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After spending so much time with Vic, Wednesday had learned a valuable lesson.
Never let Vic occupy the moral high ground, or he would surely push his luck and seek comforting rewards.
Sure enough, seeing Wednesday planning to ignore him and using the duvet as a fortification to muddle through...
A cunning light of "I caught your weakness" flashed instantly in Vic's peach-blossom eyes.
Like a cat spotting a dried fish, he scooted over silently, sidling up behind Wednesday.
Through the thin duvet, he could feel Wednesday's body stiffen instantly.
"Wednesday~"
Vic dragged out his tone, his voice sticky and carrying a hint of grievance, mixed with righteous accusation.
Wednesday kept her eyes shut tight, determined to ignore him, hoping he would find it boring and retreat.
However, Vic clearly lacked this "self-awareness."
He extended an index finger and, through the soft down duvet, poked precisely at Wednesday's waist.
Wednesday shuddered violently!
A sharp yet tingly sensation spread rapidly from the poked spot like a micro-electric current, shooting up her spine and almost making her jump.
She bit her lower lip hard to suppress the gasp almost escaping her throat. Every muscle in her body tensed, desperately maintaining her curled side-sleeping posture to hide any vulnerability.
"Wednesday, Wednesday~"
Seeing no reaction, Vic poked again. A little harder this time, his tone even more self-righteous.
"I think using beast-taming methods on your handsome, cute, and loyal boyfriend is wrong. It is incorrect. It violates... uh, the Boyfriend Protection Act!"
He fabricated rights for himself randomly.
"So—"
Vic revealed his dagger. He leaned his head forward, his warm breath spraying onto the tip of Wednesday's slightly reddened ear exposed outside the duvet.
"You should compensate me. For emotional damage and emotional fraud."
His voice dropped low, carrying a bewitching tone:
"I don't want much. Just... how about another 'Surprise Kiss'? This time I promise not to zone out; I'll feel it properly!"
Wednesday's fingers hidden under the duvet clenched tight.
This guy pushing his luck!
Hmph, keep dreaming.
Wednesday sneered internally, determined to ignore Vic's "moral accusations" and kiss-soliciting tricks.
Using sheer willpower, she suppressed the lingering tingle at her waist, adjusting her breathing to be long and steady, as if she had sunk into the deepest sleep.
"Wednesday, Wednesday~"
Vic poked her again through the duvet, unwilling to give up, the force carrying probing dissatisfaction.
But Wednesday remained as immovable as the hardest basalt. Not even an eyelash trembled.
"Wuu~"
Vic puffed out his cheeks and let out a long, drawn-out whimper filled with resentment, like a large dog whose last snack was stolen.
The light in his peach-blossom eyes dimmed, written with the grievance of "The whole world has abandoned me."
"Pfft—"
Beside them, Enid, who was feigning sleep, finally couldn't hold it back. A very light laugh leaked through her fingers.
Seeing Vic's sorrowful gaze sweep over immediately, she squeezed her eyes shut tight, even emitting a tiny, exaggerated snore.
Wholeheartedly expressing the stance: "I am asleep, I know nothing, every debt has its debtor, don't come looking for me, ow."
Vic looked left at the ice-sculpture-like Wednesday, then right at the "soundly sleeping" Enid.
An unprecedented feeling of grievance from being doubly "cold-shouldered" drowned him like a tide.
He pouted, sliding down silently and slowly.
Then he yanked the duvet over his head, covering himself completely, curling into a giant shadow radiating low pressure inside the covers.
Finally quiet.
Wednesday breathed a secret sigh of relief, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly.
It seemed that dealing with this guy sometimes required ignoring him more than any rebuttal.
However, this peace lasted less than three minutes.
A series of extremely suppressed, intermittent sobbing sounds came muffled from under Vic's duvet cover.
The sound was pitched perfectly—
Not loud wailing that would be annoying, but clear enough that those beside him couldn't ignore it. Every breathy sound was filled with the pitifulness of being abandoned.
Wednesday: "..."
Her eyeballs moved slightly under her closed lids.
Enid's "little snoring" stopped abruptly too. she opened her eyes a slit, her blue eyes flashing with a complex mix of worry and amusement.
She looked toward Wednesday and whispered:
Hey, he seems to be really crying? Should we comfort him?
Wednesday remained with her back to them, but the hand resting by her side tightened almost imperceptibly.
She could feel the body under the duvet behind her trembling slightly.
Heaven knows if he was trembling from crying, from holding back laughter, or purely from Oscar-worthy acting.
Troublemaker.
She scolded him silently in her heart.
Knowing full well there was a 99.9% chance he was acting, that remaining 0.01% possibility—and the contrast of this usually noisy guy rarely showing such fragility—still caused her heart, usually comparable to a precision instrument, to produce a very subtle, irregular fluctuation.
In the dark, the suppressed sobbing continued to ferment, like an invisible feather repeatedly teasing Wednesday's taut nerves.
She could clearly feel the body wrapped in the duvet behind her shaking slightly. Every tremor of breath transmitted the signal of "grievance" precisely.
Wednesday took a deep breath, trying to block out the noise and focus on her steady breathing rhythm.
Hmph, how could I be shaken by such clumsy, obvious acting?
But... why does that whimper sound a bit nasal now?
Did Vic... actually squeeze out a few tears? Over a kiss? Really?
Enid had the softest heart. Hearing Vic's pitiful, intermittent sobbing, she melted completely.
She finally couldn't hold back. Extending her warm arms, she gently pulled the large "Bundle of Grievance" curled under the duvet—radiating low pressure—into her embrace, blanket and all.
"Vic, be good. Don't cry."
She patted his back gently, like soothing a frightened small animal.
Vic climbed the pole immediately. Like a cub finding the protection of its mother, he buried his face deep into Enid's neck, which smelled faintly sweet.
He nuzzled her, his voice muffled and thick with nasal congestion as he continued his accusation:
"Sob sob sob... Wednesday is so mean... She did something wrong and won't compensate me... She trained me like a Slorp..."
While enjoying Enid's gentle embrace, he didn't forget to deliver a precise follow-up stab. lifting his head to look at Enid, he asked with a tone of "lingering fear":
"You didn't learn those tricks from Wednesday, did you?"
Enid was amused by his appearance. Her blue eyes curved into crescents as she shook her head vigorously and cooperatively, her voice crisp:
"No! Even if Wednesday wanted me to learn, I didn't agree!"
Her tone carried a bit of pride, as if saying "Look how firmly I stand on your side."
Wednesday, who had been keeping her back to them and trying hard to maintain her iceberg state, finally reached her limit. She whipped her head around!
Her pitch-black eyes first glared at Enid in disbelief, filled with the accusation: "You little traitor! Who was the one begging to call me 'Teacher' earlier?!"
Immediately, her gaze fell back onto Vic, who was buried in Enid's arms, shoulders still shaking suspiciously.
The continuous, ear-piercing fake crying; Enid's unprincipled bias; and her own inexplicable unrest caused by this clumsy performance...
All factors combined finally caused Wednesday's taut nerve to snap with a pop.
She took a deep breath, as if making a difficult and humiliating decision. Squeezing her voice through her teeth, she spoke with the exhaustion of giving up:
"Sigh——!"
A long sigh, filled with the helplessness of being extorted.
"Fine. You win, little ancestor."
She turned her head to face Vic, who had finally lifted his head slightly from Enid's neck, revealing one eye to peek at her.
"Stop crying. Whatever you want, I agree. Happy now?"
The moment her voice fell, the lingering sorrowful atmosphere deflated instantly like a popped balloon.
"Really?"
Vic lifted his head completely from Enid's embrace. His face was clean—forget tear stains, there wasn't even a hint of moisture.
Only a pair of peach-blossom eyes shining alarmingly bright, and the corners of his mouth lifting uncontrollably, almost reaching his ears in a grin that was brilliant to the point of arrogance. "Ehe."
Seeing the speed of his face change, and glimpsing the smile on Enid's face that could no longer hide her teasing and "I knew it," Wednesday's heart sank with a thud.
It's over.
I fell for it.
I got played by this pair of "partners in crime" working together!
A mix of annoyance, helplessness, and a trace of indulgence she hadn't noticed herself surged in her heart.
Looking at Vic's smug face of "scheme succeeded," she wished she could stuff him back under the duvet and smother him.
But words spoken were like water spilled.
The Addams family always... kept their promises.
At least, in most cases.