Song Yushi going home with Qi Ke sparked countless threads on the forums. The people involved had no time to pay attention, but there were plenty of others worrying for them.
Sister Ming first called the insider, Zhong Yi, trembling like a soldier bracing for bad news: “Zhong Yi, look at those two. They haven’t gotten back together, have they?”
“No,” Zhong Yi said nonchalantly, chewing on a straw.
Sister Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
“But they’re close,” Zhong Yi added.
Sister Ming’s vision went black.
What kind of damn luck was it to promote a CP only for them to become a real couple! And! The girl group members she managed were secretly dating, and she only found out two years after they broke up. What kind of hellish suffering was this?
Sister Ming’s lips trembled. “Zhong Yi.”
Zhong Yi was very calm. “Sister Ming.”
Sister Ming: “Actually, I always thought you were the gay one. I even warned Chengzhi to be careful.”
Zhong Yi: “…”
What the hell.
“I never expected it to be the two in our group who seemed the straightest! I won’t even mention Qi Ke. But Yushi was such a well-behaved captain, never late or leaving early, doted on her fans, and had great professional skills. She was the model idol, haha, dating! Fraud! This is fraud, isn’t it!”
Zhong Yi: “Sister Ming, calm down…”
Sister Ming became resigned. “If they get back together, they get back together. I’m going to write the PR drafts right now. I’ll write everything from them being photographed kissing to a stage proposal. It’ll be useful sooner or later anyway!”
Then Sister Ming hung up the phone.
Zhong Yi sent a message to Qi Ke: “How did the Captain agree to go home with you? Did her soul get transmigrated?”
Qi Ke replied instantly: “She lost a bet.”
Zhong Yi: “…”
Quit gambling, Captain!!
Qi Ke smiled and placed her phone on the dining table. On the other side of the table, Song Yushi was on the phone.
Her rounded toes pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window, leaving a mark on the misted glass. Her tone was as calm and unhurried as ever. “Yes, I’m at Qi Ke’s house.”
“…It has nothing to do with you.”
“That’s right, I’d rather—” As if suddenly realizing the person on the other end of the line had a heart condition, Song Yushi forced herself to swallow the rest of her words. She softened her tone. “You should rest well. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
A moment later, Song Yushi turned around.
The atmosphere was strangely quiet for two seconds before Qi Ke spoke, feigning nonchalance, “Was that Ruan Xiangmeng?”
Song Yushi hummed in affirmation.
She raised her eyes. “Don’t ask any more questions.”
Looking fierce, Qi Ke obediently shut her mouth.
Actually, there was no need to ask. After all, they had been lovers. Qi Ke understood Song Yushi far better than Song Yushi thought.
Song Yushi grew up in the Ruan family. The Ruans and Ruan Xiangmeng had initially treated her as nothing more than a toy. Even though Ruan Xiangmeng’s feelings later changed, for Song Yushi, the time for that had passed.
Once the time had passed, she would forever be kept on the outside.
Even on a family-oriented holiday like the New Year, and even knowing that Ruan Xiangmeng was also alone, Song Yushi would rather eat instant noodles in the dorm than spend it with her.
This was her little captain, heartless and charming.
Qi Ke’s mind wandered as she ate her bread. Just then, there was a knock on the door, and the family’s housekeeper peeked her head in. “Keke, Madam asked for Miss Song to go to the conservatory after she finishes breakfast.”
Qi Ke answered, “Okay.”
After the housekeeper left, Qi Ke explained, “My mom has nothing better to do, so she likes to grow flowers. She probably wants you to go so she can show them off. Say a few nice things, and the vase on our dining table won’t be lonely.”
Qi Ke said it naturally—our dining table.
An unconscious intimacy.
Song Yushi avoided her gaze, said “oh,” quickly finished her meal, and went to see the flowers.
It was unclear what she was hiding from, but in her haste, she left her phone on the table.
Coincidentally, Ruan Xiangmeng called again.
Qi Ke stared at the caller ID for a moment, then reached out and answered.
“It’s me,” Qi Ke said, taking the initiative.
Ruan Xiangmeng was caught off guard. “Where’s Song Yushi?”
Qi Ke said leisurely, “She went to look at flowers.” She took a sip of milk; the warm, slightly sweet liquid spread between her lips and teeth. She added, “Don’t call again, at least not for the next two days. Isn’t it good to let her relax properly?”
Ruan Xiangmeng sneered, “Relax properly with you? We’ve both hurt her. Isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black?”
Qi Ke was slightly taken aback, then she couldn’t help but laugh.
Song Yushi treated Ruan Xiangmeng like a younger sister and always took care of her because of her health, which made Qi Ke almost forget that Ruan Xiangmeng was already twenty-two, an adult.
Qi Ke hummed in agreement, her words designed to be infuriating. “But she loved me.”
Ruan Xiangmeng: “…”
Qi Ke: “Maybe with a little more effort, she’ll continue to love me. You know, the two of us are a ‘god-tier’ ship right now.”
Ruan Xiangmeng: “God-tier in your dreams!”
But Qi Ke was in a great mood. She finished the last bite of her bread. “You have a heart condition, so I won’t provoke you anymore. Rest well. Happy New Year.”
Ruan Xiangmeng: “…”
She wanted to say a few more words to retort, but Qi Ke had already hung up.
The call ended, and the screen automatically locked. A passcode was needed to open it.
Song Yushi had changed her phone in the past two years, and the passcode had also changed from four digits to six.
Qi Ke had an idea. Her fingertips lightly touched the screen, entering the numbers one by one.
092142
Unlocked successfully.
September 21st, the day Sweet Day was formed.
4for
2ever
Sweet Day, forever.
Qi Ke resisted the urge to snoop through Song Yushi’s phone, opened the call log, and deleted Ruan Xiangmeng’s incoming call.
Outside the window, the winter rain drizzled, stretching across the sky.
When Qi Ke arrived at the conservatory, Song Yushi was the only one there. She was holding a bouquet, a beautiful arrangement of several types of flowers.
Qi Ke asked, “Where’s my mom?”
Song Yushi had been spacing out. Qi Ke’s voice startled her, and she almost dropped the flowers.
Qi Ke didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What were you thinking about?”
Song Yushi placed the bouquet on a nearby table and said, “They’re very beautiful.”
Qi Ke stepped forward and naturally took Song Yushi’s wrist. “There are even more beautiful ones over here.”
It was a corner, different from the other areas. The roses here were yellow, sparsely clustered together, all vying to grow upwards.
Very disorderly.
But they were blooming surprisingly well.
“I planted these. I just scattered some seeds randomly. Look how well they’ve grown. Like you.”
Qi Ke casually picked a rose. The delicate flower, growing towards the sun, bloomed between her fingers.
Song Yushi retorted faintly, “If I were a rose, I wouldn’t have survived until now.”
But Qi Ke was stubborn. “You are. You’re a one-of-a-kind rose.”
Song Yushi narrowed her eyes at Qi Ke. “Is there something you want to ask of me?”
Qi Ke: “…” Was she not even allowed to praise her ex-girlfriend?
Song Yushi’s expression clearly forbade it, and her face was written all over with “To be overly attentive for no reason is to have ulterior motives.”
Qi Ke said helplessly, “Really, it’s nothing.”
Song Yushi: “Oh?”
Qi Ke took her hand, placed the rose in it, and smiled sweetly. “Really.”
She simply wanted to make her little captain happy.
The rain in Chunxi City was still falling, its cold drops pattering against the glass, making the room feel even warmer.
The fireplace in the first-floor living room was lit. Song Yushi and Qi Ke couldn’t just stay cooped up on the third floor all day, so they were now sitting in the living room, absentmindedly watching TV.
Qi Ke’s cousin, who had just started college, was leaning on the opposite sofa playing with her phone, occasionally looking up to glance at them.
Her expression was strange, with a hint of… uh, creepiness?
Song Yushi discreetly glanced at Qi Ke and squeezed out a few words through her teeth, “Your cousin is weird.”
Qi Ke returned a smile.
Haha, she thought so too.
What the hell was this brat looking at?
“So—” the brat finally spoke up after peeking at them for the nth time, “that time Sister Keke brought Sister Yushi home, you guys really did make out at the bar, right?!”
Song Yushi: “…”
Qi Ke: “…”
Damn it, she remembered.
That year, she had brought Song Yushi home for a three-day stay. One night, after fooling around until midnight, they both got thirsty and secretly snuck down to the first-floor bar.
In the end, she couldn’t resist and pressed her little captain against the bar to kiss her.
Just as they were kissing passionately, footsteps suddenly sounded from the top of the stairs.
Song Yushi’s eyes widened slightly. Just as she was about to push Qi Ke away, Qi Ke pulled her hand and hid under the bar.
The footsteps drew closer. The person seemed to sense someone was there and asked hesitantly, “…Who’s there?”
The light from above the bar stopped at their feet. Their breathing grew softer and softer, and as their breaths mingled, Qi Ke kissed Song Yushi again.
Four thin lips grew scorching hot from the friction. The extreme tension made the kiss feel forbidden, and a secret pleasure bloomed wantonly in their hearts.
Song Yushi tightly gripped Qi Ke’s clothes, her soft moans swallowed by the kiss.
Until a scream pierced the air.
Stumbling footsteps rushed towards the stairs as the girl shouted and ran upstairs, “Help!! There’s a ghost!! I told you big houses are easily haunted!!”
Under the bar, Qi Ke breathlessly released Song Yushi. Their noses touched, and they looked at each other for two seconds before bursting into laughter.
The two of them back then never expected this day would come—her cousin had sat up straight, narrowing her eyes as she sized them up. “I suspected someone was doing something dirty back then, but I never thought… tsk tsk!”
Qi Ke: “…” How old were you then to even know what ‘doing something dirty’ was! And you clearly screamed about a ghost!
Song Yushi also: “…”
Was there a hole somewhere she could bury herself in?
Qi Ke wanted to reclaim her dignity as an elder and fobbed her off, “Kids shouldn’t ask about adult matters.”
The cousin nodded. “Then I’ll tell everyone!”
Qi Ke: “You dare!”
“Of course I don’t dare,” the cousin said with a grin. “I just want to ask a few small questions.”
“What?” Qi Ke was wary.
“Don’t be nervous, just small questions,” the cousin said. “At the last show of Sweet Day’s first tour, what did the Captain whisper in Sister Keke’s ear? Sister Keke smiled so much her eyes disappeared.”
“She said she’d take me for hotpot later, without anyone else.”
“I said I’d take her for hotpot later.”
The cousin: “Ooh~~~”
It could be said to be very meaningful.
Song Yushi, Qi Ke: “…”
“Next question, that ring, when was it given?”
This was a long story, and Song Yushi couldn’t be bothered to tell it. But the Qi Ke beside her was no longer sleepy when this topic came up. “It was drizzling that day, and the Captain and I…”
That day was just like today, with a light drizzle. Sweet Day was at a mall for a brand’s offline event. As they were leaving, they passed a Tiffany & Co. counter and caught a fleeting glimpse. That very night, she brought Qi Ke back to buy the rings.
It was only because it was late at night and they were bundled up tightly that they weren’t recognized.
Song Yushi listened to Qi Ke’s reminiscence with her left ear and the sound of the rain with her right. Just as she was getting drowsy, the cousin asked her final question—
“Everyone in the fandom says you two are the pinnacle of ‘bad ending aesthetics.’ What does that mean?”
Why wait for updates? Get all chapters now and read the entire story on your schedule.
