Sandra's finger was still pointing at April's boyfriend, but her gaze had shifted to the poor guy she'd thrown over her shoulder. She had recognized him too, her expression frozen in shock.

It was him.

How could it be him?

How on earth was it possible that it was him?!

"April!" Yao's shout echoed, but it didn't stop the girl from turning and sprinting away. It did, however, snap Sandra back to reality.

Slowly, she lowered her finger, curled it into a fist, and gave it a small wave in front of her face. Whether she was threatening the two men towering over her or psyching herself up was unclear. Then, with a sharp pivot, she bolted in the direction April had gone.

Yao, left standing awkwardly in the aftermath, looked at the two bewildered men. He didn't know them, nor did he see any reason to stay. Still, Sandra's odd final gesture lingered in his mind. Trying to make sense of it, he mimicked her motion, them pointed at them.

"You two... be careful," he said, leaving his words hanging in the air mysteriously before turning and jogging after Sandra.

Sandra recognized that face. Her heart twisted in a mix of anger, embarrassment and exhilaration.

Embarrassment, she could understand. But she didn't know why she felt angry—was it just because he had been flirting with April? And where did the excitement come from? Could it be that, deep down, she had been hoping to run into him again? No way!

"Sandra, where are you going?" Yao's voice broke through her spiraling thoughts as she sprinted past April—her original target—and kept running.

Sandra skidded to a halt and turned back, her heart pounding. Yao had caught up, and April had stopped a few steps behind, staring at her in confusion. A wave of awkwardness washed over Sandra, as if her deepest secrets had somehow been exposed.

There's no way they'd know. They can't possibly guess. Calm down, calm down, Sandra repeated to herself, forcing her breathing to steady.

"April, are you okay?" Sandra asked, offering a shaky smile as she walked towards her roommate, doing her best to mask current awkwardness she was feeling.

April's tear-filled eyes met Sandra's for a brief moment, shimmering with an emotion Sandra couldn't quite decipher. Before Sandra could say anything else, April suddenly turned and bolted again, leaving her standing there in stunned silence.

"Hey, April..." Sandra called out, starting to chase after her again, but Yao caught her arm, halting her steps.

Frustrated, she shook him off with a sharp glare. "Why are you stopping me?"

Yao watched as April disappeared around the corner and let out a sigh. "Just let her go,"

"But she didn't bring her glasses! What if she gets lost running around like this?" Sandra's voice was tinged with anxiety.

"This is her school," Yao reassured her. "She probably knows the campus better than you do."

"But..." Sandra hesitated, concerned. "She's always cooped up at home. What if she doesn't know her way around?"

"You're not her mom," Yao interrupted. "Why are you so involved in other people's affairs? Like earlier, you were way too impulsive. You caused a rift between her and her boyfriend."

Sandra fell silent, turning her head to the side as frustration twisted in her chest. After a moment, she muttered defensively, "You saw it too. It was Ar... that guy who made the first move on April. I just..." She stopped mid-sentence, and just realized that after all this time, she still remembered his name, almost blurting it out.

"Still, you didn't have to make such a big scene," Yao said helplessly.

Sandra retorted, without thinking, "One shouldn't flirt with a friend's girlfriend. I couldn't stand the way he was bothering April." Though she hadn't recognized him at the time, the memory of him teasing April now made her inexplicably angry.

Yao caught something in Sandra's words. "So, you know that guy?"

Sandra's back stiffened, but she quickly brushed it off with a casual tone. "He's just a friend of April's boyfriend."

Something didn't quite align. Yao distinctly remembered April stopping Sandra and explaining later that the other man was her boyfriend.

"Does he know you?" The way the poor guy had pointed at Sandra with such a complicated expression earlier stuck in his mind.

"How would I know?" Sandra dodged the question. "Maybe he's seen me with April before."

Yao raised an eyebrow. That was nonsense. April was a homebody, and unless they were at her place or the art class where Sandra worked as a teacher, no one would see the two of them together. In his opinion, that guy didn't look like the type to be dragged to weekend painting classes by his parents.

Sandra pouted, kicking at the small stones on the ground with the tip of her shoe.

She was clearly holding something back. Yet, seeing her like this, Yao decided not to pursue the matter any further for now. Recalling the earlier commotion, he gave a bitter smile."Is that what it looks like when you throw me around?"

"Why do you have so many questions?" Trying to mask her unease, Sandra swatted at Yao with a palm strike, which he blocked effortlessly.

Yao held onto her hand, refusing to let go, and teased with a smirk, "Are you this violent with every man?

Sandra, flustered and her gaze flickering, couldn't be bothered to respond to him properly. "None of your business," she muttered dismissively.

Yao misinterpreted her flickering gaze, assuming she was feeling shy.

"Sandra," he took a deep breath, and said with utmost seriousness, "How about this. For the sake of all men, from now on, you're only allowed to beat me up. Okay?"

Yao's words successfully diverted Sandra's attention. She blinked up at him, her gaze slightly wide-eyed, lips parted in disbelief. Then, pointing at him with exaggerated surprise, Sandra exclaimed, "Yao, oh, Yao, who would've thought—you're a masochist!"

Yao's expression darkened as he grabbed her hand and strode forward.

"Hey!" Sandra protested, stumbling slightly as she tried to catch up. "Where are you going? Let go of me!"

Yao didn't falter, his grip on her hand firm as he continued walking, his tone casual but insistent. "I'm starving. You're coming with me. "

Sandra tugged again, but Yao just glanced back at her, his expression unreadable. "Come on, stop fighting me on this."

"Didn't you say you were afraid I'd eat you broke? Trying to save you some money for your future wife, I should head home to April," Sandra snapped.

"I'm not letting you go off alone like this." Yao said, his voice steady.

Feeling her bones crack under his grip, Sandra gave up trying to free her hand. She let out a soft plea, "Could you loosen up a bit? My hand's about to break."

Yao sighed and relaxed his grip slightly. But the moment his hold eased, Sandra's hand slipped free like a slippery fish. Before he could even process the fleeting disappointment, a sharp pain erupted in his lower back, spreading like a firework.

He turned just in time to see Sandra still poised with her fist raised. Tilting her head mockingly, she said, "Do you think you can just grab my hand whenever you want?"

Yao frowned, rubbing his lower back. "You almost broke my kidney. If I can't marry anyone because of this, who else can I hold but you?"

"Don't confuse cause and effect," Sandra shot back, lowering her fist and walking away. "You study law. You know the legal system here, don't you? Clearly didn't study well. You'd know that me hitting you was self-defense. If I went too far, it's excessive defense. So in the future, feel free to hold whoever you like—just leave me out of it."

Yao followed her, irritated but resigned, keeping pace as she walked off. 

How did I end up with this powder keg? He thought.

🎬🔀

It's a strange twist of fate to bump into someone you couldn't stop thinking about while walking down the street. But unfortunately, you caught him flirting with someone else. Why couldn't there ever be a win-win situation in this world?

As soon as Sandra got home, she flopped onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow.

A lot had happened today, leaving her brain a tangled mess of sticky thoughts—so messy that she couldn't untangle them. She wasn't used to dealing with overly complicated matters. When the color was too thick, she just added water to thin it out.

Sandra climbed out of bed, dragging her feet to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, then shuffled back. Before entering her room, she suddenly stopped and jerked her head up in confusion.

Since moving into this place, she must have walked this route from the bedroom to the kitchen hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. But for some reason, it felt strangely unfamiliar this time.

Weird.

She turned to look back at the living room and kitchen. The furniture was in its usual spots, the floor was spotless, and there weren't even any dirty clothes tossed onto the sofa.

Why did she have this weird feeling?

Sandra scanned the space carefully again but couldn't pinpoint anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it's just her scrambled brain playing tricks on her, she thought.

Shaking her head, Sandra continued walking to her bedroom. Just as she took a step, she suddenly spun around to glance at the empty computer desk in the corner.

"April, are you there? Open the door?" Sandra called, standing at April's bedroom door and gently knocking. "April, are you okay?"

The question was unnecessary. This hardcore homebody, who started her day by sleepwalking to the computer,  who could starve rather than leave her desk, and who often stayed online until the early hours of the morning with a pale, ghostly face, wasn't sitting in her beloved ergonomic leather computer chair. Something had to be wrong.

Besides, April had run off before dinner time, and Sandra had only chased her halfway before Yao stopped her. It was all Yao's fault—blame him! If she'd chased April home, she could have avoided dealing with Yao's bizarre, nonsensical confession altogether.

Sometimes, being liked by someone could feel like a kind of pressure—especially when the feelings weren't mutual.

Sandra wasn't one of those single-minded female protagonists in K-dramas who resorted to over-the-top, slapstick violence against a clueless male lead. Her bursts of violence were her way of diffusing awkwardness, creating a safe distance for herself, and sending a clear message to discourage Yao's unwelcome attention.

After all, most men probably preferred more ladylike women. That's the traditional notion, anyway. Though it didn't rule out men who enjoyed a bit of trouble or a challenge.

Uh-oh, could Yao actually fit into another category? No way! He didn't seem the type—such a big guy! Even if he were gay, he definitely wouldn't be the submissive one...

Sandra's thoughts wandered too far. For now, the priority was to get this door open.

"April~ Open the door~ Open the door~" Sandra sang, tapping rhythmically on the door. Her summoning-style knocking yielded no results. There wasn't a peep from inside.

Sandra began to lose patience—maybe April wasn't home? But she'd noticed the shoes April wore today, one flung east and one west by the entrance, nearly tripping her earlier.

She tried the doorknob, but it was locked. This seemed serious. April wasn't the type to lock herself in her room over something melodramatic.

She wouldn't... do anything stupid, right?

No, definitely not. April wouldn't dream of abandoning all the anime movies and romance novels on her computer. Not to mention the new ones she hadn't gotten around to watching yet.

Had Sandra gone too far this time? She couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. All that guy did was tease April—did she really have to overreact so much? But then, just thinking of that creep's flirty smirk made her blood boil all over again, even more than it had at the time.

Sandra's anger didn't matter to herself, but the poor door was about to pay the price.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"April, are you coming out or not?" Sandra shouted, startling herself with the intensity of her voice.

She took a deep breath and softened her tone. After all, it was her fault for embarrassing April in front of her boyfriend. She shouldn't knock like an aggressive debt collector. "April, I'm sorry. It was my fault—I was too impulsive. But don't lock yourself in there. If you're upset, talk to me. Keeping it bottled up will only make things worse."

Was it her imagination, or did she hear the faint scrape of a chair against the floor?

Encouraged, Sandra continued, "April, didn't you once say that sharing happiness doubles it, and sharing sadness halves it? Every time I tell you about my troubles, I feel better afterward. Why not tell me what's on your mind?"

Still silence.

"April, I'm really sorry. Please don't ignore me forever. Tell me how I can make it up to you. Buy you the latest version RTX?"

Okay, maybe that's too much of a hemorrhage for her wallet.

"Or... how about I make your favorite sour and spicy shredded potatoes tonight? Or I can buy you some strawberry ice cream?"

Food bribes failed.

"Okay then, how about we watch Naruto together? No? How about play Paladin 3 or League of Legends?"

Even her gaming offers were met with silence.

Sandra, despite her arsenal of persuasive tactics, felt like she was hitting a cotton wall—no response whatsoever.

Even heroes had their limits. She punched the door in frustration. "April, just tell me what you want me to do! I know I was wrong..."

The punch wasn't particularly strong, but the wooden door, already worn out, let out a cracking sound and splintered slightly.

"Ah..." Sandra gasped as a splinter jabbed into her hand, blood quickly seeping out.

She slumped against the wall, cradling her injured hand, hissing in pain while grumbling, "April, if you don't come out, I'll smash a hole in this door and drag you out myself..."

The door lock clicked. After a long pause, the door creaked open a crack.

April appeared, glasses absent, her eyes swollen like peaches.

"April~" Sandra immediately jumped up and reached out to grab her, only to wince in pain as her injured hand touched April's arm.

April's swollen eyes widened in shock when she noticed Sandra's bleeding hand. Her expression crumbled as tears welled up again. "Sandra, your hand..." she said, her voice cracking before she dissolved into sobs.

Her first love—was this the end of it?

Sandra sighed, pulling April into her arms and letting her lean against her. She gently stroked April's shoulder and said softly, "It's okay. Cry if you want to. Once you let it out, it'll all be okay..."

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

BTW, Sour and Spicy Shredded Potato Stir Fry is one of my favorite dishes 🥰

(Yes, this is shredded potato, not noodles)

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