Can Lixi look at me alone?

"You're just afraid I'll leave."

Yuzuki opened her mouth to retort, but didn't know what to say, and glared at the sunset that was mocking her.

"I'm so afraid Hailing will leave... but this..."

So what? I really care about you.

"Do you really care about me? Even if I suddenly disappeared, it would probably take you several days to realize I was there, right? There are far more important people to you than me. So why waste your time on me?"

Hailing moved closer to her, then placed her hand on her shoulder. She pushed her forcefully to the right, then stepped onto the stairs that Hailing had blocked to go home.

"wait…"

The slightly tearful voice made the supporting musician pause in her action of opening the rooftop door.

“I am grateful that you like me, but your actions over this period of time have made me feel that I am just a dispensable existence to you.”

She took a breath.

"I can't accept your attitude towards me, and I know it's not your fault. It's because you have a misunderstanding of the concept of 'liking', so please allow me..."

Please allow me to leave you…

Hai Ling's lips trembled slightly.

I'm leaving you for now.

As if she had made a very important decision, Hai Ling, who looked much more relaxed, turned her head and glanced at the girl behind her.

"Did I make myself clear? Jieyue?"

The pink-haired girl raised her arm and waved to her.

"Goodbye."

Hai Ling, her eyes widening as if struck by lightning, hurried down the stairs in a somewhat disheveled manner, then opened the door and slammed it shut with a bit of force.

The loud slam of the door left Yuzuki frozen in place, twisting her fingers in confusion as she pondered.

Did I do something wrong...?

As the footsteps faded into the distance, the pink-haired girl gradually came to her senses.

Hai Ling is really gone.

Messed up.

It's a mess! ...

She grabbed her long hair and yanked it haphazardly to vent her anger—anger directed at herself alone.

Why did this happen? Why did you say that Hailing was also very important to me? Hailing left me because I said the wrong thing and did the wrong thing... That farewell must have angered Hailing, right?!

It's all my fault.

She held onto the handrail and walked down the stairs step by step.

The scene that had just happened kept replaying in my mind.

I should have rushed over, grabbed Hailing's legs, and begged her not to leave me.

That way, Hailing won't leave me, right?

But normal people wouldn't do that. Normal people would just treat it as a normal farewell and then calmly accept the fact that they are going to drift apart from their friends.

Just like she did just now, forcing herself to appear calm before waving goodbye.

Yuzuki believes she responded in a way that a normal person would, but the consequences were unacceptable to her.

Why, why did this happen? I'm clearly not a patient anymore, I'm clearly a normal person now, so why did Hailing still leave me?!

Is it because I... am born to hurt the people around me?

Wiping away tears is such a hassle. If Hailing were still here, she would definitely help me wipe them away.

Hai Ling, who had hurriedly fled because of her tears, sat in the practice room and let out a long sigh.

If Yuzuki hadn't said those ambiguous things to her, she wouldn't have made that decision.

Hai Ling, who had been thinking of taking the initiative to gain a foothold, almost lost her last hope.

What Yuzuki said today... made her tremble with anger.

You care about me a lot? Then why do you treat Li Xi and me differently? What gives you the right? Or do you think I'm inferior to Li Xi in Yuzuki's eyes?

Unable to bear asking those questions to a face already streaked with tears, Hailing covered her eyes.

But the scene she saw when she looked back as she was leaving remained in her mind.

Tears kept flowing, but

She felt a strong sense of guilt for having to force a broken smile and wave goodbye to Yuzuki.

I'm the one who was abandoned... Yuzuki is such a good actor at playing the victim.

"If I'm important to you, then please prove it to me, okay?"

You can't only say I'm important when you need me.

She edited the message and pressed send, but Yuzuki had just washed away her tears, so she hadn't had time to read the message yet.

Should I go buy some groceries to make dinner? Or... should I just go home?

A girl, feeling extremely bad but pretending to be in a good mood, walked aimlessly down the street.

I want to grab my phone, but I don't really want to. I want to do something, but I don't want to do anything at all.

My conflicting thoughts were interrupted by a warm little hand.

"July".

Mutsuki took her hand and carefully gave Yuzuki, who seemed to be in a very bad mood, a hug.

"Xiao Mu...?"

Volume 2, My Go!! Chapter 22: Adding Insult to Injury

Su Shi watched the scene before her with great interest. Mutsumi, who had brought her here to find Yuzuki, was hugging the person she was going to settle scores with, and they looked incredibly intimate... But what was the reality?

Xiao Mu probably only cared about Yuzuki because she saw that Yuzuki was very sad.

"Although it's not good to speak up rashly, Xiaomu and Xiaoyue should be careful, okay? This is the main street..."

The sweet voice startled Yuzuki for a moment. After trying to match the somewhat familiar voice with her memories…

"Soyo...?"

The two, who had never seen each other since that parting, stared at each other through the barrier between them.

"Hmm... Thank you for remembering me, Yuzuki~ Shall we go to that coffee shop over there and chat?"

It seemed like an invitation, but Su Shi didn't give Yuzuki any room to refuse. After patting Mutsuki's head to comfort her, she grabbed Yuzuki's wrist and pulled her towards a nearby coffee shop.

Seeing this, Mutouren realized that she shouldn't have brought Su Shi to find Jieyue. She clutched the hem of her skirt in self-reproach, then quickly followed and sat down with the two of them to wait for service.

"Is Xiaomu still drinking the same mango juice as she did with Crychic? And what about Yuzuki? The flavor should be different now, right?"

Because she was in a bad mood, Yuzuki, who didn't catch the underlying meaning, shook her head.

"Like Xiaomu, I'd prefer mango juice..."

Since we've come up with preferences, then we should...

What are Su Shi's preferences again?

With downcast eyes, he forced a very unsightly smile at the incredibly dejected pink-haired girl.

I remember now.

"Soyo, do you still drink black tea like before?"

Originally, Su Shi was still criticizing Jie Yue for forgetting the past and never considered the possibility that she could still remember her preferences.

He could only nod hastily, ending his probing attempt somewhat awkwardly.

Sitting next to Yuzuki, Mu gently tugged at Yuzuki's sleeve and noticed that she didn't come over to ask what had happened as she usually did. Instead, she was still lost in thought and biting her lip sadly.

Is it because I brought Su Shi without permission that Jie Yue is angry with me...? But Jie Yue isn't angry with me.

Is it because of Suze that Yuzuki is so unhappy?

I've done something wrong again...

Su Shi, who originally wanted to say something, found it difficult to speak when she saw Jie Yue's expression. She could only take a sip of red tea to ease the awkwardness while thinking about what to do next.

Despite having rehearsed her lines countless times in her mind, Yuzuki ultimately postponed saying them because she remembered her preferences.

Perhaps sensing her embarrassment, or perhaps simply feeling that the atmosphere of the conversation was off, the pink-haired girl took the initiative to lighten the mood by gently tapping the table.

"Soyo, how have you been lately?"

Having lost control of the conversation, the flaxen-haired girl had no choice but to nod obediently.

"I'm doing great, and my sleep quality has been getting better every day lately~"

That's right, thanks to you.

Ever since my chance encounter with Xiaodeng, I've been calling her every night to keep her company while she sleeps. Often, she can even hear me sobbing on the other end of the line.

"Yes, that's great."

Hearing this kind of social nonsense, Yuzuki began to nod in agreement as usual. However, the perpetrator's act of inquiring about the victims' well-being and offering encouragement was seen as mockery by most of the victims.

Su Shi was no exception. In a moment of losing control of her emotions, the girl slammed the ceramic teacup onto the table, splashing a few drops of warm tea.

"What does Yuzuki mean by this? Is this what you really wanted to see Kodama and me become like this?!"

Another sharp, loud bang, and a pair of angry eyes made Yuzuki shrink back in fear.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... It was my fault... I shouldn't have said that..."

Just like when I was with Hailing, it was probably because I said the wrong thing that Su Shi, whom I hadn't seen in a long time, got angry. It really was my fault again…

Should I apologize? But even apologizing can lead to mistakes, and might even make things worse...

"It's not Yuzuki's fault~"

A soft, sweet voice intervened in the conflict, harmonizing the atmosphere between them.

Mu stood up, drank her mango juice in one gulp, and then shook her hand.

"What's Soyo angry about? Why don't you explain yourself more clearly, otherwise neither Yuzuki nor I will understand you."

With an unusually bright smile, Mu patted Yuzuki's head, then pointed to the time on her phone as if to shoo her away.

"Oh dear, it's so late...shouldn't we be having dinner by now?"

Upon checking her phone, she realized it was almost dinnertime, but then she discovered that she wasn't even in the kitchen at home today, but was out 'hanging out'. She stood up.

I did something wrong again.

After calmly driving Yuzuki away in front of Suze, Mutsu picked up the mango juice that Yuzuki had only taken a sip of out of politeness. Without any hesitation, she put the used straw into her mouth and took a big gulp of the sweet drink.

Then, he pulled Su Shi, who also wanted to go home, and pressed her back into the chair.

"Xiao Mu...? What does this mean? Now that Jie Yue has gone home, then we should..."

He crossed his legs, rested his chin on his hands, and smiled as he uttered the lines meant to seduce Su Shi.

"Xiangzi and Jieyue live together."

Su Shi hesitated for a moment before choosing to believe, after all, Xiao Mu wouldn't lie... she knew that.

"Xiao Xiang and Xiao Jieyue are living together...? Hmm, it's because of Xiao Jieyue's request that Xiao Xiang agreed, right?"

Mu nodded vigorously, and encouraged, Su Shi continued her reasoning.

"So that's it! That means it's because Yuzuki is... that's why Sho took care of her, right?"

Mu nodded vigorously again, and Su Shi, who found that she could get a lot of information from her, asked eagerly.

"Then, what about Xiao Lixi? Does Xiao Mu know about the current relationship between Xiao Lixi and Xiao Jieyue?"

A playful look appeared on Mu's face, and then he nodded vigorously once again.