Vol2 Chapter 12: Lakeside

Bai Ci rarely came to places like the lakeside.
For her, the most fun spot in the world was an internet café.
But Xia Mi had dragged her to a swimsuit shop.

With Lu Mingfei gone and nowhere to go, Chu Zihang suggested checking out Lake Michigan.
It was the perfect season for sailing, ideal for conducting Xia Mi’s orientation on a boat.
Plus, in two months, the friendly match between Cassell and the University of Chicago was coming up.

Bai Ci wanted to stay in her room.
These seemingly elegant sports were exhausting—she’d rather watch Crayon Shin-chan indoors than bake under the sun for hours.
And what was the point of the match?
Cassell had crushed Chicago’s team for years.
Was there even a competition?
It was like signing up for a school event for extra credit, only to find it’s a boxing match with Tyson as the ref and Tyro as your opponent.

Why bother?
Go home, wash up, sleep—were those credits really worth it?

But she couldn’t resist Xia Mi’s insistence.
Xia Mi dragged her to the swimsuit shop, grabbed a pile of swimsuits, and pulled her into the fitting room.

“Senior Sister, you’ve got some serious assets!”

When Xia Mi turned, holding two bikinis, Bai Ci, wrapped in a towel, had curled into a hamster ball in the corner.
Neon lights buzzed overhead, the fitting room walls draped with ruffles, tassels, and sequins, dazzling her eyes.

Outside the glass window, a sunshade with a sailboat pattern drifted by.
Chu Zihang stood 30 meters away at a drink stand, pondering flavors.

“This ruffled style is perfect for you!” Xia Mi waved a fluorescent pink bikini, its shell-adorned ties jingling.

“This one’s made for you!” she mimicked a salesperson, pinching her voice.
“Deep V-neck to show off Senior Sister’s natural advantages!”

Too revealing!

Bai Ci tightened her towel two inches.
“I want a one-piece.”

“Such a waste, Senior Sister!”
Xia Mi yanked the towel off, then froze, eyeing Bai Ci, who crossed her arms defensively.
Xia Mi glanced down, her resentful expression catching Bai Ci off guard.
Did she upset her?
But… why?

“Xia Mi?” Bai Ci asked cautiously.

Like a phantom, Xia Mi slipped behind her, grabbing with both hands.

Bai Ci sprang up like a cat with a stepped-on tail, her head thunking against the partition, knocking off three pink shell decorations.
She clutched her chest, shrinking tighter, a shell tangled in her hair.
Xia Mi, now at the door bolt, held up her phone, grinning like a mouse that stole oil.

The phone screen showed a candid of Bai Ci’s panic, towel slipping, her pale shoulders and neck glowing pearlescent under pink neon.

“Senior Sister…” Xia Mi dragged her words teasingly.
“If I send this to Senior Lu, think he’d be thrilled?”
Her thumb hovered over the send button.

Bai Ci moved impossibly fast, the towel whipping into a white hurricane.
Xia Mi’s wrist went numb—her phone was gone.
Bai Ci was already deleting the photo.

Xia Mi smirked.
Deleting was pointless—she had backups.
And… was Senior Sister’s speed getting faster?

Chu Zihang, hearing the fitting room commotion, didn’t react, calmly sipping his drink.
As Shilan High’s famous figure and Cassell’s renowned poker face, he rarely commented on beauty.

But when the girls emerged, he set his drink down.
His manners dictated he acknowledge them—it was respect for beauty, like a vassal bowing for an emperor’s reward, no matter what it was.

“Senior!” Xia Mi waved a shell-adorned bracelet.
“I want a mango smoothie!”

Condensation from his iced lemonade slid down his knuckles.
The “Super A-rank” killer stood frozen, as if spelled.
Xia Mi, tugging Bai Ci’s wrist, burst through the revolving door, her light orange bikini ties fluttering like jellyfish tentacles.
Sunlight shattered into diamonds on their bare shoulders.
His gaze followed Xia Mi’s bouncing figure, catching her barefoot steps on the pebbles.

Xia Mi grinned, pinching Bai Ci’s lower back, forcing her to stand tall and proud, meeting Chu Zihang’s calm, autopsy-table stare.

“Hee, Senior, what do you think?” Xia Mi stuck out her tongue playfully.

“Very nice,” Chu Zihang nodded.
Praising a pretty girl was hard for him.
He could lecture from the Big Bang to human reproduction without a sip of water, but compliments?
“Nice” and “pretty” were his limit.
He’d rather talk reptiles than human girls.

In this, Lionheart’s president paled compared to Student Union’s Caesar, whose flattery could ruin a girl for anyone else’s praise.

Bai Ci, clutching her arm, curled under a sunshade, watching Chu Zihang and Xia Mi board the sailboat.

I want to go back to the hotel…

The shade melted like dark chocolate.
She sipped her sparkling water, poking a lemon slice, bubbles whimpering at the cup’s bottom.
Thirty meters away, the sailing club’s flags snapped in the lake breeze, Xia Mi’s laughter mingling with the waves, breaking like crystal shells.

Under the next sunshade, a couple shared a strawberry sundae, the girl laughing as she smeared cream on her boyfriend’s nose, all giggles and joy.
Bai Ci’s fingers traced wet sand, thinking, Two lives, and I’ve never had a partner.
Can’t you show off your love somewhere else?
The air stinks of romance.
Don’t you know I’m a terrifying dragon?
The principal says I’ve got a lion in my eyes—watch out, or it’ll tear you apart…

But she knew the principal was full of it—probably told everyone they had a lion in their eyes.

Lost in thought, the sand under her fingers formed a tiny figure.
She wiped it away, staring at the lake, unsure how long she’d been there when an icy drink landed on her head.

“Thinking about what, our S-rank?”

“Principal?”
Bai Ci turned, seeing the silver-haired old man, muscles toned and powerful.

She glanced back, spotting Lu Mingfei touching his cheek, lost in thought.

Why did he look… guilty?

“Went with Mingfei to an event, bought swimsuits, and came here,” Angers said, tossing her an iced cola.

“What’s with him?”
Bai Ci caught it, popping the tab.

“He was quite dashing, winning the heart of an Islamic girl,” the principal smiled.

Bai Ci’s hand froze on the can.
She glanced at the shrinking Lu Mingfei, muttered a dry “Oh,” and sank back into the sand, sipping her cola.

She didn’t say another word all evening.