"Yes, I'm okay." I half-smiled.
There was silence and a pause before—click—muqin flicked back on the stove. Oil began to sizzle again as she tossed the bok choy into a pan. "…Please, sit. We're almost done making dinner."
…I guess we're pretending our conversation never happened.
"Please, it's fine. I can't ask more of you—" Yue tried.
"No, no," Muqin replied. "Your clothes are still wet, and it's getting dark. You're staying the night. Phone your parents."
Yue glanced at me, and I nodded that it was all right. I really don't know why she was glancing at me for approval, though…
"Okay." Yue pulled her phone from her pocket and shuffled to the corner of the room.
Soon we were finished making dinner and brought the plates to the table. We ate over some light conversation that I didn't really pay attention to—mostly just muqin asking Yue about herself—before we cleaned up.
Yue helped with the dishes under the warm living room light.
I helped Yue put her uniform in the clunky old dryer before heading up to my room for the night. Fuqin's room was empty, so muqin gave it to Yue for the night, grabbing a few fresh sheets from a cabinet.
However, I soon heard knocking from my room door.
"Yunhua, it's Yue. Can I come in?"
…
"Sure."
I'd changed into a warm and soft long-sleeved sweater and short shorts. I sat at my desk in fuqin's old office chair, flipping through the math homework for the day in the small, feeble light of my desk lamp. The light barely reached the corners of my room, leaving the walls dim and close.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. I'd left my window blinds open, and the cold, tired rain dripped steadily down, trailing down the glass.
The door clicked open then closed behind me. I heard Yue's footsteps as she padded up to the desk. "…I wanted to talk."
"Mmmn." I clicked my mechanical pencil a couple of times before starting a new question.
I heard Yue sigh. My bed creaked lightly as she sat down, barely a meter or so away from me. "I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable."
Skritch, skritch.
How long had it been since someone'd come into my room?
…Since Guiying, I think. A bit of cold seeped into my chest but I continued working through the math problem anyways. Half if it didn't make any sense at all. How did I do this bit again?
"…It's okay. It's the least I can do."
Yue sighed. "I knew you'd say that. And that's a problem."
"Mmn." Clack. I set down my mechanical pencil and rubbed furiously away at my answer with an eraser before starting again.
Yue hesitated for a bit before speaking. "…Why don't you stand up for yourself? You seem like a good person. I don't know what happened in the past with Guiying, but surely—"
My chair squeaked as I gave up on the question and snapped my workbook shut. I wheeled around to face Yue, but I couldn't quite bring myself to look up at her face.
"...I appreciate everything you've done for me so far, but please, stay out of it. I barely know you, and I don't want you to be caught up in this just because I'm being targeted for what I did," I replied.
Yue's brow furrowed and the bed creaked as she stepped forward, kneeling on the cold floorboards in front of me.
"..." Yue's lips moved but no words came out.
She was a bit too close so I scooted back slightly. "Sorry?"
"Please," Yue repeated. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Please, please, please." Yue repeated, louder this time. Her cherry-red eyes twisted with worry and her pupils flared into canine-like slits.
Words began tumbling from Yue like water out of a broken urn. "You can't keep hurting yourself like this. It's not okay. Stand up for yourself. Lisha hurt you earlier today—why won't you say so? Why do you want to keep going through this? I know that you're new, but—"
I froze.
"No." I interrupted. I couldn't bear to hear more.
Yue blinked. " Why—"
Why?
Why???
I saw red as hot anger flashed across my vision.
"Why the fuck do you care? I literally met you two days ago. What do you understand?" I hissed, turning away from Yue.
The rain continued to pound down on the ceiling and I watched it trickle off of my window pane.
Hearing my words, Yue froze. Eventually she straightened slowly, then dropped back onto my mattress with a dull *plomp*. Her lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile nor a snarl. Her sharp canines seemed to gleam in the dim light.
There was silence for a brief moment.
"Okay," Yue said at last.
She leaned back on her hands, folding one leg over the other. The borrowed shirt hung loose on her frame.
Things wound themselves around Yue—tails…?—no, of course there weren't tails, what was I saying…
I rubbed at my eyes, my breath fogging faintly in the warm room that somehow felt cold. My window rattled softly in its frame, rain streaking down the glass in crooked lines, refracting the streetlight into pale yellow blobs.
I was getting tired… Guess I'm hallucinating now.
"Fine," Yue said, calmer now. She tilted her head, studying me like I was a locked door. "If you don't want help," she continued, "then I won't force it."
"But," she added.
I flinched.
Yue's eyes flicked to the window, then back to me. Her smile widened—just a little.
"Let's make a deal."