Idk is it worth hurting Tongtong's feelings if it means that Lu doesn't get rejected? This whole thing is leaving a very sour taste in me. I know that eventually Lu will confess and Tongtong will reciprocate but the setup was just unpleasant. The story is still great but still making Tongtong cry like that wasn't cool.
I mean, ghosting is a shitty thing to do but is it worse than blackmail?
To be fair, Lu didn't really mind it and TongTong didn't make her do anything harmful.
Because she was blackmailed about the wrong thing. Before she knew what TongTong was talking about Lu was really scared she would be outed, which was the intended reaction. That intent matters.
Tongtong didn't mention anything about that nor was she ever thinking about it. Lu was being paranoid because it is a big fear of hers. So yes in this case ghosting is worse than blackmail.
Somebody else mentioned how they are just high schoolers which is true, they aren't supposed to be mature. Lu should have just told her from the outset to leave her alone and the compensated dating thing is a misunderstanding, at least Tongtong wouldn't have any expectations for being friends.
We are meming about this now but let's hope Lu isn't as useless as the people in useless princess PLEASE!