The two parted ways after a bitter exchange of words, their expressions grim.
Jiang Youbai, holding his schoolbag in one hand, was seething with anger. He took out his communicator to contact his girlfriend, who had seemingly fled due to the guilt of two-timing.
For Lu Yang, finding Jiang Yan was much easier.
The Lu and Jiang families had deep ties, and Lu Yang had essentially grown up under the care of Jiang's Father and Jiang's Mother. Their homes weren't far apart, so Lu Yang went straight there.
...
On her way home, Jiang Yan had already figured it out - this was another trick played by the System. Because every time, they ended up together, regardless of whether she was the main character or a supporting one.
Splitting them into two was clearly the System's deliberate ploy to mess with her.
As Jiang Yan was pondering this while eating a small cupcake, she suddenly heard the faint voices of Jiang's Mama and Lu Yang talking downstairs.
Startled, Jiang Yan jumped up and quickly hid in her room.
Lu Yang politely declined Jiang's Mama's offer of tea and ran upstairs to knock on the door. "Jiang Yan?"
The door didn't budge, but Lu Yang could hear movement inside, confirming someone was there.
In the bedroom, Jiang Yan frustratedly picked up the book she had accidentally knocked over.
Lu Yang knocked again, calling out, "Jiang Yan? Open the door, let's talk. I know you're in there."
"I'm not here," Jiang Yan replied.
Lu Yang found this amusing but had no choice. He said, "Well, if you can hear me, we can talk like this too."
The door suddenly swung open, and Jiang Yan reluctantly let him in. After all, Jiang's Mama was still downstairs - how could they discuss relationship issues in front of her?
Lu Yang entered but didn't venture further into the girl's bedroom, respectfully standing just inside the doorway.
"What do you want to talk about?" Jiang Yan demanded gruffly, appearing quite unfriendly.
Lu Yang paused, then pulled a clean handkerchief from his shirt pocket and offered it to Jiang Yan, gesturing for her to wipe off some cream.
The white handkerchief carried a cool scent of cedar, seemingly Lu Yang's pheromone fragrance. Jiang Yan quickly wiped her mouth, feeling her tough facade crumble because of that bit of cream.
In reality, though, it hadn't.
Lu Yang's attitude was gentle. The usually cold and quiet boy carefully asked, "Do you accept my apology?"
What apology? Jiang Yan was confused for a moment, wracking her brain to recall his earlier words about not having time to accompany her or something...
Jiang Yan nodded absently, not wanting to dwell on this matter.
Lu Yang, however, seemed to find hope in this. His typically flat tone brightened a bit, and his elegant phoenix eyes gazed eagerly at Jiang Yan as he asked, "Can we not cancel the engagement?"
His voice lilted up at the end, almost like he was pleading. Jiang Yan was surprised to hear the usually cold Lu Yang speak this way, but then remembered who he was and thought it made sense.
But she was still Jiang Youbai's girlfriend, so Jiang Yan reluctantly shook her head.
"Why? Is he better to you? I can be too, Yan Yan. Please don't give up on me..." Lu Yang implored softly.
The proud and aloof Lu family heir, the gifted prodigy who had exceptionally entered the mecha reserve force, now set aside all his pride to beg his fickle little fiancée to take her heart back from another man.
He hadn't even done anything yet, and she had already broken off their engagement... Knowing who he was now, Jiang Yan thought back and forth and felt that Lu Yang was quite pitiful.
But, but there was still Jiang Youbai, right.
In the end, Jiang Yan didn't agree to Lu Yang's request to reconcile, but Lu Yang looked so heartbroken that Jiang Yan confusedly agreed to his other request.
"I'll come back to find you after my competition is over. Then you can choose who you want. But, before I return, don't get together with him, okay?" Lu Yang said.
...
Lu Yang was truly in a hurry; he hadn't even had time to remove the headband he wore for training before coming. But fortunately, things weren't too bad.
To be honest, he had imagined the situation to be much worse. But unexpectedly, Jiang Yan's attitude wasn't cold and hard. Any hint of softening meant there was room for reconciliation.
However, this ambiguous attitude - was it lingering affection or simply fickle-heartedness?
Whichever reason it was, he liked it. Having a weakness meant a better chance of victory, didn't it?
As the car window slowly rose, the wind eagerly rushed in from outside, sweeping past the slight smile that curled Lu Yang's lips. Yan Yan, ah, I won't let anyone take you away from me.
...
Jiang Yan was an honest and trustworthy girl who kept her promises. But Jiang Youbai might not be able to accept this.
So Jiang Yan had no choice but to deliberately avoid him.
When his clingy little girlfriend stopped showing up, Jiang Youbai wasn't blind - he quickly figured it out. He could easily guess that it had something to do with Lu Yang, or rather, that she might have been won over by Lu Yang.
Jiang Youbai couldn't help but grind his teeth. They were already a couple, how could she seal off her heart like this?
What kind of relationship was this? Even Plato would be disappointed! The great President Jiang couldn't bear this injustice.
He felt this was because his boyfriend status was too low-key. So, with his narrow, alluring fox-like eyes darkening, he thought about catching her and pinning her against the wall to assert his presence.
