Chapter Text
It’s the discomfort that first crosses Qingque’s mind – the feeling of a dozen pointy somethings poking into her back. It makes her slowly open her eyes and look at her surroundings.
The night sky is above her, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of stars, far more than can be seen from her Torontonian apartment window. Also above her, slightly closer, are dozens of intersecting tree branches, each with glowing buds at the end. Her gaze follows the branches down, down, all the way down to her, and she realizes with a start that she’s in whatever tree this is, suspended above the ground by its branches.
And then one of the branches creaks a little.
“Oh, crap,” she mutters to herself, trying to adjust her angle, but that just makes the branches creak more. She manages to tilt the upper half of her body on its side to take a look at the grassy field below – far, far below. “Help!” she shouts. “I could use some help here!”
There’s a flutter of movement from below. That’s when Qingque sees her. There’s a girl at the base of the tree, around her own age with bright pink hair styled into braids, wearing white robes like some sort of priest. Hearing Qingque’s voice, the girl tilts her head up. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she mutters.
“Um… hi!” Qingque calls down to her. “Could you maybe—eek!” she cries as, while she’s trying to shift herself a little more, an audible crack comes from one of the branches.
“Quit moving, you idiot!” the mystery girl shouts. “Just stay put!”
Qingque blinks and all of a sudden, the girl is right in front of her, gingerly perched on the branches. They don’t seem to bend under her weight at all, strangely enough. Upon closer inspection, the girl’s eyes are a glittering shade of amber, and she wears a purple gem in the middle of her forehead. Qingque is of the completely objective opinion that she’s somehow even prettier up close. “Hey,” Qingque says nonchalantly. “Come here often?”
“Yes, actually,” the girl says. “It’s you being here that’s the problem. Hold still, I’ll try to disentangle you from the branches of destiny.”
“Destiny?” Qingque asks.
“Yes,” the girl mutters. She begins to carefully pull aside the branches holding Qingque in place, the wood bending as easily as clay. “This tree is a metaphorical manifestation of the multitude of possible futures that lie before me. Before you made your clumsy entrance, I was attempting to observe the positions of celestial bodies and a series of probability calculations to determine the best possible outcome.”
“Oh, so like astrology?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Astrology is an entirely different discipline,” the girl scoffs.
“Right,” Qingque says, not getting it at all. “…Wait, what am I doing here?”
“Dreaming, most likely,” the girl answers as she pulls another branch aside. “This is a metaphysical space, your sleeping consciousness must have drifted by and gotten stuck. Congratulations, this is an extraordinarily rare occurrence.”
“Woah, I’m pretty lucky then!”
“If your definition of ‘lucky’ involves nearly destroying several possible timelines with your mere presence, then yes, you are very lucky,” the girl deadpans.
“Yeah, but at least I got to meet a pretty girl like you,” Qingque shoots back, oozing as much charm as she can muster.
“That’s nice,” the girl says, bending the last branch out of the way. A shimmering, transparent platform appears under Qingque. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Already?” Qingque groans, standing up and dusting herself off. “Wait, are you a real person? So maybe we’ll meet again when I’m awake!”
“Doubtful,” the girl says. “It’s much more likely that we’ll never see each other again.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Qingque boasts, hands on her hips.
“Well, I’m afraid that’s not up to you,” the girl says stepping closer to her. “Gào bié.” Then she pushes Qingque out of the tree.
Qingque doesn’t even have time to scream as she plummets down, air rushing past her, the mystery girl getting smaller and smaller above her, and her vision gets dark—
. . .
And then she opens her eyes.
Li Qingque lets out a half-awake groan as she throws the heavy covers off herself and slowly sits up. She blinks the blurriness out of her eyes and looks around her shitty Toronto apartment. Right. This makes more sense.
The events of the previous night come rushing back to her. Clocking out from work. Going out to the arcade. Getting into a fight with her girlfriend. Coming back here at some ungodly hour and passing out. And now, her hair is a disaster, the bags under her eyes weigh more than she does, and she can practically feel the grime under her fingernails.
LI QINGQUE
23 YEARS OLD
PROFESSIONAL SLACKER
RATING: AWESOME! (USUALLY)
She pulls her phone off her bedside table and powers it on. The screen reads Mom – 3 missed calls. She sighs and powers it off again.
Although the temptation to stay in bed and fantasize about the pretty girl in her dreams is strong, Qingque should probably get up at some point. Through great effort and perseverance, she manages to haul herself out of bed, style her sandy brown hair in its usual pigtails, and trudge out of her room in the same clothes she was wearing last night.
In the tiny dining room is Tingyun, lounging on a chair holding a newspaper and a cup of coffee. She looks up at Qingque’s approach, then smirks and says, “Morning, sleeping beauty.”
WEI TINGYUN
28 YEARS OLD
QINGQUE’S ROOMMATE
RATING: LESS AWESOME, CURRENTLY
“Yeah, yeah,” Qingque grumbles, collapsing on the other chair.
One of Tingyun’s fox ears twitches. “Hangover?”
“You know I don’t drink,” Qingque says.
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Seriously, I’m fine. I just had a really weird dream, is all.” Qingque squints. “Is that my cup?”
Tingyun shrugs and glances at the coffee cup in her hand. “Is it?”
“It is. Can’t you use something else, or whatever?”
“You don’t want me using your stuff?”
“Not really, I guess,” Qingque mutters. “Like, I don’t wanna be as ass about it, but…”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Tingyun giggles. “But then I think you have to stop using my stuff too. Fair’s fair.”
LIST OF STUFF IN THE APARTMENT THAT TINGYUN OWNS:
-TV
-SOFA
-FLOOR RUG
-BOOKSHELF
-DINING ROOM TABLE
-90% OF ALL KITCHENWARE
-BASICALLY EVERYTHING
Qingque pales. “You know what? It’s not a big deal.”
“You’re too kind,” Tingyun says, taking another sip of coffee. “So what was the dream about?”
“There was a girl…” Qingque mumbles.
Tingyun wiggles her eyebrows vigorously. “Oh, so it was that kind of dream?”
“Pfft, not like that. She was more pissed off than anything. She kinda yelled at me a lot.”
“Hmm.” Tingyun takes another sip of coffee. “Didn’t know you were into that sort of thing. Explains the fight with your girlfriend last night, though.”
“Shuddap. Is there any milk left in the fridge?” Qingque groans.
“Indeed there is. But if you want to get something for breakfast, you should probably get started soon. You have work in…” she checks her watch, “…ooh, half an hour ago. Better make it quick.”
“WHAT?” Qingque cries, springing to her feet. She checks her phone – sure enough, her shift started a whole 30 minutes ago.
“Don’t say I never do anything for you,” Tingyun says, inspecting her nails.
“You are a menace,” Qingque fumes, throwing on her jacket and dashing towards the front door.
“Love you too!” Tingyun calls after her, right before the door slams shut.
. . .
“Y’know, one of these days you’re actually going to get fired. You can’t have that much goodwill left,” Guinaifen muses. The store is empty, so she’s paused her restocking efforts in favor of making jabs at Qingque.
TORONTO, CANADA
JANUARY 2024
POPULATION: 2.7 MILLION
“Nah, they can’t fire me,” Qingque boasts. “Where else are they going to find my unique talents?”
“Your unique talents of… what, exactly?” Guinaifen shoots back.
“Hey,” Qingque groans half-heartedly.
GAMESTOP CANADA: LOCATION #186
43°42'0.40" N -79°24'58.68" W
ALSO KNOWS AS: QINGQUE’S JOB
Guinaifen pulls at the edges of her ill-fitting GameStop employee shirt uniform. She sighs. “Look, I get not wanting to work here anymore. Most days, I wish I could quit too! But could you at least try not to be late and leave us shorthanded all the time?”
Qingque leans her elbow on the till counter. “Hey, at least I never had to request a new uniform ‘cuz my girlfriend tore the old one off me.”
Guinaifen goes pale. “I told you that in confidence,” she hisses under her breath.
GUINEVERE “GUINAIFEN” BRETON
23 YEARS OLD
PART-TIME TWITCH STREAMER
FUN FACT: SHE WORKS HERE!
“S-still, I’m really glad you finally got here,” Huohuo pipes up. The tiny girl’s head and shoulders barely clear the top of the cash desk.
“Ah, right,” Qingque scratches the base of her scalp. “I forgot, you don’t like being on till, right? My bad, I’ll take over for you.”
“T-thank you,” Huohuo responds. “But also… I just prefer having you here. It makes me feel a lot safer…” she trails off, and a blush spreads across her cheeks.
HUOHUO
17 YEARS OLD
HALF-GHOST FOXIAN OF THE UNDERWORLD
FUN FACT: SHE ALSO WORKS HERE!
“Sure, why not?” Qingque chuckles. “I’ll be your knight in shining armor… protecting you from all the nasty customers…” she says, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest.
“’Knight in shining armor?’ More like ‘knave in smelly GameStop shirt’,” Guinaifen snickers under her breath.
“Hey!” Qingque says, flicking Guinaifen’s forehead. “Slander! Defamation!”
“Ow! But hey, you’ve got a chance to prove me wrong,” Guinaifen says. “Wolf at six o’clock.”
Qingque curses under her breath and whirls around. Sure enough, a familiar figure clad in a bulky grey tracksuit and unkempt hair has just strolled into the store, her silver eyes scanning the area with equal amounts of boredom and condescension. Ideally, Qingque would just kick her out, but this pain in the ass spends enough on games her to keep them in the black single-handedly, so she’s going to have to be nice.
Guinaifen, meanwhile, has no illusions about making this particular customer interaction a happy one. “…I should get back to my restocking,” she decides, quickly rushing off.
“A-and I should go, um… iron my… dog,” Huohuo stammers, disappearing as well.
Qingque sighs and strolls up to the customer, who is currently crouching and examining some of the anime figures. “Hi, welcome to GameStop!” Qingque says in her best customer service voice. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Unlikely,” the bane of Qingque’s existence says, standing up to face her.
WATCH OUT! IT’S SILVER WOLF!
22 YEARS OLD
TRAITS: ARROGANT, ANNYOING, SMARMY
RATING: THE WORST!
“Who the hell names themself ‘Silver Wolf’, anyways…” Qingque mutters, batting the caption out of her face.
“Cool people,” Silver Wolf answers. She sizes Qingque up. “You look like shit.”
“…I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” Qingque says.
“Your clothes are wrinkled,” Silver Wolf observes. “Like you wore them yesterday and never got changed. You get laid last night?”
“None of your business,” Qingque fumes.
“Okay, so no hoo-ha for you, then,” Silver Wolf continues. “So what is it…?”
“Can I help you?” Qingque asks, a little more forcefully this time.
“Never,” Silver Wolf says. “I’m pretty sure I can find everything I’m looking for by myself. A Casual like you would only slow me down.”
“’Casual’?” Qingque huffs. “I have over 500 hours on Final Fantasy 14!”
“Exactly. Casual.” Silver Wolf says. “And by the way, it’s ‘Final Fantasy XIV’.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No it’s not,” Silver Wolf responds. “So seeing as your capacity for intellectual conversation is woefully limited, I’d much rather get entertainment from your suffering. What happened to you last night?”
Qingque sighs. “If you must know, I was up late because I had a fight with my girlfriend.”
Suddenly, twin gasps ring out from behind Qingque. She whirls around to see Guinaifen and Huohuo standing right behind her, the duo having conveniently gotten over their fear of Silver Wolf. “You had a fight with your girlfriend?” Guinaifen cries forlornly.
“Oh, hey. Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber,” Silver Wolf greets the new arrivals.
“Shush, now’s not the time! This is a crisis!” Guinaifen snaps. Then she turns her attention back to Qingque. “You had a fight with your girlfriend? Seriously? I thought things were going well!”
“What did you fight about?” Huohuo asks.
Qingque sighs. “She was mad that I was spending so much time on games, I guess. She tracked me down at the arcade and just started yelling.”
“Well, that’s not right!” Huohuo says indignantly. “S-she should be more accepting of your hobbies! Right, Gui?”
Guinaifen frowns. “Wait, she ‘tracked you down’? Why didn’t she just ask to meet up somewhere?”
“I mean… she might’ve? I muted my phone so the sound of her texts wouldn’t break my concentration,” Qingque chuckles awkwardly. “I was really in the zone, y’know?”
Guinaifen purses her lips. “Okay. What exactly was she mad about? In her own words.”
Qingque scratches her head. “Um… she didn’t like how much time I spent playing games… and she wanted me to make more time for her…”
“Qingque… how long has it been since you two last went on a date?”
“Er…” Qingque murmurs, realization dawning on her. “Oh shit, it’s been a month.”
Guinaifen facepalms. “A month? You’re lucky it took this long for her to get angry!”
“Hey, I was busy, okay? A new Genshin update dropped, so I had to spend some time on that, then there was that new Persona game, plus Ghostrunner… I’ve been booked solid!” Qingque explains, counting her excuses on her fingers.
“Okay, so when was your next last date? The one before your last one?”
“Ehe… maybe… a few weeks before?”
“Qingque, be straight with me,” Guinaifen says, folding her arms.
“Not gonna be possible, but okay,” Qingque jokes.
“Are you serious about this girl?” Guinaifen continues. “Are you invested?”
Qingque winces. “Eh… I mean, she’s really pretty…”
“Okay, sure, but do you see your relationship going anywhere? Do you even want it to go anywhere?”
Qingque slumps her shoulders. “Not really, I guess. It’s just… I dunno.”
“Then you should probably break up with her,” Guinaifen says. “Speaking from experience, being strung along by someone who’s not invested in the relationship really sucks. Better to just end things before you two resent each other even more.”
“Okay, but that’s just, like… your opinion, man.”
“I’m with the ginger,” Silver Wolf pipes up. “Bite the bullet and break things off. Don’t be a pussy.”
“Pfft. You don’t get a say in this,” Qingque waves her off. “All your romance experience probably comes from dating sims, anyway.”
“Visual novels are an underrated medium with a massive amount of creative potential,” Silver Wolf fires back. “And they’re more than enough to tell me that you’re being a pussy.”
“Are you actually going to buy anything, or are you just here to criticize my life choices?” Qingque snaps.
“Yeah, actually.” Silver Wolf crouches down, grabs a big box from one of the lower shelves, and presents it to Qingque. It’s a limited-edition female Byleth figure that arrived at the store this morning. “Think you can ring this up for me, pussy?”
Qingque frowns. “I was going to buy this on my break, you asshole.”
“Sux 2 b u, then,” Silver Wolf deadpans. “Maybe if you took gaming seriously, you’d have beaten me to the punch. Now go and sell me this little treasure, and if you’re nice to me while you do it, I might give this place a good review on Yelp.” She makes a shooing motion at Qingque.
Qingque stomps back to the till, grumbling under her breath all the while, with Guinaifen and Huohuo trailing behind her. “Y-you know, I think that you deserve someone who’ll really make you happy!” Huohuo stammers. “Maybe even someone who likes video games too?”
“Yeah, but if you want to keep someone like that, you have to make time for her,” Guinaifen adds. “If she’s not a priority for you, then what’s the point of the relationship in the first place?”
“Ugh, I get it, okay?” Qingque sighs, scanning the figure’s barcode. Then she turns to Silver Wolf. “That’s $135.99, by the way.”
“Neat.” Silver Wolf taps a card on the chip reader, and the transaction goes through. She pays with a different card every time, and no one on the GameStop staff is paid enough to ask her why. She scoops up the figure and turns to leave. “See you later, losers.”
“Hopefully much later,” Qingque says under her breath.
“Eat my ass,” Silver Wolf calls back as she strolls out the exit.
“It’ll be a light meal, then!” Qingque responds.
Silver Wolf flips her off over her shoulder as she walks away.
Guinaifen claps a hand on Qingque’s shoulder. “Okay, serious talk time,” the redhead says solemnly. “Unless you’re ready to put in some serious effort to save your relationship, you need to break up with her.”
“I know, okay?” Qingque groans, brushing Guinaifen’s hand off. “It’s just… it’s hard! I gotta have a whole emotional conversation and stuff. I hate that. Plus after, I have to go back to being single, which sucks tremendous ass.”
“W-well, you don’t have to be single for long!” Huohuo interjects. “Y-you’re really charming and funny, there would be lots of girls who would love to date you!” She puts her hands behind her back, and her cheeks flush a little. “You know… m-maybe there could be some awesome girlfriend material in the people that you already know… right under your nose… maybe?”
Qingque narrows her eyes and taps her chin, thinking that over. She pictures the girl from the dream last night – she was cute. But also, unfortunately, probably only a figment of her imagination. “Nope, can’t think of anyone,” she decides. “Besides, I’ve been thinking of just going T4T. Less weird questions about my junk that way. But like, how many other single trans girls do I even know?”
Huohuo rather conspicuously stands up on her tiptoes to draw attention to herself. Meanwhile, Guinaifen chuckles and says, “Maybe Silver Wolf?”
Qingque mimes puking. “Ugh, don’t even joke about that.”
Guinaifen shrugs. “Well, anyways, if you’re already considering other dating prospects, you definitely should break things off with your girlfriend.”
“Fiiiiiine, I’ll do it,” Qingque groans. She pulls out her phone, navigates to her contacts, sends a quick text, then puts her phone back in her pocket. “There. Done.”
Guinaifen stares at her, incredulous. “…Did you just dump her over text?”
“Yeah,” Qingque says.
Guinaifen facepalms. “Qingque, you are the scum of the Earth.”
“Hey, at least I did it, didn’t I?” Qingque says defensively.
“That doesn’t mean—”
“Hey,” a voice calls out from behind the assembled group. The three employees turn around to spy a blunette Foxian in the doorway to the back rooms of the store. “How are things going out here?”
LIU YUKONG
52 YEARS OLD
ASSISTANT MANAGER OF THE GAMESTOP
FUN FACT: SHE DOES ALL THE REAL WORK!
“We’re doing awesome, Silver Wolf just left,” Guinaifen says with a grin. “Hopefully she’ll be banished for at least another 24 hours.”
“Good,” Yukong nods. Then she shifts her attention to Qingque. “Great, you’re finally here. Come into the back here and help me process this order.”
“Ooh, I’m actually pretty busy right now,” Qingque claims. “I was gonna take over on till…”
“You are very clearly not busy,” Yukong says, gesturing to the currently-empty store. “I want to get this done before foot traffic picks up again, so help me out. Huohuo’s more than capable of covering till until then.”
Qingque sighs, and – shooting an apologetic look to Huohuo – slinks into the back rooms of the Gamestop.
. . .
“Alright, let’s be honest with each other here,” Yukong says when Qingque is around a third of the way through double-checking the product list. “I didn’t call you back here just to do paperwork.”
“Oh, thank the Aeons,” Qingque breathes, setting down the list.
“Pick that back up, we are still doing the paperwork,” Yukong says, then returns to counting the copies of Spider-Man 2 they’ve received. She checks it against the number on the shipping manifest, then sighs and turns to Qingque. “Huohuo likes you.”
“Well, I am a terrific role model,” Qingque boasts, grabbing a box cutter and opening another box.
“Not like that. She likes you,” Yukong says firmly. “And I know you know. You’re not nearly as stupid as you pretend to be.”
Qingque sighs dramatically and puts the box cutter on a nearby counter. “Well, you caught me. I’m actually a super genius.”
Yukong folds her arms over her chest and stares down Qingque. “You need to watch how you act around her.”
Qingque blinks a couple times as she processes that. “…Wait, you think I’m gonna make a pass at her or something? Boss, she’s a kid! I mean, I can be an ass, but I’m not that kind of scum!”
Yukong nods. “It’s true that you haven’t reciprocated her advances. But you haven’t discouraged them, either – quite the opposite, actually.”
“B-but I—”
“You have been encouraging her, don’t try to deny it. And you haven’t established any sort of boundaries with her, either. You’re only going to get her hurt.” She sighs and leans against one of the shipping boxes. “She asked me about the company policy on dating other employees the other day. You need to clear this up.”
Qingque groans her best angsty groan. “I know… it’s just…”
Yukong waits for a moment before saying, “…Well?”
“It’s haaaard,” Qingque whines. “And it’ll be so awkward, and she’ll probably cry, which’ll just make me feel terrible…”
Yukong purses her lips and pinches the bridge of her nose.
“Look, it’s not like I’m actually interested in her, okay? I’m not some creep! So what’s the big deal?” Qingque asks.
“The problem is that you’re leading her on, and setting her up for what’s probably going to be her first major heartbreak. And it’s not going to be pretty.” Yukong thinks for a moment. “Look, I used to be somewhat of a… player in my own youth. So as someone who’s been around the block a few times, let me tell you something: relationships are always hard, romantic or otherwise. The vulnerability, the compromises, shifting your own life to fit with someone else’s – that’s genuinely difficult. And sometimes you have to set boundaries, and push certain people away, and that’s hard too.” She shifts position, fidgeting a little. “But if you want to find love, and more importantly, be the kind of person who someone can fall in love with, you have to learn to be brave and face those challenges. Life isn’t some sappy rom-com. You have to work for your happy ending. Because otherwise… you’ll lose everything.”
Qingque snorts. “So you expect me to take advice from the divorced single mom?”
Yukong glares at Qingque in a way that very clearly enunciates how much of a low blow that was. “I expect you,” she says slowly, “to learn from my mistakes. Don’t turn out like me.”
“Right,” Qingque says meekly. “Sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” Yukong says, picking up her portion of the paperwork. “Now get back to work.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” Qingque sighs.
. . .
After her shift is over, Qingque takes the bus back to her apartment, kicks her shoes off, and is immediately ambushed by Tingyun. “So I heard you broke up with your girlfriend,” the wily Foxian says, examining her fingernails.
Qingque’s shoulders slump. “Okay, who even told you?”
“Guinaifen told Sushang, who told Luocha, who told Bailu, who told me,” Tingyun cheerfully explains.
“…All in the time I was at work?”
“What can I say? News travels fast,” Tingyun says with faux innocence. “You should expect this from me by now.”
“Yeah, I know.” Qingque brushes past her and takes a seat on the living room couch.
Tingyun follows suit, propping her feet up on the coffee table. “She was here earlier, by the way. You now-ex-girlfriend, I mean.”
“Argh,” Qingque groans.
“When I told her you weren’t here, she gave me a message to pass on to you. It was pretty long and profanity-laden, and I wasn’t really paying that much attention, but it basically boiled down to how you’re human trash and she hates your guts now.”
Qingque makes a noise that can best be described as “Grurghrughrghrgh” as she drags her palms down her face.
“And also she never wants to see you again.”
“I can work with that.”
“So!” Tingyun chirps, clapping her hands together. “What’s the plan, now that you’re single and ready to mingle?”
“I dunno,” Qingque mumbles. “I was kinda planning on locking myself in my room to play video games and wallow in my own misery.”
“Hey, come on!” Tingyun says, gently elbowing Qingque. “Being single sucks, but you have to bounce back! This sort of thing happens to everyone.”
Qingque, meanwhile, has her attention focused something else entirely. She points at a jean jacket that’s draped over the back of a dining chair. “That’s not mine,” she observes.
Tingyun nods. “Right.”
“And I don’t think it’s yours either.”
Tingyun winces a little. “Okay, so I might have had a hookup over while you were at work…”
“Ugghhhhh…” Qingque groans, putting her head in her hands.
“…And I kinda didn’t want you to find out, just in case it felt like I was taunting you right after your breakup by telling you about my own very successful love life…”
“Yeah, you’re doing a great job of that,” Qingque snarks.
“…But I do want to make sure you’re aware: she was here and gone before your ex showed up. They were not the same person.”
“Great,” Qingque sighs. “Thanks, I guess, for… not fucking another one of my exes.”
“You’re very welcome,” Tingyun says proudly.
Qingque stands and trudges over in the direction of her bedroom. “Well, my Switch is calling me. See you in the morning.”
“Wait!” Tingyun sprints over to her and gently grabs her forearm. “Normally I wouldn’t do this, but seeing I feel a little bad how much of a rotten mood you’re in…” her eye glints, “…I happen to have been invited to a party tonight. And I can bring a plus one. Maybe we can get you out of the apartment, find you some new tail to chase to help you get over the breakup?”
Qingque turns around and eyes Tingyun with suspicion. “…Is this another Topaz party?”
“…Maybe.”
“Ew, no! I hate those parties! It’s just a bunch of bougie assholes and dudebro business majors!” Qingque says, crossing her arms over her chest. “The only reason you like them is that they’re also full of repressed bicurious college grads eager to ‘experiment’ with you.”
“That, and the free alcohol,” Tingyun adds.
“Yeah, that too.” Qingque shrugs off Tingyun’s hand. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“Okay, but I really think this’ll be good for you!” Tingyun protests. “You’ve barely gone anywhere other than work or the arcade for months now, so excuse me for worrying a little about my roomie! It would really suck to have to replace you, the paperwork would be a nightmare.” She thinks for a moment. “Look, just try and stay for an hour? If you really don’t like it, you can just up and leave, no judgement.”
Qingque sighs. “Fine. But if it sucks, I’m blaming you.”
. . .
TOPAZ’S HOUSE
LATER THAT NIGHT
The party sucks.
Qingque is leaning up against a wall in a house she can never hope to afford, nursing some water in a glass that would probably cost her a week’s paycheck, wearing a sleeveless green dress that she realizes is only accentuating how broad her shoulders are. She hates this.
Tingyun, at least, is having a good time, chatting and laughing with some fellow money people in the other room. Topaz, the host, is wearing a scandalously low-cut blouse and entertaining some important-looking guests. That scientist chick, Asta, and her lame boyfriend whose name Qingque can never remember are huddled in their own corner, mostly keeping to themselves. They’re basically the only other normal people at this party, and Qingque briefly considers going over to hang out with them, but she also really doesn’t want to be a third wheel. She gets enough of that hanging out with Guinaifen and Sushang.
It’s a little past nine, which means Qingque has been here for almost a full hour, and she’s about ready to call this a wash. She downs the last of her water, then begins to make her way through the crowd to where Tingyun is, ready tell her roommate that she’s going to head out.
Then she sees a flash of rose in the corner of her eye, and everything seems to freeze.
Amber eyes. Lavender dress. Pink hair. The woman moves through the crowd forcefully and purposefully, as if she’s daring anyone to get in her way. There’s no doubt about it – that’s the girl from her dream.
There she is.