The lights at the late-night food stall were dim and warm.
"Boss! Another twenty skewers of lamb! Fat-and-lean mix!"
"This girl… she looks tiny, but she's got serious combat power."
The four of them sat around a greasy folding table piled with skewers, beer, and a bubbling pot of spicy mala tang. Kevin shouted toward the smoke-hazed grill area, then turned back, staring at Kiana—who was eating like her life depended on it—with rare surprise on his usually expressionless face.
Su Yu picked up a grilled eggplant skewer, watching Kiana chow down with oil shining at the corner of her mouth, and sighed with a helpless smile.
"She hasn't eaten properly for days. Tonight she's finally letting loose."
Kiana ignored him, focused entirely on the chicken wing in her hands.
Golden fat gleamed under the lights; her cheeks puffed out like a hamster in the middle of a mission.
Mei couldn't help but chuckle.
"What a… energetic kid."
By the end, Mei set down her chopsticks. The usual rigor and sharpness in her eyes softened.
She took out her phone.
"Kiana."
Kiana looked up—still battling the last fish ball—with bright red chili oil smeared on her lips, looking a little dazed.
"Let me see your phone."
Kiana hesitated, confused, then pulled out the new phone Su Yu had bought her. Mei took it, tapped a few things, and handed it back.
"This is my contact."
Mei's tone was serious.
"If Su Yu bullies you, or if you ever have any… difficulties you can't easily talk about—physical, daily life, anything—contact me anytime. Whatever it is."
Kiana stared at the new name on her screen:
Mei.
Just one simple character… and yet her heart tightened.
"I'll add mine too."
Kevin pulled out his phone, brought up his QR code, and waved it at her. "Here, scan. I'm not as detail-oriented as Mei, but if you need brute force, come to me."
Scan complete.
Another name appeared in her contacts:
Kevin.
Kiana stared at the screen for a long time.
Mei.Kevin.
In this unfamiliar world, aside from Su Yu—her "caretaker"—these were the first friends' contacts she'd ever had.
So this was what it felt like… to be cared for, to be accepted.
She gave a small nod.
"…Thank you."
The voice was so soft it nearly got swallowed by the shouting and drinking games at the next table.
But Mei heard it.
She smiled gently—an adult's patience and warmth in her eyes.
After paying, the four of them walked out of the stall filled with smoke and human heat.
The night wind was cool, blowing away the barbecue smell—yet it couldn't blow away the warmth that lingered.
Kevin glanced at Su Yu's injured leg—walking was already a struggle—and frowned.
"With your condition, can you even manage stairs? Want me to drive you back?"
Su Yu was about to say "Sorry to bother you—"
"No."
Kiana cut in, firm.
"I'll take responsibility."
The moment the words left her mouth, the air froze for two seconds.
Kevin and Mei both turned to her at once, their expressions shifting from confusion to something… suspiciously gossipy.
Take responsibility?
For what responsibility?
Kiana's face went bright red, like the chili finally hit.
"I—I mean— I can get him home."
Kevin raised a brow, scanning Kiana up and down.
She looked maybe 160-something centimeters tall, arms so slim they seemed like they'd snap if you squeezed too hard.
And Su Yu—sure, he was a homebody—was still a 180-something adult man.
"You sure?" Kevin's tone screamed disbelief. "Su Yu looks weak, but he's actually heavy as hell."
"You're the one who's weak," Su Yu shot back.
Kiana didn't answer.
She just stepped up to Su Yu and—
bent down, slipped one arm under his knees, the other behind his back, and lifted.
"Wait—hold on—"
Su Yu didn't even finish the sentence.
He was already off the ground.
A princess carry.
A perfect, textbook-standard, borderline CEO-level princess carry.
Su Yu hung there in midair, posed like a delicate fairy-tale princess rescued by a gallant prince—
except the "knight" was an underage-looking girl, and the "princess" was a grown man with stubble.
Kiana didn't even wobble.
Her arms were steady as stone. Her breathing stayed calm. Like she wasn't carrying seventy-plus kilos of adult male, but a bag of cotton candy.
Kevin's mouth fell open—wide enough to fit an egg.
His expression went from doubt, to surprise, to shock, and finally into the philosophical territory of Who am I? Where am I? What am I witnessing?
He looked one second away from asking why birds can fly.
The food stall owner walked past with a plate of wings, saw the scene, and nearly dropped it.
"Th-this… kids these days…"
"…This isn't scientific." Kevin finally found his voice, but it sounded like it was floating somewhere above his body.
"Mm."
Mei, however, reacted completely differently.
Her eyes lit up like she'd just found perfect data—or a never-before-seen rare specimen.
"Interesting…"
She began circling Kiana, scanning her arms, shoulders, core like a walking MRI.
"Based on your frame, fast-twitch muscle mass shouldn't be this pronounced, but your burst output and core stability are far above normal thresholds. That force-to-volume ratio… violates basic biomechanics."
"Mei…" Kevin grabbed his girlfriend, exasperated. "Can you not look at her like a lab mouse?"
"Occupational hazard. Sorry." Mei smiled—clearly not sorry at all—and looked at Kiana again.
"Do you train? Gymnastics? Weightlifting? Or—"
"She… she practices martial arts," Su Yu said with difficulty from Kiana's arms, trying to salvage the last scraps of his dignity.
"Family tradition type. Gun-kata, greatsword… she's terrifying."
"Family tradition? Which school?" Mei's eyes shone even brighter—she even pulled out a little notebook.
"Uh…" Su Yu choked.
"Alright, Mei, don't make it awkward." Kevin finally yanked Mei back. "A girl being strong is fine. Plenty of girls lift these days."
Even if "using a grown man as a dumbbell" was… beyond ridiculous.
Kiana held Su Yu, cheeks burning.
She was already regretting the impulse.
She'd only meant to prove she could handle it—
and somehow it turned into this spectacle.
....
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