Weakness Trap - Chapter 5

The scene suggested that the girl with the diamond earring was about to confess her feelings to Yu Lingxue.

Yu Qingluan froze in place.

Strangely, she didn’t seem the least bit surprised.

Yu Lingxue had always been popular. She was like the heroine of a novel, the kind who should have been receiving love letters since childhood, so many that her hands grew tired of them.

Even in elementary school, people would secretly gaze at her with looks beyond their years.

By middle school, she should have been clearing out piles of exaggerated letters and gifts from her desk daily, enduring the ambushes of unfamiliar classmates at the stairwells.

Adoration, admiration, reverence. Yu Lingxue was destined to grow up bathed in such words.

She wouldn’t be the only one confessing to Yu Lingxue.

As the club president had said yesterday, the entire school was filled with people who liked Yu Lingxue.

No matter what, the only one Yu Lingxue had ever confessed to was probably her, this pitiful little bird.

She carried the weight of being seen as steady yet dull, perceived as unapproachable and shy.

But Yu Lingxue saw through it all at first glance. With the second glance, she made Yu Qingluan unforgettable.

So, when Yu Lingxue’s words had been flirtatious back then, Yu Qingluan pretended not to hear.

She acknowledged her loneliness, embracing Yu Lingxue on a winter night.

And on a snowless morning, she watched her leave.

Now, she was about to watch her be confessed to by someone else.

Yet she couldn’t make a single unnecessary move.

Yu Qingluan had no reason to step forward and stop it. It seemed she could only stand by and watch helplessly.

The girl with the diamond earring was somewhat of a celebrity on campus.

Rumored to be the daughter of a local factory owner, she had been domineering during her freshman year, even clashing with a professor to the point that the professor ended up resigning and leaving.

In her sophomore year, she met Yu Lingxue and became her most conspicuous admirer, shedding her thorns and obediently following Yu Lingxue around every day.

The forum had once hosted a thread mocking the girl, calling her a reformed troublemaker who had lost her true self for her goddess, even willingly acting like a dog for her.

That thread was dug up within an hour, and the poster’s real identity was exposed, pinned to the top of the forum for two weeks.

In terms of their relationship, in everyone’s eyes, she should be closer to Yu Lingxue than Yu Qingluan.

Yu Lingxue should also be more intimate with her.

So, when Yu Lingxue returned the pink box to the girl but still hugged her, Yu Qingluan still felt no surprise.

Their embrace was so discreet. The girl must have genuinely liked Yu Lingxue, not wanting to embarrass her, deliberately choosing a secluded corner.

That was how she earned Yu Lingxue’s hug even after her confession failed.

Yu Qingluan didn’t know how to feel inside.

She finally took a step, but not in the direction she should have been leaving.

Xiang Yan blocked her path, obscuring her view. She could no longer see Yu Lingxue clearly, just like that day when Yu Lingxue was injured and surrounded by others as she left.

Yu Qingluan struggled to push Xiang Yan away, but her nearly six-foot-tall friend stood firm, gripping Yu Qingluan’s wrist with determination.

“Are you really going to keep torturing yourself?” Xiang Yan couldn’t bear to watch any longer.

She didn’t know the details of Yu Qingluan and Yu Lingxue’s relationship. But no matter what, she didn’t want to see her friend demean herself like this.

Yu Qingluan gripped Xiang Yan’s hand, growing impatient. She was about to lose sight of Yu Lingxue. “Let me go.”

“She’s already left,” Xiang Yan finally released her grip. “They’ve both left.”

Yu Qingluan stood rooted to the spot.

In the grove, only the rustling of fallen leaves drifted lightly in the wind, brushing against the air, never quite reaching the ground.

The two overly conspicuous figures were no longer there. It was as if the scene from moments ago had been nothing but Yu Qingluan’s illusion.

At least one other person shared that illusion. Yu Qingluan glanced at her friend, her eyes simmering with a restrained anger.

“Yu Qingluan. You’re not lacking in looks or personality if you want to find someone, what kind of person couldn’t you get?” Xiang Yan stared unwaveringly at Yu Qingluan. “Why does it have to be Yu Lingxue? The two of you aren’t even from the same world.”

Ordinary citizens like them, with no money or influence, and Yu Lingxue, who was destined to stand at the pinnacle of society, shining like a star they should never have crossed paths in the first place.

If they did, it should only have been because the kind-hearted Yu Lingxue offered them a medical consultation.

They paid, and Yu Lingxue treated them.

Their interactions should have ended there.

Just like the vast majority of people who admired Yu Lingxue.

“She rejected her.” Yu Qingluan scratched her wrist.

The cold air she hated most clung to her, decorating her wrist with bluish-black bruises, making her feel unbearably uncomfortable, as if she were about to scratch at the sweater she wore close to her skin in front of everyone.

The itch was almost painful.

“That was her rejection.” Xiang Yan was genuinely a little angry now.

Even in this situation, Yu Qingluan still didn’t understand why she disapproved of their relationship.

“What about you?”

“Does that young lady know that Yu Lingxue has a girlfriend like you? Would you dare to step forward as her girlfriend and interrupt that farce? Would you dare to hug Yu Lingxue in front of anyone and tell them you’re a couple?”

“Or let me put it this way. What exactly is your relationship?”

Yu Qingluan furrowed her brows, the weariness in her eyes deepening.

It was as if the allergic pain and itch on her body were solely due to her friend’s gaze.

“Would you dare to say that Yu Lingxue rejected her because she already has someone?”

“Xiang Yan.” Yu Qingluan turned slightly. Xiang Yan saw the corner of her mouth lift abruptly into a faint smile.

“Let’s go back to the classroom. We still have evening classes.” Yu Qingluan turned her head away.

Xiang Yan saw a pair of pale, powerless eyes.

Actually, Xiang Yan shouldn’t have known about this.

During evening class, Yu Qingluan sketched the pattern for a new embroidery piece in her notebook, lost in thought.

Even though they had been friends since childhood.

Yu Qingluan’s personality was heavier than oil.

Of course, she hadn’t been the one to reveal her relationship with Yu Lingxue, Xiang Yan had stumbled upon it by accident.

At first, Xiang Yan had been happy for her and had even offered her blessings.

But after a few months, for some reason, her perspective had shifted.

Perhaps, if others found out about her relationship with Yu Lingxue, they would react the same way.

For a moment, Yu Qingluan felt as if she were the protagonist of some tragic romance novel.

Forced to keep her relationship with the one she loved a secret, with no one in the world supporting them.

They only had each other, could only hold each other, and should only kiss each other.

Yes. She had Yu Lingxue, and that was enough. What did she need others’ approval for?

Yu Qingluan opened the chat window and looked at the nickname she had given Yu Lingxue.

Yu Lingxue probably had no idea that she used to hate winter more than anything.

But now, she loved this winter.

[Winter: Evening class?]

Yu Lingxue had been sending a lot more messages than usual today.

Yu Qingluan was surprised.

Though they weren’t as distant as the contractual partners in the novels she’d read, who only met on predetermined days each month to be intimate,

Generally, they only exchanged messages every few days, and after a couple of lines, the conversation would fizzle out.

Yu Qingluan never grew accustomed to using mobile phones she disliked communicating through a cold, impersonal device.

She preferred face-to-face interactions.

That way, she could gently stroke Yu Lingxue’s hair, wrap her arms around her waist, and whisper “I like you” while nestled in her embrace.

She could also stroll with her along the frozen lakeshore, kicking up the snow scattered on the ground.

She could watch Yu Lingxue’s expressions, drawing strength from her smile.

She could even tease Yu Lingxue, poking her waist and waiting for her adorable retaliation.

But not like this.

Yu Qingluan couldn’t discern Yu Lingxue’s intentions now.

She couldn’t hear her voice or gauge her emotions.

Was she trying to reach out? Would she mention being confessed to?

Or had she noticed Yu Qingluan’s presence earlier?

Lost in hesitation, Yu Qingluan was suddenly called on by the professor to answer a question.

Her phone clattered to the floor. Her face flushed red.

Fortunately, none of her classmates laughed.

In this kind of non-major elective where everyone slacked off, Yu Qingluan was the exception so engrossed in her thoughts that the professor mistook her for paying attention and called on her.

After stumbling through her answer, she sat back down, her cheeks still burning.

Quietly bending to pick up her phone, she found it had automatically opened the campus forum.

The first thread was already locked, a kitten had found someone to adopt it.

The second thread, however, was buzzing with gossip.

【Shocking! The Unmentionable One took off her ear studs!】

“The Unmentionable One” usually referred to the girl who had confessed to Yu Lingxue earlier that day.

Last year, after someone gossiped about her, she doxxed them and pinned their information at the top of the forum for two weeks. Since then, her forum alias had become “The Unmentionable One.”

It was the kind of treatment usually reserved for major villains in stories, one might think she’d committed some heinous act.

But Yu Qingluan had witnessed the whole incident the guy’s remarks had truly been disgusting and malicious.

If anything, it showed restraint on Miss Su’s part that she hadn’t confronted him in real life.

Perhaps it had something to do with Yu Lingxue. The thread had already piled up hundreds of comments.

As Yu Qingluan clicked in, she caught the latest update: students were discussing the confession to Yu Lingxue.

【32L: She finally confessed! I thought I’d never live to see this day.】

【57L: Huh? She likes the goddess? I thought she was just a protector, like me.】

【58L: You’re naive. Why else would she follow her around all the time? I was lucky enough to see the goddess from afar once The Unmentionable One stuck to her like glue, her affection practically overflowing.】

【99L: Did she succeed? Wishing them the best with my floor number!】

【100L: Same question.】

A flood of similar comments followed.

Even the latest replies offered no clear answer.

Yu Qingluan couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

She tried to reassure herself: Yu Lingxue never posted in such places she probably didn’t even check the campus forum and had no idea she was being discussed like this.

As for that young lady, she was probably drowning her sorrows in a bar after being rejected.

Xiang Yan was right Yu Qingluan couldn’t just rush in and declare that Yu Lingxue hadn’t accepted the confession.

She had no right to do so.

Hadn’t there been plenty of similar rumors before?

But Yu Qingluan hadn’t witnessed any of those gossip scenes firsthand.

Maybe she should break her habit of browsing the forum.

It was just… she had no other way of knowing Yu Lingxue’s whereabouts.

The messaging app they used didn’t have a “friends’ feed” feature it couldn’t satisfy her secret desire to peek into Yu Lingxue’s life.

So, for Yu Qingluan, who disliked electronic devices, she learned how to use a phone to communicate and gather information all for Yu Lingxue.

Yu Qingluan closed the forum, finally putting an end to that long, tedious class.

It was too late today, so as usual, she would spend the night in the dormitory instead of going home.

After sending a message to her mother, Yu Qingluan headed downstairs.

Walking in the shadows, someone unexpectedly tapped her shoulder.

In truth, even before she felt the touch on her shoulder, Yu Qingluan had already caught the familiar scent of roses.

She turned her head, more than a little surprised.

Yu Lingxue hadn’t mentioned she would come.

Without a word, Yu Lingxue quietly wrapped her arms around Yu Qingluan in the darkness and pulled her into an even more secluded corner.

The bushes at night were especially dim, shrouded in an indescribable, ink-like blackness, so gloomy it made one want to flee.

What’s more, this corner carried an atmosphere reminiscent of the afternoon’s farce.

And before they even reached the depths, Yu Lingxue couldn’t wait any longer she pressed a kiss to the corner of Yu Qingluan’s lips.