A Shopping Trip and a ‘Cold-Faced Cutie’

Zhuang Xun stood beside a mannequin in the clothing store, her gaze sweeping over the outfit displayed on it. She quietly addressed Shen Xian, who was standing nearby.

“Senior, what exactly are we doing here?”

Only three days had passed since the incident with the Book-Devouring Monster at the library. That morning, she had suddenly received a message from her senior, asking her to accompany her on a shopping trip to the mall.

The reason, however, remained entirely unclear.

Shen Xian’s eyes were fixed intently on Zhuang Xun. She tilted her head to the left, then to the right, analyzing her junior in a playful manner.

Zhuang Xun felt a flush of embarrassment under her senior’s scrutiny. Though her expression remained stoic, a storm of emotions raged within her.

“Indeed,” Shen Xian murmured, her tone unhurried. “Perhaps we should spruce things up a bit.”

Huh?!

“Senior?”

Zhuang Xun watched Shen Xian approach her step by step. Instinctively, she began to retreat. Before long, Shen Xian’s relentless advance forced her back until she found herself cornered against the wall.

“Senior…?” Zhuang Xun whispered, her voice barely audible.

Shen Xian blinked, a smile playing in her eyes. She reached out, took Zhuang Xun’s hand, and pulled her from the corner into the depths of the clothing store.

“Little Zhuang Xun, let’s pick out some clothes for you to try on!”

In her brief moment of bewilderment, Zhuang Xun found herself pushed inside a fitting room. The curtain before her was pulled open from the outside by Shen Xian.

“Little Zhuang Xun, try on this outfit and see if it fits.”

Zhuang Xun looked at the massive stack of clothes in Shen Xian’s arms, offering a gentle reminder. “Senior, aren’t there a bit too many clothes?”

It looked like at least ten outfits.

“Not at all, this is just a few!” Shen Xian declared, stuffing all the clothes into Zhuang Xun’s arms. “You start trying these on. I’ll go pick out a few more.”

Without waiting for Zhuang Xun’s reply, she hurried away.

Zhuang Xun stood holding the towering stack of clothes, watching Shen Xian’s retreating back. The words she had been about to say circled on her tongue, then were swallowed back down.

Hadn’t she come to the mall to accompany her senior? Why was she the one trying on clothes now?

Her reflection stared back at her from the fitting room mirror. With a sigh of resignation, she placed all the clothes on a nearby stool.

So many clothes… how long will it take to try them all on?

Zhuang Xun faced the mirror, still feeling a sense of unease. Slowly, she lifted her long-sleeved top, took it off, and then pulled a hooded sweatshirt from the pile.

She gazed at the pattern on the sweatshirt in the mirror—a large raven perched on a snowy tree branch—a design utterly incongruous with her usual image.

“It’s a bit too cute…” Zhuang Xun murmured. She felt this piece would suit her senior much more than herself.

As she imagined it, a vivid image of Shen Xian wearing the sweatshirt formed in her mind. She quickly leaned forward, pressing her forehead against the cool surface of the mirror.

This is insane…

“Have you started trying them on, Little Zhuang Xun?” Shen Xian’s curious voice drifted from outside the curtain.

Zhuang Xun turned her head. Her reflection showed no trace of the redness she felt burning on her face. She took a deep breath before replying, “Almost, please wait a moment.”

Then, she pulled open the curtain.

Shen Xian, who had been sitting on a sofa just outside the fitting room, promptly stood up. She remained silent, her eyes fixed on Zhuang Xun’s outfit.

……This outfit really does look strange on me! Even Senior has nothing to say!

Though Zhuang Xun wanted to speak, she found herself at a loss.

Just as the atmosphere threatened to become overwhelmingly awkward, Shen Xian suddenly exclaimed, “Can I take a picture?”

Zhuang Xun looked up, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Shen Xian pulled out her phone from her pocket and began snapping photos of Zhuang Xun from every conceivable angle. She chuckled, a radiant smile on her face as she clicked away. “Sorry, sorry. You’re just too adorable. I was momentarily speechless.”

Zhuang Xun was actually quite resistant to having her picture taken. However, since Shen Xian was the one who asked, she swallowed her internal reluctance to make her senior happy.

But…

“Senior, you don’t need to take so many pictures.” She had heard the shutter click at least thirty times already.

Shen Xian moved closer to her, and Zhuang Xun caught a whiff of Shen Xian’s faint, clean fragrance. It wasn’t the lime scent of her pheromones, nor the scent of the shower gel her senior used at home; this was simply a comforting and reassuring aroma entirely her own.

“But you really are so cute! Look.”

Shen Xian leaned in, holding up her phone, and Zhuang Xun’s gaze fell upon the screen.

After a few seconds, Zhuang Xun asked very seriously, “Senior, can’t these photos be deleted?”

“Why would I delete them?”

“My expression is very strange.” It was beyond merely strange; her face was utterly devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

“It’s not strange at all! It’s adorable. It’s giving a ‘cold-faced cutie’ vibe.” Shen Xian admired them, swiping through several more photos. “Look at this one.”

Cold-faced cutie…?

Zhuang Xun looked at Shen Xian’s screen again. The photo displayed seemed to have been taken the moment she had just heard her senior ask for a picture. In the shot, she looked momentarily surprised, her slightly reddened ears exposed to the camera. The messy hood contrasted sharply with the cute raven on her shirt…

Zhuang Xun stated with righteous indignation, “Senior, this one absolutely must be deleted.”

This one looks weird no matter how I look at it!

Shen Xian stared intently at Zhuang Xun. Just as Zhuang Xun was starting to feel unnerved by the gaze, Shen Xian offered a choice.

“If I delete this one, you can’t delete any of the other photos.”

“Senior…”

“Or, I can delete all the other photos, but not this one.” Shen Xian gently closed her phone and tapped her lips. “What will Little Zhuang Xun choose?”

Zhuang Xun felt a surge of helplessness. Her gaze lingered on Shen Xian’s phone. Of course, she wished to choose neither and have all the photos deleted. However, the photos were on her senior’s phone, and she couldn’t simply take it by force. Moreover, she found herself utterly unable to refuse any of her senior’s requests.

At least, not yet.

Shen Xian pressed on, “Have you made up your mind, Little Zhuang Xun?”

“…Delete the others.”

Zhuang Xun found it a difficult choice, but she could at least distinguish between the lesser of two evils. One embarrassing photo was better than thirty.

Shen Xian’s eyes curved into a mischievous smile. “Alrighty.”

Then, without ever averting her gaze from Zhuang Xun, she deleted all the other photos, leaving no trace. Even the recently deleted folder was completely emptied.

Shen Xian put her phone away, urging, “Now, hurry and try on the rest of the outfits!”

Zhuang Xun, still captivated by the photo incident, had completely forgotten about the pile of remaining clothes in the fitting room. She ran her hand over the soft fabric of the next outfit and asked softly, “Does Senior want to take pictures of those clothes too?”

Shen Xian paused for a second, then tossed the question back at her. “Can I take pictures?”

Zhuang Xun, relaxing her boundaries, replied earnestly, “If Senior only saves one from those photos, then… yes.”

“Hmm…” Shen Xian looked up at the ceiling lights, then her gaze settled warmly on Zhuang Xun. “No, I won’t be taking pictures of the rest. This one is enough.”

Before Zhuang Xun could react, Shen Xian gently pushed her back into the fitting room and quickly drew the curtain shut. “Little Zhuang Xun, finish trying on the other clothes first. I’m a bit hungry. We’ll go to dinner once you’re done.”

“I understand.”

Zhuang Xun didn’t dwell on Shen Xian’s words. After all, in her mind, her senior must have said such things out of amusement or momentary curiosity.

As she changed out of her clothes, she murmured to herself, “I’ll find an opportunity later to ask Senior to delete that picture…”