Against the Algorithm

Chapter 16: Countermeasures

Summary: After a quiet conversation changes everything, adjustments begin behind the scenes—some deliberate, some instinctive. The team shifts. Habits change. Tong Yao finds herself surrounded by unexpected support, even if she doesn't fully understand it yet. But as balance returns, something else begins to take root—teasing becomes territory, and the battle lines blur. Especially when Lu Sicheng realizes his greatest opponent might not be on the leaderboard, but in the form of one fluffy, judgmental cat who has decided he's not welcome near her without a fight.

Notes:

Author's Note: Furry Shenanigans

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Sixteen

Sicheng sat there for a long moment after the doctor had finished speaking, his silence not from doubt or confusion but from the weight of what had just been confirmed. His thoughts—sharp, fast, always moving three steps ahead—were already adjusting, reorienting, building plans. He would need to talk to the team. Quietly. Carefully. He would need to make certain accommodations feel natural so she didn't feel singled out. He would need to observe her more closely than he already did. And he already did. But even through the forming checklist in his mind, one thought continued to pull at him—something that had been there since the day he met her, something that had never quite settled. So he asked.

"What about the way she reacts to things?"

The doctor looked up.

"The way she gets flustered so easily?" he clarified, voice low but steady, gaze steady as amber glass.

She tilted her head, considering. "You mean her shyness?"

"Do you think she's just naturally like that, or is it something else?"

The doctor exhaled, the shift in her posture subtle as she leaned back in her chair, folding her hands again with careful precision. "Both."

His brow lifted slightly, expression unreadable, but his eyes never left her.

"For the most part, I truly believe that's just who she is," the doctor began, her tone steady, grounded in both empathy and experience. "She's naturally shy. Naturally reserved. And she's someone who gets flustered easily when attention is directed at her in ways she's unfamiliar with. That's not unusual, and it's not a flaw. It's part of her personality." She paused, her gaze thoughtful. "That kind of temperament has both its strengths and vulnerabilities. It makes her gentle. It makes her thoughtful. It makes her someone people gravitate toward without even realizing why."

And Sicheng understood immediately—because he had seen it. He'd seen it in the way people leaned in a little closer when she spoke. He'd seen it in the way strangers softened their tones around her, in the way even hardened professionals and battle-hardened players subconsciously adjusted their posture in her presence. He had seen the way her softness created comfort and the way it invited danger. Because she didn't always realize when she was being watched. Didn't always notice when attention wasn't harmless. Didn't always catch the undertones of certain jokes, or the edge in someone's voice. He had seen it. He had already been stepping in without even thinking about it. Redirecting conversations. Changing the subject. Shifting his stance when someone's gaze lingered too long.

The doctor must've noticed something flicker across his face because her voice softened—but not out of mercy. Out of understanding. "Don't try to change her, Lu Sicheng."