Revenge, Qinny decided, was far less glamorous than movies suggested.

In films, betrayed women wore red lipstick and destroyed men in heels while dramatic music played.

In real life, revenge began with sleep deprivation, swollen eyelids, and waiting outside a university library while holding a half-melted iced chocolate.

She checked the time.

2:07 p.m.

He was late.

Typical.

Then again, she barely knew Dorian Ocampo, so calling anything about him "typical" felt medically premature.

At 2:09, he appeared from the stairwell carrying a laptop and sneezing into his elbow.

"You're late," Qinny said.

"I was suffering."

"You look alive."

"I'm brave."

He took the drink from her hand without asking.

"I bought that."

"You brought me tribute."

He drank it.

"All yours now. I don't need you infecting me with your heartbreak flu."

"Sure, as long as you don't infect me with swollen eyes."

She snorts at his comeback. 

Qinny hated how amused she felt.

The library's Level 2 discussion area sat mostly empty this hour, sunlight slanting through high windows across rows of tables. They chose a far corner hidden by shelves on both sides.

Dorian opened his laptop like a surgeon preparing an operation.

"What exactly are we doing?" Qinny asked.

"Documentation."

"That sounded boring enough to be dangerous."

"It is both."

He turned the screen toward her.

A spreadsheet waited there.

Across the top were tabs labeled:

LIES
PATTERNS
WITNESSES
SUSPICIOUS TIMELINES
PETTY IDEAS
PENDING CHAOS

Qinny stared.

Then laughed so hard a nearby student glared at them.

"You made an Excel file?"

"I processed my grief productively."

"You are insane."

"Structured," he corrected.

He typed rapidly.

"Now. Tell me every excuse Brennen has used in the last month to avoid seeing you."

Qinny crossed her arms.

"You're enjoying this."

"I'm enjoying competence. Heard they're rare these days."

She tried not to smile and failed.

"Fine. Let me see... Oh, last Tuesday he said he had recovery ice bath."

Dorian entered it.

"Before that?"

"Team dinner."

Type type type.

"Before that?"

"Jersey sponsor meeting."

He paused.

"Do student athletes even have sponsors?"

"No idea really."

"Actually unlikely. But noted."

He typed anyway.

Qinny leaned over the table.

"What about Yris?"

Dorian barely looked up.

"Committee meeting. Captain duties. Emergency planning. Late gym session. Weekly Team bonding."

She blinked.

"Weekly Team bonding?"

"Says it's really important to have."

"Weekly?"

"Weekly."

"Wow, no wonder football players are dramatic."

They laughed, when suddenly their eyes met for a second.

Then simultaneously looked away.

Something about sitting this close, sharing bitterness like gossip, felt strangely intimate.

Qinny cleared her throat.

"Hold on, what's that under 'Petty Ideas'?"

"No."

"Show me."

"No."

She lunged for the laptop.

He yanked it away.

"You're hiding things."

"I'm protecting intellectual property."

Qinny reached again but Dorian caught her wrist instinctively.

Both froze.

His hand was warm.

Her pulse, traitorous.

Neither moved.

Then he slowly released her.

"Right," he said lightly. "Boundaries."

"Yes," Qinny replied, equally light. "Those."

Neither sounded convincing.

His phone buzzed.

He glanced down.

Expression flatlined.

"Speak of the devil."

He turned the screen toward her.

Hui Yi

Dearrr i got another emergency club committee meeting tonight ughhh!
So annoyingggg

Qinny's jaw dropped.

"At least she's consistent."

Her own phone buzzed immediately after.

They both looked at it.

My Love ❤️

Sorry babe 😞
Coach added extra training tonight. Raincheck on dinner?

Dorian slowly leaned back in his chair.

"Impressive."

"What?"

"Different lies. Same time slot."

Qinny looked from one phone to the other. Then back at him. Then they said together:

"They're meeting each other."

A student at the next table shushed them.

"Sorry," Qinny whispered.

"Not sorry," Dorian whispered back.

She bit her lip to stop laughing.

This was absurd.

Heartbreaking.

Ridiculous.

And somehow the funniest thing that had happened to her all week.

"Tsk tsk tsk, already adding new information in the sheets."

Dorian created a new spreadsheet row.

TODAY — simultaneous cancellation. Confirmed overlap.

He added a red highlight.

"You color-code your revenge?"

"I respect visual clarity."

Qinny watched him for a moment.

"You're weirdly calm."

He kept typing.

"I'm not calm."

"No?"

"I'm furious with posture."

She laughed again. Full, helpless, louder than intended.

The librarian looked up sharply.

Qinny covered her mouth.

Dorian lowered his voice.

"You should do that more."

"Laugh in libraries?"

"Enjoying the present without looking like the world ended."

Her smile faded slightly.

That landed too softly.

She looked down at her phone, her expression falling once more.

"...It doesn't change the fact that I really loved him, Dorian."

The words came out quieter than she meant.

Dorian's hands stilled over the keyboard.

"I know, Qinny."

"No, I mean..." She exhaled. "I built my future around him. Literally! My family knows his family. We've done every birthday, every exam season, every dumb milestone together. I thought the next step was obvious-"

"Get engaged, then Marriage."

She looked up sharply as if startled.

"How'd you know?"

"Because everyone likes scripts," he said. "Study. Graduate. Get job. Marry person you already picked at seventeen."

His tone held no judgment.

Only fatigue.

"And Yris?" Qinny asked carefully.

Dorian shut the laptop halfway.

"I thought she was freedom."

That surprised her.

"She's spontaneous. Outgoing. Doesn't care what anyone thinks. I liked that." He gave a humorless smile. "Turns out she also doesn't care what I think."

Qinny stared at him.

No sarcasm.

No jokes.

Just a tired honesty that made him feel suddenly less sharp, more real.

"Freedom comes with a price, doesn't it?"

He stared mindlessly at the laptop screen. Her chest tightened for reasons she did not want to inspect.

She nudged the iced chocolate toward him.

"Drink."

"Why?"

"So you have more energy to update the sheets."

"Can't you see I'm already burning with passion even without it?"

She chuckles lightly, not wanting to grab the librarian's attention.

His phone buzzed again.

Then hers.

They exchanged looks.

Dorian opened his.

Hui Yi

Luv ya dearrr thank you for being so understandinggg 

Qinny checked hers.

My Love ❤️

Love you babe.
Make it up to you tomorrow ok, promise!!

She inhaled slowly.

Then smiled in a way that worried even herself.

"I'm so done with these two. I need a distraction."

"You're welcome to explore the sheets."

"Alright. Tell me about this 'Chaos Control' tab?"

Dorian smiles sinisterly.

"Now we're talking."

They spent another hour plotting nothing illegal and several things morally festive.

________________________________________________________________________________

By sunset, they had established three rules.

Rule One: No confronting the cheaters without proof.

Rule Two: No emotional texting after 10 p.m.

Rule Three: No more drunk decisions.

Qinny pointed at the screen.

"That one was specifically for me?"

Dorian looked offended.

"It was for both of us. Especially after the storage room shenanigans."

"Hey, you kissed back."

"You attacked first."

"Excuse you- you suggested it!"

"You acted on it, rather enthusiastically might I add."

She folded her arms.

"I said two words."

"Yes," he said. "'Screw it.' Chilling phrase."

As the banter continues, footsteps approached them. It was the librarian wearing a furious expression.

"Out."

They blinked.

"What?" Qinny asked.

"You two have laughed, argued, and whispered nonsense for hours. Out."

Dorian stood, gathering his laptop.

"That's fair."

They walked out together into the evening air, warm and gold over campus paths.

"Can't believe we were thrown out of the library out of all places."

"That's how you know the librarian has no sense of humor."

Qinny snorts. 

Beside her, Dorian asked casually, "You hungry?"

She frowned.

"Why?"

"There's a mamak* at Alamesra." (*open-air eatery in Malaysia)

"That sounds suspiciously like spending time together."

"It sounds like the consumption of carbs."

She hesitated.

"Nah, I'm not hungry-"

Then her stomach growled loudly enough to embarrass generations of ancestors.

Dorian smirked.

"Betrayed by the belly."

"Shut up."

He stepped off the curb.

"Come on, Qinnara. I'll give you a ride."

She followed.

And hated how natural that felt.