Chapter 18: Rush… Rush at me!

A Tense Tug-of-War

“Lin! Lu!”

Su Keke barked his name, her glare laced with desperate hope.
She clung tighter, burying his arm in her soft curves, terrified he’d slip to Zhuang Yan Yue’s side, crumbling her bravado.

“Little Lu, you don’t want a failed college life, do you…”
Zhuang Yan Yue’s smile grew chilling.

“Hmph, relying on threats?
That’s your ‘closeness’?” Su Keke scoffed.

Says the queen of threats tonight… Lin Lu wanted to call out her double standards.

Zhuang Yan Yue fired back, dripping sarcasm.
“You’re closer, alright—using your body to seduce.
Who could top that?”

“Who’s seducing?!
I’m just showing feminine charm, unlike your threats!
Even if he went to you, it wouldn’t be real!”
Su Keke flushed, her ploy exposed.

“Speaking of seduction…”
Zhuang Yan Yue crossed her arms, subtly lifting her full curves.
“You got the goods for it?”

Su Keke, well above average, still paled before Zhuang Yan Yue.
Fuming, she snapped, “Only a cow like you thinks bigger is better!
Your lumps look awful!
Mine’s the normal standard!”

“Someone’s mad.
I won’t name names.”

Su Keke stomped, enraged.
“Zhuang, I’ve had it with you!
Just ‘cause you’re Sun Laoshi’s favorite, you think you’re hot stuff?”

Zhuang Yan Yue chuckled.
“You call me ‘sister,’ but I might not claim you.”

“Call you what?!”

A Tangled Web

Lin Lu was lost.
Sisters?
Then it clicked—Zhuang Yan Yue’s mother, surnamed Sun, was a drama academy professor.
He’d visited her home as a kid.
Her dad ran an entertainment company; her mom taught music.

Su Keke, a Tianhai Music Academy student, was likely signed to Zhuang’s family company.
Zhuang Yan Yue wasn’t just her senior—she was her boss.

But Zhuang Yan Yue shunned the family business, choosing to be a counselor… for him, she’d claimed.

They’d stayed connected.
Su Keke and Yi Dian Dian became besties.
Yi Dian Dian and Zhuang Yan Yue, cousins, turned foes.
Zhuang and Su Keke were “sisters.”
Lin Lu couldn’t keep up with their evolving drama.

A Bold Compromise

Enough wasting time.
Lin Lu dragged Su Keke to Zhuang Yan Yue, shoving his other arm into her embrace.

“Satisfied now?”

Instantly, both women recoiled, flinging his arms away.

“Scumbag!”

United for once, their shared trauma from his “slime” days triggered PTSD at the hint of two-timing.

Su Keke, done stalling, yanked Lin Lu toward the door.

“Without my sign-off, can you just move out?”
Zhuang Yan Yue grabbed him too.

“Heh, you think state-mandated cohabitation needs your approval?”
Su Keke pried her hand off.

Zhuang Yan Yue, rarely bested, frowned.

Su Keke twisted the knife.
“Not just living together—we’re forced to date weekly, marry eventually.
I hate it, but it’s the state’s orders~”

To Zhuang Yan Yue, it wasn’t pity—it was smug gloating.

“Yue Yue, we’re off…”

Zhuang Yan Yue’s silent, eerie back made Lin Lu uneasy.
Would she vent her loss on him?
Pure bad luck.

A Conflicted Heart

Zhuang Yan Yue pondered.
Why bicker with Su Keke?
What were they fighting over?

Su Keke, paired with her scumbag ex, should be miserable, not smug.
Zhuang should be gloating over her rival’s misfortune.

Yet, seeing Lin Lu, they instinctively clashed, as if wired to feud.

She didn’t get Su Keke’s dense brain—or her own.
Her heart was a scale: one side held Lin Lu’s betrayals, his broken promises, her ignored compromises; the other, memories—his childhood “Yue Yue” calls, marriage vows, cozy nights.
When Zhuang’s company teetered, Lin’s family saved it.
But when Lin’s fell, Zhuang’s stood by, powerless.

Those memories tipped her scale, always.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself.
If she couldn’t have him, no one would.
Her childhood friend wasn’t anyone’s to claim.

A New Pact

Lin Lu, shaken, reached their new home.
Closing the door to change shoes, Su Keke’s voice sounded.

“Lin Lu.”

He turned.
She stood, hands behind her, leaning against the door, eyes down, lips bitten, hesitating.
“Since we’re dating and living together tonight, we need ground rules.
A three-point pact.”

Lin Lu braced for cliché cohabitation bans, like soap opera heroines’ nonsense.
But Su Keke surprised him.

“Stay away from that Zhuang woman—she’s bad news.
And it’d hurt my reputation if you’re too close, got it?
Also, keep your distance from Yi Dian Dian.
She’s my bestie—don’t think she’s easy to hurt again, emotionally or… physically.
If you’re… in heat… ahem… come to me!”