Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 5

There’s Plenty of Time

To be honest, Qiao Yu really wanted to bolt out the door. Right now. Immediately.

If she hadn’t randomly blurted out that compliment, she wouldn’t be in this awkward mess. At most it would’ve been a normal level of embarrassment—the kind you get when you’re caught doing a good deed by the person you did it for.

            

But now? Oh boy. She’d barely done any good deed and had already gone and complimented the girl’s looks. She must look like an idiot.

What kept Qiao Yu from fleeing this suffocating atmosphere was her brain finally kicking in: she couldn’t just leave Lin Qing here to stare awkwardly at those three girls after causing this whole mess. That would be a truly awful thing to do.

“You—you sure were having a good time talking.”

            

She was so obviously bluffing that even the System couldn’t bear to listen.

The arrogant fire Qiao Yu had walked in with was almost completely extinguished by this unexpected turn of events, but she had to see the act through. While hypnotizing herself into believing the previous incident hadn’t happened, she forced a stern expression and walked toward the three girls. The three girls let out a squeal of terror, huddling together and trembling as they looked at her.

…She was the one who ended up looking like the villain.

            

Villain or not, Qiao Yu just wanted to get this over with. She was tall, with naturally cold features. Recalling Cong Ye’s expression, she imitated his stern face—and it actually worked on them.

“I’m in Class 2-1 too. If you want to know something, why not ask me?”

Having caught her breath, Qiao Yu’s voice no longer sounded so timid. Her casual tone was laced with menace to the three girls’ ears. All three heads shook frantically. The one who seemed to be the leader even looked past Qiao Yu with a mournful expression, the implication clear.

            

The real person involved was standing right there. Asking anyone else wouldn’t be as clear as asking the one behind her.

Qiao Yu decided to ignore her gaze and, steeling herself, said in a low voice to Girl A (she’d mentally assigned them labels for convenience): “Asking me would be clearer than you guessing blindly, wouldn’t it? Sure you don’t want to ask?”

Girls A, B, and C shook their heads like bobbleheads.

            

“Then will you stop spreading nonsense?”

Girls A, B, and C shook their heads like electric fans.

Watching the three of them shaking their heads so vigorously that their hair was whipping each other’s faces, Qiao Yu silently took a step back to avoid being hit. She thought to herself, these rich kids had less courage than the tip of a needle. And they wanted to gossip behind people’s backs?

            

“Then go do whatever you need to do. Why are you still standing here? People are waiting to wash their hands.”

The moment the words left her mouth, the three of them scurried past her like they were afraid she’d change her mind. Then, from behind her, came their tearful voices:

“I was wrong, I won’t do it again!”

            

“It’s all our fault for running our mouths!”

“Lin Qing, you’re really pretty, boohoo…”

…That last sentence sounded especially sincere. Maybe it was her imagination.

            

“Mm, mm.”

Lin Qing’s voice came through, tinged with confusion. Qiao Yu still had no idea how to deal with this “Buddha” behind her. Standing up for someone was a good thing, but getting caught complimenting their looks was just so embarrassing!

“…It’s not really ‘getting caught,’ since Host only said it after the female lead came out.”

            

Since the timing was basically the same, couldn’t you, for your host’s sake, not spell it out so clearly!

Qiao Yu, embarrassed and annoyed, turned on the faucet and hastily washed her hands. She planned to slip out with Girls A, B, and C. But those three were already tiptoeing out, trying to minimize their presence. When they saw her turn around, they screamed “Don’t hit us!” and bolted, leaving Qiao Yu no chance to join them.

Qiao Yu: …Am I that scary?

            

The other side was clearly the one in the wrong, so how had the positions reversed now? Her plan to blend in and escape had failed. Qiao Yu pulled out a tissue to dry her hands in a transparent attempt to cover up her intentions. She was still thinking about whether she could just walk out directly when someone appeared beside her.

“No, you’re not.” Lin Qing turned on the faucet next to her and washed her hands. When she finished and saw Qiao Yu’s bewildered expression, she added, “You’re not scary.”

…Had she actually said that out loud just now!

            

Qiao Yu’s face cycled through several expressions. Her mind was in turmoil as she thought, why can’t I control my own mouth? And now she’d missed the perfect escape opportunity. She was completely caught by Lin Qing!

Qiao Yu, who was very good at reading the room, gave up all hope of escape. She let out two awkward laughs. “Th—thanks.”

Ah, save her. Please, heaven, give her a mouth that knows how to talk.

            

Qiao Yu closed her eyes in despair, praying more devoutly than she ever had in her life.

“I should be the one thanking you.”

Lin Qing smiled gently, and that dimple on her right cheek—the one that had left such an impression on Qiao Yu—appeared again.

            

“Thank you for standing up for me just now.”

She turned to face Qiao Yu and bowed her head, startling Qiao Yu so much that she jumped to the side. Stammering, she said, “No no no, I wasn’t—I was just passing by,” waving her hands uselessly in front of her. Then she heard the System’s sigh of frustration in her head.

Qiao Yu herself felt that this behavior was far too pathetic. She calmed down and tried to think of the right words. Just then, another girl walked into the restroom. She looked at the two of them standing motionless in front of the sinks with confusion, then hesitantly entered a stall.

            

Qiao Yu was suddenly amused by the scene. The tension in her body dissipated significantly. She looked at Lin Qing and smiled, pointing toward the door. “Let’s go out first?”

So the two of them returned to the hallway together and slowly walked toward Class 2-1. The sunlight outside was exceptionally bright, illuminating the corridor as well, which lifted Qiao Yu’s spirits and made her speech much more fluent.

“I just happened to overhear them talking nonsense when I was passing by, so I went to correct them.” Qiao Yu tried to make it sound like no big deal and didn’t mention the compliment at all. “Don’t worry about it.”

            

Lin Qing nodded, but her next words caught Qiao Yu off guard. “What if I really was his ex-girlfriend?”

“Huh?”

Qiao Yu’s pupils dilated as she wondered if she’d missed part of the script. She reverted to stammering. “Th—then they still can’t just say you’re bothering him based on one side of the st—”

            

It wasn’t until she saw the hidden laughter in Lin Qing’s serious eyes that she realized she’d been tricked. She quickly shook her head, ignoring the System’s incessant chatter about how the male and female leads definitely didn’t have that kind of relationship.

“Cong Ye already told me everything.”

Her words were deliberately ambiguous. She also started thinking about trying to get some information out of Lin Qing about what happened yesterday. But before asking, she remembered to say a few good things about Cong Ye first. “He’s not very bright, but for the most part, he’s probably a decent person.”

            

“Yesterday—did he give you a hard time afterward?” Qiao Yu had originally wanted to ask if he’d given her a hard time after going home, but remembering that they were in the school hallway where walls had ears, she forcibly changed her wording. “If he’s still acting like that, I can… um, try to pick a fight with him.”

System: “…Host, you sound really unsure about that.”

Well, she couldn’t exactly go and fight Cong Ye. She couldn’t beat him anyway. She couldn’t be too confident!

            

Qiao Yu mentally lectured the System with righteous indignation. Beside her, Lin Qing looked over, a hint of surprise on her delicate features. She quickly composed herself and revealed the same gentle smile as before. “It’s fine. I didn’t see him after that. He really doesn’t seem to like me.”

Great. The cohabitation plot after going home had completely failed to develop. Qiao Yu gritted her teeth and mentally added another mark to Cong Ye’s ledger. Lin Qing continued, “It seems he really did tell you everything. You two must be close.”

I know this one! It’s a death question¹!

            

Qiao Yu sucked in a sharp breath and rattled off like a machine gun: “No no, we’re not close at all, I just have some family money so I was forced to get to know him, we don’t even greet each other when we meet.”

She said it with unprecedented fluency. It wasn’t a lie, anyway. When she and Cong Ye met, it was nothing but verbal sparring.

Qiao Yu blinked earnestly, terrified that Lin Qing might misunderstand her as some kind of side character blocking their path to love.

            

After listening to Qiao Yu’s storm-like outburst, Lin Qing’s composed face showed a rare moment of bewilderment. She looked straight into Qiao Yu’s eyes—and Qiao Yu noticed for the first time how deep her eye color was, a very profound pure black. At this moment, those eyes, as deep as the night, held a hint of confusion as they blinked gently.

Oh, adorable.

For some reason, Qiao Yu was always easily struck by Lin Qing’s animal-like qualities, and a surge of affection would well up inside her. She desperately restrained herself from letting out a slack-jawed grin and very unnaturally averted her gaze.

            

“I mean… we’re just acquaintances.”

Lin Qing paused as if waking from a dream. “But yesterday you—”

“I only did that because I couldn’t stand him!” Qiao Yu finally said this with righteous indignation. “If you don’t believe me, just wait. When we get to the classroom, we’ll end up arguing.”

            

As she spoke, Class 2-1 came into view. The two of them entered the classroom one after the other. Cong Ye, who had been chatting idly with Lu Yao, immediately sharpened his gaze when he saw them.

Qiao Yu resignedly sat back down in her seat and, as expected, received two hard kicks to her chair from behind.

…She didn’t know whether to be grateful that he was so easy to read. Qiao Yu turned around wearily, and was met with Cong Ye’s glare.

            

“Qiao Yu, what are you doing with her—did you do something unnecessary again?”

“What do you mean ‘again’!” Qiao Yu, who was already a bit regretful about her earlier impulsiveness, immediately bristled. Thinking that it was all this guy’s fault—if not for him, Lin Qing wouldn’t have been gossiped about, and she wouldn’t have misspoken—she glared back without backing down. “You never think before you act. Do you think everyone’s like that?”

Cong Ye hadn’t expected such a fierce response. His mouth hung open in shock, like a cat that had forgotten how to close its mouth. Qiao Yu shot him a triumphant glance, gave a humph, and turned back around.

            

Lin Qing listened to the intermittent arguing behind her—things like “Qiao Yu, what’s wrong with you these past two days?” and “Cong Ye, are your feet cramping up? Kick me again and I’ll sit on your desk.” She silently took out her textbook for the afternoon and opened it to review. After staring at the first line for over five minutes, she finally couldn’t help but smile silently.

She recalled the short walk just now. The tall girl’s voice had gone up an octave from nervousness, and she’d been walking with the same arm and leg on the same side. When Lin Qing stared at her, her face showed obvious fluster. Her amber-like light pupils were illuminated by the sunlight, clear beyond belief.

Lin Qing gently rubbed the surface of the paper, then picked up a mechanical pencil and wrote two characters.

            

Qiao Yu.

She looked at it thoughtfully, then remembered that dazed expression on the girl’s face when she’d said Lin Qing was really pretty in the restroom. One look and you could tell it was sincere, not flattery.

If she had pretended not to notice her earlier attempt to escape and asked her in the hallway, she wondered what kind of expression she would have made.

            

Thinking this, Lin Qing suddenly felt a pang of regret.

Forget it.

The commotion behind her still hadn’t stopped. Lin Qing simply closed her book and looked out the window. The bright sunlight outside was still a bit dazzling, but instead of avoiding it, she reached out her hand and let the sunlight fall on it. The unspoken unease and urgency she’d felt since coming to this city seemed to have suddenly dissipated by more than half.

            

There’s plenty of time².

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