They are still close to me today despite their negative feelings

—This is the second time you've called me lazy, Grandma, I'll remember you!

Before I could even protest, Grandma had already come over.

"The rules are simple: rock-paper-scissors. Whoever loses has to choose between truth or dare. If there's only one winner, the order is given immediately; if there are multiple winners, they have to discuss and decide privately."

This game has a lot of loopholes, right? Just choose truth to protect yourself.

"Oh, but to prevent people from always choosing only the truth option, we'll assume that what people say on stage is the truth—for example, if someone says they like Xu Xingxin, we'll assume that, okay?"

This is terrifying! How could these girls have come up with such a horrifying suggestion? What exactly did they go through?

"This looks like a lot of fun," Chen Di said with a smile. "Shall we start right away, or try it out first?"

"Let's go all out and get started!" Xu Xingxin said impatiently.

—Then after the first game, he went to the telephone pole and squatted down with his head in his hands for three minutes, where he was glanced at subtly by passersby.

...I have to sit up and play with them.

……

"Win! Win! Win! Win! Win!!!"

With so many people, it wasn't easy to determine a winner in each round. Only Xu Xingxin and Hu Dan were punished, so in the end, we simply divided them into black and white groups and then decided the winners in the group format.

"Bu!—Ugh!!!"

Xu Xingxin sank again, but at the same time, another person also showed a somewhat surprised expression.

"Lost."

Qiu Luxi looked at me. She and Xu Xingxin both submitted their pieces, but I managed to cut them off.

"Ning Ruoyu, I choose dare!" "Go squat on that telephone pole for another three minutes."

After quickly settling Xu Xingxin in, I glanced at Qiu Luxi.

What are you going to choose?

"big Adventure."

"Huh? After seeing Xu Xingxin like this, you still dare to choose dare?"

"Because it's fun." Qiu Luxi's answer was quite in line with her personality, but the last sentence was very cunning.

"And you were the one who assigned the task, weren't you?"

This client seems to think he has me wrapped around his little finger, and looks rather smug right now.

“…Then I won’t stand on ceremony.” I deliberately lowered my voice.

Despite her expressionless face, Qiu Luxi pursed her lips slightly, revealing a hint of wavering within her.

"Don't go too far..." she said softly, her eyes trembling slightly, with some unease.

“Ning, Ning Ruoyu, you…” An Yu looked equally nervous from the side.

What is this guy so nervous about?

"Hehehe—please give me an autograph."

I took out paper and pen from my crossbody bag.

"?"

"call."

Qiu Luxi tilted her head in confusion, while An Yu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Oh, I forgot to explain to Qiu Luxi that I promised Xu Xingxin I'd get her autograph—

Do you need my autograph? Right now?

"Yes, but actually it's..."

Before I could finish speaking, Qiu Luxi suddenly took a step closer and stood right in front of me.

"!?!" Even An Yu, who was next to me, was startled.

This cat—oops, this guy's sense of distance is so weird!

But Qiu Luxi didn't care at all about the gazes of Ge Lanlan and Hu Dan. She simply and casually put her hand into my bag, tilted her head, pursed her lips, and started rummaging around.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Even though she was reaching into the bag, the sight of her almost made me yell "molestation."

She quickly took out a book, looked at the cover, and then held it up to ask me.

Is this book important?

"Class notes are important, of course! I'll be relying on them for the next monthly exam!"

She nodded in satisfaction. Then she took the pen from my hand, squatted down abruptly, placed the notebook on her lap, and began to carefully draw something on the blank first page.

"?"

I leaned closer and saw that she was diligently drawing an adorable chibi-style cat with whiskers. The cat was even waving its paws, and there was a speech bubble next to it with a message on it.

[“Hehe, you big dummy Ning Ruoyu, I’m Qiu Luxi~”]

How am I supposed to give this to Xu Xingxin?!

"You can just tell me if you want an autograph next time." Qiu Luxi looked very proud after handing me her artwork. "I can draw many different cats."

"I'm a little envious of Ning Ruoyu," Ge Lanlan said with a smile. For some reason, An Yu, who usually loves to join in the fun, remained silent this time.

"But, but..." I didn't know how to begin.

"?" Qiu Luxi looked at me in confusion.

“…I was actually asking you for the one over there.” I pointed to Xu Xingxin under the telephone pole.

Having repeatedly undertaken such "adventures," he now appeared quite adept, clutching his head while looking around and occasionally flashing a confident smile at passersby. He seemed overly accustomed to it, like a native inhabitant of the area under a telephone pole.

"Haha, isn't it quite interesting? Surprised? Unexpected?"

I spoke softer and softer because Qiu Luxi's expression became increasingly unhappy.

No, saying she was unhappy was being too mild. Her face seemed to be flushed with anger.

Oh!

She closed my notebook, then tore a page from the draft paper I had just handed her, and then wrote it down in a large stroke.

【Peace and Safety - by Qiu】

"for you."

She leaned closer with a blank expression and offered it to me. I carefully tried to take it, but she shrank back slightly.

"...I just wrote this for you. Don't tear it up or give it to anyone else."

Qiu Luxi paid no attention to her surroundings and spoke directly and decisively. Her words were firm and resolute.

"Of course! What do you take me for!" I said righteously.

"Bad guy." Qiu Luxi uttered two words and shoved the autograph into my hand.

Damn it! If they cut out the dialogue box and then sold hand-drawn cat illustrations under the Qiu Luxi name, I wouldn't even need to work so hard doing part-time jobs for just this one picture.

I regret.

"Alright, alright, no showing off your relationship like that while playing games, don't do it again!" Ge Lanlan clapped her hands. "Ning Ruoyu, don't think you can just run away after winning. Xu Xingxin will be back soon, and we'll continue soon, right, An'an~"

"..."

"An'an?"

"Huh?!" An Yu, who had been lost in thought, was startled. He immediately looked up and glanced around, then smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Um, is it because you bumped your head and are you feeling unwell? Or...?"

"No, no, I was just thinking about what to eat for dinner later, hehe~"

An Yu quickly explained.

"Hmm, okay." Ge Lanlan glanced at An Yu but didn't say anything more. Hu Dan, standing to the side, frowned slightly and gently rubbed An Yu's head.

"Do you want to continue playing?"

Seeing Xu Xingxin walk back, Ge Lanlan asked.

"Yes! Of course!" An Yu straightened his back and gave me a challenging look. "I'm definitely going to beat Ning Ruoyu! Just you wait!"

—Then she and Qiu Luxi both lost to me in the next round.

[Next chapter preview: "Qiu Luxi is one thing, but how could you lose when you're so slow?"]

"Just tell me if you're going to do it or not."

"Godfather above!!"

Are you sure you understand the question?

Interlude: Truth or Dare

You lied unconsciously.

When Ge Lanlan spoke to him, An Yu instinctively avoided her for some reason.

But if I don't lie, what can I say?

An Yu was a little confused.

Tell them directly that seeing Qiu Luxi and Ning Ruoyu playing intimately there made them feel a tightness in their chest, as if a stone was pressing on their trachea, and they felt a little short of breath even when they tried to breathe.

This is so weird! How embarrassing would it be if Ning Ruoyu found out! He'd definitely think I'm a nuisance.

An Yu vehemently denied it in his heart.

She didn't want to voice this feeling that she herself couldn't understand.

He's already seen me do so many embarrassing things, I really don't want to do that in front of him anymore.

How wonderful it would be to be like Qiu Luxi, a lovely big star with a straightforward and direct personality, who could simply give Ning Ruoyu whatever she wanted. And it seems Ning Ruoyu is also very... easy to talk to Qiu Luxi.

Thinking of this, she felt a slight ache in her heart, as if some sour liquid was slowly overflowing from the tip of her heart and swirling around in her chest.

Did I eat something bad?

Feeling a bit scared and having wild thoughts, An Yu realized that even though he was slow to play during the rock-paper-scissors game, he still lost to Ning Ruoyu.

"........."

"..."

The other person looked at him speechlessly, which only made An Yu feel more uncomfortable.

"Lost..."

"Qiu Luxi is one thing, but how could you lose when you're slower?"

"A loss is a loss," An Yu said somewhat unhappily upon hearing Ning Ruoyu's complaint.

"Why is this guy acting all high and mighty even though he clearly lost?" Ning Ruoyu said with a wry smile. "But it just so happens that the three of us boys won, so how are we going to divide up the spoils?"

Chen Di shrugged. "I'll give up. I'm embarrassed."

"Wow, you're so good at shifting the blame, friend! You want us to be the bad guys, right?"

"Just tell me if you're going to do it or not."

"Hehehe, of course I want it, it's a rare opportunity."

Ning Ruoyu clenched her fist and looked at An Yu and Qiu Luxi with a smile.

An Yu looked at Ning Ruoyu with some nervousness and subconsciously glanced at Qiu Luxi.

Qiu Luxi stared calmly at Ning Ruoyu, like a cat observing its favorite toy.

For some reason, An Yu felt somewhat at a loss.

"Truth or dare, you two?"

"Honestly." Qiu Luxi blinked.

"...You chose this because you just played Truth or Dare, right?"