My Scheming Childhood Friend Is Always Up to No Good

Coming next: My Nemesis Is Lying to Me Again Today. Blurb at the end.

A pure-hearted top who flirts without realizing it x a cool, scheming bottom

Pei Shuyu and Ji Yan had grown up together like sisters, but Pei Shuyu felt that Ji Yan had been growing distant lately.

Whenever other people asked for her help, Ji Yan always agreed with a smile. But when Pei Shuyu offered to draw her portrait, Ji Yan merely turned her down coldly.

Unwilling to accept that, Pei Shuyu began flirting with Ji Yan here and there, doing whatever she could to get her attention and watching for her reaction.

But Ji Yan seemed completely unmoved by all her advances!

Ji Yan was an idiot.

Pei Shuyu grumbled to herself.

*

Everyone knew Ji Yan was aloof and proud, and that nothing seemed to interest her apart from her studies.

Only Ji Yan knew that the one thing she valued more than studying had always been the person who studied beside her.

When another girl happily thanked Pei Shuyu for the portrait she'd drawn and said, "Shuyu, you have lovely hands, and your paintings are lovely too," Ji Yan sat silently nearby and secretly made a note in her little notebook.

In countless midnight reveries, Ji Yan repeated her goal over and over:

Get closer to her.

Draw near to her.

Make her mine.

Ji Yan had planned to slowly lure her childhood friend into the web of love she'd carefully spun, but...

Pei Shuyu kept hopping across the line Ji Yan had drawn, taking the initiative to flirt and tease her, then lying in her arms and blinking innocently. "Ji Yan, your heart is beating so fast."

Or she'd lean closer and softly ask something ambiguous: "I think I might like you a little, Ji Yan."

Ji Yan was this close, just this close, to dropping her act.

[Bonus Scene]

In the empty art studio, Ji Yan finally couldn't hold back. She turned off the lights, pressed close behind Pei Shuyu, and opened the old books herself. "How many people have you drawn before? Do you want me to list them all?"

Pei Shuyu was terrified.

"When are you going to draw me?"

"I don't want what they got. Let's do it differently. I want..."

The last few words set Pei Shuyu's ears ablaze.

Only then did she realize that Ji Yan wasn't stupid at all.

My Nemesis Is Lying to Me Again Today

Shi Su had always hated Ji Ran.

At the sect tournament, Ji Ran knocked her off the dueling platform, making her a laughingstock and humiliating her.

On an outdoor training trip, Ji Ran claimed a high-level spirit beast Shi Su had worked hard to defeat, killing it with a single sword strike...

There were countless such incidents, and they made Shi Su grind her teeth in anger.

She and Ji Ran were bitter enemies, but the other senior and junior sisters were obsessed with them, going on about how they loved and fought each other.

Shi Su scoffed. "Love and fight? As if she's worthy."

"Even if she died in front of me, I wouldn't spare her a glance."

*

Later, Ji Ran failed her tribulation, her spiritual meridians shattered, and she became a cripple.

In the dead of night, with rain and wind sweeping through the darkness, Shi Su coldly watched the woman knocking on her door. "What? The heaven's favorite has come to me for help?"

Ji Ran's face was pale. "Shi Su, help me."

Shi Su spat, "Why should I?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ji Ran collapsed in front of her and turned into a little squirrel.

Shi Su: "..."

*

What do you do when your nemesis is also your favorite animal?

Shi Su complained as she searched for a way to fix things, but she couldn't help petting the little squirrel.

It was soft and warm, unlike Ji Ran's mouth, which was colder than 800 degrees below zero and pierced her heart.

After trying countless methods to no avail, Shi Su broke down.

She looked at the little squirrel, who couldn't take human form. "How about... you just stay like this? You're pretty cute."

Ji Ran: "Will you keep me?"

It's only a squirrel, not like she couldn't afford to raise one. Shi Su agreed. "I'll keep you for the rest of your life. I'll never leave you."

*

Then one day, by chance, Shi Su saw Ji Ran split a mountain with a single sword strike and soar through the air, showing no sign of having shattered spiritual meridians.

Only then did Shi Su learn that Ji Ran had been faking her supposed failed tribulation and loss of spiritual power.

Shi Su laughed in anger.

She must have been drugged to believe Ji Ran's lies.

Caught in the act, Ji Ran said, "You said you'd keep me for the rest of your life."

Shi Su sneered. "You've freeloaded for so long and you still expect me to keep you? Pay me back!"

Ji Ran looked at her, sighed, turned back into a little squirrel, and curled up in her arms. "What about now?"

Shi Su: "...I'll settle for a little less."

Theme: Study hard and make progress every day