What is Liking?

Red’s eyes reflected the moment Ma Guohao hurled the flames.

“There was still some left…”

Back then, Red had thought she had completely drained the fire remaining inside him.

The lawn in the courtyard was burned pitch-black, as if ink had been splashed across it.

A sharp, scorched stench hung thick in the air.

Trees and shrubs near the flames had withered from the heat, their leaves curled and crackling softly.

Fortunately, the nuns arrived in time, and everyone worked together to extinguish the fire before it spread further.

White stared at the charred grass, her face filled with shock and confusion.

She couldn’t help but complain.

“I seriously didn’t expect him to pull out something like that!”

“Aren’t normal monsters only supposed to have one ability?”

“So why fire too?!”

“That’s just cheating!”

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, stomping her foot in frustration.

“Things happened to him, that’s all.”

Red looked at Ma Guohao lying on the ground.

The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, her eyes soft with a hint of indulgence.

Her voice unconsciously gentled, as if she were talking about a mischievous child.

“By the way, about his strength—what do you thi—”

Red turned toward White to ask, only to find White suddenly right in her face.

White’s eyes were filled with scrutiny and suspicion.

“Senpai!”

White spoke seriously.

“You’ve been bringing up that mechanical guy a lot lately.”

“And when you saw him use fire just now, your expression was weird too…”

She tried to recall the moment, then hesitated.

“Could it be…”

“Do you… like that mechanical guy?”

“Him?”

From Fang Yutian’s usual perspective, Ma Guohao was one of his very few friends.

That relationship had never crossed into anything romantic.

As Red, she had only met him a few times, saved him a few times.

She didn’t feel anything special either.

In the end, what was “liking” supposed to feel like?

Why was getting close to a man as a girl automatically considered liking him?

“There’s nothing like that.”

After a brief moment of thought, Red reached her conclusion.

“Why would you think that?”

Instead, Red found White’s reasoning curious.

She genuinely didn’t feel she had done anything that counted as liking someone.

“Because I’ve never seen you care this much about a man before.”

White pressed on.

“Isn’t that what liking is?”

Red froze for a moment.

Then a playful smile spread across her face.

She slowly leaned closer to White until their noses were nearly touching, their breaths clearly mingling.

In a low, magnetic voice, she asked,

“I care about your affairs too.”

“Does that mean I like you as well?”

Her gaze was teasing, filled with amusement.

White’s heart skipped uncontrollably.

“That’s… different between girls!”

White blushed and hurriedly stepped back.

“What’s different?”

Red tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.

“Why is caring about the opposite s*x automatically liking, automatically romance?”

“What’s the difference?”

Red had never felt that way.

Not once.

“And if we’re talking about how much I care,”

Red continued lightly,

“You’re not exactly behind him, by your logic~”

“Wait!”

“That’s not the kind of caring I meant!”

“Then isn’t that settled?”

Red concluded effortlessly.

“Since you say I don’t like him, then I don’t.”

White was left completely speechless.

Red turned around without hesitation, hoisted Ma Guohao onto her back, and carried him into the inner hall.

White still felt dissatisfied.

But after thinking about Red’s words, she chose to stay quiet.

“Why are you standing there?”

“Come inside.”

Back in the inner hall, Red sat down on the floor and gently placed Ma Guohao’s head on her thighs.

“That’s something only couples do.”

“No matter what, isn’t this a bit much?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t even realize that.”

“I do.”

Red answered calmly, as if stating something as ordinary as eating or drinking.

“I just wanted to try it.”

“To see what it feels like.”

“And someone who took mental damage might wake up faster like this.”

She smiled as she spoke.

But her eyes didn’t.

Watching from the side, White felt even more convinced.

This senior she was about to work with…

was a monster herself.

“So?”

“What did it feel like?”

“Heart racing? Face red?”

White asked sarcastically.

“My thighs hurt a little.”

“My heart is beating.”

“And you can see my face.”

Red answered seriously.

Her hand gently stroked Ma Guohao’s hair.

It was well cared for.

Touching it reminded her of the chicks she raised as a child.

They were tiny back then.

Cute.

Unfortunately, they grew bigger.

And less cute.

She couldn’t remember the exact day it ended up on the dining table.

Honestly, I probably should’ve felt sad.

After all, I liked it.

But it was also quite tasty.

“Anyway,”

Red returned to the topic.

“What do you think of Ma Guohao’s strength?”

If White had heard that question at the beginning, she might have answered seriously.

But now her thoughts were a mess.

Magical girls dating was normal.

But Red was strange.

Sometimes it was impossible to tell whether she liked someone or not.

If she did like him, she had been far too cold when Ma Guohao ripped open his chest and spat blood earlier.

But if she didn’t, her current behavior didn’t quite add up either.

“Average.”

White finally answered.

“His combat awareness is lacking.”

“Tactical thinking is limited.”

“He’s had some fighting training, and his physique is good.”

“But he lacks experience.”

“Still,”

White glanced at Red.

“You knew him before, didn’t you?”

“Does your real body know Ma Guohao?”

“Yes.”

“We go to the same school.”

Red’s hand rested on Ma Guohao’s head as she activated healing magic while gently stroking it.

That much was true.

And even if she said it out loud, she knew White wouldn’t be able to trace her real identity anyway.

“I see.”

White narrowed her eyes.

“Then what about me?”

“Aren’t you supposed to evaluate my strength too?”

At this point, White had completely lost her proper respect for her senior.

“Average.”

Red replied bluntly.

“Your illusions don’t just create visuals.”

“They generate sound too.”

“When combined with mental attacks, they’re very convincing.”

“But you can’t reproduce scent or ground vibration.”

“Against enemies sensitive to those, you’ll be at a disadvantage.”

After saying that, Red stood up and gently laid Ma Guohao down.

She moved to sit elsewhere.

Her healing worked only on the body.

Mental damage was beyond her reach.

“So…”

“How long until he wakes up?”

“There’s still stuff I need to dump on him.”