Yuri (Part 2)

"L-Lingjing... what's wrong?" Shasha's own heart was pounding wildly at the moment. A girl's body being seen by someone—what did that really mean? She couldn't sort it out in her head, but seeing Lingjing cry, she set aside her own scattered thoughts and sat down on the edge of the bed to comfort her.

"Wah... Jiaming, he... Jiaming, he..."

"Yeah, Jiaming was way too bad, barging in without knocking. I'll make him..."

"No, that's not it. Wah... Jiaming saw us like that... he... he must look down on me now..."

"H-how could that be? Jiaming wouldn't..."

"He definitely won't say it out loud, but... but in his heart he'll think that way, wah..."

The little girl sobbed softly, and Shasha fumbled around trying to comfort her, but she didn't have much experience with this sort of thing. Every word that came out of her mouth was about beating Jiaming up to vent her anger. Though both were her friends, it wasn't just Lingjing's body—hers had been seen too, so a beating wasn't too much.

Sitting beside her, handing her tissues, it took over ten minutes before Lingjing finally stopped crying, her voice still choked with sobs: "He... he really won't look down on me?"

"Oh, of course not. At worst, he'll... he'll be jealous." Shasha blurted out nonsense, then after a moment, asked in a small voice, "Lingjing, do you... do you like Jiaming?"

In this day and age, saying "like" basically meant the same as "love." As soon as the question left her mouth, Lingjing's little face flushed crimson: "We... we grew up together, we... we're good friends..."

"That's not what I meant." Shasha patted Lingjing lightly, pretending to be carefree. "You know what I mean. I'm asking, when you grow up, do you want to marry him?"

Lingjing shyly lowered her head, and after a long while, stammered out: "I, I... last year during the camping trip, when those two guys caught me, he... he said he'd trade himself for me, and that I was his... his..."

She mustered her courage for a long time, but the words "girlfriend" still wouldn't come out. Shasha, however, already understood her feelings. A faint sense of loss stirred in her heart, but she still grabbed Lingjing's hand: "Alright, I get it. If he dares to mock you, I'll... I'll... hmph, anyway, he won't dare. Come on, let's go out for breakfast..."

"But..."

"We can't just skip breakfast. There's two of us and only one of him—no need to be scared of him!" She seemed to forget that normally they weren't afraid of Jiaming at all, but now they felt a bit nervous. After tidying their clothes a little, they headed out, Lingjing's eyes still red.

Hot congee, fried dough sticks, and soy milk were already laid out on the dining table downstairs. Seeing the two come down, wash up, and finish, Jiaming was gulping down a bowl of congee, his shoulders twitching uncontrollably. Shasha had already felt a wave of shyness as she walked over, but seeing him like that, anger flared up in her. She grabbed a small pillow and smacked it down on Jiaming.

"Stop laughing, stop laughing..."

"Huff... hahahaha... quit hitting, I surrender... hahahaha..."

"You're still laughing!" Shasha put her hands on her hips and walked to Jiaming's other side. The two girls stood on either side of him—Shasha with a fierce expression, while Lingjing twisted her hands together in front of her chest, her slender fingers turning purple and red, her red-rimmed eyes on the verge of crying again in grievance. Jiaming reached out a finger and gently wiped a tear from her cheek, then opened his arms and pulled both girls' shoulders into a hug.

The dining chairs at Shasha's house were already quite large, and with Jiaming pulling like that, both girls ended up sitting beside him. Though the three had grown up together, and fighting or holding hands wasn't unusual, this was the first time Jiaming had shown such intimacy. Both girls, their shoulders held, leaned against his, their cheeks flushing red, but they didn't struggle.

Jiaming spoke softly: "Don't worry, I understand. We've been together for so many years—this is just a small thing. Mm... it did surprise me, sure, but no matter what, we're still good friends, right? From now on, we'll be good friends for life... So now that I know, you don't have to be shy around me. Come on, give each other a kiss in front of me... hahahaha... ah, that hurts, got me..."

Truth be told, Jiaming overestimated the girls' emotional intelligence. The first half of his speech went right over their heads, but the middle part put Shasha and Lingjing at ease. When Jiaming mischievously pushed the two girls together, trying to make them kiss, they both punched him in perfect sync. With flushed faces, they broke free. Shasha was about to speak when Jiaming, usually the peacemaker, suddenly leaped up and smacked a down-filled cushion from behind onto Shasha's head.

Dust flew everywhere. Caught off guard, Shasha had to crawl awkwardly under the dining table to the other side, grabbed a cushion, and chased after him. Jiaming quickly fled.

"Gu Jiaming, don't run!"

"Come on, Liu Huaisha! Lingjing was supposed to be my girlfriend, and you stole her—today I'm going to beat you up good!"

"Hmph, I'll make you mad! I'll make you mad! Lingjing's mine now—stop right there..." Shasha got caught up in the mood and, as a show of defiance, planted a kiss on Lingjing's fair little cheek before charging after him with the cushion.

Thump, thump, thump, whack, whack, whack...

The whole villa was in chaos. Only Lingjing stood there, her face flushed red. Jiaming said she was supposed to be his girlfriend, and Huaisha joined in the fun too. What did Jiaming mean by understanding? And friends for life—for life...

Was it really settled like this? Wouldn't it... be weird?

She thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a satisfying answer. She just touched the spot where Huaisha had teasingly kissed her, a mix of exasperation and amusement on her pretty face. Picking up a nearby cushion, she charged at the two.

"Ahhh—"

Forget it, just let it be...

"Ah, two against one, that's not fair... you pair of slutty hussies..." That was Jiaming being chased all over the place.

"Haha, Lingjing, help me hit him, come on—ah! Why are you hitting me too... Jiaming, you coward, sneaking up on me..." That was Lingjing suddenly turning the tables and letting Jiaming ambush her.

"Ah—help! I give up, I give up, I give up, I give up... help..." That was the weakest, Lingjing, being pinned down on the sofa and pummeled with cushions by the other two...

Rumble, racket—in the early morning at the Liu Family villa, the air was filled with pure, childlike energy...

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I never thought I'd write yuri... Of course, this book isn't about yuri. When I started writing, I already decided: however satisfying and shameless, that's how I'd write it. Fifty thousand words in, everyone, please click, bookmark, vote—thank you. Though the new book rankings are out of reach, I still want to see how far I can go...