How I Accidentally Bent My Best Friend - Chapter 55

“Excuse me, thank you, excuse me” Lu Wei carefully maneuvered through the crowd and arrived in front of Chen Yushu. Her eyes shifted between the two of them before finally settling on the flowers in Zhou Wen’s hands. “What’s going on here? A confession? Did it work out?”

Zhou Wen quickly glanced at the two of them, inexplicably feeling that the atmosphere around them had changed. He felt like a clown, utterly embarrassed, and instinctively denied it, “N-no, it’s just a bet with friends. It’s April Fools’ Day, after all.”

Seeing this, the other friends chimed in, “Yeah, yeah, that’s right.”

“A bet?” Lu Wei raised her eyebrows slightly, a smile still on her face, but her tone had already taken on a hint of coldness. “Is it fun?”

The group instantly froze. After a moment, someone laughed awkwardly and said, “Just a holiday joke, don’t take it seriously.”

Chen Yushu secretly rolled her eyes, not wanting to pay them any more attention. Just as she was about to pull Lu Wei away, she saw Lu Wei suddenly burst into laughter. “Indeed, April Fools’ Day a holiday for fools. Whether it’s fun or not, I don’t know, but it’s definitely laughable.”

As she spoke, Lu Wei’s gaze swept over each of them one by one, finally stopping on Zhou Wen, her eyes filled with undisguised mockery and sarcasm.

“You!” Zhou Wen’s face flushed a deep purplish-red, and he glared at her with wide, furious eyes.

The onlooking classmates couldn’t help but laugh along.

“Hahaha, that was so satisfying! What an idiot!”

“Serves him right! I hate these disgusting guys the most. Joking? Why don’t you joke with your dad instead!”

Lu Wei’s smile widened, and she said lightly, “I’m just joking, don’t take it seriously.”

Zhou Wen clenched his fists, unable to vent his anger, and was about to leave with his friends.

“Wait.” Lu Wei called them back, moving closer to Chen Yushu. She quietly hooked her pinky finger around Chen Yushu’s and whispered, “Save your efforts from now on. Chen Yushu already has someone. She wouldn’t be interested in some random nobody.”

“Are you insane?” Zhou Wen could no longer hold back and snapped, “I said I don’t like her!”

“Well, that’s just perfect.” Lu Wei clapped her hands, but in the next second, her smile vanished as she cursed, not too loudly but not too softly either, “A bunch of idiots! At least you know you’re not good enough!”

With that, Lu Wei took Chen Yushu’s hand and walked past them without even a sideways glance. Feeling it wasn’t satisfying enough, she couldn’t resist turning back and cursing again, “Idiots! Don’t you have any self-awareness? Not enough brains, but plenty of nerve! All day long, thinking about.”

“Alright, Lu Wei.” Afraid she might charge back, Chen Yushu quickly pulled her forward. “Lu Wei, that’s enough. Let’s go.”

Lu Wei was still fuming, not yet satisfied, but held back by Chen Yushu, she could only grumble and let it go.

“Alright, why are you getting yourself so worked up?” Chen Yushu patted her back to calm her down. “Just ignore them.”

Lu Wei’s anger hadn’t fully subsided. She turned back, leaning on Chen Yushu’s shoulder, and whined, “I should’ve cursed at him a few more times earlier.”

Chen Yushu ruffled her hair. “Thanks for earlier. But why are you here?”

“Uh, I…” Only then did Lu Wei remember her original purpose. Instantly, her body stiffened, and she nervously licked her lips, slowly straightening up. She stammered, “I came to find you to eat. I didn’t expect to run into this. Hahaha, what a coincidence.”

“Oh.” Chen Yushu lowered her hand and gave her a strange look. “Let’s go, then.”

Lu Wei nodded, carefully pulling her trench coat tighter as she walked slightly behind, stealing glances at Chen Yushu from the corner of her eye. She was curled up timidly, a stark contrast to her earlier aggressive demeanor.

When she had left the dormitory earlier, she had mentally prepared herself, rehearsing what to say and do in her mind. But now, after running into that situation, everything had been thrown into disarray.

Unable to help herself, Lu Wei cursed the group of people again in her heart. When she looked at Chen Yushu, she still felt uneasy, especially when she thought about those hidden feelings of hers.

“Which cafeteria are we going to?” Chen Yushu asked as they reached a fork in the road.

After a moment’s thought, Lu Wei named the farthest cafeteria and began rebuilding her mental defenses. After steeling herself for a while, she feigned a sudden exclamation.

Chen Yushu asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I almost forgot this, this flower is for you.” Lu Wei lowered her head, pulled a white rose from the inner pocket of her trench coat, and handed it to Chen Yushu. She avoided eye contact, pretending to straighten her clothes, but her hand trembled slightly.

It had started some time ago Lu Wei would give her a flower every few days, perfectly timed to replace the previous one as it withered. Chen Yushu accepted it as usual and asked curiously, “Where do you always buy these from?”

Seeing her indifferent expression, Lu Wei couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. She muttered, “From a flower shop outside the school. Do you like any other flowers? I’ll give you something else next time.”

“No need, this one is fine.”

“Alright, then I’ll keep giving you this one from now on.”

Chen Yushu hummed in agreement and continued walking.

That was it?

The language of white roses symbolized innocent, pure love. What kind of close friend gives roses every single day? Didn’t Chen Yushu wonder why she was doing this?

Lu Wei pouted, casting a resentful glance at Chen Yushu. Ask! Why don’t you ask!

“What’s wrong?” Chen Yushu turned her head, noticing her gaze, and asked in confusion.

“Ahem.” Lu Wei looked pointedly at the flower in her hand, hinting.

Chen Yushu looked down, puzzled, then suddenly smiled in realization. “The flower is very pretty, thank you.”

“…” Lu Wei felt like she was suffocating. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile. “You’re welcome.”

As they continued walking side by side, Lu Wei stewed in frustration. But afraid of scaring her off, she gave up on the idea. After a moment, she put on an innocent expression and said, “By the way, earlier I told that person you were in a relationship. You’re not mad, are you?”

Chen Yushu frowned slightly. Why did that sound a bit, manipulative? It must be her imagination.

“No, I know you were just helping me out.”

“That’s great! I was worried you might blame me.” Lu Wei said cheerfully, then immediately looked at her with a worried expression and asked softly, “But if others hear about this, won’t it affect your chances of dating?”

Alright, it wasn’t her imagination Lu Wei was definitely doing this on purpose! Chen Yushu gritted her teeth. “Can you talk normally?”

Lu Wei immediately bit her lip, putting on a pitiful act. “I’m just concerned about you, that’s why I asked.”

“Lu Wei, you !” Chen Yushu took a deep breath, unable to hold back any longer. “Are you out of your mind? I’ve told you, I’m not dating! Not dating! Not dating!”

“Alright, alright, if you don’t want to talk about it, then we won’t. No need to be so fierce.” Lu Wei hugged herself tightly, frightened but unwilling to give up. She timidly pressed on, “Then, why don’t you want to talk about it? Is it because you haven’t met someone you like?”

At this, Chen Yushu’s eyes darkened, a flicker of panic flashing through them almost imperceptibly. Gazing at the person before her, her heart ached faintly, and she let out a soft laugh. “I have.”

“Ah?” Lu Wei froze in shock, her body stiffening on the spot. In those few seconds, countless thoughts raced through her mind, and an involuntary surge of anticipation rose within her. She swallowed hard and slowly asked, “Who is it?”

Chen Yushu looked at her and smiled. “Are you an idiot?”

Lu Wei’s mind went blank. Unconsciously holding her breath, she suppressed the overwhelming joy that threatened to burst forth and hesitantly said, “Could it be could it be.”

“Hahaha, you fool, it’s April Fools’ Day! Haven’t you been tricked enough?” Chen Yushu averted her gaze, breathing softly. Thank goodness it was April Fools’ Day lying felt justifiable.

“Hahaha, right, I almost forgot.” Lu Wei snapped back to reality, responding mechanically. She felt as though she were floating in another dimension, yet acutely aware of that secret hope abruptly crashing down.

After a long while, she came to her senses, feeling a sense of loss but not entirely surprised. In a world of so many people, merely knowing and understanding one another was already rare enough the probability of mutual love was only a fraction of a trillion.

So, how could it be such a coincidence that Chen Yushu happened to like her?

Lu Wei sighed inwardly but quickly pulled herself together. At least Chen Yushu didn’t like anyone else right now. At least she still had the advantage of proximity.

A few seconds of silence passed as the two of them sank into their own thoughts, unaware of the suddenly awkward atmosphere.

Arriving at the restaurant, Lu Wei watched the person sitting across from her, her mind still buzzing with ideas on how to probe Chen Yushu further.

Unfortunately, even after the meal ended, she hadn’t managed to uncover anything concrete.

Back in the dorm, after finishing various chores and turning off the lights, it was soon 11:30 p.m. The day was almost over. Staring at the chat window with Chen Yushu, Lu Wei felt a lingering reluctance to let it go.

Just then, Jiang Yunxi forwarded something to her. Opening it, she saw it was a post from the campus confession wall about the confession under the dormitory building, complete with a photo of the two of them.

Lu Wei gazed at the intimate image of her and Chen Yushu’s backs, a faint ache spreading in her chest. Unable to resist, she traced her thumb over the picture before saving it to a private album.

Jiang Yunxi: 【What’s going on? Why are people shipping you two? Did you confess to Chen Yushu?】

Lu Wei sent a sighing emoji. 【How would I dare?】 Then she briefly recounted what had happened that afternoon.

Jiang Yunxi: 【You scared me! I thought you two were really together.】

If only it were true! Lu Wei ruffled her hair in frustration. Seeing the growing number of replies under the post, a sudden idea struck her. She forwarded it to Chen Yushu, praying she wasn’t asleep yet.

What’s this? Chen Yushu was about to turn off her phone and sleep when she saw Lu Wei’s message. She couldn’t help but click on it. The post itself seemed fairly normal praising Lu Wei for helping her and celebrating the friendship between two girls.

But the replies below were another story.

Ahhh! Does anyone else get it? I was there and I was already shipping them so hard!

I swear on my over ten years of gaydar, if they aren’t real, I’ll wash my hair upside down!

Is this something we can ship? Never mind, they’re just so perfect together! I’ll take a tiny bite of this ship!

Chen Yushu’s mouth twitched as she read. What on earth is this? Then, slowly, she sent a question mark to Lu Wei.

Lu Wei rubbed her hands together excitedly: [I stumbled upon this by chance. Did you see those replies?]

What did she mean by that? Chen Yushu sent back an “Mm,” biting her lip uncomfortably.

Lu Wei: [I was just thinking, with them acting like this, isn’t it a bit unfair to you? Would you mind?]

Chen Yushu held her phone with both hands, her thumb unconsciously picking at the phone case. She grew even more confused about what Lu Wei was trying to do and, for a moment, didn’t know how to respond. Instead, she asked back: [What’s wrong? Do you mind this?]

Lu Wei: [Of course I don’t mind, I’m just worried about you.]

Chen Yushu thought that made sense. Lu Wei really had no reason to be cautious she could even imagine how relaxed and casual Lu Wei was on the other end, tossing out the question like a joke to indulge in some playful ambiguity between friends.

Why hasn’t she replied? Lu Wei impatiently scrolled up and down the chat log, exiting and reopening the conversation. Unable to hold back any longer, she guessed: [Are you upset?]

Chen Yushu pressed her lips together in mild frustration and slowly typed: [I don’t mind. It’s only because I happen to like you.]