Damn it, if it wasn’t for keeping my identity hidden, I’d really fight these two bastards!
Ning Dongya’s faint smile faded slightly as her fingertips gently rubbed the rim of the cup. “It seems Manager Yue Ran has seen quite a lot of… his hidden side.” Her tone remained steady, but the surrounding air seemed to grow a few degrees colder.
“Likewise.” Yue Ran showed no weakness, picking up the milk beside her and handing it to me again. Her tone was gentle but left no room for refusal. “Drink some milk to calm your nerves. Look at how scared you are.” This gesture was clearly using present-day care to counter the past Ning Dongya spoke of.
I tremblingly took the milk and took a small sip; the warm liquid tasted like lava at this moment.
Ning Dongya watched my obedient way of drinking milk, her eyes darkening slightly. Then, as if remembering something, she spoke again, this time with a more obvious provocation directed at Yue Ran: “Speaking of which, he eventually tried to learn how to cook. He swore up and down that he’d make me a birthday dinner, but he almost set the kitchen of my rented apartment on fire. Facing that burnt-through pot and steak as black as charcoal, he cried so miserably. In the end, I was the one who went out to buy the cake.”
She paused, her gaze sharp as she looked at Yue Ran. “Manager Yue Ran, he shouldn’t have the guts to… blow up your kitchen again, right?”
Wah! She even said that! That was the biggest failure of my life!
I was so ashamed my toes curled, feeling like I was being repeatedly roasted under a spotlight.
Yue Ran laughed suddenly upon hearing this, a hint of pleasure in her smile. “The kitchen was fine,” she said slowly, her eyes glancing at me, full of playfulness. “However, to make amends—not to me, but for breaking a very expensive pair of my boxing gloves—he obediently acted as my sparring partner at the dojo for a whole month. He did whatever I told him to.”
She didn’t finish, but the meaning was clear.
Ning Dongya possessed memories of “his” fragile weeping, while Yue Ran possessed “his” “loyalty”—one involving physical labor and even a hint of masochism.
Enough! Truly enough!
I felt like I was about to evaporate. My ears drooped flat against my scalp, and my tail hung limply by the stool legs as I curled into a ball, trying to reduce my presence. Every light memory they tossed out was like a small hammer, thumping against my fragile nerves and sense of shame.
You two… stop using my dark history to attack each other, meow! And why do you both remember so clearly! I’d rather you both forgot! Forget it all, ahhh!
I screamed silently in my heart, while my face could only maintain a stiff, fake smile.
At this point, I had already lost all will to live. Waaah, why do I have to go through this!
I felt like I had been roasted over a fire for a whole century, my soul nearly evaporated by those shameful pasts. Just as I was praying for this torture to end soon, Ning Dongya’s cold voice rang out again, accurately piercing my fragile disguise.
“Gui Yun,” she set down her coffee cup, her silver-gray pupils focused on me with a hint of well-timed confusion. “Speaking of which… since a moment ago, every time we talk about your relative, you seem particularly nervous?” She tilted her head slightly, her voice soft yet like a scalpel. “Even your ears have drooped. Do you not like hearing these things? Or… are you thinking of something else?”
Meow?!
My heart constricted violently, nearly leaping out of my throat! She noticed! She really noticed! I knew it, how could this old fox be so easy to deal with!
“N-No! Absolutely not!” I jerked my head up almost reflexively, my voice rising an octave. My paws flailed about, and my tail thrashed anxiously against the stool leg behind me. “H-How could I be nervous! It’s… it’s just that my relative’s dark history is t-too shameful! Hearing it makes me feel embarrassed for him! Right! Embarrassed!”
I explained incoherently, my cheeks burning intensely. I didn’t dare meet Ning Dongya’s eyes, my gaze drifting toward the coffee stains on the table, feeling like the more I explained, the worse it got.
“Oh? Is that so?” Ning Dongya trailed off, her fingertip lightly tapping the table. That rhythmic tapping struck my tightened nerves with every beat. “Just… feeling embarrassed for him?”
“O-Of course!” I nodded vigorously, but my ears betrayingly twitched even harder. “What else could it be! You really know how to joke, President! Hahaha…” The dry laughter sounded particularly abrupt and guilty in the quiet cat cafe.
Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sister Yue Ran looking at me. The playful and triumphant look from before had vanished, replaced by a hesitant scrutiny. Her gaze drifted between my face—which was feigning composure but unable to hide the panic—and my uncontrollably twitching ears. She frowned slightly, seemingly… thinking about something.
Ugh… why is Yue Ran looking at me like that? Don’t tell me she also…
Ning Dongya took in both my and Yue Ran’s reactions. She didn’t press further, only letting the corners of her lips slowly curl into an ambiguous arc. That smile was fleeting, so fast I almost thought it was an illusion.
“So that’s how it is.” She nodded slightly, her tone returning to its previous flatness, as if that sharp question really was just a whim. “It seems I was overthinking.”
She stood up and smoothed out non-existent wrinkles on her suit skirt. “It’s getting late; I should head back.” She looked at Yue Ran and nodded slightly. “Thank you for the hospitality, Manager Yue Ran. The coffee was excellent.” Finally, her gaze fell on me again, carrying that calmness that threw my heartbeat off balance. “Gui Yun, don’t be late tomorrow.”
Having said that, she turned gracefully, pushed open the glass door, and her figure quickly vanished into the night.
S-She’s gone? Just like that?
I froze in place, not daring to take a deep breath until the wind chimes stopped swaying. My back was drenched in cold sweat, and a sense of exhaustion washed over me.
Great… I bluffed my way through! She believed it!
I reflexively patted my chest, trying to soothe my still-racing heart.
However, when I looked up, I found that Sister Yue Ran wasn’t looking at the door. Her gaze was still fixed on me, that look of scrutiny mixed with lingering doubt hadn’t completely vanished just because Ning Dongya had left.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, it only turned into a soft sigh. She walked over and gently rubbed my hair. “It’s fine now. Go get some rest.”
I nodded obediently and, carrying my exhausted body, practically floated upstairs.
Back in my room, I buried my face deep into the pillow, my tail hanging limply off the side of the bed.
Did I really just fool her like that? Is Ning Dongya really that easy to trick?
Whatever, why think so much? She’s already gone, so why keep thinking about her!
As for now, I should just get some good rest before heading down to help out in the shop, right?