Chapter Text
“So when will you tell her your true identity?”
Liu Mingyan turns to shoot Luo Binghe a look, to which he responds by throwing his head back with a laugh. Despite her reaction, she can’t deny that he wasn’t entirely wrong for reminding her about the little slip-up she had gotten herself into recently.
To put things simply, Liu Mingyan has an admirer. A girl from her class who sits next to her by the name of Ning Yingying. She’s one of the popular girls, or at least she seems to be with how everyone flocks to her. The complete opposite of Liu Mingyan, who can count her friends on the fingers of a hand.
(Present company, unfortunately, doesn’t qualify.)
However, said admirer has, to put simply, mistaken Liu Mingyan’s identity. Ning Yingying has been frequenting the bookstore Liu Mingyan has been working part-time at, ostensibly to browse the books. But Liu Mingyan caught her stealing glances her way several times. At first, she thought Ning Yingying found her somewhat familiar but never got the courage to come up and say hello to her. Liu Mingyan didn’t blame her. They weren't friends, only classmates but even so, they've never spoken a word to each other. Liu Mingyan didn't even know if Ning Yingying remembered she existed.
Maybe you could argue that Liu Mingyan ought to have said something to her. But she was too shy to say anything to Ning Yingying, and besides, there were always plenty of things to do at work.
So Liu Mingyan left Ning Yingying alone, never thinking twice about Ning Yingying frequenting the store. Until she heard her gushing about ‘that super cool boy who works at the bookstore'.
As far as Liu Mingyan is aware, there weren’t any ‘super cool’ boys who were her colleagues. Ok, maybe the two male colleagues who were in their age group might be ‘super cool’ to Ning Yingying — they weren’t cool to Liu Mingyan, but she isn’t exactly the best judge of coolness for the opposite sex.
The boy from Ning Yingying’s description didn’t match either of those two colleagues at all. Neither of those boys wore rings on their fingers at work, had painted nails or, most importantly, wore a mask when they were at work. In fact, no such boy worked at the bookstore at all.
The only person who fit that description is none other than Liu Mingyan herself.
“I’ll tell her when I tell her,” says Liu Mingyan with a sigh, leaning against the wall behind her with her arms crossed. She knows it really isn’t an answer — she doesn’t need to hear Luo Binghe’s snort to know that — but it’s the best she’s got. Because she hasn’t figured out how to approach Ning Yingying about it.
For one, they’ve never spoken to each other despite being classmates.
Secondly, how could Liu Mingyan find the face to tell Ning Ying something that could possibly alter her perception of the boy she liked and the girl whom she has never spoken to?
And if Liu Mingyan did that, how would she deal with the consequences?
“And when will that be?” Luo Binghe prompts.
“I’ll tell her when the time is right,” Liu Mingyan answers, which arguably isn’t really an answer itself considering how vague it is.
Luo BInghe hums, leaning back against the wall behind him as he takes a thoughtful sip of his chocolate milk. “She won’t bite, you know?” he tells her. “She’s pretty nice once you get to know her.”
Maybe he had a point.
After all, he and Ning Yingying have dated before back in first year before breaking up on amicable terms. Liu Mingyan knows he and Ning Yingying are still friends.
But still. It’s not like Luo Binghe had to deal with someone crushing on you because they mistook your gender, and it’s not like he ever had to clarify that to her.
Liu Mingyan almost mentions that but decides that maybe Luo Binghe had a point. Maybe all she needs to do is talk to Ning Yingying, befriend her and hopefully tell her the truth. Best case scenario, Ning Yingying will be slightly embarrassed about it and maybe stop speaking to Liu Mingyan for awhile. Worst case scenario, their friendship ends after that conversation. The disappointment and embarrassment Ning Yingying may feel will probably hurt less compared to if she finds out herself that the boy she’s been gushing over has been sitting next to her in school all along.
If Liu Mingyan was in her shoes, she’d prefer being directly told the truth.
“We’ll see how it goes,” she says.
When Liu Mingyan returns to the classroom, she finds the girl who’s been on her mind. It’s rare to find Ning Yingying alone, and Liu Mingyan doesn’t think she’s ever seen her back in the classroom before lunch ends. Liu Mingyan stumbles for a moment at the door. Although she doesn’t really mind being alone with anyone she isn’t too close with as long as they leave her alone, it’s the awkwardness from knowing that Ning Yingying had a crush on her (or the guy she thought Liu Mingyan was) that makes her hesitate.
That, and that annoying little voice in her head that sounded way too much like Luo Binghe saying, “Look, it’s your perfect chance to tell her about Bookstore Guy!”
Before Liu Mingyan can turn away, Ning Yingying’s eyes flicker over the book she was reading to her. Their gazes meet across the classroom. Liu Mingyan freezes on the spot, her heart racing.
And Ning Yingying flashes her the briefest of smiles — a warm crinkle of her eyes — before she returns her attention back to the book she was reading.
Liu Mingyan doesn’t realize she lets out a breath she’d held until she feels her shoulders relax. She takes a moment to regain her composure, only aware of how hot her face feels, before walking to her desk at the back of the classroom. Her gaze stays on Ning Yingying, though from the corner of her eyes so that it won’t look like she was trying to pick a fight if Ning Yingying looks up at her again. The steps leading up to her desk feels like the longest distance she’s ever walked, worse than that time when her and her brother had missed the last bus home after a birthday party at their friend’s house and had to walk for more than an hour.
Ning Yingying’s head doesn’t lift up from her book, nor does she make any sudden movements, so Liu Mingyan makes it safely back to her desk. She lets out another small breath of relief.
The sound of people’s voices outside fills the silence in the room. According to the wall clock above the whiteboard, they have about maybe 5 minutes of alone time together before the bell rings.
Liu Mingyan glances to her right then at her hands curled on her lap. She ought to say something. With everyone who could possibly butt into their conversation out of the way, this was the perfect opportunity to chat with Ning Yingying and perhaps attempt to tell her the truth about Bookstore Guy. Even if they don’t reach that point of the conversation, at least Liu Mingyan would’ve been someone Ning Yingying has spoken to instead of a random stranger who shouldn’t be privy about who she had a crush on or be in a position to tell her the truth about her crush’s true identity.
She glances back at Ning Yingying once more, her lips parted. But no words come out, as her attention is stolen by the book in Ning Yingying’s hand. There was no mistaking the gaudy lettering across the cover of her book, nor the words that made up the title of it, even if it was partially obscured by Ning Yingying’s fingers. Even the cover art of the silhouettes of two people entwined in a passionate embrace was familiar enough that Liu Mingyan had to do a double take.
Of all the people she knew in school, Ning Yingying seemed like the least likely person to read I was Reborn as a Scum Villain?! because … well, she thought Ning Yingying would be too innocent to read such things (and also because they were both a little too young to be legally reading this series).
Something in her head screams ‘You can use this as a conversation starter!’ and she almost acts on it.
Almost, had it not been for a group of boys entering the classroom talking about the high scores for a video game.
Liu Mingyan’s momentary courage to speak to Ning Yingying fizzles out like a match to water.
Perhaps another day.
Ning Yingying’s heart pounds wildly in her chest, a frenzied rhythm she can feel all the way down to her toes as she stares at the bookstore from across the street. She doesn’t have any particular reason to be here again this week, aside from seeing if Bookstore Guy will be at work today.
Honestly, she feels like she comes here enough times for it to appear creepy but Bookstore Guy (or the other employees, for that matter) never seem to be bothered by her regular visits, even when all she does is browse books for a good half an hour before leaving.
She takes a deep breath and looks down at her phone. Her screen displays her chat history with her friends, who are all in agreement that she should introduce herself to Bookstore Guy and ask for his number. She can maybe do the former, probably not the latter. She thinks she’d sooner pass away from embarrassment of the thought of trying to do that than actually be able to do that.
So today, Ning Yingying has decided to attempt to strike up a conversation with Bookstore Guy.
Come on, Yingying! She tells herself. You got this!
Drawing another deep breath, she marches across the street towards the bookstore.
The front door swings open with a tinkle as Ning Yingying enters the store, slightly breathless. Cozy jazz music plays in the background as she peers around in search of Bookstore Guy. A few customers are scattered around the place; there’s an employee at the counter helping an old lady decide what gift to buy for her grandchild but otherwise Ning Yingying doesn’t immediately spot who she’s looking for. She wanders around the shelves at first but after a few seconds, she becomes purposeful in her movements, craning her head over the shelves and peering round them in case the person she was looking for was hidden somewhere. However, her search is futile.
The buzzing mix of excitement and nervousness in her chest fizzles out as reality sinks in: Bookstore Guy isn’t here today.
An employee notices her gloomily standing in the corner and asks if she needed any help. Ning Yingying almost considers answering, I’m looking for your coworker, actually. Y’know the tall and mysterious guy with black hair that’s always tied in a bun? He also wears a mask and has cool gege vibes. But she offers a polite smile and shakes her head. “Just having a look,” she says.
The employee smiles back and returns to the counter, joining her colleague.
To keep up with appearances, Ning Yingying browses through the manhua section for a bit but after a minute of half-heartedly picking up familiar titles only to put them back, she decides it might be best for her to head home.
She makes her way towards the exit, her mood sinking further at the thought of her math homework waiting at home when the sound of the bell tinkling catches her attention. She looks up, only to stumble at the sight of the person walking in. He pushes his windswept hair back to keep the strands out of his eyes but as he does so, his eyes flicker sideways to Ning Yingying gawking at him.
Of course, Ning Yingying's feet decide it's the perfect time to stumble in front of him.
She lets out a tiny shriek, flailing her hands out. “Are you alright?”
Ning Yingying would’ve passed away as a happy girl from knowing her existence was acknowledged by none other than Bookstore Guy himself. It seems she tripped over own feet and would’ve fallen face-first on the floor had it not been for Bookstore Guy —
Ning Yingying springs away from Bookstore Guy’s arms as if she’d been electrocuted. Her eyes are wide, her cheeks a bright shade of pink and her jaw agape as she stares at Bookstore Guy. She had multiple lines of things she wanted to say to him, scripts of things to talk about if she ever had the chance to have a conversation with him. And here she is, gaping like a fish at him, at a complete loss for words.
“Miss?”
The only noise Ning Yingying makes is a squeak that encompasses an apology for being so clumsy, her surprise at running into him when she thought he wasn’t here today and her embarrassment for tripping in front of him. Too flustered to do anything else, Ning Yingying flees the store, leaving Bookstore Guy staring after her in bewilderment.
After a long moment of watching her classmate run away, Liu Mingyan turns around to find her coworker watching her with a confused expression mirroring her own.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asks.
Her coworker shrugs.