Fu You's Little Secret

The blond punk stuck out his tongue and gasped for breath from the chili heat, and Fu You was in a great mood.

He had ordered the same noodles she was eating without asking a thing, recklessly courting death. He deserved to get burned by the spice.

Seeing that the blond punk was too spicy to speak, his face flushed red, Fu You stood up, took out two bottles of cola from the side, opened one, and handed it to Liu Rui.

He especially liked the noodles at Tasty Noodle House. The vine pepper oil was refined to perfection, both numbing and fragrant. The pale red broth looked ordinary enough, but after a single mouthful, one's entire esophagus would tremble.

For the inexperienced taste buds of young people, that flavor was far too intense. But for middle-aged people who needed a little stimulation to remind themselves they were alive, the spiciness was just right.

Once people got older, they lost their fascination with many things children enjoyed and instead sought out unusual thrills. Alcohol did not taste good, cigarettes were unpleasant to smoke, spicy food hurt, and bitterness was not delicious—yet people still found one or two pleasures they loved among such things.

Fu You did not like bitter food and did not enjoy smoking. Spicy food was the only exception.

Liu Rui took the cola and gulped it down. After resting for quite a while, he finally turned his gaze back to Fu You's face.

How could Fu You fail to see what that kid's expression meant? He had seen that sort of look plenty of times back when he was still a Witch—

No one would blush from looking at a man. Of course, if someone really blushed because he himself was a man, Fu You would immediately stay far away from that person.

"If you can't handle it, then stop eating," Fu You said.

The level of spice he usually ate would probably leave someone who could not eat spicy food miserable for an entire day.

He had discovered my secret already, hadn't he?

Fu You muttered to himself inwardly.

The moment he noticed Liu Rui staring at him just now, he had secretly guessed that the other party must have noticed something.

His disguise was not bad, but a disguise was still just a disguise. From up close, anyone with good eyesight could always spot some clues.

His body had long since become female, and there were some things he simply could not keep the same as when he had been a boy. For example, whenever someone tried to look down his collar, he always worried about accidentally exposing himself.

"No, I can eat it!" Liu Rui suddenly found some backbone and actually began shoveling the noodles into his mouth.

Seeing how insistent he was, Fu You did not say anything more and simply watched from the side as he ate the noodles bite by bite.

Fu You wanted to remind him that it was only a meal. Even if Liu Rui finished it, Fu You would not think he had perseverance, that he had offered some kind of pledge of loyalty, or change his opinion of him in any other way. It was only a meal.

Yet as Liu Rui turned red from the spice, his lips flushed scarlet, guzzled cola wildly, and still insisted on finishing the noodles, Fu You found it strangely entertaining. Resting his cheek in his hand, he watched the entire process of Liu Rui eating.

"I'm done!" Liu Rui said in relief.

"Not bad." As Fu You spoke, he stood and walked to the side, only to see Liu Rui quickly step in front of him and scan the code first.

"You're a student. Keep that pocket money for yourself." Fu You reached out to stop him.

"Senior, I'm rich." Liu Rui had already paid as he spoke. "I get five thousand a month for pocket money."

Fu You froze slightly, then put away his phone and turned to walk outside.

Damn rich kid.

Liu Rui hurried after him. "Senior, where are we going next?"

"Going back to rest."

"How about resting in my room? I mean, I can sleep on the sofa. Magical Girls' Apartment is closer, after all."

"No need," Fu You said.

"Um..." Liu Rui said.

"Let's go our separate ways here." Seeing that Liu Rui was still following him, Fu You reminded him.

"Okay, Senior!"

Fu You turned around. "You know the rules, right? Don't tell outsiders."

"Understood, Senior!" Liu Rui immediately grew excited at those words.

Fu You waved a hand, shoved both hands into his pockets, and headed toward his residence.

He did not want to ask how much Liu Rui knew.

His gender was a secret, but not some earth-shattering one. He simply did not want too many people to know. That way, at least, he could continue living as a boy.

Very few people at school knew his true gender. Sun Feiliu was one of them. Fu You did not know whether anyone else had discovered his secret, but at least openly, Liu Rui was the second.

He rarely interacted with others. The advantage of being alone was that his secret had never been discovered by anyone else.

If Sun Feiliu had not forcibly shoved Huali to his side, then with Fu You's usual attitude toward people, Huali would never have had the chance to observe him from so close.

He did not want others to treat him as some kind of girl. That sort of life was far too troublesome. He did not like dressing up, nor did he like being stared at all the time.

As for whether Huali could keep his secret...

That could count as a test for Huali.

If he could not even keep a secret like this, then there would be no point in having any further dealings with him.

Fu You believed Huali could do it.

After all, Huali had noticed so quickly that Fu You was a girl because he must have already had suspicions. And the prerequisite for suspecting Fu You's gender was, naturally, that they were both Magical Girls. Since they were both Magical Girls, there was no reason to joke about something like this.

One day, Huali would become a girl. There was almost no way to stop that process, unless he died before then.

Ten years ago, Fu You had indeed been a boy. But after being a Magical Girl for so long, his body had long been altered into the form the "World Tree" wanted him to have.

In other words, it was not much different from how he looked after transforming into a Magical Girl.

Even after more than a decade, however, his height had remained at 1.7 meters. He had not shrunk to under 1.5 meters as he did after transforming.

Even that remaining height was becoming less secure as time passed.

When he thought about one day turning into a 1.5-meter loli who had to tilt his head up to look at everyone, irritation surged through him.

Whoever wanted to be a Magical Girl could have it.

After returning home, he drew the bed curtains, yawned, and flopped down onto the bed.

After taking off his pants, those smooth, lustrous legs appeared before him once more.

He always wore long pants because if others saw his legs and feet, few would fail to question his gender.

Only in private would he reveal that unknown side of himself.

A girl's body was nowhere near as strong as a boy's body, and Magical Girls were the same. Even though he possessed immense power after transforming, before transforming, he was only a girl who might be somewhat stronger than ordinary girls.

Compared with young men like A-Wu, whom he had encountered during the meal, the gap was enormous.

Arms and legs with almost no visible muscles could not possibly possess such great strength. The occasional bursts of power were nothing more than borrowed Magical Girl power.

He crawled under the blankets.

His soft body pressed against the bedsheet.

His two legs overlapped, soft and smooth.

—Of course, Fu You knew better than anyone what his own body was like.