After Being Marked By A Love Rival - Chapter 70

Xie Rong vaguely felt as if she had touched the edge of the answer, but she didn’t dare to take another step forward to pierce the truth. Instead, she retreated.

It was like a slow moving turtle that finally poked its head out, but the moment it touched something on its face, it instantly withdrew.

Xie Rong was amused by this thought about herself.

But while the description was funny, it wasn’t good.

She closed her eyes and quickly calmed down, discarding the initial, inexplicable panic that had arisen. She took a deep breath, allowing herself to settle, and forced herself to think with logic rather than emotion. She compelled herself to face the situation.

Qi Musi’s anger, Xie Rong felt, was more because something she had taken seriously, something she was earnest about, was being questioned or even denied.

To Qi Musi’s feelings, this was like an insult, which was why she was angry.

But at the time, Xie Rong was mostly confused, because she wasn’t sure if her feelings for Zhuang Xinbai were love born out of long term companionship, or a kind of familial affection derived from guardianship and protection.

Xie Rong herself was unsure and hesitant, so when Zhuang Xinbai pointed it out, she didn’t feel offended, and naturally, she didn’t get angry.

Xie Rong thought, then perhaps she was indeed wrong…? After all, Qi Musi had already seriously stated her feelings to her, but Xie Rong had offended her again. It was no wonder the other party was angry.

It was as if she had treated Qi Musi’s emotions as insignificant or as something that could be changed at any moment.

With this thought, Xie Rong felt that the fault might lie there. When Qi Musi returned, she would apologize to her.

The emotions in Xie Rong’s heart slowly relaxed, no longer suppressed, and even carried a sense of urgency she hadn’t noticed herself.

She wanted to apologize to Qi Musi quickly.

Qi Musi indeed returned just before lights out. Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, Xie Rong subconsciously turned her head to look. Qi Musi turned to close the door but did not make eye contact with Xie Rong.

She took her belongings out of her bag and put them away, then went to the bathroom first.

Since Zhao Rongrong and Mo Yue were in the dorm room, Xie Rong felt awkward about bringing up the matter directly. However, the two of them had already finished washing up, while she and Qi Musi had not, so she could use the pretext of washing up to go into the balcony and speak to Qi Musi about it.

Thus, when Qi Musi took her toiletries and went to the balcony, Xie Rong also stood up and followed her.

After entering, she closed the balcony door, isolating some of the noise.

Qi Musi naturally noticed Xie Rong’s movements, but this time, she didn’t turn around or give her a glance. Instead, she lowered her eyes, placed her toothbrush cup on the sink, slowly turned on the faucet, and squeezed toothpaste onto her brush.

Her actions were orderly and unhurried, yet a closer observation would reveal they were very slow, as if she were waiting for something.

Xie Rong walked to the other sink. She first put down her items, then looked towards Qi Musi.

“I’m sorry,” Xie Rong apologized directly.

Qi Musi stopped what she was doing and turned her head to look at Xie Rong. “What are you apologizing for?”

Because Xie Rong had already prepared a draft in her mind that evening, she wasn’t as nervous now. She slowly expressed what she was thinking, with her eyes slightly lowered and her voice soft.

Qi Musi had indeed been very angry at the time, but after leaving Xie Rong, her anger slowly dissipated.

She knew she couldn’t entirely blame Xie Rong. After all, they were both Alphas, and in this kind of situation… anyone would feel insecure. Qi Musi didn’t really blame Xie Rong much.

She was only angry because she felt that Xie Rong didn’t trust her enough.

But then she thought, why should Xie Rong trust her? Love, vows, sweet words who struggles to say them? But do words always guarantee future fulfillment?

If that were the case, Qi Musi wouldn’t have hated Qi Rong so much after her mother’s death.

So, later, her anger subsided.

However, the reason she maintained this demeanor was twofold: first, she was indeed irritated by some of Xie Rong’s attitudes that afternoon.

Xie Rong clearly knew that she liked her, and that Xie Rong also felt reluctant, so why couldn’t she just openly state it and make demands of her?

Second… Qi Musi wanted to use retreat as a way to advance, a game of playing hard to get.

Constant proactivity wasn’t the way sometimes, a change in strategy was necessary. Therefore, Qi Musi did not immediately return to her usual self and instead gave Xie Rong the cold shoulder.

Now it seemed, it was fine she hadn’t genuinely alienated Xie Rong.

And it was also good that Xie Rong hadn’t continued to dwell on her doubts.

After listening to Xie Rong’s explanation, Qi Musi nodded indifferently. The emotion on her face remained subdued, making it unclear whether she was truly no longer angry or just nodding for the sake of appearances.

Xie Rong slightly furrowed her brows, unsure how to proceed from this point.

She had no experience and hadn’t gone through a similar situation before, so she was still confused.

Finally, Xie Rong could only ask directly, “Are you still angry?”

Qi Musi looked at herself in the mirror and said flatly, “No.”

She was speaking the truth, but she didn’t let the truth show on her face.

Xie Rong was silent for a moment, pursing her lips, and then said, “I feel like you’re still angry.”

Qi Musi showed a faint, mocking smile. “Then what do you want me to do?” She slightly raised an eyebrow, looking at Xie Rong in the mirror, meeting the other’s upward gaze.

“Xiao Rong, I’m a person too. I can also feel disheartened, lost, and frustrated to the point of not wanting to move forward. After being rejected by you time after time, can’t I stop and rest for a bit?”

“And I only stopped for a moment, and you come to question if I’m still angry. So, what do you want me to do?”

She said this deliberately because Qi Musi wanted to push Xie Rong.

She was close to losing her patience.

If Xie Rong’s feelings for her were still as they were in the beginning, Qi Musi wouldn’t do this. But she clearly saw the change in Xie Rong’s emotions, yet the other party adamantly refused to admit it, covering up her inner feelings as if nothing had happened. This made Qi Musi very angry.

Since Xie Rong didn’t want to face it directly, she would force her to.

Hearing Qi Musi’s rhetorical question, Xie Rong was momentarily stunned, feeling somewhat at a loss. “I… I didn’t want you to do anything.”

Qi Musi nodded. “Alright, then I’ll wash up.”

With that, she genuinely started her washing.

Xie Rong slightly frowned, watching Qi Musi’s figure, feeling like she couldn’t quite figure her out at the moment.

She didn’t know what Qi Musi wanted, nor did she know what she should do right now.

What did she… hope Qi Musi would do?

Xie Rong thought of their past interactions.

Her heart suddenly trembled.

If she didn’t like Qi Musi and had rejected her, and Qi Musi truly understood her own feelings because of this, distanced herself from Xie Rong, and treated Xie Rong as a normal roommate, then she… should be happy.

Why did she feel no joy at all right now?

Xie Rong lowered her gaze, hiding the confusion in her eyes.

Qi Musi subtly took in Xie Rong’s expression, restraining the various emotions in her heart, reminding herself to remain calmer it wasn’t the time yet.

Qi Musi finished washing up quickly. She glanced at Xie Rong with her peripheral vision, and then, as she passed the other, she deliberately walked a little closer.

In the already enclosed space, the two standing very close allowed Xie Rong to easily catch the scent of Qi Musi’s pheromones.

However, before Xie Rong could sense anything more, another Omega scent quickly reached her nose.

Xie Rong’s eyes widened slightly, and she was instantly startled, subconsciously looking at Qi Musi.

The scent… was very familiar. It was the smell of chocolate.

Xie Rong instantly clenched her palms, her internal emotions a mixture of inexplicable tension and stagnation, heavy and pulling at her chest.

Qi Musi looked at her, asking knowingly, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Rong’s lips moved, but she finally asked, “You have an Omega’s pheromone scent on you.”

“Oh,” Qi Musi said dismissively, “Must have accidentally brushed against it somewhere.”

But for it to linger this long, how could it just be an accidental brush?

Xie Rong instinctively wanted to ask something, but before the words left her mouth, she realized she had no right to ask that.

Not only if Qi Musi merely had an Omega’s pheromone scent on her, but even if she had marked an Omega, it would have nothing to do with Xie Rong.

She… had no right to criticize Qi Musi.

Although she thought this way, Xie Rong’s heart didn’t feel much better.

She watched Qi Musi push the door and leave, while she herself remained on the balcony, her eyes shifting with complex emotions.

This was too wrong. Xie Rong thought.

She couldn’t control not only her emotions but also her thoughts. At this moment, Xie Rong couldn’t stop herself from imagining what happened between Qi Musi and that unknown Omega.

Did they really touch unintentionally? Xie Rong wanted to believe it, but she couldn’t.

Xie Rong took a deep breath, unable to help but ask herself silently, even if it were true, so what? Qi Musi was no longer pursuing her, shouldn’t she feel happy? What kind of state was this?

Xie Rong didn’t feel happy; instead, she had an implicit sense of powerlessness, like she was about to lose something.

She thought she must be going crazy.

Qi Musi sat in front of the computer, slowly finished handling the last things, then turned off the computer and stood up. Before going to bed, she glanced sideways at Xie Rong.

The other person was washing up with her eyes lowered. Even without close observation, one could clearly see her current low spirits and dejection.

Qi Musi actually had a momentary thought to just let it go. She didn’t want Xie Rong to feel this upset.

Even if the other person couldn’t figure out her own feelings, it didn’t matter; she was willing to let things be.

But quickly, Qi Musi stopped this thought.

No, she still wanted to be with Xie Rong. She wanted to possess Xie Rong, so… she couldn’t give up so quickly halfway through.

Qi Musi forced herself to endure and remain calm, then restrained herself and withdrew her gaze, returning to her own bed.

When Xie Rong came out, she was the only one left awake in the room. She pursed her lips, tidied her things, and subconsciously looked toward Qi Musi’s area before getting into bed, but she couldn’t see anything.

Well, naturally, she was already asleep.

Xie Rong lay in bed, one hand placed over her chest.

She clearly didn’t like Qi Musi, so why did she feel so stuffy? She clearly didn’t like Qi Musi… Did she really not like Qi Musi?