The morning sun hit the classroom windows, but inside, Lu Huawei's brain was operating on emergency power.

Sitting rigidly at her desk during morning homeroom, she was no longer her usual poised, majestic self. Her pen flew across the pages of her leather-bound notebook so fast it looked like it might catch fire.

Yue watched her from the adjacent desk, half-amused and half-pitiful. Huawei was aggressively mapping out a massive new chart titled: 'Anomaly Profile: Subject Chen (The Delusional Juggernaut)'.

"My formulas are obsolete, Yue!" Huawei aggressively whispered across the aisle, her ruby eyes wide with panic. "He deployed an undocumented emotional counter-attack at the water fountain. He completely bypassed my starlight luminosity charts! I must upgrade my firewalls before second period!"

Yue rubbed her temples, letting out a quiet groan. "Lu, it's not a malware attack. He just genuinely likes you. You can't put a digital patch on a boy's real feelings!"

"Nonsense," Huawei hissed, drawing a violent red circle around Chen's name. "Every variable can be calculated. I just need a stronger emotional containment protocol."

The moment the bell rang for the class break, Huawei snatched her leather-bound notebook and practically bolted from the classroom, dragging a bewildered Yue along by the wrist.

Instead of walking normally down the corridor, Huawei pressed her back flat against a large concrete pillar near the stairwell.

Her brilliant ruby eyes darted wildly left and right, scanning the ocean of school uniforms like a soldier navigating a minefield. She checked every corner, desperate to avoid any sudden collision with Chen.

Yue stood right behind her, arms crossed, watching her best friend treat a standard high school hallway like a dangerous espionage movie. She let out a long sigh.

"Why are you hiding for...?"

Leaning in closer, a mischievous smirk spread across Yue's lips as a sudden, playful theory struck her. She poked Huawei's shoulder. "Don't tell me you are in love that you are hiding?"

Huawei's head whipped around, her face instantly exploding into a furious, frantic shade of crimson.

"No!" she shouted-whispered, her clinical logic completely failing her. "I just feel awkward after that!"

The sheer weight of her unscientific confusion, her messy morning, and the vivid memory of Chen's intense, sincere praise completely overloaded her circuits.

With her defenses entirely shattered, Huawei dropped her notebook. She lunged forward and buried her face straight into Yue's uniform jacket chest, letting out a dramatic, whiny cry of pure, unadulterated embarrassment.

Yue stood frozen for a second, her arms slightly raised as her best friend clung to her like a panicked cat. Looking down at Huawei's trembling purple hair and messy ribbon, Yue's heart melted.

'She is so cute in this state,' Yue thought to herself, gently wrapping her arms around Huawei to pat her back. It was rare to see the untouchable school idol drop her clinical mask so completely.

Gently pulling Huawei back by the shoulders, Yue looked into her teary ruby eyes. "Look, Lu, you can't hide forever," Yue said, her voice softening into an encouraging smile. "Besides, think about it. This is good information for you to understand romance."

Huawei paused, her whiny sniffling slowing down. The word information vibrated in her analytical brain like a system reset.

Her posture slumped down completely, her shoulders dropping in defeat. "I guess you are right..." she muttered, staring at the floor.

But the defeat lasted for exactly two seconds.

Suddenly, Huawei hopped right back up onto her feet with an energetic bounce.

She took a deep, theatrical breath, puffing out her chest as she retrieved her dropped notebook from the floor. She aggressively slid her crooked ribbon back to its exact center position.

Turning back toward the open hallway, she raised her chin and began walking tall, her usual majestic, untouchable school-idol aura instantly clicking back into place.

"Data collection requires facing the anomaly head-on," Huawei declared grandly, her voice completely restored to its smooth, confident tone. "Let us proceed to the next observation quadrant, Yue!"

Walking tall with her chin held high, Huawei marched down the corridor toward the gymnasium, her pristine leather-bound notebook tucked securely under her arm. Her robotic composure was fully restored, her signature ribbon perfectly realigned.

"Lu Huawei!"

A sudden, sharp shout cut through the chatter of the hallway. Huawei froze instantly in tracks, her entire logical system seizing up. She recognized that voice.

As she stood paralyzed, a vivid memory flashed through her mind. It was a precise scene from the romance web novel Yue had given her earlier that morning.

'The male protagonist shouts her name in a crowded corridor, establishing a dramatic audio perimeter around the heroine...'

Huawei's ruby eyes widened in analytical wonder. Could it be? Is the anomaly repeating its behavioral patterns?

Before she could process the timeline, Chen stepped out from the gym entrance. He jogged straight over to her, completely ignoring the crowd of side characters watching them. He looked down at her with a bright, enthusiastic smile.

"You're looking as beautiful as ever today, Huawei!" Chen said, his voice loud and confident.

Without waiting for her system to crash from the compliment, he reached into a paper bag he was holding and pulled out a fresh, golden pastry. The sweet scent of baked sugar and cream instantly filled the air between them.

He thrust the pastry directly into her hands, leaving her holding it in absolute shock.

Behind them, Yue had somehow produced a pair of sleek, dark sunglasses. She slipped them up her nose, coolly adjusting the frame with one finger as she watched the entire dramatic spectacle unfold like an undercover agent observing a high-stakes transaction.

Chen rubbed the back of his neck, a slight, genuine blush dusting his cheeks. "Look, I know you turned me down earlier... but maybe we can just be friends first?"

He didn't give her a single second to issue a technical veto or analyze the psychological metrics of a friendship contract. Giving her one last cheerful, determined wave, Chen spun on his heel and ran off back into the gym, completely satisfied with his tactical maneuver.

Yue smoothly sneaked past the pillar, lowering her sunglasses just enough to peek over the rim at Huawei, who was still staring blankly at the pastry in her hands.

"Wow," Yue whispered, nudging her friend's elbow. "Are you okay, Lu? Did you expect this in your research?"

"No... I didn't," Huawei muttered, her ruby eyes blinking in deep, robotic contemplation. She stared intensely at the baked good. "It was just like the story..."

Yue rolled her eyes, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh. "Lu, I'm talking about him and his smooth 'friends first' backup plan! But you're still just thinking about that love story, aren't you?"

Huawei didn't respond, her mind completely locked into a processing loop trying to connect the pastry to the literary database.

Yue patted her shoulder in absolute pity, pushing her sunglasses back up into place. "Oh well... maybe we'll talk about it later, once you finally come back to your senses."