Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 372: Why is Vanessa at your place!?

“Ugh, the closet again…”

When Ethan woke up, he didn’t even need to open his eyes to know he had once again turned into Lila.

He couldn’t help but feel the urge to complain.

What’s up with Lila? Why does she always sleep in the closet!?

As he thought about it, Ethan crawled out of the closet, stood up, and did a quick stretch.

He felt a bit of muscle soreness.

He knew it was because he had overexerted himself the day before.

Lila had already vented her frustration at him on Facebook the next day.

But Ethan figured it was just because the girl didn’t exercise enough in her daily life.

Just as he was considering whether to encourage Lila to work out more, he suddenly froze.

He remembered something important—he wasn’t alone at home. Vanessa was still staying at his place.

Would Lila be okay?

Ethan felt a bit worried as he thought about it. He grabbed Lila’s phone and checked the screen.

It showed today’s date: June 17th, Thursday.

But it was still pretty early—only 5 AM.

He switched the phone to his own profile in their shared system.

Opening Facebook, he saw that his last conversation with Lila was from the night before.

She had suddenly sent him an SOS message, saying her parents were planning to perform an exorcism on her.

Ethan knew there were some people in the world who actually had real abilities. He wasn’t sure if Lila’s mom knew anyone like that, but he wasn’t worried at all.

After all, even he didn’t know the reason behind the body-swapping between him and Lila, so how could anyone else figure it out?

Plus, the first step of an exorcism is to identify the spirit, and when they weren’t swapped, Lila didn’t show any signs of being possessed.

So, after some fuss last night, the Harper family eventually gave up.

But now that he was back in Lila’s body, would they try again today?

Ethan thought about it seriously and decided it wasn’t a big deal.

He had a good impression of the Harper family. It was just that Lila wasn’t great at expressing herself, which often led to bigger misunderstandings. If she could just explain things clearly, they’d probably be pretty understanding about the whole situation.

After that, he sent a message to Lila, who was most likely still asleep, telling her not to panic if anything happened when she woke up and to contact him first.

Then Ethan put on Lila’s favorite pink tracksuit.

He had a habit of morning workouts and didn’t want to break it just because of the body swap.

Besides, the fact that this had happened a second time meant it was likely to keep happening, so he figured it wouldn’t hurt to improve Lila’s physical condition a bit.

Ethan couldn’t help but feel a little amused.

There aren’t many stand-ins as considerate as me these days.

Lila’s reply came in over an hour later.

By then, Ethan had just finished showering.

And no, don’t get the wrong idea—he kept his eyes closed the whole time.

It was just a quick rinse, and even when he dried off, he was super careful, avoiding any direct contact with the body.

His heightened senses allowed him to do all of this easily, even with his eyes shut.

When “Shining JK Lila” made her grand return, Ethan received Lila’s message.

[Why is Vanessa at your place!?]

————

When Lila woke up, she realized she had once again turned into Ethan.

This time, Lila didn’t panic. After all, it had already been proven that they would switch back eventually.

Plus, she needed Ethan’s help to deal with her current family issues.

So not only was Lila calm, but she even felt a bit relieved for the time being.

She then tried to spring out of bed with a quick move, but she overdid it and ended up losing her balance, face-planting onto the floor.

“Ow, ow, ow…”

Lila clutched her nose as she got up from the floor.

Her impulsive behavior was because she had noticed how strong Ethan’s body was, and she thought maybe she could pull off some cool moves like those martial arts stars.

But reality was harsh—she couldn’t quite control this body as well as she’d hoped.

Still, this little mishap didn’t dampen her mood. She hummed a tune as she changed into the school uniform and got ready to freshen up.

But just as she stepped out of the bedroom, she ran into someone she never expected to see in this place.

Wait… Vanessa?

Lila’s eyes widened as she saw her friend, whom she had just met yesterday, walking out of the room next door.

Hold on, why is Vanessa here!?

Vanessa noticed her too. Her eyes lit up at first, but then she seemed a bit shy, before finally greeting her with a forced calmness.

“Good morning.”

Lila noticed the complex emotions playing out on Vanessa’s face, and she became even more shocked.

Wait, are these two… that kind of relationship?

She hadn’t heard anything about this!

Vanessa, on the other hand, was a bit confused. Ethan’s reaction seemed off, so she walked over to him, concerned.

“Are you okay?”

Lila was so startled by this that she bolted back into the room in a panic.

Bang!

“…”

Vanessa felt a breeze as the door slammed shut, leaving her standing there, utterly bewildered.

What just happened?

Inside the bedroom, Lila leaned against the door, clutching the phone tightly in her hands.

It was only then that she saw Ethan’s message, and she quickly sent her own question.

His reply came back almost immediately.

[Well, it’s a long story. I’ll explain it to you later, but don’t worry—we’re just friends, nothing more.]

[Is that what I’m worried about!?]

Lila typed furiously, feeling a bit frantic.

[I wasn’t prepared for this at all! How am I supposed to interact with Vanessa? She’s going to figure it out!]

[Hmm…]

It seemed like Ethan was thinking for a moment before sending another message.

[It’s fine. Just talk less. Imagine you’re a hitman—hitmen only respond in the coldest, shortest way possible.]

[Just make it through until you leave the house, and you’ll be fine. You got this, Lil Bunny! I believe in you!]

[If anything urgent happens, just call me.]

Lila really wanted to ask Ethan where he got this strange confidence in her from.

But at this point, it didn’t seem like she had any other choice.

She steeled herself, trying to stay optimistic.

“If it’s Vanessa, I should—no, I can handle this!”

————

This was Vanessa’s first time staying over at someone else’s house, and it was a guy’s house, no less.

Even after waking up, she still felt a bit like it wasn’t real.

But since it had already happened, she accepted it and figured she’d properly thank Ethan later.

However, ever since she saw him this morning, Vanessa couldn’t shake a growing sense of confusion.

Everything about Ethan’s behavior felt… off.

When she spoke to him, his responses were unusually short, and she could sense a kind of awkwardness from him that she had never felt before.

It was almost like he was a completely different person.

And she couldn’t understand why he was wearing sunglasses so early in the morning.

All these little oddities made Vanessa keep glancing at him, trying to figure out what was going on.

This, of course, made Lila incredibly nervous. Just wearing sunglasses wasn’t enough—should she add a hat and a mask too?

Thankfully, Vanessa wasn’t a total stranger to her, so Lila managed to hold it together.

But the moment they stepped outside, the situation didn’t get any easier.

In fact, it got worse.

As they waited for the elevator, Lila suddenly heard a girl’s voice from nearby, filled with disbelief.

“Van… Vanessa…?”