After school, students always rushed out of the classroom ahead of one another to enjoy their limited youthful freedom.
Inside the classroom, however, a different youthful scene was unfolding.
“I’m angry!”
An Ling stared at the hand Li Yang had once again stretched out in front of her.
They had to hold hands when they ate.
They had to hold hands when they bought snacks.
They had to hold hands when they went to PE class.
Ever since yesterday, Li Yang had been sticking to her like a plaster that refused to come off.
An Ling had only just managed to keep their little secret from being discovered by their classmates.
Every time a classmate passed by, An Ling wanted to fling Li Yang’s hand away.
But how could her strength compare to Li Yang’s?
She could only lean closer to him and use her body to hide their joined hands.
School was over now, and he was holding his hand out in front of her again without saying a word.
If An Ling didn’t put her hand in his, he wouldn’t pull it back.
“No!” An Ling crossed her arms in front of her chest and made a big X, her tail rising alertly behind her. “Absolutely not!”
“I will not compromise with you anymore!”
“Why?” Li Yang tilted his head and asked, his eyes completely innocent.
Why is that a little cute?
But An Ling wasn’t falling for that!
He had hit her yesterday, and today he was trying to act cute?
“You still have the face to ask why?”
“If two guy classmates hold hands, what will everyone else think? That’s super socially dead, okay?!”
“But you’re not a guy,” Li Yang said as a matter of course.
An Ling was choked speechless by that sentence.
She opened her mouth, but couldn’t come up with a single rebuttal.
That’s right, she wasn’t a guy.
But other people didn’t know that!
And… and even if she was a girl, she still couldn’t openly hold hands with Li Yang at school!
Wouldn’t that be the same as announcing their relationship?
Wrong!
Wrong!
An Ling shook her head.
She and Li Yang didn’t have any special relationship, so what exactly was their relationship now?
An Ling got tangled up in her own thoughts until she was dizzy.
Her face turned so red it looked ready to drip blood.
The gray ears on top of her head flattened completely against her hair.
“Anyway, it’s just not happening!” In the end she could only repeat that one line, her face flushed red and her voice soft and weak, with no deterrent force at all.
Li Yang looked at this little appearance of hers, and the curve at the corner of his mouth grew a bit wider.
He did not pull his hand back.
Instead he took a step forward and grabbed An Ling’s wrist.
“What are you doing?!” An Ling cried out in shock and instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but she couldn’t move it at all.
“Let’s go. Time to head home.” Li Yang pulled her and started walking out.
“Wait! My bag! I haven’t taken my bag yet!”
Li Yang stopped, turned around, picked up his own schoolbag with one hand, then picked up An Ling’s schoolbag as well, and continued pulling her toward the door.
An Ling was dragged along, stumbling and staggering behind him.
Her short little legs had to whirl in circles just to barely keep up.
“You… slow down a bit…”
“Then be good and cooperate.”
An Ling bit her lip.
In the end she still compromised, trotting a couple of steps to catch up, and stopped struggling with her hand.
Li Yang also slowed his pace to match her short little legs.
An Ling didn’t dare let their hands show in front of other people, so she deliberately pressed her body very close and used herself to block their clasped hands.
An Ling carefully watched the surroundings.
Whenever someone looked their way, she tensed up so badly that her tail went stiff.
“The way you’re acting, people who don’t know better would think we’re doing something we can’t let anyone see,” Li Yang said.
“It is something we can’t let anyone see!” An Ling said in a low voice. “Two guys holding hands—if word gets out, how ugly would that sound?”
“That really is a problem. I’ll think of a solution tonight.”
“Think of what?”
“Think of a way to help you change your registered gender to girl.”
An Ling’s footsteps paused for a moment.
She lifted her head and looked at Li Yang.
“Wait… I…”
She wanted to say she was still looking for a way to turn back into a boy.
But it had been so long.
Was there really a way to change back?
If she changed back, could she still continue living like this with Li Yang?
These past few days she had actually been quite happy.
She was no longer lonely the way she used to be.
Having someone who took care of her in every little way didn’t seem so bad.
But living as a girl meant she would have to face a lot of problems she had never even thought about.
Changing her ID, changing her school records, telling everyone she was actually a girl.
How would other people look at her?
Would they point at her and gossip behind her back?
“Alright, I know what you’re thinking. It’s fine. I’m still here, aren’t I? Whatever happens, I’ll be right next to you.”
“You… how do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Those little thoughts of yours are practically written all over your face.”
“They are not!” An Ling bristled as she retorted, but she felt a lot more at ease inside.
Li Yang reached out his other hand and ruffled the top of her head. “Let’s go. Time to go home. What do you want to eat tonight?”
“Whatever.”
“We’re eating at your place tonight.”
“Eating at my house again?”
“Not welcome? Grandma still hasn’t forgiven me. If you don’t believe me, you can call and ask.”
“So I’m still staying at your place tonight.”
An Ling opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end she swallowed the words back down.
What could she say?
She couldn’t exactly shut Li Yang outside the door, or call Grandma Li, could she?
“If I find out you lied to me, you’re finished!” Whether she agreed or not, the threat had to be said first.
“Go ahead and call to check. But if you ask, that means you don’t trust me, and then…”
A chill ran down An Ling’s back, and her butt faintly started aching again.
“I’ll trust you this once!”
The corner of Li Yang’s mouth lifted.
She was still too easy to handle.