She Said She Has Someone She Likes

[Complete, 4.73 rating. Thank you for supporting the official release | Bonus chapters at 90 subscribers]

[New story now running: My Teammate the AI Is Acting Again. A sweet-faced, black-hearted psychic saintess vs. a stone-faced, ghost-subduing divine stone. Blurb at the bottom.]

Variety show producer × has-been actress

Before: reserved and sensitive × bright and carefree

After: cheerful and composed × worldly and savvy

"After years apart, she said she liked someone."

·

In high school, Lu Shuyu had a crush on Xia Leshuang.

Raised by a single parent, she was quiet and introverted, pale and frail. Xia Leshuang, on the other hand, was a celebrity kid who had been acting since childhood. She was pretty, bright, and popular.

They were in the same class, but didn't become close until an unexpected incident in their second year. Lu Shuyu's crush was painfully tentative, yet Xia Leshuang saw right through her.

"Xiao Shuyu, do you like me?"

Lu Shuyu hesitated and didn't answer. After that, she never got the chance to say it.

Xia Leshuang left without a word, and a year later became the youngest Best Actress in Huaguo.

·

Three years after graduating from university, Lu Shuyu had finally worked her way up to assistant producer on a competitive reality show, while Xia Leshuang had become a has-been actress.

Then they met again at a dinner hosted by the investors of a new variety show.

Xia Leshuang was no longer the proud, dazzling darling she had once been. Unable to watch her struggle, Lu Shuyu stood up and took the drinks for her.

"Thanks, Producer Lu." Xia Leshuang smiled and declined. "I can hold my liquor pretty well."

She downed the drink in one gulp, with the practiced ease of a seasoned drinker.

Later, on the set of the new variety show, Xia Leshuang arm-wrestled her. The other guests tried to get Lu Shuyu to go easy on them, calling out, "Does Producer Lu have a partner? We can set you up with someone. Let us off the hook!"

She looked at Xia Leshuang's anxious eyes and smiled. Then she said without mercy, "Sorry. There's someone I like."

The eight-year Muay Thai enthusiast Xia Leshuang lost the match.

·

After fighting her way to success in the competitive-reality-show world and securing a bright future, they got caught in a sudden downpour.

At last, Xia Leshuang dared to ask the question she'd kept inside for so long.

"Shuyu, is the person you like better than me?"

Lu Shuyu kissed her, her love as tender as the rain.

"It has always been you."

·

[Next story: My Teammate the AI Is Acting Again]

Sweet-faced, black-hearted psychic saintess vs. stone-faced, ghost-subduing divine stone

·

Wu Shengzhi lost both parents young and grew up dependent on others. Born with the power to communicate with spirits, she put on a sweet, innocent mask after a sudden accident and refused to let anyone get close to her.

After her college entrance exams, she got a job at a hugely popular horror escape room.

Faced with the smiling staff, her mask shattered bit by bit.

There were ghosts in the escape room! So many ghosts!

Then the underworld bailiffs, the Ten Yama Kings, the Judge of the Dead, and even the ruler of the underworld appeared before her in the flesh. It turned out this place was a boundary between the living and the dead, established by the underworld...

Wu Shengzhi smiled stiffly. She wanted to run, but they were paying her far too much...

·

After catching ghosts again and again, she discovered that her teammate, Shi Baiyue, who wore a fake smile and acted like a robot, was actually a ghost-subduing divine stone who could share all five senses with her!

The divine stone was incredibly powerful. The evil spirits she caught after exhausting herself became docile as fake ghosts as soon as the stone subdued them. One punch from it almost made them vanish from existence...

The divine stone was incredibly strong. Whenever she ran out of strength, it could pass its power to her. It was basically a portable power bank!

Once she got used to Shi Baiyue's robotic fake smile, Wu Shengzhi discovered that the divine stone was very gentle. She would prepare hair clips for Wu Shengzhi's short hair, secretly practice smiling so she wouldn't scare her, and hold her in her arms through the night whenever she was sad...

Shi Baiyue: So, did the saintess think of me today?

Wu Shengzhi: ??

Shi Baiyue: All right, no. I'll ask again tomorrow.

·

After catching ghosts for a while, she uncovered an astonishing secret:

They planned to resurrect the Lord of All Evil, who had fallen ten thousand years ago!

Wu Shengzhi's determination to save the world blazed to life. Naturally, she had to destroy it!

But the evil spirits enthroned Shi Baiyue as a god, seeking to awaken her divine powers so she could rule the world...

Wu Shengzhi: ...??

Shi Baiyue: ...I didn't. I haven't. They're making things up.

The ten thousand ghosts were wiped out.

·

The completed story Twilight Does Not Stain the Roses is a healing slice-of-life tale set in a small city.

Theme: Freedom and love.