu’s gaze swept over the pitch-black alley behind Xie Tang, so dark she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face. Her eyes shone with obvious concern.

 

She was about to say, “Let me walk you to your door,” but Xie Tang beat her to it with a quick goodbye.

 

“Bye-bye,” Xie Tang said, taking a few steps before turning back with a faint smile. “See you tomorrow, Yun Shu.”

 

Still wearing her simple white top, she seemed to be swallowed by the darkness as she moved further away.

 

An inexplicable unease gripped Yun Shu. After a moment’s hesitation, she rushed forward. “Wait!”

 

Xie Tang hadn’t expected Yun Shu to follow.

 

“It’s too late,” Yun Shu said. “As your patron, I have a duty to see you home safely.”

 

Where Yun Shu couldn’t see, Xie Tang’s lips pressed into a tight line. She wanted to say, “Forget it,” but the words wouldn’t come.

 

In her memory, Yun Shu was the first person besides her grandmother to ever walk her through this alley.

 

She glanced at the woman beside her, who had just declared it her duty to escort her home. Now Yun Shu was pressed close, her breathing noticeably heavier.

 

And this is the one who’s going to protect me?

 

“Are you scared?” Xie Tang asked.

 

Yun Shu’s voice trembled, but she stubbornly insisted, “No way! I’m not scared at all.”

 

I don’t even blink during horror movies, okay? Xie Tang silently added.

 

That’s true. You didn’t blink.

 

Because you didn’t dare open your eyes.

 

“Yun Shu,” Xie Tang said, “if you’re cold, you can hold my arm.”

 

Already terrified by the pitch-black alley, Yun Shu immediately wrapped both arms around Xie Tang’s left arm.

 

To save face, she kept making excuses to herself: “I’m just keeping you warm, that’s all.”

 

The girl’s warm, soft body pressed tightly against her arm, and Xie Tang’s breath hitched slightly.

 

Yun Shu clung to her for a long time before asking, “Xie Tang, how much further is your house?”

 

Only then did Xie Tang snap out of her daze. She glanced around at the surrounding buildings, her expression cracking slightly—they’d gone too far.

 

“Oh,” she said, maintaining a straight face, “there’s construction ahead. We have to take a detour.”

 

Yun Shu nodded, trusting her completely. “I see.”

 

For some reason, Xie Tang felt like she was deceiving a child.

 

When they reached the ground floor, a flickering lightbulb hung weakly in the hallway.

 

Yun Shu slowly released Xie Tang’s arm as soon as she saw the light.

 

At the same time, she realized a serious problem: how was she going to get home?

 

Yun Shu instinctively glanced back at the pitch-black darkness behind her, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin.

 

But she couldn’t show her fear in front of Xie Tang. She forced herself to sound calm and said, “You should go back now.”

 

“I…”

 

Yun Shu’s voice wavered slightly as she added, “I need to get home too.”

 

Her hand clenched tightly around her sleeve, desperately trying to maintain a composed facade.

 

Xie Tang looked at her, about to say something, when a sudden thunderclap boomed across the sky.

 

Yun Shu had always been terrified of thunder. She instinctively leaned closer to Xie Tang, her hand gripping the corner of Xie Tang’s shirt.

 

From Xie Tang’s perspective, all she could see were the girl’s trembling eyelashes and bloodless lips.

 

Yun Shu was on the verge of tears.

 

“Yun Shu,” Xie Tang said, “why don’t you stay here tonight?”

 

Yun Shu froze.

 

In her mind, she frantically called out to the System: “Tongtong, what did she just say?”

 

The System was equally bewildered by the plot’s sudden turn: It sounds like… she’s inviting you to move in?

 

Yun Shu’s face flushed crimson, her cheeks burning three shades darker.

 

“N-no, thank you,” she stammered.

 

Yun Shu’s clear eyes were earnest. “I’m not offering to take you home for that.”

 

She was genuinely worried about Xie Tang, not lusting after her body. Otherwise, how would she be any different from anyone else?

 

Xie Tang blinked, then chuckled softly. “I know. It’s just…”

 

She glanced at the rain-soaked ground outside. “With the rain this heavy, are you sure you want to go back now?”

 

Yun Shu stared at the sudden downpour, momentarily at a loss for how to get home.

 

She was mortified.

 

Xie Tang looked at her, her voice gentle. “The rain’s too heavy. If you don’t mind, come inside.”

 

Yun Shu gratefully accepted the offer. “Okay, I’ll leave when it eases up.”

 

Xie Tang paused for two seconds before nodding slowly. “Alright.”

 

The motion-sensor lights in the stairwell were still broken, and Yun Shu trailed closely behind Xie Tang like a little shadow.

 

Xie Tang’s apartment was on the fifth floor. By the time they reached the top, Yun Shu was slightly out of breath.

 

Xie Tang unlocked the door, and Yun Shu peered curiously inside.

 

It was a simple one-bedroom apartment. The furnishings were a bit old but impeccably clean, clearly showing the owner’s habit of regular tidying.

 

Xie Tang gestured to a chair beside the square table. “Have a seat.”

 

Yun Shu sat down somewhat stiffly as Xie Tang went to the kitchen to cut a plate of fruit.

 

The two sat at the table, quietly eating the fruit slices without speaking.

 

The rain outside grew heavier, showing no sign of stopping anytime soon.

 

Yun Shu glanced at her phone and saw the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms from tonight until tomorrow morning, advising against unnecessary travel.

 

She looked at Xie Tang and swallowed the peach in her mouth. “Maybe I should head back. This rain might not stop tonight.”

 

In her original world, there were no ABO secondary genders.

 

But Yun Shu had read enough novels to know that in this world, As and Os were distinct. Their current situation—two lone As and Os—made living together completely inappropriate.

 

Xie Tang gazed at her, her glass-bead-like eyes fixed intently on Yun Shu. “Why not stay here?”

 

“Yun Shu, my bed is very clean.”

 

“Xie Tang, that’s not what I meant.”

 

Yun Shu had lived a far more miserable life than Xie Tang. How could she possibly find fault with such a clean and comfortable place? Even if she had been born into a wealthy family, Yun Shu would never have found a single thing to complain about.

 

But after Xie Tang said that, she lowered her gaze, as if slightly hurt.

 

Yun Shu’s mind raced, desperately searching for a reason Xie Tang couldn’t refuse. “I haven’t finished the assignment from the Advanced Mathematics Teacher yet. I need to go back and work on it.”

 

Xie Tang: “…”

 

She lifted her eyelids. “Perfect timing, then.”

 

Yun Shu: “?”

 

Xie Tang said, “I don’t have anything planned tonight anyway. Let’s work on it together.”

 

Yun Shu: “???”

 

By the time Yun Shu and Xie Tang were sitting side-by-side with their textbooks open, Yun Shu’s mind was still reeling—until Xie Tang tapped the book with her pale hand.

 

Only then did Yun Shu realize she had been rudely staring at Xie Tang’s face the entire time.

 

She quickly lowered her head and focused on the problems, but… Xie Tang was right beside her, so close that Yun Shu could brush against her with the slightest movement.

 

She had never dared to imagine such a day—Xie Tang inviting her to dinner, bringing her home, and the two of them sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, listening to the rain outside while working on the same set of problems.

 

They were so close that Yun Shu could clearly smell Xie Tang’s shampoo.

 

Even though the thunder was still deafening, for the first time in her life, Yun Shu wasn’t as afraid.

 

All night, Yun Shu barely managed to solve any problems, her attention completely focused on Xie Tang.

 

By the end, she even had the audacity to start dozing off.

 

Xie Tang, still listening to Band 4 listening practice through her headphones, noticed the girl beside her nodding off like a pecking chick, her head bobbing rhythmically.

 

She removed her headphones and said calmly, “Yun Shu, I’m getting a little sleepy. Should we go to bed?”

 

Yun Shu blinked her drowsy eyes open and murmured, momentarily forgetting her pretense, her voice soft and sleepy, “Sure, I can just sleep in the living room.”

 

The System immediately blared an alarm in her mind.

 

Yun Shu snapped awake, quickly concocting an excuse: “After all, we’re just two lone A’s and O’s. Being alone in a room together could easily lead to… sparks.”

 

Hearing this, Xie Tang showed no hesitation or fear whatsoever.

 

“It’s fine. The final exams aren’t until later.”

 

Yun Shu didn’t immediately understand. Huh?

 

Xie Tang finally couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Didn’t you say it yourself?”

 

“Indulging in pleasure harms the brain.”

 

With that, she turned and pretended not to see the dazed red apple outside before entering the room.