Ji Shu was dragged into the girls’ bathroom at the far end of the sixth floor by several girls.
She already had a low fever, her whole body weak, and her limbs useless. Being restrained by several people, she was almost carried along.
They locked the bathroom door and pressed her shoulders down, forcing her to kneel on the floor.
The two girls on either side were familiar to Ji Shu, seemingly from the same class, but she couldn’t recall their names. Their faces held expressions of satisfaction. They didn’t press too hard on her hands, but their nails dug into her shoulders.
The girl in charge was unfamiliar. Her hair was styled in waves, her makeup immaculate, and her manicured fingers tapped twice on her phone screen before she brought it close to her lips to send a voice message: “Don’t worry, it’s already done. And you still don’t trust me to handle it…”
As she spoke, she lazily lowered her gaze to glance at Ji Shu on the floor, then, clearly uninterested, shifted her attention back to her nails. “No problem. You can take as many pictures as you want. Just don’t forget what you promised me before…”
Ji Shu slumped forward, coughing a few times, her black hair swaying by her ears.
The girl with curly hair showed slight annoyance. She put away her phone and gave a look to the others, who immediately understood. They dragged Ji Shu over to the sink used for mopping.
Ji Shu tried to struggle, but her arms were limp, and her movements only made her cough harder. The girls pressed her head toward the sink, she swallowed some water and nearly couldn’t breathe.
Perhaps annoyed by her noise, the girl checked the time, leaned against the corner wall, and pulled a pack of cigarettes from her bag. She bent over, circled the flame to light one, and exhaled. Slowly, her frown relaxed, and she waved her hand. “Enough.”
The others stopped. Ji Shu leaned against the sink, chest heaving, face pale as she gasped for air.
Smoke curled up in the bathroom, the harsh fluorescent lights glaring down, and the floor tiles reflected the cold light. Ji Shu’s hair was soaked, water running down her cheeks and strands, her uniform quickly sticking wet and cold to her body.
The girl raised a hand, pointing to a stall, impatiently saying, “Lock her in there. We’ll take a picture and leave.”
Ji Shu was pushed into a toilet stall. The girls pulled out lipstick from their bag, scribbled something on a piece of paper, pressed it into Ji Shu’s hands, and snapped a photo with the flash. Soon after, the door was shut, and the sound of heavy dragging and footsteps faded away.
It took Ji Shu several minutes before she could breathe normally again. She shook her head, trying to force herself more alert, but each exhale burned her skin, and her limbs ached painfully.
On the paper, written in a trendy shade of lipstick, were the three words: “Bullying Offender.”
Ji Shu felt her breathing tighten again, her vision darkened.
…No. She couldn’t just sit there and wait to die.
She stood and tried to knock on the door and call for help, but her throat was hoarse and dry, barely producing any sound.
The bathroom at the end of the sixth-floor corridor was rarely visited, mainly used for cleaning or storing miscellaneous items.
Ji Shu stopped wasting her energy. She lowered the toilet lid and sat down. To avoid catching a chill, she took off her coat and hung it on a nearby hook, painfully wringing the water from her hair.
Her body temperature continued to rise, little by little.
She soon felt her ears burning. The heat climbed up her neck, and her lungs itched and burned. Her body swayed, and she leaned against the partition, coughing.
Her damp, sticky shirt clung limply to her body, the tightly fastened buttons making it almost impossible to breathe. Ji Shu finally squatted down in discomfort, barely conscious, breathing heavily as she began to unbutton her shirt.
“I’ll put the clothes back on once they’re dry. By then, it’ll almost be time to get off school. When the cleaners come, they’ll find me in the bathroom.”
That was her plan.
But in her haze, she vaguely heard some movement on the sixth floor.
Chaotic footsteps, questioning voices, people talking, a jumble of sounds she couldn’t make out.
“Huh… huh…”
Ji Shu panted, still unable to suppress the spreading heat. Even her fingers, fumbling to undo the buttons, felt unresponsive.
She tried to open her mouth to breathe, nearly suffocating, when a sudden wave of drowsiness hit her. She bit her lower lip hard, forcing herself a little more awake.
Along with the pain came the sound of a door being forced open and panicked shouting.
“Y-Young Duke, this is the girls’ bathroom!”
“Tch. Which stall did you say? Get in there and bring her out, now!”
“—Y-Yes!!”
The sound of a latch clicking echoed. Soon, light flooded the dim stall. Ji Shu squinted, unaccustomed to the brightness, raising her hand to shield her eyes as she looked out.
For a few seconds, the air seemed to freeze.
She saw Lu Mingxi standing not far from her, separated by two doors, at the bathroom entrance.
When his gaze met hers, he seemed slightly caught off guard, eyes widening. A faint flush appeared at his ears, but his irritation quickly overtook it.
He stepped to the side, his tall frame blocking the view of the few followers behind him. Raising his hand to press against his cheek, he turned his face slightly and coldly barked at the girl:
“What the hell, are you just standing there, blind or what!? Take off your coat and give it to her!”
The girl opening the door was the one with the wavy hair from earlier. She seemed to have barely left before being caught by Lu Mingxi’s people. Her makeup was smudged, and she had none of her previous composure. Biting her lip, humiliated and fearful, she removed her uniform jacket and handed it to Ji Shu.
Ji Shu had no strength to speak. She took the dry jacket, draped it over herself, and used the door panel for support to barely pull herself to her feet.
The slightly damp piece of paper drifted to the floor, and Ji Shu stepped on it.
She didn’t even glance at it, her steps unsteady as she walked out.
A figure at the doorway approached. Lu Mingxi looked at her, his expression dark, though there was a faint trace of hesitation. He reached out, intending to steady her.
—but she pushed him away.
Her face was cold. Her ears and the whites of her eyes were flushed red, her eyelashes too heavy to lift, yet her lips and collarbones still showed a bluish, cold pallor.
She expressionlessly shoved his hand aside and, her voice hoarse, said:
“Move.”
Lu Mingxi froze.
She had already taken a few steps out, her frail figure looking pitifully alone.
He instinctively forgot to be angry, furrowing his brows, and followed her:
“Where are you going? —You’re in such bad shape, shouldn’t you go to the infirmary? Or are you going after those girls who locked you in? I already found them when I came over, you—”
Ji Shu cut him off: “None of your business.”
Her voice was low and hoarse, and she didn’t look back.
“Huh?” Lu Mingxi was both confused and infuriated. He strode forward and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back toward him.
“What’s your problem, Ji Shu?”
He bent down close to her, squinting, lowering his voice as he demanded, “I saved you. You’re ungrateful fine, but what kind of attitude is this?”
“…” Ji Shu lifted her lashes and glanced at him.
The young man still radiated a sharp, dangerous aura, though some of his anger had been restrained. His long, striking eyes stared intently at her.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Ji Shu asked with a small, bitter smile.
“…?”
“You set this whole thing in motion, and you indulged those people. Whether it was last night or today, trace it back, the instigator wasn’t you?”
Her voice seemed to come from deep within her chest. Normally, her gaze would dart away, but this time she met his eyes fearlessly, despite their redness. Her pupils shone brightly, almost frighteningly, filled with raw anger and resentment.
“Satisfied now, Young Duke?”
Lu Mingxi’s breath caught.
She was so close that the scorching heat of her breath hit his face, making his heart skip a beat. That familiar, long-unfelt flutter coiled around him again, and he struggled to suppress memories of the struggle in the storage room. She had clawed at his neck, fists landing solidly, her volcano-like anger and raw emotion hidden beneath silence nearly overwhelming him.
“You…”
For a rare moment, he froze, loosening his grip on her hand, and she seized the opportunity to break free.
The storm of hatred in her eyes vanished in an instant, her black irises became still and lifeless, as if it had all been his illusion.
Ji Shu turned and walked away.
Lu Mingxi stood there for more than ten seconds before finally following, keeping close and persistent.
“What did you mean just now, do you really think what happened today was on my orders? And yesterday… what happened?”
Ji Shu ignored him.
Exhausted beyond measure, she didn’t want to deal with any of it. He Ying had already left anyway, all she wanted was a proper, long rest.
She went downstairs and turned straight into the academic affairs office.
Lu Mingxi followed closely, raising his leg to enter, but Xie Zhoulin, coming out from the doorway, stopped him.
His expression was calm but unreadable. His dark lashes flicked up like a shadow over a mirror as he coldly swept his gaze over the anxious young duke, raising his hand to block his path.
“What did you do to her this time?”
Lu Mingxi froze at the doorway, then laughed bitterly at the words: “You saw her… and you think it was me?”
“Not necessarily that you did it yourself,” Xie Zhoulin said simply.
Lu Mingxi turned his face away, took a few deep breaths, then circled his gaze back, raising both hands in surrender: “I was wrong, I was wrong. Can you let me go in first?”
Xie Zhoulin’s eyes, however, moved past his shoulder to look behind him.
The followers had just corralled a few girls along. The lead girl had no uniform jacket, her makeup smeared, her expression a mixture of fear, indignation, and unwillingness. The two girls behind her had red, tear-streaked eyes, terrified and bewildered.
He recognized these two as being from his own class, and his expression darkened further.
“…” Xie Zhoulin said nothing, merely stepping slightly aside.
Lu Mingxi strode directly forward and crossed the threshold.
Ji Shu startled the teachers the moment she stepped into the academic affairs office.
They all lifted their heads from their paperwork, eyes scrutinizing the pale-faced girl who looked as though she had been through something.
Ji Shu found her homeroom teacher, Zhu Ling. The woman wore thick glasses, and upon hearing what Ji Shu said, her eyes behind the lenses widened in shock.
“You… you’re telling the truth? You admit that you—”
—smoked on campus.
Flandre Academy had one of the strictest bans on student smoking in the country’s history. Since the parliament passed the revised Juvenile Protection Act twenty years ago, the school had updated its regulations, strictly prohibiting students from smoking on campus. Multiple smoke detectors had been installed, and any violation could result in detention for observation at the mildest, or suspension at the most severe.
“Yes,” Ji Shu replied in a hoarse voice. “I smoked on the girls’ sixth floor, where few people go. There are no smoke detectors nearby, so the alarm didn’t trigger. If you don’t believe me, you can perform a blood test immediately.”
Zhu Ling had never seen a student so willingly and proactively admit to wrongdoing.
The girl stood quietly, eyes lowered, her thin body wrapped in a uniform half a size too large. Her hair was wet, draped over her shoulders. Her lips were pressed tight, giving her a fragile appearance, yet her entire presence radiated determination and stubbornness.
“Are you… sure?” Zhu Ling asked again, her eyes complex, seeking confirmation of Ji Shu’s resolve.
“I’m sure,” Ji Shu said.
Earlier in the bathroom, she had inhaled some smoke from the curly-haired girl’s cigarette. A blood test could detect it. If the violation was considered minor, she would receive detention for observation, if severe, she could face forced suspension. With this, she could pressure Ji Nanlin to transfer her to a new high school, start a new academic life, and escape this hell.
Ji Shu pressed her lips together, thought for a moment, and added: “Also, a few days ago, on Monday at noon, when the school’s smoke detector went off, that was me in the storage room—”
Her words were cut off.
Footsteps approached from behind. A long arm reached out, casually draping over her shoulder with a faintly intimate gesture, pressing down slightly.
A familiar scent of cologne enveloped her.
Ji Shu’s remaining words lodged in her throat, her body freezing so she couldn’t utter a sound.
Lu Mingxi’s familiar voice rang in her ear, feigning surprise at the perfect moment: “Ha… Ji Shu, what are you doing here? What a coincidence.”
Zhu Ling looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Not just her, other teachers also gasped. Teachers who had been busy with paperwork lifted their heads, and blazing gazes turned toward the scene.
—She remembered that Ji Shu had never been well regarded in class, especially by the Young Duke. So what was going on now?
Lu Mingxi didn’t give Ji Shu a single chance to speak.
He lazily pulled his hand out of his pocket, brought two fingers together, and flicked them politely in her direction. Then he smiled and said, “Just helping you finish your work before the end of the day.”
Zhu Ling had a bad feeling. She glanced at Ji Shu and hesitantly asked him, “…What are you going to do?”
Lu Mingxi tilted his chin in a gesture.
Immediately, a few people entered, leading three girls with reddened eyes, trembling like quails.
The entire academic affairs office fell completely silent, one could hear a pin drop.
The curly-haired girl in front was still trembling violently, seemingly on the verge of collapse, not sure of what Lu Mingxi had just said. He lightly tapped her knee with his foot, and she immediately shook like chaff before kneeling in front of Zhu Ling, voice quivering: “It’s me… I… I was the one smoking, Teacher!!”
Everyone’s expressions changed dramatically.
“It was me, along with two other girls, hiding in the girls’ sixth-floor bathroom to smoke. By chance, Ji Shu saw us. She wanted to report us, but we threatened her. We forced her to inhale the smoke and go tell you she did it…” Her voice shook with mounting fear, the sobbing in it impossible to hide, as if some demon stood behind her.
“Y-Yes, and the other time, when the smoke detector in the storage room went off, that was me too!! It was all us, Teacher…”
“…”
Zhu Ling’s face darkened. She wasn’t this girl’s homeroom teacher, so she didn’t respond. Soon, a middle-aged man with a grim expression walked out from the staff room, led the girls to apologize to the other teachers, and then left.
The only sound left in the air was soft, continuous sobbing.
Ji Shu had not been allowed to speak once. Lu Mingxi, seemingly friendly, draped an arm over her shoulder and led her out of the office.
They walked in silence, the other followers trailing far behind, too afraid to come close.
Once they reached the classroom doorway, Lu Mingxi suddenly laughed.
He leaned close to Ji Shu’s ear, his voice low, magnetic, tinged with amusement: “You’re quite good at pretending, Ji Shu.”
“…”
“That day, you spoke so sincerely, wrote that little essay with such heartfelt emotion… I almost believed you.”
His hot voice slid along her ear like sticky, fine sand.
Ji Shu didn’t answer.
She knew her plan had failed. And from now on, Lu Mingxi would never give her another chance to carry out the same scheme.
She stood there, her throat moving slightly. The dry, burning heat scorched her so intensely that her whole body felt almost numb, yet her mind remained icy and clear.
“Is it because my sincerity isn’t enough?” she asked.
“What?”
She tilted her face slightly, raising her lashes. Her dark eyes, heavy and serious, looked up at the towering Young Duke as she repeated, “Is it because the sincerity I offered isn’t enough to satisfy you?”
Lu Mingxi belatedly remembered what he had said last night.
He pressed a hand to his forehead, let out a laugh, and didn’t argue, simply nodded in agreement with her guess: “Yes… that’s right.”
He bent down, slowly tightening the arms that circled her neck and shoulders, and spoke softly:
“Ji Shu, until you prove to me your resolve and sincerity, you can’t go anywhere.”
She could only stay at Flandre.
Ji Shu seemed somewhat delirious from the fever.
She let out a muffled “mm,” then weakly nodded along with him, and, still dazed, pushed his arms aside and walked toward the classroom.
Lu Mingxi let her go, standing behind her. The curve of his lips held a faint, knowing smile as he extended his right arm.
One step, two steps, three steps.
Ji Shu lost consciousness and fell backward into his embrace.