“Like me?” Lin Yue thought. If only monsters understood what it meant to like someone.
That evening, after saying goodbye to Yu Tingting at the café, Lin Yue was heading home when she spotted a flash of light near her apartment gate—followed by a suspicious “click” that sounded exactly like a camera shutter.
Lin Yue spun around, eyes narrowing. Sure enough, she caught sight of a familiar silhouette in a beret ducking behind the wall like a cartoon villain. She stomped over and grabbed the culprit, who was clutching her phone and looking guilty.
“Let go! What do you want?!” Xu Liuxia yelped, trying to wriggle free.
Lin Yue held tight. “Have you been stalking me and Huiqian these days?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Get out of my way!” Xu Liuxia tried to push past, but Lin Yue’s grip was iron.
“You can leave, but delete everything on your phone first.” Lin Yue’s voice was calm, but her eyes were pure steel.
“Let go!” Xu Liuxia screeched, and in a fit of drama, slapped Lin Yue across the face. Her nails left a scratch, and Lin Yue’s hair fell loose, but she didn’t even flinch. Instead, she returned the favor with a slap so crisp it echoed across the parking lot.
“Lin Yue! How dare you hit me?!” Xu Liuxia clutched her face, eyes wide with disbelief—clearly not expecting the usually gentle Lin Yue to fight back.
Lin Yue didn’t even blink. She delivered another slap, this time to the other cheek. Xu Liuxia ’s high heels wobbled, and she staggered against the wall, suddenly speechless.
“Listen, Xu Liuxia . Just because I’m nice doesn’t mean I’m a pushover. You started with rumors, then stalking and spying, and you destroyed all my clothes and shoes. Did you really think I wouldn’t call the police?”
With icy calm, Lin Yue snatched Xu Liuxia ’s phone (which, thankfully, wasn’t even locked—rookie mistake). She quickly found the secret stash of photos and videos, most of which were of Huiqian. There was even a video from last night: Lin Yue’s keychain had rolled under the vending machine, and Huiqian had casually lifted the entire machine with one hand so she could retrieve it. She’d thought it was late enough and out of sight of any cameras… but apparently, she’d underestimated Xu Liuxia ’s dedication to being a creeper.
Suppressing a shudder, Lin Yue deleted everything, cleared the trash, and tossed the phone back. “From now on, I’m done being nice.”
Xu Liuxia , wild-eyed and clutching her phone to her chest, shrieked, “Lin Yue! You’re living with a monster! I’ll get proof, just you wait!”
After dinner, Lin Yue curled up on the sofa with her laptop, headphones on, hammering out her latest article. Huiqian sat next to her, hugging his knees and watching TV.
Suddenly, Huiqian poked her shoulder. “Lin Yue, do humans have to transfer spirit energy too?”
Lin Yue blinked, pulling off her headphones. On the TV, the leads in a romance drama were locked in a passionate kiss.
Her face turned scarlet. “Uh… they’re kissing, not transferring energy.”
“Kissing?” Huiqian tilted his head, utterly baffled.
“They don’t need spirit energy, but they rely on each other,” Lin Yue explained, struggling for words. “Kissing is… it’s how humans show affection.”
“Affection?” Huiqian immediately homed in on the new word.
“Affection is… when you like someone a lot,” Lin Yue stammered, scratching her neck. “It’s… um… like when you want to be close to someone. For humans, kissing is like… how animals—uh, spirits—find a mate.”
Huiqian nodded, taking notes like a diligent student. “In our wolf tribe, we only have one mate for life.”
His voice was deep and serious, sending a shiver down Lin Yue’s spine. She nearly dropped her laptop.
Flush with her latest writing payment, Lin Yue treated herself to a new phone. Unfortunately, it was a holiday and the buses were running late. She shivered in her thin jacket, hopping from foot to foot at the bus stop, when a long-haired man in a blue robe appeared from the crowd, staring at her like she was a rare Pokémon.
He squinted, shaking his head dramatically. “Not good! Young lady, your forehead is dark, and a deathly aura clings to your soul! Very unlucky!”
Lin Yue blinked. Was this a fortune-teller or a time traveler from a wuxia drama?
The man sighed, “Let me do a good deed and exorcise you for free!”
“No, thanks,” Lin Yue said, just as the bus arrived. She squeezed on, leaving the would-be Taoist priest behind, muttering about “ungrateful youths these days.”
By the time she made it home, it was already 8 p.m. She hurried inside, worried Huiqian might have set the kitchen on fire or started a cult with the neighbor’s cats.
But before she could reach the elevator, she bumped into someone—Hu Yu, Xu Liuxia ’s infamous ex and the original cause of her “homewrecker” reputation.
“Lin Yue! You live here?” Hu Yu beamed.
Lin Yue had zero patience for him. “Yeah, I’m busy,” she muttered, trying to sidestep him.
But Hu Yu, ever the peacock, grabbed her shopping bag. “Let me help you! It’s not safe for a girl to carry things alone. I’ll walk you up!”
Lin Yue wanted to scream. She tried to yank the bag back, but Hu Yu clung on, making a show of brushing his fingers over her hand in a way that was neither subtle nor smooth.
Just as she was about to lose it, a tall, lean figure appeared at her side. Huiqian, in a baseball cap, seized Hu Yu’s hand in a grip of steel and said, in a voice that could freeze lava, “Let go.”
“Huiqian!” Lin Yue’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.
Hu Yu winced, released her bag, and, after a moment of awkward peacocking, bolted for the exit, muttering something about “crazy couples.”
Huiqian, looking far too handsome for his own good, dusted off the shopping bag with exaggerated care, then handed it back to Lin Yue. “Let’s go home,” he said, as if nothing had happened.
Lin Yue grinned, her heart warm. “Yes, let’s.”
Chapter 08
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