Ch. 92 - Found Her at the Bakery

“Morning, Senior!”

As soon as I stepped into the shop, I hurried to clock in and change. I thought I’d come early today, but clearly Senior Ying had beaten me to it.

“Morning, Yuehan. You look happy. Passed your theory test yesterday?” she asked with a smile.

“That kind of test is nothing for me! But I’m still no match for Tan Han. I finally understand how terrifying a real genius is.” I sighed dramatically.

“I told you not to compare yourself to people like her. You’re just asking for misery.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s not talk about it.” I finished changing and came out. “I got a new roommate yesterday. I’ve been at the academy for days already—if no one showed up soon, I was going to die of boredom.”

“Already? The competition for ‘snatching’ first-years is getting fiercer every year.”

“Huh? Why are you so sure she was snatched here? Can’t she just be someone who wanted to move in early?” I rested my chin on my hand.

“Normally, students who voluntarily come early arrive right around when the offer letters go out. If someone’s only now being assigned housing, yeah, that’s a snatched one.” Shiqian smirked—then suddenly paused as if something clicked. “Wait… your new roommate isn’t another guy, is he?”

“…Huh? You guessed right!”

“For real? I was just guessing. We get very few boys each year—boys like you are even rarer.” She looked genuinely surprised. Seems like the academy has even fewer male students than I thought.

If the new roommate had been a girl, honestly, I’d probably be way more stressed.

Just when I thought today would be another normal day, I spotted someone sneaking around outside the bakery window.

The moment that her head peeked in, I recognized her immediately.

“Dongli Yiren… wait—what are you doing here?”

I slipped out the side path and came straight to the door. I didn’t expect her to follow me out of the villa. And even if she did, why was she walking around holding a giant wand like that? Didn’t she feel awkward?

“I… I was just looking around. Seeing if there’s anything to eat,” Her eyes darted away at first, but since I’d already caught her, she had no choice but to answer. It was morning, after all—hunting for food made perfect sense.

“Oh, I see. Well, come in then. We have free cookies. You get them whether you buy something or not.” I didn’t question her further. If she hadn’t followed me, walking here from the villa would’ve taken way longer than this.

And since she clearly hadn’t eaten yet, dragging her inside was the only humane thing to do. The bakery welcomes all customers—even the ones who only come for freebies.

Besides, those cookies are the ones about to expire anyway. Better to give them away than let the trash can enjoy them. And a bunch of them were made by me, too. Let’s see if Dongli Yiren has the blessing to taste them.

“R-Really?”

The moment she heard the keyword free, her eyes lit up even though she tried so hard to look calm.

“Of course.” I smiled, giving her the "trust me, I don’t lie" look.

“Yuehan? Someone you know?” Senior Ying’s voice came from behind. I normally don’t go to the door to greet hesitant customers—only the seniors do that when they’re free. When I was job-hunting here, that was exactly how they treated me.

“Yeah, she’s my roommate,” I answered as I turned back. I had just mentioned her to Senior Ying this morning, and she ended up showing up herself. Then I looked again at the awkwardly stiff Dongli Yiren and said, “It’s fine. Come in. Just think of it as… hanging out.”

“H-Hanging out? N-No, I’m not hanging out!”

“…Huh?”

She reacted like I’d jabbed her right in some hidden weak spot again. If I hadn’t grabbed her arm quickly, she probably would’ve spun around and bolted out of pure panic.

“What now? What happened?” I asked.

“I… I’m sorry. I overreacted,” Dongli Yiren mumbled. Once I’d stopped her, she realized what she was doing and apologized, slowly calming down.

“Don’t be so jumpy. You look like you haven’t eaten. Just take it as me treating you—well, only stuff from the shop though,” I tried to comfort her.

“Hello there, you must be Yuehan’s new roommate?” Senior Ying walked over with a kind smile. “Yuehan just mentioned you this morning. Nice to meet you. I’m Ying Shiqian. If you ever need anything, feel free to come to our bakery.”

“I… I’m D-Dong… Dongli Yiren…” she replied, stammering a little. She clearly still had her guard up around Senior Ying.

“Dongli Yiren, Senior Shiqian is really nice. If you’re bored these days, feel free to stop by,” I whispered beside her—but not so quietly that Senior Ying couldn’t hear.

“I… um, okay.”

In the end, thanks to Senior Ying’s warm reception, Dongli Yiren stepped inside.

Honestly… senior girls really do get bored and chase new things fast. Though well—playing around with a shy, prickly, gender-bent boy is admittedly entertaining. Less entertaining is… someone like me, who just accepts everything too easily.

“Yuehan, things are oddly slow this morning. Want to give me a hand?” Senior Tang Yihan came out from the back—only to see someone slacking off, chatting, and teasing a customer. She immediately narrowed her eyes. “Ying Shiqian. What are you doing?”

“Relax, relax. She’s Yuehan’s new roommate. I’m just chatting with her,” Ying Shiqian replied.

“Yuehan’s new roommate?” Tang Yihan raised a brow and glanced at me.

“Yep, that’s right,” I nodded quickly.

“I see. Hello, I’m Tang Yihan. Mind if we get acquainted?” After understanding the situation, Tang Yihan’s tone softened. She pulled off her gloves and walked toward Dongli Yiren.

“D-Dongli Yiren…” She hesitated for a moment, but eventually said her name.

“Dongli Yiren… That’s a lovely name,” Tang Yihan said with a small smile. “But I’m going to borrow your roommate for a bit. I’ll leave you with this senior here. Don’t worry—if she tries anything weird, just yell for me. I’ll come and straighten her out.”

Tang Yihan didn’t push for more conversation. She could already read the situation.

Dongli Yiren was obviously a boy—one who was tense enough to snap in half. In this state, only someone like Ying Shiqian would keep poking him just for fun. If Tang Yihan joined in, too, it would only overwhelm him more. Better to drag me to the back and let them talk on their own.

She only hoped Ying Shiqian wouldn't go too far. To be fair, she usually had some sense of restraint… usually.

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