Chapter 4: The Story Is Falling Apart!

Shen Yu had one job—follow the script, play the villain, and ensure that Bai Xue and Lu Zhixuan ended up together. But somehow, everything was unraveling before his eyes.

Bai Xue wasn't swooning over Lu Zhixuan as she was supposed to. She even smiled at Shen Yu once and said, "You're not as bad as I thought, Zhao Rui. Maybe we could be friends?"

Friends?! He wasn't here to make friends!

And Lu Zhixuan...

Lu Zhixuan was supposed to be his mortal enemy, the person who would eventually destroy him. But instead of glaring at him with hatred, the male lead had developed a habit of watching him. Not with suspicion or contempt, but with something far worse.

Amusement.

The latest disaster happened in the hallway between classes. Shen Yu had been minding his own business, or rather, plotting his next futile attempt to push Bai Xue and Lu Zhixuan closer together, when he felt an intense gaze on him.

He turned, only to lock eyes with Lu Zhixuan, who was leaning lazily against his locker, arms crossed, smirking.

Shen Yu frowned. "Why are you staring at me?"

Lu Zhixuan tilted his head slightly, as if considering his words carefully. "Just wondering what you'll mess up next."

Shen Yu felt his face heat up. "I—I don't mess up! I—I am a mastermind of villainous schemes!"

Lu Zhixuan's smirk widened. "Oh? Is that what you call throwing yourself into puddles?"

Shen Yu scowled. "That was an accident."

"The library incident?"

"I—I was just being dramatic!"

"The time you gave Bai Xue blank notes?"

Shen Yu's eye twitched. "Okay, that one was... Look! Stop changing the subject!"

Lu Zhixuan let out a soft chuckle, and Shen Yu froze. That wasn't a mocking laugh. That was an amused, genuinely entertained chuckle. The kind of laugh someone lets slip when they're... fond of something.

Shen Yu took a step back. "I—I have somewhere to be!"

Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and rushed down the hallway. He could still feel Lu Zhixuan's eyes on his back, lingering, unshaken.

Later that night, Shen Yu lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He clutched his pillow, groaning into it.

"This isn't how the story is supposed to go!"

Bai Xue was supposed to be deeply in love with Lu Zhixuan by now. Lu Zhixuan was supposed to be annoyed—no, enraged—by Shen Yu's interference. And Shen Yu was supposed to be steadily marching toward his inevitable doom. That was the plot.

But every time he tried to play his role, it backfired in the strangest ways. And the worst part? He was starting to realize that...

He didn't hate it.

His chest felt tight, and his mind kept replaying Lu Zhixuan's chuckle, the way his smirk softened at the edges when he teased him, the way his dark eyes followed him with something dangerously close to... fondness.

Shen Yu squeezed his pillow. "No, no, no. I am a villain. He is my enemy. This is a story, and I am going to die if I don't—"

But the moment he closed his eyes, it wasn't Bai Xue's face he saw.

It was Lu Zhixuan's smirk.

And somehow, that scared him more than his original villainous fate.