After school, I got ambushed on my usual route by a notorious bully. My heart ached as I fished out my last two hundred yuan, the exact money I’d scrimped and saved for cat fish oil.
The bully grabbed my chin, sneering at my show of helplessness. "Acting pitiful doesn’t work on me."
"Okay, okay," I smiled nervously, slyly sliding the bills back into my pocket.
He spotted it, snorted, and let go. "You’re only with Rui Chen for his money, aren’t you?"
For his money? It felt like a cold slap.
But isn’t this dating? Isn’t this what dating is supposed to be?
He leaned closer. "I can pay you off too. Just stay away from Rui Chen. And don’t even think of messing with Su Miao," he added, face darkening. "You see that new library on campus? Her dad paid for the whole thing. She’s not someone people cross."
It clicked then, the poised, beloved girl from the Welcome Party. I’d never even spoken to her, didn’t have the faintest idea why my name would ever cross her mind.
Back home, my phone rang. Aunt was coming to Tianshui City to drop off my cousin for a visit; I’d have to get the apartment ready. To be honest, there wasn’t much getting ready, the place was minimal, everything in its right place.
Except, of course, for the silver-haired, blue-eyed boy sprawled across my couch.
"This is seriously the last time. I swear," I pleaded.
"No negotiation," said Ling Yan, flat as ever.
"I swear, I won’t lay a finger on any of your tails. I mean it," I grovelled, offering him a plate of oven-baked sardines. "Look, I made these just for you."
His expression darkened, brows lowering in suspicion, lips pressed tight. "All this for a man?"
I suddenly felt like the worst sort of heartless villain. "No, no. I’d never abandon you, I take you everywhere I go."
But Ling Yan was unmoved, so in a last-ditch act I dove for his leg, clinging on for dear life.
"Please, Cat Lord."
Eventually, I won myself an eight-tailed cat radiating barely masked fury.
For the school anniversary, I dropped my house keys under the doormat and took the Cat Lord along at dawn.
By the time we reached the Hupan Academy gymnasium, the field was packed. My cat, wide awake, perked his tiny ears and peered out through the mesh of my backpack. The fluff on his head trembled with each step I took, making my hands itch with the urge to pet him.
I confess, I just wanted to touch his soft, velvety fur so badly.
Crowds pressed through the auditorium. Xiaomei, spotting my oversized backpack, couldn’t help but squeal.
"Quick, hand over your precious little lady, let me give her a squeeze." She lunged, startling me so much my pupils shrank to pin-points. I yanked my bag close, but my hand landed on something warm, soft, and deliciously furry.
The principal was still giving his thundering speech on stage, "Students, at this history-making moment...."
Honestly, he was right. There was no time more momentous than now. I trembled so badly I nearly lost my grip, but forced myself to let go after a handful of electrifying seconds.
Cat Lord lifted his head, fur pressed into lopsided fluff, but if anything, it only made him look even cuter. My heart pounded so hard my ribs rattled.
He blinked up at me, clear blue eyes sparkling, a little annoyed at my obvious giddiness.
Just as I stammered to explain, he muttered, "No need to be so scared of me."
I glanced at Xiaomei, but she was staring off into the distance.
Cat Lord misunderstood, but I was too embarrassed to correct him. So I steeled myself and asked in the smallest voice, "Um, can I maybe touch your tail?"
He gave a low, unimpressed laugh.
The hosts for the anniversary party were Rui Chen and Su Miao.
Rui Chen also had a solo performance. He messaged me before it started, my own reserved seat in the very front row.
On my way to my spot, I happened to pass Su Miao in the hallway. As always, she glowed with an effortless kind of charisma, and I inhaled her perfume as we brushed past each other.
"Mu Xing?" she said, surprising me. I never thought someone like Su Miao would know my name.
She gave me a long, unreadable look, pressed her lips together, then turned and melted back into the crowd. I stood dumbstruck when the girl at her side bumped into me with enough force to rattle my books.
"Wow, can’t you watch where you’re going?" she sniped.
"Who’s not watching? I just happen to be carrying a backpack." My voice, muffled by nerves, sounded embarrassingly small.
She smirked. "You still can’t stop studying, even now? Such a little bookworm. Don’t you agree, Rui Chen?"
I turned, startled. Rui Chen stood there in sleek black formalwear, not far away, a living, breathing social-media prince. How long had he been watching?
He stepped forward. "Ignore her. When I go on stage, just sit right there so I can find you right away," he said, gesturing to the one empty seat in the front row.
"For me?" I blinked.
He smiled, leaning in so close I felt his breath on my ear. "Of course. It’s my girlfriend’s seat."
The program began, and Su Miao took the seat beside me, glancing my way only once before locking her attention on the stage and Rui Chen.
Rui Chen’s appearance was like a shot of raw adrenaline, sending the auditorium into wild applause.
Even I had to admit, my heart skipped.
Meanwhile, my eight-tailed cat, irked by the noise and bright lights, scowled in my bag. "So loud."
Worried, I tried to shield his ears with my hand, hoping Su Miao wouldn’t notice.
Keeping my fingers barely brushing his fur, I barely heard the rest of the show. The seat was great, but I’d never been so exhausted by a performance.
Afterward, Rui Chen was held onstage by his adoring fans, a rising star inside a feverish crowd.
Su Miao had slipped away. My own girlfriend performance had been weak at best.
Right then, the flowers I’d ordered arrived. I hesitated, but in the end, the urge to give them to Rui Chen myself beat out my nerves.
"Why do I have to come too?" Cat Lord grumbled from my backpack as I made my way backstage.
"If you just stay in the bag, he won’t notice a thing," I promised.
He rolled his eyes. "That’s not the problem and you know it."
Even so, he didn’t refuse. Grumbling, he trailed after me nonetheless.
The backstage area was hectic, students rushing in every direction, but someone managed to direct me to the right dressing room.
"Thanks."
Focused entirely on the upcoming flower hand-off, I missed the odd looks mixed with pity and amusement thrown my way.
The dressing room wasn’t locked, a shaft of light spilling from the door crack. I paused, flowers in hand, taking a deep breath.
Cat Lord shifted in the backpack. "Too loud," he grumbled. My heart was pounding like a jackhammer.
I was just raising my hand to knock when I heard the muffled sound of a woman crying.
"I told you already, Zhou Wang is just my brother. You never listened and even brought someone along to humiliate me," Su Miao’s voice.
Wait, this was the wrong room.
I froze, mortified, but before I could retreat, a gentle male voice answered.
"It’s my fault."
It was Rui Chen.
My mind spun as his next words twisted like a knife. "I got so frustrated. Being with Mu Xing was just my way of proving I could move on from you. I never wanted to hurt you."
His voice was tender, but every syllable sliced deeper.
I must have leaned into the door, because as it opened, I saw him, arms wrapped around a tearful Su Miao, brow furrowed, eyes full of concern.
My hand squeezed the flowers so hard I could feel the stems bite my palm. I forced a smile. "Sorry for interrupting."
For a moment, something flickered in Rui Chen’s eyes, panic maybe. But his tone was steady. "Mu Xing, I’m sorry. This has nothing to do with Su Miao."
I stared at their intertwined fingers. For a moment, the whole world cracked open. If liking someone could be fake, what wasn’t?
"So from the beginning, I was just someone to use?"
Rui Chen met my gaze, showing not even a trace of guilt.
"I’ve only ever liked Su Miao."
"Then I wish you a lifetime of happiness together." My attempt at sarcasm barely masked the trembling in my voice.
Rui Chen’s judgment wasn’t wrong, after all. I really was weak and starved for affection. Even when humiliated, my resistance meant nothing.
The bustling noise backstage faded into silence as I left, my departure barely raising a ripple in the chaos.
"Pity her." "Did she really think Rui Chen liked her? What a joke." "Stop, she’s about to cry."
"Meow." A soft, plaintive cat’s call snapped me out of my misery.
Glancing back, I saw my eight-tailed cat perched high on top of a makeshift dressing mirror, crystalline blue eyes gleaming.
"So pretty," someone gasped.
Before anyone could catch him, Cat Lord leapt, evading every outstretched hand with ease, landing atop the rafters to watch the room with regal aloofness.
The commotion drew Su Miao and Rui Chen.
"Meow Meow," Su Miao called up.
"Is that your cat?" Rui Chen asked.
Su Miao didn’t answer, her face tense as she pleaded "Meow Meow, please come down."
Rui Chen, convinced, grabbed a chair to coax the cat down.
Cat Lord didn’t budge.
Afraid they’d actually grab him, I took a step forward, only to see him glance my way and quietly meow, don’t be afraid.
The memory of Ling Yan’s voice steadied me.
Cat Lord arched, then launched himself off the beam, straight onto Rui Chen’s head.
Rui Chen toppled, his momentum wrenching down a string of loose decorative wiring. Instantly, the room plunged into darkness.
Chaos and a chorus of shrieks. Leading them all, Su Miao’s soprano reached a pitch I’d thought impossible.
Panicked, I searched for my cat. Suddenly, something warm and solid pressed into my arms, his familiar weight and heat.
"What are you standing there for? Let’s go," Ling Yan, fully human, muttered.
I bolted out into the night, Cat Lord snuggled in my bag. We escaped down a side alley, safe in the dark.
."
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