Against the Algorithm

Chapter 54: Given, Not Owed

It was later that evening when Yao padded softly down the stairs in her slippers, her hair loosely braided over one shoulder, and Da Bing trotting just behind her with all the gravitas of a bodyguard whose shift never ended. Except the second she stepped into the lounge and rounded the edge of the couch—

Yue spotted her. He froze mid-sentence, one arm draped across the back of the couch, his other hand holding his phone. His eyes locked on her like she had just walked into his trap.

She blinked. "...What?"

Yue launched.

She didn't even have time to set the cup down.

"TINY BOSS BUNNY!"

She squeaked—actually squeaked—as he flung himself at her, catching her around the waist and dragging her down with him onto the couch in a mess of flailing limbs and high-pitched squawks.

"YUE—! You can't just—!"

"You tricked me!" he wailed, wrapping her in a bear hug that immediately flattened her against his chest. "You manipulated me with a Jaguar, and I have never loved you more!"

Yao flailed helplessly. "It's just a car!"

"It's a miracle! You knew! You plotted in silence!"

She buried her burning face in her hands. "Please get off me."

"No," he sniffed. "I live here now."

Da Bing hopped up beside them with a loud, judgmental mrrow and promptly sat on Yue's stomach, his full weight eliciting an immediate choked groan from the boy now crushed beneath two beings who would not be moved. (A certain dramatic kitten was sleeping in his bed upstairs, luckily for Yue as he would not have approved of his dramatics towards his mama and would have shown his displeasure.)

Sicheng stepped in from the side hall just in time to witness the scene, Yue flailing, Da Bing victorious, and Yao, pink-faced, wide-eyed, and frozen halfway between trying to push Yue off and trying to vanish into the couch. His arms folded loosely across his chest, a slow exhale leaving his lungs like he'd been expecting this the entire time. "You should've just told us, Xiǎo tùzǐ." he said mildly with a soft adoring glint in his eyes aimed at her.

"I wasn't going to make a thing of it." Yao muttered from behind her hands, still not looking up.

"It is a thing! You delivered a car like a drama heroine and left a note. A note, Tiny Boss Bunny!" Yue gasped dramatically beneath the pile.

"I just... thought you'd be happy."

Sicheng's eyes softened. "The brat is."

She finally peeked up at him through her fingers, cheeks glowing, her voice a tiny whisper. "You too?"

He nodded once. "Very, Xiǎo Tùzǐ."

Yue sniffled again. "You're never allowed to say you're not good at gifting ever again."

"I wasn't trying to gift anything," she whispered, utterly overwhelmed. "I just... wanted everyone to have something that made them feel special and for you all to know how much you all meant to me."

Sicheng stepped forward then, crouched beside the couch, and brushed a strand of her hair back from her cheek, his fingers careful, warm. "You're very good at that," he murmured. "Even when you think you're not."

She lowered her eyes, still flustered, her hand twisting into the hem of her sleeve as she quietly whispered, "Okay. But please don't tackle me next time, Yue."