A-Ta was either an incredibly resilient fighter or a complete masochist.

  Just when I thought he'd never show up again, I saw him striding toward the store from outside. Then—bang!—he smacked right into the automatic door, which was decorated with all sorts of little trinkets. Stunned, he rubbed his nose awkwardly before stepping inside.

  I blurted out, “Oh my god, do you walk around sleepwalking with your eyes open?”

  Honestly, I had a sneaking suspicion he did that on purpose, even though his nose had turned red from the impact and the sound of the collision was undeniably real.

  I remembered the night Ze Yu broke up with his wild-tempered girlfriend. That night, he told me a bizarre story about one of his seniors from the debate club.

  That senior's name was Guan Kai. He was excellent at crafting arguments and gathering information, and he spoke eloquently when discussing strategies with teammates in private. But when it came to actual competitions, he would get so nervous that he completely fell apart. His hesitation and missteps were especially obvious during cross-examinations.

  Then, Guan Kai started sneezing. Constantly.

  He even set a horrifying record—122 sneezes in three minutes—severely disrupting both his opponent's questioning rhythm and his response time. One time, he was sneezing so much that he nearly passed out from ck of oxygen and had to be helped up by his opponent.

  “Wow, that sneeze maniac Guan Kai must not have competed often, right?” I ughed.

  “Not at all. He was actually the treasure of our university's debate club. Other schools dreaded seeing him,” Ze Yu expined with a grin. “We always analyzed which position the strongest debaters from other schools pyed, and then we would strategically pce Guan Kai against them in cross-examinations. That way, their top debaters never had the chance to fully showcase their skills. All their time would be wasted on his endless sneezing. And the best part? He was actually sneezing—no faking involved.”

  “Whoa! But wouldn't that mean he wasn't scoring any points himself?” I tilted my head, puzzled.

  “On the surface, this might seem like a self-sabotaging tactic—hurting ourselves more than the enemy—but the key is that their star debater wouldn't be able to perform at their best. Their overall score would drop even faster than ours,” Ze Yu said in a low voice.

  “Still… when you put it that way, Guan Kai sounds pretty pitiful,” I murmured.

  “Not necessarily. He actually fought to go on stage all the time, ciming he was the ultimate trump card!” Ze Yu burst into ughter.

  Maybe messing up had become some kind of compulsion—like if he didn't embarrass himself at least once a day, he’d break out in hives or develop an allergy.

  By that logic, A-Ta coming back to the store where Albus worked—after having his girlfriend stolen by him—was nothing short of self-destruction. Maybe he was addicted to making a fool of himself. I had to give him some credit.

  “Is Albus not here?” A-Ta scratched his head as he looked at me.

  “She said the test Young Weekly just came out, so she went to Meizhu Rental Bookstore to read it. She’ll be back in about half an hour,” I gnced at the clock on the wall and added, “probably another ten minutes or so.” Albus was always that carefree.

  “Then…” A-Ta touched his now bright-red nose, gncing around the store.

  “Why don't you sit and wait for her? I won’t charge you for sitting,” I suggested.

  “No, it’s fine.” He shook his head and pulled a beautifully wrapped box from his slightly worn backpack, pcing it in front of me.

  “Wow, you're really good with your hands. The wrapping is exceptional,” I clicked my tongue in admiration. Even the seal was finished with wax.

  “Please give this to Albus. She'll understand what I mean. Thank you.” A-Ta suddenly grasped my hand tightly.

  It hurt. He wasn't treating me like a girl at all—it was as if he was trying to transfer all his internal strength into me in one go.

  “You don't have to rush off. Didn't my boss say she'd treat you to a different kind of coffee every time you came to make amends? Sit down and wait for Albus.” The shop owner, sitting not far away, spoke zily in our direction.

  I looked at A-Ta. He seemed nervous but not tense.

  "Yeah! I just learned how to make a medium-strength Meijing Sanhe yesterday. Want to give it a try?" I offered.

  "A medium-strength river? Which three rivers?" A-Ta looked skeptical.

  "No, it's 'Bel Vista Tarrazú,' a type of coffee from Costa Rica!" I nearly fainted from frustration.

  (T/N: A-Ta misunderstands 美景三河 měi jǐng sān hé as referring to three actual rivers, when in reality, it′s just a poetic transtion of a Costa Rican coffee name. 美景 (měi jǐng) = "beautiful scenery" → refers to Bel Vista (Spanish for "beautiful view"). 三河 (sān hé) = "three rivers" → might be a misinterpretation of Tarrazú, which does not mean "three rivers" but could have sounded that way to the character.)

  Finally, A-Ta sat down.

  He chose a seat by the window, where golden sunlight poured in—was he trying to use the evening light to hide the awkwardness on his face?

  “Here, it’s really good. It even has Albus’s seal of approval,” I said as I carefully carried the coffee over to him.

  “Thank you.” A-Ta immediately stood up, reaching out with both hands.

  Worried that his overwhelming internal strength might crush my fingers, I quickly pced the coffee into his hands before he could accidentally twist mine off.

  “About st time… I really owe you one,” he said sincerely, accepting the coffee.

  “So, have you been feeling any happier tely?” I asked, hoping his friends had finally stopped messing with him.

  “Yeah. After the whole thing spread, I actually received a lot of apology emails.” His face turned red, but he looked genuinely happy.

  “I'm so happy to hear that.” I cpped my hands together in delight. “But from now on, you need to stand up for yourself a little more—act like a man!”

  “Mhm, I'll remember your words well—I mean it.” A-Ta nodded and gave me a thumbs-up.

  Hearing that, I felt quite proud of myself. Speaking up for justice was definitely the right move.

  “Enough talking, hurry up and drink my Meijing Sanhe! And give me a rating,” I said with a grin.

  When Albus was around, I usually handled the food while she took care of the coffee.

  Only when she got zy would she toss the coffee-making duties to me.