Chapter 39
Friday noon, at the entrance of Yuanyue Academy’s Student Council Office.
The slightly ajar door felt like a distinct boundary, dividing the inside and outside of the student council office into two incompatible worlds.
Standing just beyond the threshold, Ye Shiyu tilted her head slightly in confusion after hearing Yinggong Tong’s voice from within. The blank expression on her face slowly shifted into a visible chill.
She looked at the smiling Yinggong Tong before her and asked,
"Xiaohuan is my younger brother. I came to see him—why do I need you to pass the message?"
She spoke quickly and with uncharacteristic intensity. Anyone familiar with Ye Shiyu would sense the storm brewing beneath her calm exterior.
But Yinggong Tong appeared completely oblivious. She merely covered her mouth with a graceful smile and replied,
"Because this is the student council office. Would you kindly double-check the sign at the entrance?"
Since the door wasn’t open wide, Ye Shiyu only had to take a step back to see the plaque hanging on it:
"Student Council Executive Office"
"Unauthorized Personnel Prohibited"
Ye Shiyu opened her mouth to speak, but Yinggong Tong continued with a composed smile,
"This area is reserved for executive student council activity. There are important documents inside, so outsiders aren't permitted without authorization. I'm not trying to make things difficult for you, Upperclassman."
In reality, rules were rigid—people were not.
Others had entered the office before to discuss matters. For instance, Spencer had been allowed in to discuss joining the study group.
So clearly, Yinggong Tong was now deliberately making things difficult.
And Ye Shiyu wasn’t naïve. She wasn’t some dense girl who couldn’t pick up on tension. She immediately sensed the hidden hostility behind Yinggong Tong’s words.
With one hand holding a bag, her other gripped her phone, which lit up at some unknown moment, radiating a chilling sense of disgust.
"I'm Xiaohuan’s older sister. I have something personal to discuss with him. It doesn’t involve the student council, so please let me in."
Yinggong Tong didn’t answer directly. Instead, she said,
"It seems the President didn’t sleep well yesterday. He just finally fell asleep. If you don’t want me to pass the message, are you suggesting we wake him now?"
Ye Shiyu blinked and looked toward Yan Huan, who was lying on the sofa.
Due to the narrow opening in the door, she could only make out a partial view of his brows and closed eyes.
His sleeping face looked peaceful, but the dark circles under his eyes were impossible to miss—he looked utterly exhausted.
'Was it because of his part-time job?'
"...No need. I’ll wait for Xiaohuan inside until he wakes up."
Yinggong Tong smiled again, her tone now more formal.
"I’m terribly sorry, Upperclassman, but as I mentioned earlier: outsiders aren’t allowed into the student council office without permission. If you’d like, you can tell me what you need, and I’ll pass it on when he wakes."
Great. The logic had come full circle.
To enter, she needed Xiaohuan’s permission.
But she didn’t want to disturb him—he looked so worn out.
And if she didn’t wake him, this irritating Vice President wouldn’t let her in.
Communication.
So troublesome.
Hypnosis would be much easier.
Thinking this, Ye Shiyu no longer looked at Yinggong Tong like she was a person.
"If... I insist on going in, what would you do?"
The purple vortex glowing faintly on her phone between her fingers resembled a gaping maw—ready to consume everything she despised.
Ye Shiyu remained unaware, but inside the slightly opened door of the student council office, it felt like purgatory.
She was simply outside and couldn’t sense the danger lurking within the barrier.
In truth, Yinggong Tong's refusal may not have stemmed entirely from hostility—it could have been a battle between reason and temptation.
Perhaps, if she allowed Ye Shiyu to step inside that barrier, even she wouldn’t be able to resist its pull.
"Oh right, Upperclassman Ye, the President mentioned on Monday that you’re his older sister."
Looking at Ye Shiyu, Yinggong Tong’s eyes flickered as she suddenly asked,
"Speaking personally, may I ask—what exactly does 'siblings' mean?"
"What does that have to do with you?"
Ye Shiyu’s irritation grew, especially when she noticed from the corner of her eye that Yan Huan was covered by a blanket clearly too small for him.
The blanket was adorned with pink cherry blossoms—obviously something meant for a girl.
For some reason, Ye Shiyu instinctively knew the blanket belonged to the Vice President standing before her.
Yinggong Tong lightly chuckled behind her hand, replying with her usual elegance,
"It’s okay if you don’t answer. I was just curious."
However, her eyes subtly scanned Ye Shiyu’s clothing.
"Every item you’re wearing costs over five figures. You suddenly transferred here this semester, and the school is establishing a scholarship under 'Ye International.'"
"With such a wealthy background, I was just wondering—if the President is really your younger brother, then why is he so strapped for money, working himself to exhaustion like this?"
By the end, Yinggong Tong’s expression had gone blank. It was unclear whether she spoke from curiosity or accusation.
But Ye Shiyu, tightly clutching her phone, felt her pupils shrink. The sharpness of the question pierced her heart like a blade.
What was the reason?
Didn’t she already know?
Their mother had planned to adopt Xiaohuan, but she had secretly sabotaged it, always wishing he would leave.
Xiaohuan had sensed her malice. Without saying anything to their mother, he left of his own accord.
Now that she no longer harbored ill-will and could persuade him to return, why hadn’t she done so?
Because deep down, she knew—if Xiaohuan returned home, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from defiling him.
Even now, though they were at school—he in the lower division, she in the senior—
Every time they met, filthy thoughts would crawl up from the depths of Ye Shiyu’s mind.
If she could live with Xiaohuan day and night, she couldn’t predict what vile things her wretched self might do.
Sending him to the southern district had been her decision. Not letting him return was also her doing. All of it—her filthy thoughts, her restraint, her guilt—were her burden.
Such a despicable self.
Ye Shiyu had always known how disgraceful she was, and now that it had been laid bare in a single sentence, she had no way to respond.
"."
Her beautiful eyes lifted, meeting Yinggong Tong’s gaze as the girl waited for her answer.
Her lips parted, but the words she wanted to say shrank back in shame, refusing to leave her throat.
In her mind, a line she’d once seen online surfaced unbidden—
[Hypnosis—perhaps it was born to satisfy my filthy desires?]
The guilt that Yinggong Tong’s words had stirred in her heart was now overwhelmed by something darker—a terrifying desire.
That’s right—she had the Hypnosis App.
With it, she didn't need to explain herself. She didn’t have to face her shame or depravity ever again!
With that thought, Ye Shiyu’s grip on her phone tightened. A dark aura began to radiate from her.
"Your name is Yinggong Tong, right?"
Yinggong Tong narrowed her eyes, clearly noticing how tightly Ye Shiyu gripped her phone.
'Why is she holding her phone like that?'
Subconsciously, Yinggong Tong realized the girl before her had suddenly become dangerous.
It reminded her of the time she faced Spencer—only this time, the feeling of revulsion was even stronger.
Her pale hand tightened on the doorknob, ready to slam the door shut and seal herself within the protective barrier.
"That’s right, Upperclassman Ye Shiyu."
But outwardly, her expression remained unchanged, and she maintained her elegant smile.
Ye Shiyu’s cold gaze lifted, as if she were about to trigger “Out of Nowhere” and unleash the Hypnosis App on Yinggong Tong.
But at that critical moment, inside the room, Meow-chan—who had been watching warily—suddenly bristled and let out a low growl.
*Meow!*
Yan Huan, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes wide. One hand gently calmed the bristling Meow-chan in his arms, and he sat up from the sofa with a blank expression.
Like a man jolted awake from near-death, a chill wind seemed to blow through the cold window.
Beneath his long lashes, his indifferent gaze drifted toward the entrance.
Since Yinggong Tong had only opened the door slightly, he too could barely make out the figure standing outside.
It was Ye Shiyu.
But even without Meow-chan’s warning, he had already sensed it—Ye Shiyu was about to use the modifier.
And she was going to use it on Yinggong Tong—someone completely uninvolved and innocent.
In that instant, Yan Huan made his decision.
He raised a hand and rubbed the bangs over his face, as though wiping sleep from his eyes.
As he tousled his hair, his expression shifted into a naturally drowsy haze.
Then, groggily, he murmured,
"Shiyu-sis?"
Though the voice was soft, it swept across the battlefield like a raging storm.
Yinggong Tong, who had been covering her mouth and waiting for the other to act, paused slightly and turned her head.
The dark aura of overwhelming desire that had surrounded Ye Shiyu was instantly purified, and the phone in her hand suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds—impossible to lift.
Both women looked toward the room and saw Yan Huan, still half-asleep, his expression slightly dazed.
'Just-awakened President... Xiaohuan.'
'So cute!'
The same thought popped simultaneously in both Yinggong Tong and Ye Shiyu’s minds.
'Did he wake up because of our conversation?'
'This fake older sister—this annoying Vice President—is totally to blame.'
'If she hadn't interrupted, we could’ve had some nice alone time!'
And so, the two people at the entrance grew even more secretly annoyed with each other.
Yinggong Tong gave a faint smile that contrasted with the expressionless Ye Shiyu behind her—yet they shared the exact same thought.
Meow-chan jumped down from Yan Huan and reminded him,
"Just now, Ye Shiyu was about to use the modifier, meow!"
"I know."
Yan Huan sighed silently as he sat up, the blanket still draped over him.
He looked at Yinggong Tong and said,
"Yinggong, can you let Shiyu-sis in? She probably has something she wants to talk to me about."
Ye Shiyu glanced at Yinggong Tong as if to say, 'See? Xiaohuan would let me in.'
But Yinggong Tong remained unfazed and played her trump card: "Refusing her entry was purely according to the rules."
"Since the President has given permission, then of course it's fine." With that, she stepped aside and opened the door, revealing the path inside.
Ye Shiyu entered, holding a paper bag. Looking at the still-drowsy Yan Huan, her expression carried a hint of guilt.
"Sorry for waking you."
Yan Huan gave a small smile and replied casually,
"It's fine. I was just planning to take a nap anyway. Shiyu-sis, are you here to return the school uniform?"
His gaze drifted to the paper bag in Ye Shiyu’s hand, as if he already knew the purpose of her visit.
Though he didn’t quite understand why she waited until Friday—nearly the end of the week—to return it.
'School uniform?'
Yinggong Tong, who had quietly returned to the office, showed a thoughtful expression.
'Did the President stay at her place last week and forget to bring back his clothes?'
'But the real question is—what exactly is the relationship between Yan Huan and Ye Shiyu?'
'So-called siblings?'
'They clearly aren’t biological, so that label becomes... interesting.'
"Mm, Aunt Chen already washed it."
Ye Shiyu nodded and took the initiative to sit on the same sofa as Yan Huan, making Yinggong Tong slightly furrow her brows.
"Ah, thanks, Shiyu-sis. But for something like this, you could’ve just messaged me on Plane and left it in the classroom. No need to go out of your way."
(*) Plane is likely a fictional messaging app in this context.
Mainly because she had nearly used the modifier on Yinggong just now when he wasn't paying attention.
All because Yinggong hadn’t let her in due to the rules?
Ye Shiyu didn’t respond. Instead, she stared at the blanket on Yan Huan’s lap—the one that belonged to Yinggong Tong.
Then, she gently pushed the blanket aside and placed the paper bag on Yan Huan’s lap.
"I brought you some new clothes. After you left, Mama picked a few more online, so I brought them along."
Yan Huan blinked, while the smile on Yinggong Tong’s face—seated across from them—grew a bit strained.
'Casually pushing aside my blanket, huh?'
'Fine, fine, fine.'
After Ye Shiyu said that, the room fell silent again.
Because it really was just a small matter, yet after doing it, Ye Shiyu made no move to leave.
And Yinggong Tong continued to play the perfect Vice President, quietly observing their interaction.
Yan Huan, who had accepted the bag, sighed inwardly and was just about to speak when Ye Shiyu suddenly summoned her courage.
"Xiaohuan, is your part-time job very tiring?"
Yinggong Tong’s gaze shifted toward Ye Shiyu’s profile.
Yan Huan didn’t answer immediately; instead, he glanced at Meow-chan sitting beside him.
"Vice President Yinggong seems really curious about your sibling relationship with Ye Shiyu, meow."
Meow-chan spoke inside his mind.
"She asked, since Ye Shiyu’s family is so wealthy, why would her younger brother still need to work a part-time job?"
'So that’s what it was.'
'You really helped me out, Meow-chan.'
Yan Huan was a bit surprised that Vice President Yinggong had suddenly asked something so personal.
Looking at Ye Shiyu, he could see a trace of guilt on her face.
She probably realized that Yan Huan leaving Ye Lan’s home was entirely because of her.
Strangely enough, guilt triggered by Yan Huan could suppress Ye Shiyu’s desire to use the modifier.
Yet when Yinggong Tong unintentionally touched on that point, it provoked her instead.
'Is this thing limited to Yan Huan’s influence?'
"It’s fine. Linmen’s part-time job law only allows a maximum of 28 hours per week, so it’s fairly humane. Not too tiring, and the boss treats me well."
Yan Huan pointed to his own eyes and added,
"It’s just that I stayed up too late last night working on my own stuff, so I didn’t sleep well."
"I see."
Ye Shiyu opened her mouth, but the words—'Do you want to come back and stay?'—just wouldn’t come out.
Emotionally speaking, she really should say it.
He had even said it himself—he longed for the warmth of family.
Desire was waving its flags, urging her to bring this adorable little brother home.
So that at night, they could do this and that.
Reason acted like reins, trying to hold back two wild horses, carefully weighing the consequences.
"I..."
*Ding ding ding~*
Just as Ye Shiyu struggled with her thoughts, her phone suddenly rang.
She took it out, and Yan Huan saw the contact name "Driver" on the screen.
She answered, nodded twice, said "Mm," and hung up.
'Was that the family driver coming to pick her up?'
"..."
"Shiyu-sis, are you heading back?"
Ye Shiyu nodded, simply looking at Yan Huan.
"Then I’ll walk you out. I still have to wait here for the school bus anyway."
"Mama said she wants to take us out for dinner tonight."
"Huh?"
Wait, wasn’t that call just now from the driver?
It seemed like, maybe, possibly, Yan Huan hadn’t heard the driver mention anything about Ye Lan.
Yan Huan blinked, and over on the sofa, Yinggong Tong’s hand paused slightly as she raised her coffee, glancing in their direction.
That look—as if she had already seen through the lie—made Ye Shiyu uneasy. Her gaze shifted, and her lips pouted slightly.
Yet she still insisted stubbornly,
"Mama said it."
Yan Huan was amused by her stubborn expression, but from the corner of his eye, he noticed her phone screen mysteriously lighting up again.
"..."
'Oh well, it’s just dinner. If it really doesn’t work out, I can just ask Sis Tong for leave.'
"Alright, if Aunt Ye is inviting, I’ll definitely go."
"Mm."
Ye Shiyu nodded and stood up, glancing at Yinggong Tong, who still held her coffee but hadn’t taken a single sip.
She said nothing and simply turned to walk out of the student council office.
For some reason, Ye Shiyu felt that staying in that office was suffocating—like she couldn’t breathe.
"Let’s go, Xiaohuan. The car will be here soon."
As soon as she stepped out of the office, that strange feeling vanished completely.
Yan Huan gave a helpless glance at Yinggong Tong, then turned to carefully fold the blanket she had lent him. He stood up, ready to return it.
"Let me do it, President."
"It's fine. I'm heading out anyway. I'll be gone for the afternoon. If anything comes up, just contact me on the plane."
"Got it, President."
Yinggong Tong responded, though her gaze flickered thoughtfully between Yan Huan and Ye Shiyu standing outside the door.
She couldn't shake the feeling that President Yan's attitude toward Ye Shiyu was... off.
It didn’t feel like he liked her.
Nor did it feel like the affection between real siblings.
'So strange,' she thought.
Yan Huan finished packing his backpack and picked up the shopping bag Ye Shiyu had just given him. As he stepped toward the door, he suddenly stopped.
"Oh right, Yinggong."
"Huh?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Yinggong quickly looked up at him.
"President?"
He gave a warm, sincere smile and said,
"Thank you for the blanket and the coffee. I had a great nap this noon, and then—"
"See you this weekend."
Last night, Yinggong Tong had mentioned she would be attending the Linmen game expo this weekend.
"Ah, okay, President."
*Ka-chak.*
The door closed behind him as Yan Huan left the office.
Yinggong Tong stood frozen in place, eyes wide.
"."
A few seconds passed in total silence.
Though she didn’t move an inch, a soft cherry-red blush slowly spread across her pale cheeks, painting them completely.
"."
She raised a hand to her face, feeling the lingering warmth that tingled against her skin.
Then, unable to hold it in any longer, she buried her face in her hands, leaving only her pink earlobes exposed.
[End of this chapter]