You Are My Omega (GL) - Chapter 20

Xu Shijiu was in the middle of having her palm treated by her sister when she heard the familiar voice. She quickly looked up, following the sound.

Seeing Lin Xinyi running toward her with worry written all over her face, Xu Shijiu was stunned for a second. Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t speak.

“Are you alright?” Lin Xinyi rushed over and stopped right in front of her, leaning forward to take a closer look at her injured hand. Her brows were tightly knitted, and her eyes were filled with anxiety.

“I’m fine,” Xu Shijiu replied softly. Her voice was quiet, but she forced a small smile as if to reassure her.

“How is this fine?” Lin Xinyi’s eyes reddened when she saw the redness and swelling on her palm. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s not that bad,” Xu Shijiu said, trying her best to sound calm and unaffected. But Lin Xinyi could still hear the faint tremble in her voice.

“Why didn’t you tell me something happened? I only found out from Zhiling. If she hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t have known at all,” Lin Xinyi’s tone carried a hint of frustration mixed with deep concern.

Xu Shijiu lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Beside them, Xu Manyue gave Lin Xinyi a nod and stood up. “I’ll go get some warm water. You two talk.”

Once her sister walked away, the air between them grew a little heavier.

Lin Xinyi gently took Xu Shijiu’s hand, careful not to touch the wounded part. Her fingers were cold, as if all the warmth had drained away.

“I was really scared,” Lin Xinyi admitted quietly. “When I heard you got into a fight, I didn’t know how badly you were hurt or why it happened. I ran all the way here.”

“I didn’t mean to make you worry,” Xu Shijiu said, her voice even softer now.

“You don’t have to do everything alone. You can tell me. I want to help,” Lin Xinyi said, her eyes locked onto Xu Shijiu’s.

“But I don’t want to be a burden to you,” Xu Shijiu finally whispered. “You have such a bright future, and I… I can’t even stay out of trouble. If I keep getting you involved, I’ll just hold you back.”

Lin Xinyi’s heart ached hearing those words. She shook her head.

“Xu Shijiu,” she said gently but firmly, “you’re not a burden. You never were.”

Xu Shijiu’s eyes widened slightly.

“You’re important to me. So please don’t push me away just because you’re struggling. If someone says things that hurt you, tell me. If something happens, let me know. I want to be by your side, not because I have to, but because I want to.”

Her words settled in the air like soft rain. Xu Shijiu’s throat tightened, and her eyes began to sting.

“I didn’t want you to think I was reckless,” she said, her voice shaking.

“I don’t,” Lin Xinyi replied. “I think you were brave.”

Xu Shijiu couldn’t hold back anymore. Her eyes filled with tears, and she looked down, afraid to let them fall.

Lin Xinyi quietly stepped closer and, without another word, pulled her into a gentle embrace. Her voice was warm and reassuring.

“You’re not alone anymore.”

When Xu Shijiu saw Lin Xinyi walking toward her, her eyes lit up with a flash of joy. But then she remembered she had missed the exam, and that light quickly faded from her eyes.

Even though giving up the exam was not her choice, it did not change the fact that she hadn’t taken it. She wasn’t sure if Lin Xinyi would feel disappointed.

But disappointment was clearly not what Lin Xinyi felt.

Lin Xinyi looked at the scrapes on Xu Shijiu’s palm, her heart aching with concern.

“Xu Shijiu, how did you end up like this? How did you get hurt?”

Didn’t she always have bodyguards with her? How could she still get injured even with them around? What were those bodyguards doing?

Xu Shijiu remained silent, not saying a word.

“I asked her several times earlier, but she still refused to tell me,” Xu Manyue said with a helpless sigh as she closed the medicine bottle and placed it back into the first aid kit.

There was no sound recorded by the classroom cameras, so it was impossible to know exactly what had been said. Still, just thinking about it gave them a general idea. From the video, it looked like Xiaojiu had started the conflict and thrown the first punch.

They could have spoken to each of the students who had been in the classroom that day to find out what happened, one by one. But Xu Shijiu didn’t want that.

Xu Shijiu had been so insistent that Xu Manyue had no choice but to let it go and drop the idea of investigating further.

“Xu Shijiu, what really happened?” Lin Xinyi gently held Xu Shijiu’s injured hand in hers, her eyes filled with compassion and worry as she looked directly at her.

“It’s nothing now,” Xu Shijiu replied. She had meant to keep quiet, but after meeting Lin Xinyi’s gaze, she could no longer stay silent.

“Nothing? Then how did you get hurt?” Lin Xinyi frowned in disbelief.

“It’s just a small injury,” Xu Shijiu answered calmly. She truly didn’t feel much pain.

“Your thigh has a large bruise,” Xu Manyue said, clearly disagreeing with Xu Shijiu’s words.

Although her hand only had minor scrapes, the classroom was filled with desks. After falling from her wheelchair, Xu Shijiu’s thigh had been badly bruised from bumping into the furniture.

Hearing that, Lin Xinyi immediately pulled aside the blanket covering Xu Shijiu’s lap to see the injury for herself.

Xu Shijiu didn’t stop her. In truth, she couldn’t. She simply watched as Lin Xinyi stared at the large bruise on her thigh in stunned silence.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Xu Shijiu said softly.

Her legs had no feeling, so she didn’t care much about the injury.

“It does hurt,” Lin Xinyi replied gently.

“Huh?” Xu Shijiu blinked in confusion and looked at Lin Xinyi. But Lin Xinyi had her head lowered, so she couldn’t see what expression she wore.

“It does hurt,” Lin Xinyi repeated.

How could it not hurt? The bruise was so large. Even if Xu Shijiu couldn’t feel it, Lin Xinyi felt that pain deeply in her heart.

Xu Shijiu had stubbornly refused to let Xu Manyue question the students about what had happened. In the end, Xu Manyue had no choice but to give up the investigation reluctantly. Xu Shijiu thought that would be the end of it.

But she had forgotten one thing. Lin Xinyi.

Xu Shijiu wouldn’t talk about it and didn’t want Xu Manyue to look into it. But she never said Lin Xinyi couldn’t investigate.

Maybe she simply hadn’t thought Lin Xinyi would try.

Xu Shijiu could endure being wronged and didn’t care if she got hurt. But Lin Xinyi couldn’t ignore it.

If, from the beginning, when Xu Manyue had suggested changing exam rooms, she hadn’t hesitated, if she had agreed before Xu Shijiu could refuse, then none of this would have happened.

If she had been there, even if the students in the same exam room had said something unpleasant, she could have pushed Xu Shijiu outside, calmed her down, and told her not to take it to heart. That was how things had always gone before.

If she had been there, she could have defended Xu Shijiu, and then Xu Shijiu wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

In truth, Lin Xinyi had her doubts. It wasn’t as if no one had ever gossiped about Xu Shijiu before. Many people had said hurtful things, and Lin Xinyi had heard plenty of them. But every time, Xu Shijiu had just lowered her head and let Lin Xinyi wheel her away. She never dared to fight back, never argued, and certainly never got into a physical fight.

So then, why this time?

What exactly had been said that made Xu Shijiu so angry?