Deep in the depths of Zhi Ai’s glazed eyes, a dark light flashed—one that even she hadn’t fully noticed herself.
Looking at Su Yuqing’s body, which suddenly tensed because of that slight sting, a more wicked thought surfaced like a bubble from the abyss.
‘Maybe I should… use a little more strength next, *meow*?’
This thought carried a feline’s natural curiosity and cruelty, wanting to test the limits of that fragile skin, wanting to see more… more of the vivid reactions belonging to this human, revealed only for her…
“Ouch!”
That sharp sting, slightly clearer than before, felt like a refined rose thorn precisely delivered from the skin of Su Yuqing’s soft lower lip.
This was no longer that almost playful touch from before; it was a small mark of punishment and declaration.
It instantly pulled her out of that bizarre, hypnotic intimacy and slammed her back into cold reality.
The pain was like a cold, merciless dividing line that didn’t just break her skin, but also severed any unrealistic daze in her mind.
It coldly reminded Su Yuqing of a fact she tried to ignore but which followed her like a shadow:
The one currently “washing her face” and engaging in this irrational level of intimacy was by no means a small animal that could be casually coaxed or viewed as a common pet.
This was something with the form of a young human girl but inheriting a cat’s instinct and capriciousness, and… harboring an unfathomable obsession and danger—
‘Master.’
“Wh-What are you doing, hey…!?”
Su Yuqing jerked her head away, avoiding that warm, barbed sensation.
She used the back of her hand to vigorously wipe her licked lips and cheeks, her voice trembling with lingering fear and a hint of outrage at being violated.
Zhi Ai was pleased by her intense reaction.
She took half a step back, an innocent expression on her face as if it had nothing to do with her, and tilted her head.
“Hmm? I didn’t use much strength~ You know that,” she said.
Her tone was airy, but it carried an underlying threat.
“If I really wanted to use force, then at the very least… I could easily tear off a small layer of flesh from your lips. This is just a greeting, *meow*~”
“I’m not talking about that!”
Su Yuqing felt like her thoughts were being scrambled by the other girl.
She breathed rapidly, trying to seize the main point.
“What I’m saying is… what I’m saying is… is…”
Her cheeks burned red.
A certain word rolled on the tip of her tongue, but her excessive shame and the absurdity of the situation made it hard to speak.
Zhi Ai enjoyed her embarrassment with great interest, as if she had caught a mouse’s most amusing struggle, and deliberately pressed further.
“Oh~? So… what exactly do you want to say? Hmm?”
Pushed to the brink, Su Yuqing finally closed her eyes and shouted out in desperation, “You kissed me!”
Zhi Ai slightly raised an eyebrow, letting out a lazy, puzzled hum.
“Mhm?”
It was as if she didn’t understand what the other was saying.
This deliberate feigned ignorance completely ignited Su Yuqing’s shame and anger.
She pointed at her lips, her voice rising with excitement, even cracking slightly.
“You… you-you-you-you definitely kissed me just now… right?! Right there!”
Looking at her reaction, like a cat that had its tail stepped on, Zhi Ai finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter—a bright smile filled with pure wickedness.
“Yes~”
she answered crisply, as if she were admitting to something perfectly ordinary.
“What else? What did you think I was doing just now?”
“What do you mean ‘what else’…!?”
Su Yuqing was driven crazy.
She stomped her foot hard, trying to make the other person understand the severity of the matter.
“That was a kiss! Please! That was a kiss on the lips, hey! How can this be…”
“Sigh~”
Zhi Ai waved her hand dismissively, interrupting her.
A flash of cold mockery crossed her eyes.
“Why make such a big deal out of this? Didn’t you already give away your… ‘precious first kiss’ long ago? To that… beautiful blue-haired girl?”
Su Yuqing’s body stiffened visibly, as if all her strength had been drained in an instant.
Her voice lowered into a weak defense.
“Even if… even if my first kiss was already gone… th-that doesn’t mean you can just kiss my lips whenever you want! Those are two different things!”
“So what?”
Zhi Ai crossed her arms and took a step forward, her eyes burning as she stared at her.
“Other girls can kiss you, but when it’s my turn… it’s not okay, *meow*? Sigh~”
She elongated her tone, shaking her head.
The sarcasm in her voice almost overflowed.
“Where else in this world can you find a second double-standard *Hajiren* like you~ It really makes me sad, *meow*.”
“That’s different!”
Su Yuqing retorted almost reflexively, trying to establish a fragile line of defense in this chaotic situation.
“What?”
Zhi Ai sneered.
“What could possibly be different? Isn’t it just lips touching lips? Is her kiss sweet while mine is bitter?”
“She kissed me… w-with my permission!”
Su Yuqing racked her brains and finally found a reason she thought was valid.
“But you didn’t have any at all! You were… you were launching a surprise attack! It’s unreasonable coercion! Do you understand…!?”
She tried to use “permission” and “coercion” to draw a line, hoping to protect her crumbling dignity and autonomy.
However, Zhi Ai didn’t continue to dwell on the kiss itself as she had expected.
She just looked at Su Yuqing quietly.
In those glazed eyes, all teasing and levity vanished in an instant, leaving only an unfathomable calm.
She spoke softly.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was like a dagger dipped in ice, precisely bypassing all appearances to stab into Su Yuqing’s deepest old scar.
“So,” Zhi Ai’s voice was flat and waveless.
“Do you still remember the name of that… blue-haired girl who tricked you into bed?”
“Uh…”
The question came too suddenly and too sharply.
It was like a silent blow to the back of Su Yuqing’s head.
All her momentum and arguments vanished, leaving only a short, dry syllable in her throat.
The floodgates of memory were violently pried open.
That carefully sealed name, along with scenes of woven warmth and pain, surged out.
Zhi Ai stared intently into her eyes, not allowing her to dodge even for a moment.
She added, “Remember to tell the truth. Don’t lie to me, *meow*.”
Su Yuqing lowered her head, avoiding the gaze that seemed capable of seeing through everything.
Her voice carried an unmistakable bitterness and complexity.
“Of course… I still remember.”
How could she forget?
It was the most brilliant yet painful stroke of her youth.
“Then I have to ask,” Zhi Ai continued to press with that terrifyingly calm tone.
Every word was like a hammer hitting Su Yuqing’s heart.
“Do you think… that girl… still remembers your name now…?”
“Ah…”
Su Yuqing opened her mouth but couldn’t make a sound.
Like a fish suddenly thrown onto the shore, she felt a suffocating pain.
After all, that question she never dared to think deeply about—or rather, deliberately avoided—was now laid bare before her by Zhi Ai, so naked and cruel.
Time, distance, and the rushed, blurred ending of that relationship… everything pointed to an answer she didn’t want to face.
Zhi Ai didn’t give her a chance to breathe.
Seeing her instantly pale face and flickering eyes, she continued.
“What? Silence? You don’t know? Or… do you actually just simply not want to answer my question?”
She leaned forward slightly, her voice like a demon’s whisper.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? That girl… won’t remember you. To her, you’re just an insignificant passerby whose name has blurred over the long course of her life.”
“No, that’s not right!”
Su Yuqing seemed stung in the last bit of her dignity by those words.
She jerked her head up, a death-defying stubbornness in her eyes as she tried to defend her already tattered memories.
“Liuli… Liuli will remember! No matter what… between us… she should… at least remember the name of this fool, right…?”
Su Yuqing’s voice grew smaller and smaller until, at the end, it was almost a sob-filled mutter to herself.
That forced belief was as fragile as a candle in the wind.
Zhi Ai quietly watched her final struggle, her face expressionless.
Finally, she spoke softly, with a finality that felt like the closing of a case.
“Fine. In that case.”
“Then please, prove it to me!”