The living room was unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
Yujia paced back and forth with a crumpled notepad in hand, reciting her graduation speech. "—and to my fellow students, may we all shine brighter than— Wait. That sounds like a threat."
Su snorted from the couch. "Yeah, that sounds like you're declaring war."
[Honestly, that would be more effective. Emotional violence is her strong suit.]
Yujia flinched and shot a look at Jin, who was sprawled on the beanbag in his usual "I'm not part of this mess" pose.
[This is the scene before the tampering. She hands it over, he offers to 'polish it,' and inserts just enough cringe to ruin her rep.]
[Joke's on them. Her public image was already cracked.]
Yujia: ...
"…You know," Su said cautiously, "maybe we should just write it ourselves and not let—"
"ICHIROOOO~!" Yujia called sweetly.
[Jeez. She really said 'let's get sabotaged' in HD.]
---
Later that night…
[Tampering in progress. Ichiro has added a controversial quote from an unknown author. Credibility sabotage at 91%.]
Ergouzi piped up: That quote came from a disgraced cult leader. I—how does he even find this stuff??
[Professional green tea men have libraries of passive-aggressive literature. It's an art.]
Ergouzi: That's… horrifyingly specific.
Jin just sipped his bubble tea and stared at the ceiling like he was waiting for the world to end.
[Maybe if I lie here long enough, I'll dissolve into the floorboards.]
---
The next day.
Yujia stood behind the podium in front of hundreds of guests.
She cleared her throat.
"'A good student is like a sharpened blade—cutting, precise, and willing to sever ties with inferior minds.'"
Silence.
Crickets.
Somewhere in the back, a teacher fainted.
[This girl is about to go viral for being the next villainess.]
Yujia's face turned an alarming shade of red. "W-Wait, that wasn't—!"
Later that afternoon, she stormed home, threw her heels across the room, and screamed, "I SOUND LIKE A PSYCHOPATHIC PHILOSOPHER!"
Jin, of course, didn't move from the couch.
[And now the meme pages are calling her Lady Slicey.]
---
That evening, Meiyu approached Jin in the kitchen while he was making instant noodles.
"I just… I wanted to say…" she began awkwardly.
He blinked at her.
[Here comes the guilt trip. Or the emotional monologue. Or the 'we should be a family again' garbage.]
"I wanted to say… the kettle is broken. Can I use yours?"
[Oh.]
[...So we're not even pretending to apologize.]
Meiyu hesitated.
Then quietly added, "…I'm sorry, by the way. For not listening before."
Jin didn't reply. He just handed her the kettle and turned away.
But behind his back, she whispered to herself:
"We should've protected you from the start."