Monday, September 22

“So in the end, we’re still going to the boys’ side first, huh?”

“Yeah, Rinka said she’ll come pick us up around noon.”

Another Monday.

I didn’t head straight to the girls campus. According to Rinka, she’d personally come fetch us later today.

That’s right—us.

Not sure why she agreed to it, but Rinka had somehow given the green light for Xiao Lei to tag along and study at the girls campus with me for now.

I scrolled through Weibo on my phone.

First up, checking in on our rising idol, Lei Meow Meow. As it turns out, her JK look was a huge hit. Guess JKs are just universally adored these days.

Then I peeked at the latest customer rankings at Kamehameha. Unsurprisingly, the gentle and sweet “Saki-chan” had a massive lead over second place “Xiao Lei.” Third place went to “Shana”—which was obviously the delinquent girl Sharo. The oldest and most experienced maid, “Xiao Jiu,” had fallen to the bottom of the list… Youth really is power.

Come on, Sis Qiuluo! At this rate, your “little sister” is going to outshine you in every category!

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhao was pushing my wheelchair with a pervy glint in his eye, leering at the girls on their way to school. With that creepy grin and his whole vibe, he had practically turned the sidewalk into a danger zone—no girl dared step within range.

Plus, he was moving without looking ahead, which was just plain dangerous.

“Hey! Zhao Zhao, watch where you're going! You’re about to dump me into that sand pile!”

“Ah—sorry, I was looking at some cuties.”

“Can you act normal for once? Stuff like this is exactly why Xiao Lei gets shunned!”

But he was completely unapologetic. “Come on, Commander, how can you not get it? Admiring beautiful things is a basic human instinct! What’s more beautiful than a cute JK? Nothing! So what’s wrong with wanting to look at, smell, hug, or even—”

“Okay, no. That’s just plain perverted.”

At the school gate, the disciplinary committee was doing their usual morning checks. Yan Liuzhuan, the leader, spotted us and came over.

“Morning.”

“Morning, Old Yan.”

“I already heard from Rinka about your situation,” he said.

Ugh, did Rinka not plan to keep anything secret? How’d he find out already?

I gave a small bow. “Sorry for keeping it from you before.”

He glanced at my leg cast and nodded. “Moving around must be tough. Going next door for now isn’t a bad idea.”

Honestly, it wasn’t tough at all. Actually, it made things easier. I got wheeled to and from school, barely needed to walk during the day, and I had a legit excuse to skip gym.

“Speaking of which… are we okay with all the class time we’re missing from the boys' side?”

Yan Liuzhuan pushed up his glasses. “Rinka’s already spoken with the teachers. You’ll be attending the girls’ campus as ‘exchange students’—same applies on their end.”

“Exchange students, huh… Yeah, guess that’s what we are.”

Since we were only attending temporarily, calling it an exchange didn’t feel too off.

I pointed a thumb toward the girls’ campus. “Old Yan, wanna come experience the JK life with us?”

Rinka would probably be thrilled to have him.

“No thanks. I’ve still got disciplinary duties. And don’t forget—you’re students, even over there. Go with the right mindset, not like it’s some field trip.”

Classic Yan Liuzhuan. He sounded just like a mom sending her kid off to school.

After his lecture, he stared hard at Zhao Zhao and finally warned, “You better not pull anything that’ll get you kicked back over here by Rinka and the others.”

“I won’t! Or… at least, Xiao Lei won’t!” Zhao Zhao scratched his head. That lack of trust? Yeah, he earned it.

“Better not,” Yan Liuzhuan muttered. “Thanks to you, I’ve gotten real familiar with the security staff next door.”

I couldn’t focus at all during morning classes. Just the thought of becoming a student at the girls’ campus by noon made me… weirdly excited. Like the night before a school trip—you’re too hyped to sleep.

Zhao Zhao probably felt the same way, right?

I glanced over at him and—wait, he was actually scribbling furiously in his notebook?

No way, was he… studying? Is the world ending?

I leaned in to see what he was writing and immediately got a headache.

Stuff like:
“Must take pics during gym class—bloomers are supreme!”
“Sniff the changing room!”
“Go hug cute girls!”

I deadpanned, “What are you doing?”

“Writing Xiao Lei’s secret mission list!”

“Could you not? She’s already having a hard time!”

Xiao Lei’s popularity had nosedived with Rinka’s group. If she got caught doing anything weird now, she’d get booted back to the boys’ school. That’d be just too cruel.

As soon as the final bell rang, Rinka showed up at our classroom door, peeking around at me.

“If you’re ready, come with me!”

To the rest of the class, this was the long-awaited return of the boys’ campus school beauty. Her appearance caused a mini uproar. Even if she was technically crossdressing, to them she was still eye candy.

Classmate A: “Isn’t the school beauty getting more and more like a real girl? She’s gorgeous!”
Classmate B: “Didn’t you hear? Word is she got ‘enhanced’ in Thailand over summer break!”
Classmate C: “She even officially transferred to the girls’ campus. My little sister’s seen her!”
Classmate D: “Wait, for real? Then her showing up here to see Chang Kai… is she accepting his old confession?! …Hold on, you have a sister? Traitor! Die!”

Wow, so that’s the rumor going around over here? Thailand, seriously?

But I guess it’s understandable. Rinka’s transformation would definitely raise eyebrows. Still, saying that stuff right to her face is a bit much.

Back when Rinka was still a guy, she used to be super sensitive about those kinds of rumors. Now? She couldn’t care less—living fully on her own terms.

Zhao Zhao pushed me along as we followed Rinka out of the building.

We passed the sports field and headed into a wooded area in front of the faux mountain, deeper and deeper in. The dirt path was soft and uneven—pretty rough for a wheelchair. There were even little rocks jutting out here and there.

“Wait… don’t tell me we’re climbing up that?”

“Don’t be silly. Do you think I would scale a cliff like some kind of monkey just to go between schools?”

Her outfit was pristine, so yeah, didn’t look like she had.

Then Zhao Zhao’s eyes lit up. “Ah! Is it that door?”

Rinka snapped her fingers. “Bingo! Kinda expected you to know about it though. That’s the one.”

He smacked his forehead. “Can’t believe that door was the shortcut to the girls’ school all along! Damn, if I’d known, I would’ve picked the lock ages ago!”

“You’d try to pick the lock? That’s rich. Think again.”

I cut in, “Can someone please explain what this ‘door’ is?”

Zhao Zhao answered, “Oh, there’s this hidden iron door embedded in the mountain. I always thought it was just a storage room or something.
But now that I think about it, there’s no way they’d put a storage room that far from the main building.”

So the boys’ and girls’ schools aren’t completely separated after all—there’s a secret passage.

I nodded in understanding and mused aloud, “How ironic. The secret gateway to that holy land known as the girls’ campus… hidden beneath this wall we boys had all but written off.”

“We’re here!”

I looked where Rinka pointed, but saw nothing.

“You won’t be able to enter like that, Commander. You’ve gotta stand up first.”

Zhao Zhao handed me my crutches and folded up the wheelchair. That’s when I noticed a small Z-shaped gap formed by the fake mountain’s walls. The entrance was low and narrow—easy to miss.

Rinka made a “please, after you” gesture. Yep. She was making me crawl through again.

“Seriously? Another dog tunnel? At least the one on the fifth floor was clean—this one’s filthy!”

“Well duh, it’s a secret tunnel. It’s supposed to be hidden. Now get in there!”

Thankfully, it was a bit roomier than the fire cabinet one. I crouched low and shuffled inside, my casted leg managing just fine.

Once through, I could stand up straight. Using the light from the entrance, I spotted the door Zhao Zhao mentioned.

[Investigate]
A heavy off-white iron door. No window. Feels like it’s fused to the surrounding space—completely immobile.

There was something… unsettling about it I couldn’t quite place.