Chapter 2

...just thinking of Cố Châu had begun to make me happy.

I bought the little octopus.

Then Lý Cầm dragged me upstairs in the mall to shop for clothes.

...

Cố Châu seemed particularly fond of kissing me in his temporary office.

He had an unusual ability: he could briefly disable the security cameras.

No one could see us.

At least, that was what I'd thought.

Until one day, between classes.

In the office, he had me pressed against the desk, kissing me as he pleased.

Suddenly, I sensed a resentful stare.

I opened my eyes through the haze.

Then they went wide, and I pushed Cố Châu away.

A young girl had appeared outside the window.

She was staring openly at us with such venom that she looked ready to flay me alive.

I assumed she was one of his students.

Before I could explain, his voice turned cold.

“What are you doing here?”

They knew each other?

...

“Is this woman why you won't marry me? I'll reach maturity soon. I'll be able to choose my sex. If you leave her now, I'll choose to be female and become your wife!”

...

So she was a romantic rival.

And she wasn't human.

She was a merperson who hadn't reached maturity.

I pressed my lips together, then sincerely told her, “You're adorable.”

She'd come to make trouble and somehow managed to flatter me to the skies in the process.

She blushed.

Then immediately scowled.

“I'm your rival! Stop smiling at me!”

Cố Châu's expression darkened.

A moment later, she vanished.

In her place lay a fish on the desk.

...

After a while, an aggrieved voice came from the fish.

“Don't think saving me means I'll thank you! At most, I'll give you a luminous pearl. I still want Cố Châu!”

At the mention of a luminous pearl, my eyes lit up.

Cố Châu's face turned thunderous.

Cold radiated from him, as though he wanted to skin the fish on the spot.

Then he gently stroked my fingertips.

“Be good. I have lots, too. I'll go back to the sea and get you some.”

My eyes sparkled.

We took Tô Hàn home and put her in a tank.

She'd sneaked away without her people knowing.

Now she'd attached herself to us.

And she hadn't given up.

Every day, she still plotted to steal my boyfriend.

She was adorable.

Possibly, the luminous pearl also played a part.

Whenever I had time, I took her out into the sunshine, fed her, and looked after her.

Gradually, she stopped clinging to Cố Châu.

She started clinging to me instead.

Bored at home, she wanted to accompany me to university.

Which meant making me carry that enormous drinking cup.

Cố Châu refused immediately.

He pulled me into his arms.

“No. Stay here. Your people are coming for you tomorrow.”

His gaze softened as he turned to me.

“Chiêu Chiêu, come to my office after class today.”

My heart sped up.

Then I accidentally met Tô Hàn's eyes.

She was soaking in her cup on the coffee table, gazing pitifully at me and making little whimpering noises.

So...

I brought her anyway.

No one else could hear her speak.

But as I walked through campus, someone accidentally bumped into me.

The cup flew out of my arms.

Tô Hàn was still inside.

Instinctively, I lunged and caught it.

My back struck the ground with a heavy thud.

“Tạ Chiêu! Why did you save me? Falling wouldn't kill me. Humans are so fragile. You didn't need to...”

Tô Hàn sounded upset.

I couldn't spare the attention to comfort her.

The student who'd knocked into me hurried to help me up, apologizing repeatedly and offering to take me to the infirmary.

Pain left my mind blank.

My palms were scraped.

So were my knees.

Blood seeped from the wounds.

Before I could speak, gasps rose around me.

I was suddenly lifted off the ground.

Instinctively, I clutched the cup.

A familiar, cool scent brushed my nose.

Inside Cố Châu's arms, the oppressive summer heat fell away.

But the chill radiating from him was frightening.

“Isn't that Mr. Cố? He's been all over the campus crush page lately.”

People whispered around us.

The student kept apologizing.

I hurriedly assured them I was fine.

Because...

Cố Châu was genuinely angry.

Once everyone had gone, he carried me toward the infirmary.

His voice was icy.

“Is this merperson that important?”

I cautiously tugged his shirt.

“I'm sorry. I was only afraid she'd get hurt. It's just a little fall. I'll be fine in a moment. We don't need the infirmary.”

“No!”

“No!”

Two voices spoke at once.

I was still wondering when Tô Hàn had become exactly like Cố Châu when he carried me inside and laid me on a bed.

He bent and lightly kissed my forehead.

“Be good. Sleep for a while. You'll be all right.”

My eyelids grew heavier.

At last, I couldn't fight it.

My consciousness sank into darkness.

Before I was completely gone, I dimly heard Cố Châu say:

“Go home. There's only room for me at her side.”

After that day, my injuries healed extraordinarily quickly.

Someone had photographed Cố Châu carrying me and posted it on the campus crush page.

Everyone praised his sense of responsibility.

Someone else thought he looked angry.

She wasn't wrong.

He really was.

After I'd mentioned Tô Hàn a few times, he even pinned me to the sofa and “punished” me in his own way.

With his mouth.

Because he couldn't bear to hurt me.

Even angry, he merely sulked behind a cold expression.

I couldn't help laughing.

Then I kissed his cheek of my own accord.

One thing bothered me, though.

After that day, Tô Hàn disappeared.

Only the cup remained, proof that it hadn't all been a dream.

Cố Châu didn't seem particularly concerned.

He only said her people had taken her home.

The May Day holiday arrived.

I'd thought our lives would always continue like this.

Then, over the break, I noticed something wrong.

He seemed...

To have no feelings. No compassion.

His body was deadly poisonous.

Only I was immune.

Normally, he wore black gloves, partly because of his obsession with cleanliness.

Everything outside was filthy to him.

That day, we'd gone shopping.

While I was choosing things, a girl approached him and asked for his contact details.

As he turned to leave, she caught his wrist.

Her fingers touched his bare skin.

Horrified, I ran over to support her.

Cố Châu didn't even look at her.

He simply walked toward me.

“Cố Châu, save her!”

He didn't so much as frown.

“Why?”

I'd been raised to treat people kindly.

Unless something genuinely upset me, I usually let it go.

This was a human life.

I bit my lip and looked at him firmly.

“Save her.”

He glanced at me.

A blue-ringed octopus's toxin could kill.

Especially one that had taken human form.

Not a trace of emotion stirred in his eyes.

But finally, he saved her.

For me.

If I hadn't been there, I didn't dare imagine what would have happened.

For the first time, I truly understood the greatest difference between Cố Châu and an ordinary person.

He was indifferent to life.

Even his own.

I didn't know whether I could change him.

But I still thought...

Perhaps.

Perhaps he really could change.

While I was wondering how to help him, Tô Hàn reappeared after several days away.

And...

Now had short hair.

Tô Hàn wore loose, androgynous clothes.

I stared in surprise.

“What... happened?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Chiêu Chiêu, I've reached maturity!”

“Congratu...lations?”

“When I differentiated, I chose to be male.”

“I've come to ask you something.”

“Will you marry me?”

???

“No.”

Before I could answer, Cố Châu's voice sounded behind me, cold as snow and ice.

Expressionless, he stepped between us, grabbed Tô Hàn by the back of his collar, and threw him outside.

Then he contacted the merfolk.

His voice could have frozen the ocean.

“Collect your prince within an hour. Otherwise, tonight I'll make him into a nourishing soup for my girlfriend.”

I was completely bewildered.

I hadn't even processed what Tô Hàn had said.

My rival...

Had become my suitor?

Was this a joke?

Once everything was dealt with, Cố Châu's eyes turned dark and unreadable.

But when he looked at me, he hid it all.

“Be good, Chiêu Chiêu. Don't get too close to him.”