Yang Chen Was Up to Something

The day before his discharge, Yang Chen lay in his hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Nothing had happened. He was just thinking.

Ever since his talk with Chen Qianqian, the knot in his heart had finally come undone.

She had told him herself that no matter what he became, their feelings for each other would not change. Yang Chen believed her completely.

He was no longer afraid of revealing his identity to her.

Before, all he had thought about was how to make Yang Chen disappear without raising questions.

Now things were different.

Now he was wondering—

How could he make a dazzling entrance once his transformation was complete?

He would need a whole new identity.

That was right. He was going to come clean.

But he was not going to do it looking miserable and crying his eyes out.

Where was the fun in that?

He could just transform in front of Chen Qianqian.

Then tell her:

I'm actually Magical Girl Love. Because of magic, my original body is gradually turning into a girl too, so I guess we can only be best friends now.

The tiny Yang Chen in his head smacked his forehead.

That was far too boring.

He was a Magical Girl who had been transformed from a man, something unprecedented. A powerful Dawn Rank one, at that.

Surely he deserved a stunning entrance at some once-in-a-lifetime moment of crisis?

Nothing beat the thrill of showing off in front of everyone!

Scenes of Kamen Rider and Ultraman transforming before astonished crowds flashed through his mind.

Maybe he could wait until a powerful enemy appeared and the city's Magical Girls were all helpless, then arrive and transform at the critical moment?

No, no, no... Chen Qianqian would definitely get hurt that way. That would not do.

He had to shock her without letting her get injured.

Really, no one could blame him...

For the past half month, a certain someone had visited his hospital room every day, asking things like "Did they find out you have a terminal illness?" and "What exactly are you hiding from me?" She had interrogated him like a criminal.

He could hardly let that go unanswered.

He could already picture it. The moment the truth came out, what kind of face would Chen Qianqian—who always looked so fierce—make?

Her eyes would go wide, her mouth would form an O, and she would be speechless for ages before crying, "Aaaaaah!"

"Hehehe..."

The boy on the hospital bed hugged his blanket and grinned like a villain.

A nurse making her rounds peeked through the doorway, quietly backed out, and wrote in his care notes: [Patient is in good spirits, though he occasionally laughs strangely.]

The next morning, he was discharged.

"Home at last!"

Yang Chen changed clothes and stretched, feeling wonderful from head to toe.

The bandages were off, the hospital gown was gone, and his half-month stint as a "seriously injured patient" had finally come to an honorable end.

Chen Qianqian had gone to handle the paperwork. When she returned, she found him standing at the door of his room, humming a tuneless little song. Sunlight streamed through the corridor window and fell across the side of his face.

She stopped short.

Something's different.

She could not say what.

Same face, same person, and yet... something was different.

Before, Yang Chen had always seemed to have something weighing on him.

It was hard to describe. Like the faintest haze over a clear sky: easy to miss, but always there.

Now that haze was gone.

He seemed as light as if he had just laid down an enormous burden. Even his off-key humming sounded unusually cheerful.

"What are you looking at?" Yang Chen asked, noticing her gaze and turning toward her.

"Nothing." Qianqian looked away, folded the discharge papers, and slipped them into her pocket. Trying to sound casual, she asked, "You just seem... really happy?"

"I'm getting out of the hospital. Of course I am."

"No."

Chen Qianqian narrowed her eyes, stepped closer, and circled halfway around him like a police dog sniffing a suspect.

Eighteen years.

They had known each other for eighteen whole years. She knew him too well.

Their parents had been putting them together since the day they were born.

"You're up to something."

"What?!"

"I know that look." She jabbed a finger against his chest and said each word distinctly. "You wore it in third grade, right before you put a caterpillar in my pencil case."

"I'm warning you, Yang Chen."

"You just got out of the hospital, and you haven't fully recovered. If you try any funny business—"

She clenched her fist. Her knuckles cracked.

"I'm a Magical Girl now. I could beat you without breaking a sweat."

"Why would I?" Yang Chen raised both hands, looking utterly innocent. "I just got discharged. What could I possibly do? All I want is to go home and eat Auntie Su's cooking."

As if.

Qianqian stared at him suspiciously for a full ten seconds.

She had never seen this look on him before, either.

When he was plotting mischief in the past, his eyes would dart around. He would not dare look at her.

This time was different. He met her gaze openly, his eyes sparkling with even a hint of... anticipation?

Strange.

Very strange.

He was up to something, but it did not feel like he meant to do anything bad.

Something that had troubled him was gone, yet he was clearly making plans.

An alarm went beep, beep in Chen Qianqian's head before she gave up on figuring him out.

Oh well.

Whatever he was planning, she could handle it now.

In every sense.

"Come on." She picked up his bag and headed for the elevator. "My mom made braised ribs, and my dad got up early to line up for roast duck."

"Ooh!"

The welcome-home dinner at the Chen Family was ridiculously lavish.

Braised ribs, Peking duck, sweet-and-sour fish, prawns braised in oil, and lotus root and pork rib soup that Su Wan had spent all afternoon making.

"Eat up, Xiao Chen! Look at you—you're skin and bones!"

Su Wan kept piling food into his bowl, her eyes red.

She had always thought highly of Yang Chen and had long treated him as a future son-in-law. His willingness to risk his life to save Chen Qianqian had only strengthened her trust in him.

"Exactly. That hospital food was barely fit to eat." Chen Zhou opened a bottle of soda for him. "Here's to getting discharged."

"Uncle, Auntie, you're going to make me cry..."

"No crying! Eat!"

The dinner table was lively. As Qianqian gnawed on a rib, she suddenly realized she felt happier than she had expected.

The dark cloud that had hung over their home for half a month had lifted.

Even if a certain someone was obviously still up to something—

She glanced at Yang Chen, who was happily chewing on a duck leg.

—Well, who cared?

He was safe. That was what mattered.

That night, at the Yang Family home.

Lying in bed, Yang Chen sent a message to a certain account.

``` [Pure Love Warrior]: You there?

A reply came instantly.

[Data Recording in Progress]: ?

[Data Recording in Progress]: Made up your mind?

[Pure Love Warrior]: I have.

[Pure Love Warrior]: But I need you to do me a favor.

[Data Recording in Progress]: ...

[Data Recording in Progress]: Why do I suddenly have a very, very bad feeling about this?

[Pure Love Warrior]: Come on, don't say that.

[Pure Love Warrior]: Think about it. I'm "Love."

[Pure Love Warrior]: Could anything Love wants to do be bad?

[Data Recording in Progress]: That's exactly why I'm even more worried!!

[Pure Love Warrior]: I want to plan an earth-shaking, unbelievably cool, ultimate entrance! I'll give Chen Qianqian the shock of her life and get her back for interrogating me. Help me come up with something.

[Data Recording in Progress]: ...

[Pure Love Warrior]: Once it's done, I'll join the Association!

[Data Recording in Progress]: ...Fine. If anything goes wrong, I'm not taking responsibility.