They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 189: I’ll Throw Her Off!

I woke up slowly, consciousness returning in stages.

First came the awareness of light, morning sun streaming through the window, warm and bright against my closed eyelids.

Then sound of birds outside, distant street noise, the general ambient hum of a town waking up.

Then physical sensation.

Warmth pressed against my side. Weight draped across my chest.

That’s... not normal.

I blinked my eyes open, still groggy, and turned my head.

And saw Scarlet curled against me, head resting on my shoulder, one arm thrown across my chest, legs tangled with mine.

Her glamour had dropped completely in her sleep, red hair spilled across the pillow, fox ears twitched slightly with her breathing, her tail was wrapped around my leg like she was holding on even unconsciously.

Her face was peaceful, relaxed in a way I’d never seen while she was awake.

When did she came here...

How did she...

What the—?

I blinked, completely taken aback, my brain not quite processing this situation.

At what point did she migrate and decided I made an acceptable body pillow?

I reached over and touched her shoulder, nudging gently.

"Hey Scarlet. Wake up."

She made a sound of protest.

"Mnnn." Nuzzling closer into my shoulder, her arm tightening around my chest.

"Five more minutes..." Her voice was sleepy, muffled against my shirt.

No. Absolutely not. This needs to stop happening right now.

"Scarlet," I said more loudly, putting actual command in my voice.

"Geez, why are you so loud..." she grumbled, yawning, her ears flattening with irritation.

And then her eyes opened.

Blinked once, then twice.

Focused on me. On our position. On the fact that she was basically wrapped around me like a particularly clingy cat.

Her face went from sleepy pale to bright red in approximately half a second.

A high-pitched, mortified squeak escaped her lip.

Just as she tried to extract herself—

The door opened.

"Jin~"

Tessa’s cheerful voice preceded her entrance, already mid-sentence as she pushed through the doorway.

"Let’s get ready and—"

She stopped.

Froze completely, still holding the door handle, her eyes going wide.

Looked at me then at Scarlet scrambling away from me with a face like a tomato, her glamour still down, fox features fully visible.

Her expression went through several rapid changes, surprise, confusion, understanding, then something that might have been hurt flashing across her face before being buried under forced cheerfulness.

"Oh." Her voice came out slightly too high. "I’m... interrupting something."

"No!" Scarlet and I said simultaneously.

Scarlet had finally managed to disentangle herself completely, pressed against the wall now with her hands covering her face, tail wrapped around herself protectively.

I sat up quickly, trying to project calm despite feeling anything but.

Tessa’s expression was carefully neutral now, her earlier brightness completely gone.

"I’ll just... give you two some privacy to finish... waking up."

"Tessa—"

But she was already backing out of the room.

"Take your time! I’ll wait downstairs! No rush!"

The door closed with a very deliberate softness.

That was worse than if she’d slammed it.

Silence fell over the room.

Scarlet was still pressed against the wall, her face still red, refusing to look at me.

"This is so embarrassing." She finally lowered her hands, though she still wouldn’t meet my eyes. "I’m going to my room. And never speaking of this again. Ever."

"Yeah."

She activated her glamour with visible effort and basically fled the room without another word.

I got up, changed clothes quickly, tried to make myself presentable, and headed downstairs with a sense of impending doom.

Tessa was sitting at a table in the common room, a mug of something in front of her, staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe.

She looked up when I approached, her expression carefully blank.

"Good morning."

"Tessa—"

"It’s fine." She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "You don’t owe me an explanation. We’re not actually married. You can sleep with whoever you want."

"I didn’t sleep with anyone. She accidentally ended up there with me while unconscious."

"Of course. People accidentally sleep together all the time."

She doesn’t believe me.

I sat down across from her, leaning forward.

"Tessa. Look at me."

She did, reluctantly, her eyes meeting mine for just a moment before trying to slide away.

I didn’t let her.

"Do I look like someone who just spent the night with a woman?"

She blinked, caught off guard by the directness.

"I... what?"

"Look at me." I gestured to myself.

"My clothes are rumpled because I fell asleep in them. My hair is a mess because I didn’t bother with a pillow. I smell like I’ve been working with herbs all night because I was working with herbs all night."

Her eyes did actually scan over me then, taking in the details.

"You saw Scarlet pass out after her dose last night," I continued. "You were there. She collapsed on the bed, exhausted from the treatment. And since we’d both worked overnight on potion production, I was exhausted too. I literally just dropped at the foot of the bed and fell asleep right there."

Tessa’s expression was still guarded, but I could see the micro-shifts, the slight relaxation around her eyes, the way her shoulders dropped just a fraction.

"And apparently," I added with deliberate exasperation, "she decided during her sleep that I made an excellent body pillow and migrated to my side. Without even asking for my permission."

"And if something had actually happened..." I met her eyes directly, holding the gaze.

"I’d at least have the decency to lock the door. Not leave it wide open for anyone to walk in."

Her lips pressed into a thin line.

The guardedness was fading, replaced by something that looked like embarrassment mixed with relief.

"That’s... a good point actually."

"I know."

She looked down at her mug, her fingers tracing the rim.

"I’m sorry. For assuming. For jumping to conclusions." Her voice went quieter.

Silence fell between us.

I watched her carefully, the way her shoulders were still slightly tense, the subtle downturn of her mouth, how she wouldn’t quite meet my eyes even though she was looking in my direction.

Something’s still bothering her.

"You looked hurt," I said quietly, after a moment. "Why?"

Tessa blinked, her fingers stopping their tracing motion.

"Hurt? Why would I be hurt?"

She crossed her arms defensively, looking away toward the common room’s far wall.

"We’re not actually together, remember?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Then you’re fine with it?"

She opened her mouth immediately. "No."

Then froze.

Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what she’d just said.

She looked away sharply, her cheeks coloring.

"You’re okay and not okay?" I kept my tone neutral. "That’s not really an answer, Tessa."

Tessa opened her mouth to respond.

Then paused.

Closed it again.

"I..." She frowned, her brow furrowing with what looked like genuine confusion. "I don’t know."

Her fingers tightened around the mug, knuckles going slightly white.

"It just caught me off guard, okay? Seeing you two like that. I know nothing happened. But in that moment, I felt..." She stopped, clearly frustrated with herself for not being able to articulate it.

"I don’t know what I felt. I just didn’t like it."

She looked annoyed with herself, like the inability to pin down her own emotions was personally offensive.

I studied her for a moment, the confusion on her face, the frustration.

Then sighed.

"Relax."

I leaned back in my chair, deliberately casual.

"If Scarlet tries it again, I’ll throw her off the bed."

Tessa snorted before she could stop herself, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"You’re terrible."

"Only slightly."

She laughed properly then.

The sound turned into wheezing giggles, her shoulders shaking, the tension finally draining away completely.

"You can’t just..." She was still giggling. "Throw her off the bed. She’d claw your face off."

"Worth it to avoid another awkward morning."

"You’re ridiculous." But she was grinning now.

She stood up, her energy returning fully.

"Come on. We need to go make some money. Our customers might be waiting for us at the guild."

Her tone had shifted back to light and teasing.

I smiled despite myself and stood, offering her my hand.

She paused.

Looked at my extended hand.

Then at my face.

Then took it, her fingers lacing through mine, and giggled.

"Let’s go make our fortune~"

And bounced slightly as we headed toward the exit, already talking a mile a minute.

"What should we do with the money? Once we have extra? There was this absolutely beautiful dress I saw in one of the shops... not that I need it, but it would be nice to have something fancy for once."

"And proper traveling boots. Mine are starting to wear through. Oh! And that restaurant near the market that smells amazing every time we walk past? We should eat there. At least once. Just to see if it’s as good as it smells."

"Tessa, we haven’t sold anything yet—"

"But we will! Those potions are amazing. Everyone’s going to want them. We’ll be the most popular alchemists in Thornhaven!"

She squeezed my hand, her enthusiasm absolutely infectious despite being completely premature.

"Oh, and I want to try that candied fruit stand. The one with the glazed apples. They look so good. Have you ever had candied apples? I haven’t. Village festivals never had anything that fancy."

I let her ramble, her excitement pulling us through the morning streets at a pace that was almost a skip.

And sighed.

Well... let’s hope they sell well.