Tan Yin pouted, saying quietly: “If you find me so annoying, then why are you holding my hand so tight right now?”

“I’ve thought it through now—hating you is honestly way too much trouble, so I might as well just like you,” Chu Hang said, feigning nonchalance. “Besides, the misunderstanding’s cleared up now. You didn’t deliberately trick me back then, so I don’t hate you at all anymore.”

After all this back and forth, Tan Yin found herself laughing through her tears at what she’d missed out on because of that one misunderstanding.

She felt genuinely wronged: “Why didn’t you just confirm it with me directly back then? Why not confront me about it? Why hold it in and say nothing—if you had, we could’ve gotten together back then, right? We wouldn’t have missed out on all this time.”

“We can still get together now,” Chu Hang said, looking away, his voice awkward. “Anyway, your little scheme worked, so now I like you even more.”

Speaking of which, Tan Yin felt a fresh wave of grievance: “I don’t feel like it though—you say you like me so nicely, but when we came out of the library after the earthquake, you dropped me off on the square and didn’t even look at me again. Every time you carried someone out and I called out to you, even though I was shouting so loud, people standing farther away than you could hear me and were even looking at me, but you acted like you didn’t hear a thing, completely ignoring me. Is that really what liking someone looks like?”

“I heard you.”

So he’d heard her and still pretended not to and ignored her completely? Tan Yin felt a bit annoyed—was it because he thought she was still with Zhou Ming, so he was sulking and couldn’t be bothered with her? That was way too petty!

But just as Tan Yin was letting her thoughts run wild, Chu Hang finally spoke, his voice a bit hoarse, as if these simple few words had taken enormous effort and courage: “I didn’t dare look at you.”

Chu Hang took a deep breath, seemingly having finally abandoned all sense of shame, and looked at her, his voice lowering, his usually cool tone tinged with a barely perceptible awkwardness—

“I didn’t dare look at you, because I was afraid that if I looked at you, I wouldn’t want to go save anyone else.”

Tan Yin was baffled by this answer: “Why?”

“Because I like you so much that even thinking of you makes me want to protect my own life more,” Chu Hang paused. “I thought, if we’re not even together yet and something happened to me while saving people, wouldn’t that be such a waste.”

“I’ve never been afraid of dying before, but after I started liking you, I realized I actually am afraid of death now. Someone once said that liking someone gives you a weakness, and now I know that’s true.” Chu Hang said this, glancing at her, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “I’m afraid that if I died, you’d really end up with Zhou Ming, or if not him, then someone else—and just thinking about that, I can’t accept it. I feel like I can’t die.”

“I’m afraid that if I look at you even a moment longer, I won’t even want to go save people anymore.” This time Chu Hang looked away, down at the ground. “Yu the Great passed by his own home three times during the flood control efforts without going in. Now I think, maybe it wasn’t entirely because his heart was set on the greater good, hard as steel, that he did that just to save every minute—maybe it was because he was like me, afraid that if he went through that door, he wouldn’t be able to leave again. His wife, his children, a warm home—he was afraid that if he went back, he’d get too attached and never want to leave for public duty again.”

Chu Hang’s voice was a bit dry, but hearing it, Tan Yin felt a stirring tenderness in her heart. So that was it… so that was really it…

Chu Hang took a deep breath: “So I didn’t dare look at you, didn’t dare respond to you, because I knew you were safe, and there were still so many people trapped in the library.”

Tan Yin’s heart pounded completely out of control. Jiang Yilu always urged her to date a liberal arts major, saying that was the only way to experience the beauty of romantic words in Chinese, but right now, Tan Yin felt that Chu Hang’s plain, blunt words were the most moving of all—natural and unpolished, just like the man himself, unembellished, without pretense, laying his heart completely bare to her, and that was enough, that was the best it could be.

Just as Tan Yin didn’t know how to respond, Chu Hang looked up and firmly grabbed her, forcing her to look directly at him: “So after everything I just said, I’ll just ask you one thing—do you still like me or not?”

He looked so handsome and serious in this moment, as solemn as if he were discussing some world-class architecture project, his dark, bright pupils reflecting only her, his voice gentle yet full of persuasion, his eyes seeming to convey nothing but—”Say you like me! Say it!”

This male fox spirit, Chu Hang, was truly bewitching. Tan Yin felt herself completely enchanted in an instant, and by the time she came to her senses, she’d already said “I like you.”

Chu Hang finally smiled. He leaned in and thoroughly wiped away the remaining tear tracks on her face, staring straight into her eyes, and gently touched her head: “Good girl.”

Damn it, Tan Yin thought, she couldn’t breathe again…

This time, Chu Hang’s tone finally relaxed, his voice carrying a coaxing note: “Since I like you, and you like me, then Zhou Ming’s got nothing to do with this anymore. Now, come with me, and break up with him right in front of me.”

“That’s not going to work!”

Chu Hang’s face darkened again: “Tan Yin, so what exactly do you mean? You won’t let go of him, won’t break up with him, let him keep being your official boyfriend, and meanwhile you tell me you like me too—do you want me hanging on as some secret lover? Some mistress no one can know about?”

Tan Yin retorted fearlessly: “If I may be blunt, isn’t what you’re doing right now basically being the other man?”

Chu Hang argued unreasonably: “You two don’t even have real feelings for each other—look at how he treats you, does that seem like a boyfriend to you? I suspect he’s gay and you two are a fake couple. I don’t have proof, but either way, I’m definitely not ‘the other man.'”

But Zhou Ming really wasn’t gay, okay!

“Besides, I’m not even pursuing you persistently, I just like you, and I want you to know that. I want to give this feeling of mine some kind of resolution. If you don’t agree…”

“If I don’t agree, you’ll have tried your best and given up, and you can move on?”

“If you don’t agree today, I’ll try again tomorrow.”

“…”

“If not tomorrow, then the day after. If not the day after, then the day after that. If it never works, I’ll just wait. I’ll wait quietly for you two to break up, like a silent protest—I won’t cause trouble, so that’s not being the other man. But once you two break up, you’ll be mine.”

Chu Hang, despite clearly being annoyed, still tried hard to appear nonchalant and composed, forcing himself to suppress his emotions while keeping a calm face. Tan Yin’s heart raced, and she found herself, for once with the upper hand, feeling a bit mischievous.

“But I really can’t break up with Zhou Ming.”

Chu Hang’s face darkened even further. He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and said seriously: “I can wait. I’ll wait as long as it takes, until the day you two break up. As soon as you do, you can contact me immediately.”

He used to be completely indifferent to her, and now he was even willing to be a pathetic, secret backup with no status at all. This was really something…

Tan Yin couldn’t help but laugh through her exasperation. She reached over and took his hand, no longer having the heart to keep deceiving him: “Zhou Ming and I don’t need to break up, because just like you and Anna, we were never actually together in the first place.”

Chu Hang frowned, clearly with a whole list of questions.

Tan Yin could only explain the whole situation to him from beginning to end, briefly summarizing everything.

After hearing it all, Chu Hang’s expression eased somewhat, but soon his face darkened again: “So, in other words, if I hadn’t gone to return your books that time, hadn’t carried you down the mountain, you and Zhou Ming would already have been broken up, at least in name?”

Tan Yin nodded: “That’s exactly right… If it weren’t for you suddenly deciding to play the hero and insert yourself into the drama, Zhou Ming and I would’ve already… um…”

“…”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together tightly and said nothing, but the expression on his face looked like a humanoid pufferfish—a little pathetic, but also kind of funny and cute.

He was probably regretting it deeply right now, since he’d never expected that the thing making his path to love so difficult had been himself all along, not Zhou Ming.

But soon, Chu Hang grew sarcastic and jealous again: “Lucky Zhou Ming, getting to be your fake boyfriend.”

“…”

They’d already cleared up that Zhou Ming was just a friend—why was Chu Hang still so hostile toward him!

“Out of nowhere I’ve become your second boyfriend, and you’ve picked up this extra ex-boyfriend, and technically speaking, he counts as your ‘first love.'”

…

Chu Hang’s tone was full of resentment—clearly he was quite unbalanced about this.

“Well, if you’re really that unbalanced about it, why don’t you go find yourself an ex-girlfriend too?”

“No.”

Chu Hang glared fiercely at her after saying this: “Stop talking nonsense. Go find Zhou Ming now and make it clear—you’re done pretending to be a couple, and from now on you have a boyfriend, so you can’t be gossiped about with him anymore.”

“That part’s easy with Zhou Ming, but everyone at school already knows we’ve been openly together, so I feel like I need some story that’ll hold up in the court of public opinion for why we broke up, and then I should probably lay low for a while before announcing a new relationship—that would be more appropriate.”

But Chu Hang, completely failing to appreciate the careful thought behind Tan Yin’s counter-plan, frowned in displeasure: “Why do you need a gap?”

“It’s for both our reputations! Think about it—if I announce breaking up with Zhou Ming and immediately, seamlessly get with you, everyone will assume either I cheated or you swooped in as the other man. That sounds terrible!” Thinking about it, Tan Yin grew troubled. “What excuse should I even use to break up with Zhou Ming? We’ve been showing off our relationship so hard, it’s tough to find a good reason now…”

“Just say I’m the other man who pursued you on my own—even though you didn’t respond to me, it led to a misunderstanding with Zhou Ming, you two fought, and after fighting enough times, the relationship just wore out, so you broke up, and I took advantage of your heartbreak to swoop in.” Chu Hang said all this without even blinking, completely straight-faced. “I’ve already come up with the reason for you. That’s it. You two announce the breakup today, and let me be the other man who swooped in.”

Tan Yin asked cautiously: “That doesn’t affect me, but doesn’t that ruin your reputation?”

“Mm, doesn’t matter.”

…

“Then I’ll go find Zhou Ming.” Speaking of this, Tan Yin couldn’t help complaining, “I already saw Zhou Ming out on the square earlier—he’d already come all the way to the library looking for me, and then you just dragged me off to this empty tree-lined path and gave this whole speech. Zhou Ming’s probably still out there at the library entrance looking for me.”

Tan Yin pulled out her phone to check, and sure enough, it was full of missed calls from Zhou Ming.

“Don’t bother going. Just call him and explain over the phone. We don’t need to have that meal anyway—since you two are ‘broken up’ now, being seen eating together would just cause misunderstandings. What do you want to eat today? I’ll take you.”

…

Reluctantly, under Chu Hang’s insistence, Tan Yin called Zhou Ming. But she’d barely said “Zhou Ming” when Chu Hang snatched the phone from her: “Hello, I’m Chu Hang, Tan Yin’s boyfriend. Tan Yin is with me right now, she’s safe, and we’re about to go get something to eat together, so it’s not convenient for her to join you. Thank you for taking care of her before—I’ll take good care of her from now on.”

The whole speech was coherent and airtight, leaving Tan Yin utterly stunned.

Chu Hang tossed the phone back to her: “What are you standing there for? Let’s go eat.”

Having successfully become “the other man,” Chu Hang wore an expression of smug satisfaction, like a proud peacock that had just spread its tail feathers. He took her hand, completely unbothered by the stares of the people around them, and calmly, composedly walked toward the school gate in full view of everyone.

Chu Hang was a campus celebrity, and so was Tan Yin—and the legend of Tan Yin pursuing Chu Hang unsuccessfully and “jumping off a building for love” would only spread further now…

Because of the earthquake, nearly half the school had gathered on the open square in front of the library, and among all those eyes, plenty had already recognized Tan Yin and Chu Hang. Their intertwined fingers instantly became the focus of everyone’s attention.

Tan Yin hadn’t taken more than a few steps before she felt the weight of stares boring into her back—if those looks could take physical form, those girls would probably have loved nothing more than to stab her.

Sure enough, not long after, she got a WeChat message from Jiang Yilu.

“My source says they saw you and Chu Hang holding hands in front of the library. What the hell kind of rumor is this—I usually turn a blind eye to gossip as long as it’s not 100% fake, I can tolerate that much. But this kind of baseless fabrication is going too far!” Jiang Yilu was clearly furious, sending several angry emoji in a row. “I’m so mad I blocked them and kicked them out of the group chat! Made an example of them!”

“…”

Tan Yin had no idea what to say. Not knowing where to even begin explaining, she simply put down her phone and didn’t reply to Jiang Yilu right away.

But she still wanted to double-check how things were developing. Tan Yin glanced at Chu Hang beside her: “Um, Chu Hang, let me just confirm again—you’re not sick right now, right? No fever? Fully conscious? I’m not asking because—did I cling to you too much, staying invisible and staring at you all the time, and now your judgment’s actually a bit impaired? Could you even be hallucinating? Anyway, if I did anything wrong before, I’m sorry.”

“Tan Yin, I’m completely lucid,” Chu Hang said, looking at her, sounding almost exasperated through gritted teeth. “Can you trust me a little? If you did anything wrong, it’s giving up halfway. If you’re going to pursue someone, you commit to it—see it through to the end, not give up partway.” Chu Hang scoffed. “And after all that, you still have the nerve to call yourself devoted and persistent?”

“…” Tan Yin was momentarily speechless, but then she remembered something else. “I still need to ask you—how many other things have you lied to me about?”

“What? When have I ever lied to you?” Chu Hang denied shamelessly. “I never lie to my girlfriend.”

“You could see me invisible all along and didn’t say anything—that’s lying to me. And you had improper thoughts about me before you even started college and didn’t tell me either—that’s also lying to me. What else have you been hiding from me?”

“…”

“Now it’s your turn to confess honestly. If I catch you lying to me, I might go cry to Zhou Ming about it.”

“You’re not allowed to go find Zhou Ming.” Sure enough, the moment Zhou Ming was mentioned, even though it had already been cleared up that they were just friends, Chu Hang still couldn’t stand it, sounding awkward. “Don’t go find him. I’ll confess honestly.”

What goes around comes around, Tan Yin thought—just a moment ago she’d been the one under interrogation beneath the table, and now the tables had turned and it was her turn to run the show.

“Then go ahead, confess properly, in full detail!”

“When you fell delivering food and I drove you—it wasn’t for practice, it was purely because I wanted to take you.”

“Those trips to one residential complex after another—it wasn’t to look at the architecture, most of those run-down complexes barely had anything worth seeing anyway. It was because I didn’t want you to be late delivering food and get scolded by customers.”

“Throwing paper balls at you in class—that was on purpose. I didn’t want you sitting next to other guys.”

“Buying you milk tea—also on purpose. I wanted to give it to you.”

“Making Xu Yu take off that shirt with the lily pollen smell—also on purpose. I didn’t want you having an allergic reaction.”

“Turning on the AC that time at the cafe—because I didn’t want you catching cold.”

“That time you were in the bathroom while I was showering, and I wouldn’t let Xu Yu take off his pants—because I didn’t want you seeing him.”

“The piano—I was playing it for you too.”

…

Damn it, Tan Yin thought—she never realized Chu Hang had lied to her about this much. But if he’d been acting so out of character even back during the food delivery days, could she conclude he’d already been struggling with his feelings for her back then? After all, he’d still thought she’d faked being blind back then, adding this old grudge on top of the new one from the comic—by rights he should have avoided her, resented her…

At this moment, Tan Yin couldn’t help feeling a little giddy, one lyric floating through her mind—”If this isn’t love…”

And with this new understanding, all those things that had seemed unremarkable to her before now seemed coated in a thick layer of sugar frosting, sweet and soft, fresh out of the oven, every memory carrying that sweet, irresistible scent. Tan Yin stared wide-eyed at Chu Hang, growing more incredulous the more she listened, and he showed no sign of stopping—there was clearly so much more to confess—

“Never liked Anna at all. Announcing the eight o’clock museum meetup time and place loudly—that was said for you to hear.”

“Those shoes weren’t charity—you looked great in those high heels, but they were rubbing your feet raw, I saw how unnatural your walk had become. I bought you new shoes hoping you’d be more comfortable.”

“Going to the art museum with Anna wasn’t cut short because it ended early—it was because you never showed up, so we barely saw anything before I went back to find you, afraid you’d run into trouble during the storm with no one able to see or help you.”

“The Doraemon underwear thing was cute, but it was wrong of me to notice that at all. I failed at looking away when I shouldn’t have looked. I’m sorry.”

…

“Actually, I was worried about you catching a cold, not about the cat.”

“Taking the cat and sending you back to the dorm wasn’t to avoid you spreading a cold to us—it was because I was afraid you wouldn’t change and shower in time and would get sick.”

…

“That electric scooter you borrowed from Zhou Ming—it was actually completely broken, unfixable. The one you rode was one I bought new for you.” As he confessed this last part, Chu Hang’s tone carried a trace of resentment and gritted teeth, as though recalling some specific memory. “If I’d known you’d use it to ride double with Zhou Ming, I never would have bought it for you.”

“…”

Buddy, watch yourself here! This is supposed to be a confession, not a chance to settle old scores!

“Xu Yu didn’t tell me about the old classroom at the old campus where you could do your drawings—I followed you there myself, afraid you’d be scared alone.”

“That hiking trip, saying I was in charge of the team’s safety—that was a lie too. I wasn’t actually in charge of that at all.”

“Taking the shortcut down the mountain that ended up being longer—also a lie. I did it because I wanted to let you sleep in a bit more.”

“However pretty you are, that’s how much you get to act up—that wasn’t something Xu Yu said, that was me.”

Though this was supposed to be Chu Hang’s turn to confess, the more honest he was, the more embarrassed and flushed Tan Yin became.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a confession? Why did it sound more like a love declaration?

The more he went on, the more Tan Yin found herself lowering her head, her face burning red, only now truly beginning to feel that Chu Hang really did like her—because in all those moments she’d never even noticed, he’d quietly been watching over her, protecting her, in his own way.

Tan Yin felt a bittersweet warmth flood through her all at once—loving someone who loved you back too, what a wonderful coincidence that was.

Ever since being struck by lightning and gaining the power of invisibility, that uncontrollable power had often brought Tan Yin trouble. Every time she turned invisible, it was like being cut off from society, and although she always laughed it off, she’d had her share of fear and worry too—being this abnormal, would anyone really accept her for who she was? Even joking about being “chosen by fate,” she’d secretly felt she was more like just unlucky.

But now, in this moment, feeling Chu Hang’s warm hand still holding hers, actually holding this hand, Tan Yin finally, truly felt like she really was chosen by fate—forget improving her grades, she’d even managed to land the elusive, unattainable Chu Hang!

Her luck really wasn’t bad after all.

Still, facing this newly minted “other man” boyfriend, Tan Yin felt shy and awkward. They’d chosen Western food, and throughout the entire meal, Tan Yin either accidentally knocked her dessert spoon to the floor, or got so distracted watching Chu Hang that she nearly cut her finger slicing her steak. Eventually Chu Hang, unable to watch any longer, simply pulled her plate over to his side without caring what anyone else thought, elegantly and calmly cutting all her steak into pieces before sliding the plate back to her.

Tan Yin ate small bites of beef with her fork, and even though the medium-rare steak was clearly delicious, she barely tasted it, because Chu Hang in front of her looked even more delectable. She’d take two bites, then glance at him.

Eventually, even Chu Hang grew a bit self-conscious: “Why do you keep staring at me?”

Tan Yin bit her fork, looking utterly serious: “I keep feeling like you might be some kind of illusion in front of me. If I don’t keep watching closely, you might just disappear the moment I look away.”

“Idiot.”

But even as he said this, the corner of Chu Hang’s mouth curved into a smile as he lowered his head.

A moment later, as he was eating elegantly, he suddenly seemed to remember something, set down his fork and knife, and looked at her: “Your steak came with a matsutake mushroom sauce, right?”

Tan Yin nodded without suspicion.

“Oh, mine’s black pepper sauce. I want to try your flavor.”

Without hesitation, Tan Yin picked up her plate to pass it over to him, but Chu Hang didn’t take it. He lowered his head, his face slightly flushed, his voice a bit awkward: “No need to go through all that trouble. I’ll just have one bite—you feed me.”

Hey! Could he not say something like that in such a dead-serious tone?! Tan Yin’s face, which had just barely calmed down, flared up again like wildfire.

The restaurant was upscale, and though no one at the other tables seemed to be watching her and Chu Hang, Tan Yin still instinctively felt embarrassed. She covered her face: “Let’s not, feeding each other like that seems a bit much, doesn’t it? I get shy too, you know.”

Chu Hang glanced at her, then continued cutting his own steak, his voice calm and composed, though the content wasn’t quite as innocent: “Is that so? But I recall you feeding Zhou Ming back and forth in the cafeteria for half an hour in front of everyone without a shred of shyness. Seems like you’ve got pretty solid nerves—doesn’t seem like someone who gets embarrassed easily.”

“…”

Chu Hang finished speaking, set down his knife and fork, and looked at her: “Feed me.”

Tan Yin had always known girls could get jealous, but she never expected a guy like Chu Hang to have such a strong jealous streak! Given how sour he was being right now, it seemed like if she didn’t feed him, she wouldn’t be getting past this hurdle…