How I Accidentally Bent My Best Friend - Chapter 16

“Oh my god! Did you go steal cows last night?”

Ye Chiwan had just woken up, rubbing her eyes, when she ran into Jiang Yuran and was immediately startled by her swollen, slit like eyes. A quick glance revealed Chen Yushu with nearly identical puffy eyes.

“Holy crap! Did you two sneak out together to steal cows or something?”

Jiang Yuran rolled her eyes at her, grabbed a towel, and headed to wash up. Chen Yushu, too exhausted to even keep her eyes open, staggered out of the room.

Unsurprisingly, today’s military training was especially grueling, particularly the standing drills.

As time dragged on, the sun overhead grew hotter, and within moments, sweat was pouring down her back. The incessant buzzing in her ears was punctuated by the occasional chirping of birds flying overhead.

Every second was torture.

Chen Yushu was so tired that her eyelids kept drooping, nearly sealing shut. Her head kept nodding forward uncontrollably, and on top of that, she hadn’t eaten breakfast her stomach growled loudly.

After standing for a short while, Chen Yushu felt her vision gradually blurring. The surroundings began to take on a yellowish, then blackish hue.

A wave of nausea surged up, and she could hold on no longer. Her body swayed to one side, startling the student next to her, who quickly caught her and shouted,

“Report! Instructor, someone fainted!”

“Quick, help her to the shade under the tree!”

In her dazed state, Chen Yushu felt herself being supported under the arms and dragged away.

At some point, she was laid on the ground, and someone patted her cheek. “Hey, are you okay? Wake up!”

The nausea subsided slightly, and Chen Yushu gasped lightly, struggling to open her eyes.

Just then, she heard a familiar voice.

“Teacher, I’m her friend. Let me check on her.” Lu Wei panted, barely finishing her sentence before squatting down and pulling a piece of candy from her pocket, unwrapping it.

Soft fingertips brushed against her lips, and Chen Yushu felt her ears instantly burn red. Afraid that Lu Wei might escalate to something extreme like, but not limited to, mouth to mouth resuscitation, she quickly coughed and forced herself awake.

Opening her eyes, she was met with Lu Wei’s face, magnified and filled with worry, sweat rolling down her forehead, threatening to drip into her eyes.

Yet Lu Wei seemed oblivious, breathing heavily as she stared at her anxiously. “How are you? Feeling better? What’s wrong?”

Their eyes locked, and as if possessed, Chen Yushu reached out, her thumb brushing across Lu Wei’s brow.

Realizing the inappropriateness, she quickly placed her hand on Lu Wei’s shoulder, averting her gaze and pretending to sit up. “I’m fine. I feel much better.”

However, the dark circles from last night’s sleeplessness, combined with her current pallor, weren’t very convincing.

The supervising teacher wasn’t reassured and decided someone should take her to the infirmary.

Chen Yushu hastily waved it off, insisting it wasn’t necessary, but then Lu Wei turned around and crouched down. “Get on. I’ll carry you.”

After recovering from the initial dizziness, she wasn’t feeling too bad anymore and really didn’t need a trip to the infirmary.

But Lu Wei was stubborn, insisting on carrying her there.

Gritting her teeth, Chen Yushu had no choice but to climb onto Lu Wei’s back, planning to ask to be let down once they were out of sight.

Lu Wei hoisted her up effortlessly and strode off without a hint of strain.

Chen Yushu, however, was stiff all over, feeling awkward in every possible way.

“Stay still. Stop squirming,” Lu Wei said, giving her a little bounce to adjust her grip.

Chen Yushu quickly tightened her arms around her neck, pressing her face against the exposed skin at the back of Lu Wei’s neck. It was burning hot, like a furnace.

Lu Wei stopped. “Take off my hat, it’s blocking my view.”

“Mm.”

Once the hat was removed, Lu Wei’s ponytail was caught by the wind, flying wildly and brushing against Chen Yushu’s cheek, tickling her. Unable to bear it, Chen Yushu pressed her face even tighter against Lu Wei’s neck.

Unexpectedly, Lu Wei suddenly turned her head, her lips grazing the tip of Chen Yushu’s nose. “Pressing so close aren’t you hot?”

Chen Yushu pursed her lips and silently shook her head. “Alright, I’m fine now. You can put me down.”

“You’re this weak, yet you still waste your breath.”

Helpless, Chen Yushu had to confess about staying up late and skipping breakfast, repeatedly assuring Lu Wei that she was fine.

“You really…” Lu Wei paused mid-step, unable to hold back her lecture. “Don’t you have any sense about your own body? Why do you insist on pushing yourself like this?”

“Just put me down already.” Chen Yushu thumped her back in dissatisfaction. “I already said I’m fine. Carrying me is completely unnecessary.”

Lu Wei walked to a set of steps and set her down, wiping the sweat from her face with her hand before pressing a fingertip to Chen Yushu’s forehead. “So now I’m wrong for carrying you? You ungrateful brat! And here I was, worried sick about you!”

Standing on the steps, Chen Yushu was now at eye level with her. She tilted her head and huffed.

“Think of it as taking the morning off.” Lu Wei plopped down and patted the spot beside her. “Consider this a blessing in disguise.”

Chen Yushu supposed that was true, but she couldn’t help feeling a little guilty, completely unable to be as carefree as Lu Wei.

The moment she sat down, Lu Wei suddenly leaned in, bracing her hands on the stone steps as she closed the distance between them.

Chen Yushu stared at the approaching face and instinctively leaned back, frowning. “What are you doing?”

“Who did you go out with yesterday? You still haven’t told me.” Lu Wei’s voice was sharp with accusation.

Chen Yushu rolled her eyes. “You still remember that?”

“Of course I remember! You’re being unfaithful! If I don’t get a clear answer today, I’ll die with regrets!”

“Are you seriously this childish?” As Lu Wei leaned even closer, Chen Yushu flusteredly averted her gaze, her breath growing uneven. “You have so many friends yourself, why can’t I”

“So, you’re jealous?” Lu Wei tilted her head, raising an eyebrow.

Her breath fanned against Chen Yushu’s neck, betraying just how close they were. To an outsider, their position would look unmistakably like… a kiss.

Chen Yushu’s heart skipped a beat, the pounding in her chest too obvious to ignore.

Hating herself for being so weak, her lips tingled as if burned, and she instinctively denied it though her words came out stuttered. “W-what nonsense are you spouting? You’re just being hypocritical!”

“Still won’t admit it?” Lu Wei grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face her squarely. “Chen Yushu, sometimes your act is really clumsy.”

At that, Chen Yushu froze. Every emotion flashed through her eyes, laid completely bare. That familiar panic of being seen through returned, and she instinctively shifted her gaze, staring at Lu Wei’s eyebrows instead. Beneath those thick, untamed brows was a tiny mole, wild and barely noticeable unless one looked closely.

Lu Wei: “Cat got your tongue?”

Chen Yushu’s throat bobbed. She didn’t know what to say after all, she really had no rebuttal.

Lu Wei continued on her own. “No answer means you admit it? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Chen Yushu, Chen Yushu, Sneaking around being jealous behind my back is one thing, but now you’re trying to get back at me too?”

Faced with Lu Wei’s relentless questioning, Chen Yushu felt as though she had been stripped bare. Irritated, she snapped, “What exactly do you want?”

“Angry?” Lu Wei curled her lips into a smile, her entire face instantly brightening. “If you’re jealous, just admit it. It’s no big deal, just a bit of possessiveness between friends. Totally normal.”

Chen Yushu’s ears latched onto the word “friends,” rolling it over in her mind.

Indeed, all of Lu Wei’s feelings toward her were rooted in friendship, never exceeding that boundary by even a fraction.

Unaware of the growing chill in Chen Yushu’s gaze, Lu Wei continued, “But we agreed before, didn’t we? That we’d be each other’s best friends. So, if you make any new friends, you have to introduce them to me, got it?”

“What about lovers?” Chen Yushu met her eyes directly. “Should I introduce them to you too?”