Against the Algorithm

Chapter 19: The Cost of Chaos

And Yao?

She was not amused. She huffed, a sharp sound pulled from the bottom of her chest, cheeks still puffed with indignation as she launched a final cushion with impressive force—this one aimed directly at Sicheng, who didn't so much as blink when it hit him square in the chest before tumbling to the floor.

He arched a brow, slowly, unimpressed. "Feel better now, Xiǎo Tùzǐ?"

Yao narrowed her eyes, arms still crossed, her body practically vibrating with leftover tension. And then—just as the others began to settle, just as they foolishly assumed the storm had passed—her gaze slid, sharp and full of sudden inspiration, to the hallway entrance.

Rui had just walked in.

Clipboard in hand. Glasses pushed up. Reading something intently.

Totally unaware.

And Yao?

Yao struck.

Like lightning.

She spun on her heel, expression instantly shifting from bristling warrior to wounded, delicate flower, her arms dropping slightly, her wide eyes lifting in perfect, betrayed innocence as she stepped directly into Rui's path and unleashed her most dangerous, most brutally effective weapon.

The pout.

The wounded, sulky, lip-pulled, wide-eyed pout that she had no idea how devastating it actually was—no idea that the moment she turned it loose, the entire room froze, no idea that she held the power to drop grown men to their knees with a single look .

But the others?

The others knew.

They watched it unfold in real-time, like a car crash they couldn't stop.

Lao Mao stiffened immediately. "No, no, not the pout."

Pang inhaled sharply, whispering, "Abort. ABORT."

Lao K stopped breathing.

Even Sicheng's fingers twitched slightly, his smirk faltering for just a second as he realized what was about to happen, what she was unknowingly about to unleash on them all.

But it was already too late.

Yao stepped closer, voice soft, hesitant, touched with just enough vulnerability to turn the blade. "Rui-ge... the boys weren't listening to Coach Kwon... and they're wasting all my hard work..."

The silence that followed was like the moment before a storm.

Rui's head lifted slowly. His eyes darkened. His clipboard lowered. And the entire team—every single one of them— knew . They had made a terrible mistake. "Is this true?" Rui's voice was calm. Deadly calm. The kind of calm that came with consequences.

Yue, from under the table, peeked out slowly. "Boys... we're done for."

Lao Mao straightened his spine like a man walking to his own execution.

Lao K looked upward, lips parting in a silent prayer to whatever higher power might still be listening.

Pang, traitorous to the very end, didn't even hesitate. "It was the Captain's fault."

Sicheng, unmoved, simply lifted his mug and sipped from it with calculated indifference.

Rui's eyes narrowed further.