“Beep… beep…”
A ray of morning light slipped through the blinds, casting a glow on the pristine white sheets. The hospital room was silent except for the steady beeping of the Monitoring Device and some faint rustling sounds.
Lu Yuan’s eyelashes fluttered softly. She slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw through her blurry vision was Su Li sitting by the bedside.
Su Li was looking down, peeling an apple. Her white hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her slender fingers held the fruit knife steadily. The peel came off in a perfect spiral, falling neatly into the trash bin.
“Mm… where am I?”
Hearing the noise, Su Li looked up, her eyes gentle as water. “Awake?”
Her voice was much softer than usual, but her hands didn’t stop moving. The tip of the knife skillfully dug out the apple’s core.
***
Lu Yuan’s throat felt parched and sore. She tried to move but found her entire body aching as if crushed by a giant wheel.
Bits of memory slowly pieced together: a cliff, tentacles, Rose’s twisted smile…
“Am I… in the hospital?”
From the other side of the bed came some restless movement. Lu Yuan turned her head and saw Lin Wan suddenly spring up from her crouched position, her blue hair tousled and sticking up, looking like she had just woken up.
“Lu Yuan! You’re finally awake!” Lin Wan hurried over, her face full of concern. “Does anything hurt? Should I call the doctor? Are you hungry? I—I can go get you some wonton!”
Su Li gently pressed on Lin Wan’s shoulder, guiding her back to the chair.
“Don’t rush.” Su Li cut the peeled apple into small pieces and speared one with a toothpick. “Let her take it slow first.”
The morning light shone through the translucent apple chunks, casting amber spots on the tray. Su Li picked up a piece and brought it to Lu Yuan’s lips. “Try this.”
Lu Yuan felt a bit overwhelmed but opened her mouth. She had never seen this side of Su Li before. The usual sharpness in her eyes was now softened like melting snow, and even the way she offered the apple was careful and tender.
“How… long have I been asleep?” Lu Yuan asked, biting into the apple.
The sweet juice refreshed her dry throat. Probably because she was so thirsty, Lu Yuan reluctantly savored the lingering sweetness. Her mouth leaned forward slightly, accidentally enclosing Su Li’s hand.
She gently bit Su Li’s finger—only then did she realize it wasn’t the apple.
Startled, Lu Yuan sat upright, her cheeks flushing red.
“Three days.” Su Li acted nonchalant, handing her another piece. “The Rose situation has been resolved.”
But Su Li’s eyes were already looking anywhere but at Lu Yuan.
***
“Mm…” Lin Wan glanced at Su Li, then at Lu Yuan’s blushing face.
“I’ll feed her!”
Lin Wan snatched the fruit tray away and deliberately held an apple chunk between her fingers, bringing it close to Lu Yuan.
“Here, ah—” Lin Wan said eagerly, her face beaming with four unspoken words.
Eat it for me.
Lu Yuan was about to lose it, but seeing Lin Wan’s hopeful expression, she leaned forward.
“Rawr.” Lu Yuan took a bite.
Unlike her gentle nibble with Su Li, this one was playful, with a bit more force.
In her imagination, Lin Wan would have yelped, pulling her hand away, then complained about Lu Yuan treating her differently.
But when Lu Yuan looked up smugly at Lin Wan, she was stunned.
No, this isn’t right, is it?
Lin Wan was gazing at Lu Yuan with utter delight, like a master admiring her little pet. Her eyes were almost sparkling. After all, who would be angry about being bitten while feeding a cat?
Su Li rubbed her forehead and quietly took the fruit tray back from Lin Wan.
“The patient needs rest.” She gave Lin Wan a pointed look. “Too much noise will affect her recovery.”
Lin Wan instantly shrank back into her chair like a cat stepped on its tail, sulking.
Her pitiful little eyes darted between Su Li and Lu Yuan, finally settling on Lu Yuan’s face.
“Um…” she suddenly leaned close to Lu Yuan, lowering her voice to a whisper, “Is the apple… really that good?”
Warm breath brushed Lu Yuan’s ear. She shivered and almost bounced off the bed, her ears burning as she stammered, “I-it’s okay…”
“Oh~” Lin Wan squinted, “Then don’t you want to try something else? Like… cherry?”
W-what? Cherry? The cherry I’m thinking of?
Lin Wan suddenly pulled a cherry from her pocket and held it up to Lu Yuan’s mouth.
What… so it really was a cherry.
Just as Lu Yuan felt a bit disappointed, Su Li’s fruit knife suddenly plunged into the apple with a sharp “click.”
The temperature in the hospital room inexplicably dropped several degrees.
***
Still, Lin Wan stubbornly tried to get Lu Yuan to try her cherry.
“Come on… ah… open your mouth.”
Lu Yuan looked between the two, who seemed ready to fight, feeling lost.
This is war. War! If I don’t stop it, the world will end!
“Um…” she timidly raised her hand, “I suddenly want some congee…”
“I’ll go buy it!” The two shouted in unison, then bumped into each other at the door.
“Su Li, don’t you still have a report to write?”
“Lin Wan, your shift should be starting soon, right? Aren’t you going to work?”
Watching the two stubborn girls argue as they left, Lu Yuan sighed.
Girls really are hard to please…
Speaking of which, am I still a girl now?
***
Down the hallway, Lin Wan stopped with her hands on her hips, her blue hair slightly flicked up from excitement.
“Su Li!” she lowered her voice, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and annoyance. “You’re older than me, but we still need some rules!”
Su Li tilted her head slightly, her silver-white hair slipping off her shoulder. “What rules?”
“Well…” Lin Wan took a deep breath, then spoke as if making a firm decision, “If you want to pursue Lu Yuan, you have to do it properly! No sneaking around when she’s not looking!”
Su Li’s expression showed rare confusion. “Sneaking around…?”
“Yes! You secretly became Lu Yuan’s 24-hour bodyguard before, right? And you got all close and clingy…” Lin Wan’s voice trailed off.
“How did you know…?” Su Li asked, puzzled. Though it wasn’t exactly a secret, Lin Wan shouldn’t have known.
“…Um, I just know!” Lin Wan said shyly.
She couldn’t tell Su Li it was from watching the surveillance on her phone—that would make her look like a pervert!
“Anyway, no more sneaky tricks! If you both like Lu Yuan, then settle it with a proper duel!” Lin Wan pointed a finger at Su Li’s face. “Even if you’re older than me, I won’t lose! I’m going to buy Lu Yuan’s congee now!”
In the blink of an eye, Lin Wan dashed off, leaving Su Li alone and flustered in the hospital corridor.
***
“Like…?” Su Li murmured to herself. “Do I like Lu Yuan?”
She had never really thought about it before. All she knew was that Lu Yuan becoming a Magical Girl was her fault, so she needed to care more for her. Was that care… love?
Or had her feelings transformed—from an elder’s concern to something more?
Su Li suddenly shivered.
When did she start having these strange feelings for Lu Yuan? When she saved her at the factory? Or when she felt indebted and tried to make it up? Or…
From the very beginning, when Lu Yuan was bandaging her wounds with ordinary strips of cloth in her home, had she already liked her?
She didn’t understand these feelings—what liking or loving meant. But if someone asked who she most wanted to watch a movie with, she knew without hesitation it would be Lu Yuan.
***
Su Li didn’t fight Lin Wan over buying the congee. She returned alone to her apartment.
Pushing open the door, moonlight flooded the living room. She casually tossed her keys onto the shoe cabinet; the metallic clink sounded especially crisp in the quiet room.
The TV was playing the evening news. A shot of Chen Xin in prison clothes flashed by, with a scrolling headline below: “Former officer faces decades in prison for aiding fugitive.”
Su Li turned off the TV, took a carton of milk from the fridge. Soon, droplets condensed on the glass, sliding down between her fingers.
Her phone lit up. A message from Tian Aixing appeared:
【Chen Xin’s daughter, Chen Lianxue, has just received her latest medical report. All indicators are normal. That Crystal… though its origins remain unknown, it did cure her illness.】
Su Li replied with a simple “Hmm.” She walked to the balcony, the night breeze brushing her cheeks, moist with early spring freshness.
In the distance, Tongmen City General Hospital’s lights still shone brightly. Behind one window, Lu Yuan should be sleeping peacefully.
***
Su Li sank into her soft pillow, her silver-white hair spread out. It was the first time in a month she could sleep without being on call.
It was time to get a good night’s rest…
Su Li thought.
But she couldn’t fall asleep at all!
Lin Wan’s words echoed in her mind, refusing to leave.
She hadn’t paid attention before, but now she was tangled in her feelings for Lu Yuan.
“Ugh… how can I sleep like this,” Su Li complained.
But she’d read online about a quick sleep method and wondered if it might work.
She took out her phone, opened the gallery, and scrolled to find the surveillance footage from Lu Yuan’s room.
In the video, Lu Yuan hummed softly. Su Li couldn’t help but let her hand wander downwards.
The airplane sleep method… hope it helps.