Jiang Jian Yue stood outside the balcony, the night wind tossing her ash-gray hair into a mess.
Her blood-red eyes appeared exceptionally deep in the night, yet they held an indescribable hint of vulnerability.
“Yue?!”
Yuki Asahi hurriedly stood up and opened the floor-to-ceiling window. “How did you… this is the seventh floor!”
“I climbed up.”
Jiang Jian Yue stepped into the room, bringing a gust of cool night air with her.
She glanced at the messy pile of documents on the coffee table and the paused screen, a faint curve finally appearing at the corner of her mouth. “Studying so late? Tomorrow… is the finals. Don’t you need… rest?”
“Because the opponent is strong.”
Yuki Asahi closed the laptop, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Especially that Shadow Girl. Although we’ve both hidden our strength, I feel like she has far more trump cards than we do.”
“Mhm… she is indeed… quite a character,” Jiang Jian Yue echoed absentmindedly.
Her mind was currently filled with confusion regarding the war, and she truly couldn’t muster the interest to discuss a competitive match.
Even if this match was the finals, watched by the entire world.
This sense of cognitive dissonance gave Jiang Jian Yue a deep feeling of loneliness.
Yuki Asahi was still working hard for a trophy, while she was contemplating an upcoming war thousands of miles away.
Between them lay an invisible chasm.
“Yue… did something happen?”
Yuki keenly sensed her abnormality.
He walked up to Jiang Jian Yue and lowered his head slightly, his gaze level with hers. “You look terrible, and… your eyes keep wandering.”
“…It’s nothing.”
Jiang Jian Yue turned her head away, trying to hide it. “Just… work lately… has been a bit tiring.”
“Is that so?”
Yuki didn’t press her, but he reached out and gently took hold of Jiang Jian Yue’s icy fingers.
“Your hand is shaking.”
Jian Yue’s body stiffened.
She looked at the youth before her, whose eyes were filled with concern, and a sudden impulse surged in her heart.
‘Tell him.’
‘Tell him that DRG is going to war. Tell him that a monster named Pluto is lurking in the shadows. Tell him that I might have to leave for a long time, and might not even come back.’
‘Tell him that I’m scared.’
The words reached her lips, only to be forced back down.
What would saying it accomplish?
Make him give up on tomorrow’s finals? Make him shoulder such heavy burdens at his age?
That was her responsibility as an adult, her fate as an “Antagonist,” and not part of the Male Lead’s script.
It wasn’t fair to him.
Furthermore, the current Yuki Asahi simply couldn’t help.
“Yuki.”
Jiang Jian Yue took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart as she allowed her gaze to become sharp once more.
“I have indeed… run into… some trouble.”
“Big trouble.”
Yuki’s grip tightened. “I can—”
“No, you can’t.”
Jiang Jian Yue pulled her hand away and lightly tapped her index finger against his chest, stopping his next words.
She lifted her chin, revealing a look of arrogance and playfulness — though it was all an act.
“Right now, you haven’t even won a single… championship. What… right… do you have to interfere in my business?”
Yuki was stunned.
Jiang Jian Yue leaned closer to him, her voice low and full of temptation, like a demon’s whisper. “Prove yourself first.”
“In tomorrow’s finals, bring that… championship trophy… back to me.”
It was a clumsy excuse for a delay.
Yuki looked at her fixedly.
His golden eyes shimmered with light, easily seeing through this layer of disguise, yet he seemed to choose to believe in this motivation.
After a long while, he suddenly smiled.
It was a smile full of confidence and a hint of doting.
“Okay.”
He responded softly, “If that’s the entry ticket, I’ll get it.”
“I absolutely will.”
Jiang Jian Yue felt a sense of relief in her heart, but at the same time, a wave of bitterness surged.
“Then… I’ll be looking forward to it.”
He was telling her: ‘I’m here. Even if I’m not strong enough yet, even if I don’t know what’s bothering you, I’m right here.’
Jiang Jian Yue closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck and sliding her fingers into his slightly coarse hair.
She responded greedily, absorbing this warmth.
It was like holding a heater on a cold night; it was her final charge before facing the coming storm.
“Mhm…” A suppressed soft hum escaped from between their lips.
No one knew how much time passed, but it wasn’t until both of them were slightly out of breath that Yuki reluctantly let her go.
But he still rested his forehead against hers, their noses brushing.
“Yue.”
“Mhm?”
Jiang Jian Yue’s eyes were misty, and her cheeks were flushed.
“Please officially become my girlfriend, okay?”
“But…” Jiang Jian Yue instinctively wanted to agree, but the words caught in her throat.
She couldn’t even say for sure if she would die on the battlefield.
Jiang Jian Yue wasn’t naive enough to think she was invincible.
Unless they specialized in defense, Superpower Users generally couldn’t withstand the strike of heavy weapons.
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t dare to let Yuki invest more emotions, nor did she dare to invest more herself.
‘Isn’t it fine to keep things as they are?’
‘I might not be your girlfriend, but I’ve basically done everything I should and shouldn’t have done.’
‘Except for the final step, I’ve tacitly allowed everything else!’
‘Why fixate on a status?’
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t think a change in status would cause a world-shaking shift in how she and Yuki got along.
But…
Asking herself honestly, Jiang Jian Yue was the one fixated on status.
‘Heh… in the end, am I still looking down at Yuki from a high position?’
‘That’s not very fair to him, is it?’
Besides, if she were to ask if she wanted to properly call Yuki “darling” — Jiang Jian Yue obviously wanted to!
‘Should I… just be selfish for once?’
The words Yamanoi Yayoi had said to her when she visited a few days ago echoed in her mind.
‘Live freely, right?’
Sorting through her chaotic thoughts, Jiang Jian Yue was about to speak when she suddenly heard a sound from behind the curtains.
“What are you two doing?”