Ye Ying lowered her head in silence. It was Zhu Feng who answered Bai Xi’s question on her behalf. “Most definitely. We just don’t know who did it yet.”
As they spoke, the trio arrived at the entrance of Dance Studio No. 2. Bai Xi pushed the door, but it was locked. Glancing at Zhu Feng, who was still fuming over the injustice, Bai Xi let out a light “tsk.”
“I forgot, the keys are still at the Academic Affairs Office. Zhu Feng, right? Could I trouble you to run over there and grab them?”
“Oh! Right, I know where that is. You two wait here, I’ll be right back!” Zhu Feng slapped her forehead, suspecting nothing. She dropped her things next to Ye Ying and sprinted toward the office.
Once Zhu Feng was gone, Bai Xi crossed her arms and looked at Ye Ying. “Are you really this dense? Falling into a trap so easily and you still don’t know who set you up?”
Abandoning the reserved and humble act she had put on in front of Zhu Feng, Ye Ying looked up. Her eyes flashed with a mix of anger and resilience. “Of course I know who it was. But knowing doesn’t change anything right now. What I need to do is give this my all, nail the dance, pass the final selection, and show that person exactly what happens when you’re too clever for your own good.”
Bai Xi narrowed her eyes slightly. “So… you were playing me?”
She remembered how Ye Ying had suddenly lunged toward her back in the first studio. She had been too startled to notice then, but thinking back, the way Ye Ying had been staring at her… wasn’t that exactly how a wolf looks at a fat sheep?
“I wouldn’t call it ‘playing’ you,” Ye Ying mimicked Bai Xi’s posture, leaning against the corridor railing with her arms crossed. “I only had a desperate ‘burn-the-bridge’ backup plan. But then you just happened to appear. Why wouldn’t I take an opportunity sent by heaven itself?”
Bai Xi leaned in close, a smirk playing on her lips. “Telling me so bluntly… aren’t you afraid I’ll back out now? That would leave you without even a bridge to burn. After all, it’s not like we’re on the best of terms.”
After a moment of silence, Ye Ying looked up and met Bai Xi’s gaze earnestly. Her tea-colored eyes were clear, bright, and filled with a steady resolve. “I believe you won’t. I don’t know why, but that’s just the feeling I get.”
Bai Xi: …
Bai Xi really couldn’t. It wasn’t in her nature. Besides, as someone who had used every trick in the book in the business world, she didn’t find Ye Ying’s little scheme problematic at all. After all, Ye Ying was just protecting herself.
With a helpless sigh, Bai Xi reached out and gave a playful tug to Ye Ying’s newly tied low ponytail. “Tell me, how can a crafty, scheming thing like you have such a clean pair of eyes? You’re a natural-born little liar.”
This time, Ye Ying was genuinely confused. She blinked at Bai Xi. “What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“Nothing.” Bai Xi looked down at the hair tie she had accidentally pulled off. In a sudden lapse of logic, she slipped it onto her own wrist and held it up in front of Ye Ying. “Does it look good?”
Ye Ying: …
Looking at her pink cherry-blossom hair tie around Bai Xi’s wrist—a wrist so pale it was almost translucent, showing the faint blue of her veins—Ye Ying suddenly thought of the meaning people associated with a boy wearing a girl’s hair tie. Her face flushed a faint red. She reached out to snatch it back. “It looks terrible! Give it back!”
Rarely seeing Ye Ying act like a flustered young girl, Bai Xi’s mischievous side took over. She intentionally dodged Ye Ying’s hand. “No. It’s just a hair tie, why be so stingy?”
“You…” Seeing that Bai Xi genuinely seemed ignorant of what wearing a girl’s hair tie implied, Ye Ying couldn’t bring herself to explain. Her face turned a deep shade of crimson as she pointed at Bai Xi, speechless.
“Just give it back, I need to tie my hair,” Ye Ying tried to grab it again. She watched as Bai Xi provocatively hid her hand behind her back.
“Is this your only hair tie?” The more anxious Ye Ying got, the more curious Bai Xi became about the “secret” of this accessory. She continued to dodge, refusing to yield.
Realizing she couldn’t reason with Bai Xi, Ye Ying went silent and focused entirely on the heist. However, Bai Xi was agile and stood ten centimeters taller. When Bai Xi stood on her tiptoes and raised her hand high, Ye Ying couldn’t reach it even with a jump.
“Give it to me!” Bracing herself against Bai Xi’s shoulders, Ye Ying looked up at the hair tie just out of reach. Bai Xi seemed addicted to wearing it. If someone saw her hair tie on Bai Xi’s wrist, she’d never be able to clear her name.
Laughing, Bai Xi raised her hand even higher, her back leaning against the corridor railing to avoid Ye Ying’s reach. “I’m holding it right here. If you want it, take it yourself.”
As she spoke, Bai Xi laughed and looked down at the girl practically pressed against her. Because her eyes were on the hair tie, Ye Ying’s face was tilted up, her smooth forehead inches from Bai Xi’s lips. Her tea-colored eyes were slightly misty from frustration, and Bai Xi could see every single trembling eyelash.
Most devastatingly, Ye Ying’s lips were slightly parted, her breath fanning across Bai Xi’s neck. Because of that warm air, the Adam’s apple 002 had “cheated” into existence for her moved uncontrollably. Bai Xi’s heart rate skipped a beat. Everything seemed to slow down a thousandfold while her senses were magnified—she could clearly feel the radiating warmth and the faint, lingering scent of a young girl.
“I got the keys!”
Zhu Feng’s shout from the stairs shattered the trance. Ye Ying instantly recoiled, her face burning as she stood there in a daze. Looking at the “fossilized” Zhu Feng at the top of the stairs, Bai Xi suppressed her pounding heart, coughed to clear her throat, and feigned a calm composure.
“Ahem. Let’s… let’s open the door.”
Taking the keys from Zhu Feng’s hand, Bai Xi quickly unlocked the studio.
Behind her, Zhu Feng was still in a state of shock. She leaned in toward Ye Ying. “Did I… come back at a bad time?”
“What are you thinking?!” Ye Ying glared at her. She felt like she had just dug her own grave. “There’s really nothing going on. Just now, we were just…”
“I get it! Say no more, I totally get it!” Zhu Feng looked at Ye Ying with the smile of a knowing auntie. She patted Ye Ying’s arm and jerked her chin toward Bai Xi. “Don’t forget me when you’re rich and powerful!”
Ye Ying: … Forget it. There’s no explaining this.
Up ahead, Bai Xi was still trying to calm her racing heart. Unaware of the conversation behind her, she focused intensely on the lock. With a click, the door swung open.
She let out a breath and stepped into the pitch-black studio.
Dance Studio No. 2 was one of the finest in the school. It used no natural light, allowing for customizable stage lighting. It featured 360-degree surround sound hidden in the walls, perfect soundproofing, and mirrors that could be set to show or hide. It even had advanced AI recording functions to capture every moment of practice from the perfect angle.
It was a world-class facility. Even a school as wealthy as Nanluo only had six of them. It was rumored these studios were superior to those used by many professional celebrities.
Bai Xi flipped the lights. Zhu Feng’s attention immediately shifted from Ye Ying to the room. She ran around touching everything, her face full of awe.
“Oh my god, am I dreaming? I actually get to touch a studio like this in my lifetime? Dancing here is basically heaven. My idol’s studio probably looks just like this!” Zhu Feng hugged a mirror and refused to let go. “This is the closest I’ve ever been to my idol!”
Clearly, Zhu Feng knew the value of this place. It was a dancer’s paradise.
Bai Xi was also satisfied. She turned to Ye Ying. While Ye Ying couldn’t hide her surprise, she maintained her poise, unlike the energetic Zhu Feng who was practically hugging the floor.
“Alright, enough playing. Let’s get familiar with the moves.” Ye Ying watched Zhu Feng move from the mirrors to the floor with a helpless smile. She didn’t know much about high-end equipment, so while she knew it was expensive, she wasn’t as overwhelmed.
After setting up the audio, the music began to play. Bai Xi felt goosebumps rising on her skin as she finally remembered what Ye Ying’s dance was called.
“If I recall correctly, the ceremony is in the evening,” Bai Xi reminded her quietly.
Under the 360-degree sound, the atmosphere of the track became sharp and haunting. Even the hyperactive Zhu Feng lost her nerve. She grabbed her bag, decided she didn’t need to worship the “god-tier” studio anymore, claimed she had class, and bolted.
“The track can’t be changed easily,” Ye Ying sighed, rubbing her forehead. The person who swapped her program was truly malicious.
“Let’s walk through the choreography. It’s a narrative dance, you know the story, right?” Bai Xi paused the music and switched to a more “normal” song for background noise.
Ye Ying nodded. Since she knew the dance, she naturally knew the story. It was about a couple in a feudal society who were deeply in love. The boy left home for some reason, and when he returned, the girl had already passed away. However, her soul returned to his side. The boy, believing she was still alive, performed a Ghost Wedding with her corpse. After the ceremony, as the boy held her, the girl’s soul finally departed. The boy realized she was truly dead. In the final scene, the girl collapses helplessly, and the boy lunges forward to catch her.
The first half of the dance was relatively joyful because the boy believed she was alive. Then, the girl repeatedly collapses, her hands drooping lifelessly, while the boy desperately tries to prop her up, pretending she is still with him. The atmosphere slowly descends into darkness and tragedy.
After summarizing the plot, Bai Xi scratched her short hair. “So, we have to act as husband and wife… and even perform a wedding ceremony?”
Ye Ying: … What exactly is going on in your head?