The afternoon light slanted through the living room window, casting mottled spots of light on the dusty floor, while countless silent dust motes floated in the air.
Su Yuqing lay on her side on her somewhat old sofa.
Her body was still bound with Nylon Rope in an extremely professional and inescapable manner.
Her wrists and ankles sent waves of numbness and stinging pain from the prolonged restraint.
After being forced to endure a whole morning of various pranks and mental torment, she felt as if her heart and soul had been hollowed out.
All that remained was an endless exhaustion and a sense of powerlessness that reached deep into her bones.
Su Yuqing’s throat was faintly dry from being forced to utter those pleasing names earlier.
By now, her pride was like glass crushed on the ground, every shard reflecting her current pathetic state.
Now, the situation before her could be summarized by one simple piece of good news and one fatal piece of bad news.
The good news was:
The “Cat” who seemed to have endless energy, that Kasahana Chiai who claimed to have come for Revenge, was likely a bit tired after enthusiastically messing with her for most of the day.
About half an hour ago, she had hummed an unknown Idol tune and dove into the kitchen.
Afterward, a series of faint sounds of rummaging through cabinets drifted from that direction, followed by a long, almost eerie silence.
Su Yuqing perked up her ears and listened carefully for a long time.
She never heard that Cat make another sound, nor did she see her emerge from behind that kitchen door.
This undoubtedly created a nearly luxurious breathing space for Su Yuqing, who was suffering in fear and humiliation.
She could even clearly hear the heavy, slow thumping of her heart within her chest and the faint pulsing of blood through her temples.
However, what about the bad news?
The bad news was like the sword of Damocles hanging over her head, ready to fall at any moment.
“Ugh…”
When the kitchen doorknob finally turned again, Su Yuqing’s heart skipped a beat in sync with the sound.
She subconsciously held her breath, her gaze locked onto the slowly opening door.
Then, she once again saw that exquisite, doll-like little face.
Chiai still wore that innocent expression, as if she had just finished a very interesting adventure in the kitchen.
But Su Yuqing’s attention was almost instantly captured by the object Chiai was casually carrying — that kitchen Dining Knife, which shimmered with a bone-chilling cold light.
‘She… she brought a knife from the kitchen. What exactly does she want to do…?!’
This thought pierced through Su Yuqing’s barely maintained composure like an icicle.
In an instant, countless terrifying possibilities she had seen in horror movies or news reports flooded her brain like an uncontrollable tide, making it nearly impossible for her to breathe.
After all, this “Stinking Cat” had already made it crystal clear that she had come back to find her specifically for Revenge.
‘Revenge… Re… venge…’
These two words echoed wildly in her mind with a bloody resonance.
‘She wouldn’t… Is she really planning to use that sharp little knife to slowly slice me into pieces, bit by bit, until I’m dead…?!’
“Eek—!!!”
An extremely terrified gasp uncontrollably escaped Su Yuqing’s throat.
Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and she tried to curl toward the inner side of the sofa, though the movement was futile under the restraint of the ropes.
Standing not far away, Chiai naturally noticed the sudden panic and fear surfacing on Su Yuqing’s face.
Similarly, she seemed to see right through the bloody scripts playing out in Su Yuqing’s mind.
As the distance between them closed with her every step, the smirk on the little Cat’s lips — like she had found an interesting toy — quickly became obvious and bold.
“S-so back then… did you really choose to become an Idol just to get close to me…?”
After a moment of high-tension thinking, Su Yuqing decided to strike first, attempting to use conversation to divert the other girl’s attention.
“Otherwise?”
Chiai gracefully took a seat on the sofa cushion next to Su Yuqing, all while idly playing with the dangerous Dining Knife in her hand.
The blade flipped nimbly between her slender fingers, tracing terrifying silver arcs.
“In order for my Revenge to be successful, even if I had to become an Idol Manager, it wouldn’t be entirely out of the question, you know?”
Her tone was light, as if she were discussing how nice the weather was rather than a long, calculated conspiracy.
Of course, while she elegantly toyed with the Dining Knife, she “intentionally or unintentionally” let the cold tip of the blade drift toward the area near Su Yuqing’s heart.
The cold tip occasionally brushed against her skin through her thin clothing, triggering waves of fearful goosebumps.
“Don’t you… don’t you have even a little bit of… genuine love for this profession?”
Su Yuqing suppressed the scream that almost burst from her throat, her eyes fixed on the dangerous blade.
Her voice carried a slight tremor due to extreme fear.
“Every one of your performances, from the very beginning until now… I was there. I watched all of them.”
Seeing Chiai’s movements pause slightly, Su Yuqing swallowed hard as if grabbing a life-saving straw.
She continued to speak with forced courage, almost pleadingly.
“Whether it was those later grand performances in the spotlight or your early debut performances in that tiny ‘Stardust’ venue with hardly any audience… you, you performed so seriously, so devotedly. It was as if you were completely immersed in the stage.”
“And… and—”
“And what?”
Chiai’s question came just as fast and suddenly as the Dining Knife that abruptly stopped and lightly pressed against Su Yuqing’s chin.
It possessed a sharpness that allowed no evasion.
“And… especially the Fan Interaction Session after every performance.”
She chose her words with extreme caution, fearing that any single word might provoke the other girl and cause that sharp blade to easily slice her skin.
“No matter what kind of fan it was — enthusiastic, shy, or even those who made unreasonable demands… you were always so patient and enthusiastic! Was… was all of that just a facade…?”
Looking at Su Yuqing’s face, which was filled with sincere confusion and great bewilderment, Chiai first let out a helpless, soft sigh.
“Sigh~”
That sigh carried a complex mixture of mockery and pity.
Then, no longer intending to keep her in suspense, she nimbly produced something she had hidden earlier — a can of Cat Canned Food that had been quietly curled up and hidden under her skirt by her fluffy cat tail.
She skillfully used the Dining Knife that had been threatening Su Yuqing’s life.
She wedged the tip into the pull-tab and applied a bit of pressure.
With a soft “click,” the sealed lid was easily pried open.
A rich, fresh scent of meat instantly wafted through the air, creating a bizarre contrast with the previous atmosphere of tension and fear.
She didn’t rush to take a bite.
Chiai just looked down, quietly staring at the fresh meat chunks and tempting meat jelly packed inside the can.
A hard-to-capture light flashed in her glazed eyes.
She still remembered that when she was this human’s Pet, she hadn’t been lucky enough to eat this sort of thing.
For ten years, this Master who claimed to love her had only provided cheap, low-quality, off-brand cat food that made her stomach feel uncomfortable.
“But isn’t there another possibility?”
Chiai finally looked up, her gaze falling back on Su Yuqing’s eyes, which were slightly widened in surprise.
Her voice remained sweet.
“Cats are creatures that are naturally very, very good at acting cute and very, very good at… making people like them. For anyone, as long as this Cat is willing, she can show them exactly what they want to see most~”
These light words felt colder to Su Yuqing than the knife had.
If even the passion and sincerity on and off the stage were just disguises that could be donned or discarded at will, then what was left of the girl — or rather, the “Cat” — before her that was real?
“This…”
Su Yuqing was temporarily speechless.
The massive amount of information and emotional impact left her brain in a state of chaos.
Watching Chiai lower her head and begin to elegantly pick up a chunk of meat covered in jelly with the Dining Knife, preparing to put it in her mouth, a more absurd and even desperately hopeful question slipped uncontrollably from Su Yuqing’s trembling lips.
“Then you—”
“Do you still… want to continue being an Idol in the future…?”