The Villain Quits - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After the college entrance exams, the first thing I did was go home and sleep for an entire day. It wasn’t until I opened my eyes at dusk that I realized Xie Yu’an had sent me a message.

[The movie you like is out. Do you want to go see it tonight? I’ve booked a restaurant.]

I threw off my blanket and ran out of the room.

“Bro! Why didn’t you give me a heads-up?”

My brother walked out of his room, bleary-eyed.

“Huh? How long have I been asleep? What’s the date today?”

Forget it.

My brother was even more unreliable than I was.

I rushed to the cinema as fast as I could. Xie Yu’an gently patted my back to help me catch my breath.

“Don’t rush. There’s still a while before the movie starts.”

It’s not because of the movie; it’s because I wanted to see you.

That sentence swirled in my heart.

In the end, I didn’t say it.

Once my breathing evened out, I realized something was off.

It was the height of summer, yet Xie Yu’an was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. My sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a small bruise peeking out from his collar.

What happened?

I reached out and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Xie Yu’an’s voice trembled slightly. “Suisui…”

Ignoring him, I pulled back his collar.

Sure enough, hidden beneath the fabric was a large patch of bruising.

My heart ached for him, and I reached out to touch it.

Xie Yu’an’s eyelashes fluttered at my touch.

“Does it hurt? Did someone cause trouble for you?”

“No.”

“You’re still saying no!”

I gave Xie Yu’an a fierce glare. He pursed his lips awkwardly, hesitating for a long time before finally speaking.

“Actually… it was your brother.”

“My brother?!” I felt like I’d been struck by lightning.

“The day the exams finished, your brother kidnapped me on my way home. He was saying things I didn’t quite understand, and he punched me while he was crying.”

I didn’t hear a single word Xie Yu’an said after that.

Oh, brother.

I looked up at the sky in despair.

I really want to get down on my knees and beg you to stop digging your own grave.

But I’ve realized that even if I kneel, you just dig faster.

At this point, there was only one way out.

I stammered as I tried to cover for my brother: “That… actually, it’s because my brother found out that I-I like you, so that’s why…”

Xie Yu’an suddenly looked up, his eyes meeting mine directly.

“Really?”

I nodded, feeling like I was facing my execution.

Actually, it wasn’t a lie.

After much soul-searching, I had realized that I really had developed feelings for Xie Yu’an that I shouldn’t have.

As the villainous supporting female lead, I had ultimately strayed onto the sacrilegious path of coveting the male lead.

I’m terrible!

But in the next second, Xie Yu’an pulled me tightly into his arms, his fluffy head nuzzling against my shoulder.

“I like you too.”

“Suisui, I’ve liked you for a long, long time.”

In that instant.

It felt as if fireworks were exploding across the entire world before my eyes.

In a daze, I hugged Xie Yu’an back.

My brilliant, dazzling first love.

It began at this very moment.

After the exam results came out, the four of us spent an entire day together researching university applications.

In the end, Xie Yu’an went to Fudan University, Jiang Ning went to Tongji University, and my brother and I chose a ‘Project 211’ university near Fudan.

The schools weren’t far from each other.

When we went back to high school to pick up our documents, Ms. Yu handed me a book with a smile. Only then did I remember that the novel I’d picked up back then was still with her.

When I opened it again, the content of the book had completely changed.

The melodramatic plots from before had vanished.

In their place was the story we had actually lived, a story called ‘Youth.’

Perhaps fate never truly binds anyone.

A real future can only be written by ourselves.

I turned to the final page.

This long story had reached its end.

And the conclusion was just one sentence-

For the rest of our lives.

May the warmth of three meals a day be yours, and may Suisui be safe and sound forever.

(The End)