You Just Like Me Too Much

Lin Meng had no idea what Yun Huaizhu was thinking, but right now, she didn't dare speak. Yun Huaizhu simply gripped her, and with Lin Meng completely docile, led her to a deserted corner by the corridor.

Lin Meng felt the grip loosen slightly, so she hastily pulled her hand back. Perhaps Yun Huaizhu had held on too tightly—a ring of red marks had surfaced around her wrist.

Yun Huaizhu stared fixedly at the person before her, head lowered and silent. After a moment, she finally spoke, as if exasperated beyond words: "Someone slandered you just now. Why didn't you set them straight?"

Hearing this, Lin Meng snapped back to her senses. She lifted her head slightly and said in a small voice, "I... of course I defended myself. I already said we'd go to the police station and let the truth come out."

The more Yun Huaizhu heard, the angrier she became. A smile of exasperation even flickered across her face. She backed Lin Meng into the corner and blocked the way out with her arm. Yun Huaizhu's dark silhouette practically loomed over her, and Lin Meng couldn't help but feel afraid.

She remembered that night in the hotel again.

Yun Huaizhu reached out and pinched her chin, forcing her to look up and meet her eyes. "Going to the police station is such a hassle. Why didn't you just say I gave it to you? Or is there some difficulty you can't speak of?"

Lin Meng was actually terrible at hiding her emotions. The moment she met Yun Huaizhu's gaze, she could sense the rage burning inside Yun Huaizhu. As if frightened, she wrenched her chin free of Yun Huaizhu's grip and ducked aside.

"N-no... I just thought you're a celebrity, and you must have so much going on. How could a nobody like me bother you..."

Yun Huaizhu was so angry she almost laughed. "I've discovered you have a real talent for playing dumb and feigning innocence."

As she spoke, she pulled a small clear plastic bag from her pocket. Inside was the earring Lin Meng had given her at the concert that day.

The moment Lin Meng saw the "evidence," guilt crept in despite herself. "I bought that for you with a month's salary. I know you've seen plenty of fine things and don't think much of mine. Then just give it back to me. Your necklace is expensive, and I can't afford it either—I'll return it to you too." She reached for the bag in Yun Huaizhu's hand.

Yun Huaizhu lightly caught her outstretched hand. "Sure. You want to go to the police station anyway, so let's go—and have the police inspect exactly what's inside this earring."

Lin Meng's heart lurched, as if something had seized it. Her blood ran cold, her hands and feet frozen. Oh no. She's figured it out.

What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to handle this?

If she told her: You're a character in a novel, you'll be abused that day, and I was saving you—would she believe it?

Just as Lin Meng was scrambling for words, Yun Huaizhu noticed her trembling. The woman before her looked like a frightened little lamb, tears welling in her eyes, utterly pitiful.

Yun Huaizhu withdrew her hand from Lin Meng's wrist, no longer wanting to frighten her. "All right, since you're my fan, I won't pursue this. But I want to know why you put those things in the earring you gave me, and what you did to me in the hotel that night."

When Lin Meng heard the word "hotel," her eyelid twitched. She'd used Yun Huaizhu's ID precisely so she wouldn't be found—yet in the end, it had been completely useless.

Lin Meng raised her tear-brimmed eyes and hurriedly explained, "I swear, I really didn't do anything to you that night! I just saw you weren't feeling well next to me, so I took you to the hotel. Then you differentiated... so I bought suppressants for you. The whole time, I really didn't do anything!"

Whether or not Yun Huaizhu remembered ripping her pants apart, sniffing at her, biting her—Lin Meng left all of those details out.

Yun Huaizhu narrowed her eyes at the person before her. Tears streamed down the other woman's face, cheeks flushed scarlet. This person was so timid that a little scare reduced her to tears. And from what she'd learned, there was no way she had anyone backing her.

So timid, yet she'd still dared to give her an earring with a listening device—it was almost endearing.

Yun Huaizhu sighed. "I know. If you'd really done something, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you nicely."

Lin Meng stopped crying at that. Just now, the tears had been falling one drop at a time, and even the contact lenses she'd worn today had slipped out without her noticing. So the Yun Huaizhu she saw now was just a blur.

A fan who gave her a gift containing those things was definitely a sasaeng fan. But even though this fan liked her that much, she still hadn't dared to cross the line with her.

Yun Huaizhu didn't know why, but she found this person more and more pleasing to the eye.

Lin Meng felt her face grow hotter and hotter. Just then, a pair of warm hands cupped her cheeks and wiped the tears from beneath her eyes. "All right, stop crying. I'm not going to hold you responsible. I know you only did those things because you like me too much."

Lin Meng carefully raised her eyes, her wet lashes trembling slightly. "So you mean... you forgive me?"

Yun Huaizhu nodded. She continued, "I know you meant no harm."

After all, she knew this person had genuinely taken care of her that day in the hotel.

Yun Huaizhu knew that a newly differentiated omega was extremely unstable. Without an alpha's soothing or suppressant injections, her body could easily run into problems.

The information she'd received proved that the person before her was just an ordinary beta—so there was even less chance she had done anything to her.

Lin Meng felt less nervous at that. A relaxed smile appeared on her face; as long as the misunderstanding was cleared up, everything was fine.

But she didn't know what was wrong with her. The moment she relaxed, her head began to spin.

Just as Yun Huaizhu held a pose that looked thoroughly ambiguous to outsiders, a furious voice rang out in the quiet corridor at the worst possible moment: "What are you two doing?"

...